Bitcoin Surges Past Major Price And Market Milestones
OpinionBit News Today1 min read
The price of bitcoin climbed above $3,000 for the first time since June 12. The advance began when prices surpassed $2,900 shortly after 1:00 UTC, rising to a high of $3,216.02 and an average of $3,154.94 by press time, data from the Bitcoin Price Index shows.
Bitcoin's rising price also boosted its collective market capitalization past $50 billion for the first time. Bitcoin's market capitalization stood at approximately $52.35 billion at press time, according to the BPI.
Trading had been cautious in the lead-up to the August 1 fork that produced the new cryptocurrency bitcoin cash. At press time, the price had eased slightly to $4,162.
The fresh record came after multiple consecutive all-time highs following a relatively stagnant stretch with prices near $2,700.
Regulators in China moved toward banning initial coin offerings, which are sales of new cryptographic tokens that are frequently swapped for bitcoin. Following this regulatory action, bitcoin's price dropped to its lowest point since August 22.
Paxos's itBit, Coinbase's GDAX, and Bitstamp are all still trading above the $4,000 mark.
Across all publicly traded cryptocurrencies, total value plunged from a peak of $179 billion to $145 billion, marking an overall drop of nearly 19 percent from its all-time high.
SEC Chairman Jay Clayton stated that the agency is researching the impacts of distributed ledger and other innovative technologies.
The SEC also released a report about The DAO, an entity that offered and sold DAO Tokens in exchange for Ether. The report noted that The DAO failed to meet Regulation Crowdfunding exemption standards because it was not registered as a broker-dealer or funding portal with the SEC and FINRA.
Steven Peikin, Co-Director of the SEC's Enforcement Division, noted that market participants must stay mindful of federal securities laws as technology continues to change how businesses operate and raise capital.
