White House to Take the Lead on Crypto Regulation

Regulatory activity and chatter have continued to weigh on the crypto markets at the turn of the year. The seismic shift in regulatory activity has coincided with calls by the Bank of England for a global crypto regulatory framework.

Bitcoin’s (BTC) meteoric rise to a November ATH $68,979 supported the more bullish price predictions of a visit to $100,000 levels and beyond. As seen in 2018, however, regulatory activity has weighed heavily on Bitcoin and the crypto market.

The SEC and the Capitol Hill Take on the Crypto Market

Last week, a U.S Congress subcommittee hearing looked into the impact of proof-of-work protocols and Bitcoin mining on power consumption and the environment. The hearing turned out to be more of a fact-finding mission. Law makers seemed to be more against than for Bitcoin, however. The tone of the hearing suggests that there is more to follow on the issue of Bitcoin mining.

Ahead of the hearing, SEC Chair Gary Gensler had warned of an SEC crackdown on digital assets in the year ahead. Capitol Hill and the SEC have taken different approaches in a bid to tighten the grip on the crypto market.

News of White House involvement in the regulating of the crypto market has also caused some market angst, however.

Cryptos and U.S National Security

Overnight, news hit the wires of the Biden administration affirming the imminent release of an executive action tasking agencies with the regulation of cryptos as a matter of national security. Agencies will reportedly need to analyze digital assets and put together a regulatory framework covering. The framework would not only cover cryptos, but also stablecoins and NFTs.

Significantly, the report also pointed out that the agencies will need to work with other countries as “digital assets don’t stay in one country”. The latest news affirms previous news reports of the White House drafting an executive order featuring economic, regulatory, and national security challenges posed by cryptos.

With other governments also taking a closer look at cryptocurrencies, NFTs, and crypto mining, the threat of a global regulatory framework may become a reality in the not-too-distant future.

Bitcoin (BTC) Price Action

At the time of writing, Bitcoin was up by 0.20% to $37,266. While regulatory chatter and activity remains crypto negative, a jump in the U.S futures delivered early support.

For the day, a breakthrough to $37,500 levels would bring $38,000 levels into play. From there, the bulls would have a clear run at $40,000.