Key Takeaways
- Bitcoin traders near the $38,000 level, ether floats around $2,500
- SEC Chair Gary Gensler pushes for crypto market regulations
Cryptocurrencies Resume Slide
The cryptocurrency market slid on Tuesday for a third straight day as traders in the nascent industry failed to turn the tide and spark an upward move. Bitcoin slid about 2%, finishing the day at $38,000 per coin.
The leading digital asset has been subdued over the past three days as its price slipped back into the range below $40,000. For the period Sunday through Tuesday, the first three trading days of August, the flagship coin declined a little over 8%.
The weak performance in August so far came after the token had a strong rally that kept boosting the price for eight days straight, the longest streak for the year. After a minor slip on the ninth day, bitcoin added two more positive sessions to finish the month of July with an overall gain of about 20%.
Ether, the second most valuable cryptocurrency, erased about 4% of its price on Tuesday and finished the day slightly below $2,500 per token. The market is largely expecting a major upgrade to the Ethereum network happening tomorrow, according to the Ethernodes website. The release of the upgrade was delayed with a day, as it was previously expected to occur some time today.
Crypto circles are hopeful that the upgrade would lower the transaction fees and tackle inflation with coin burn, a mechanism expected to make ether tokens scarcer, consequently resulting in an increase of its price.
A Push For Crypto Regulations
Meanwhile, Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler is calling on Congress to allow his agency more power over the cryptocurrency market. Mr. Gensler, speaking at the Aspen Security Forum on Tuesday, said the SEC is willing to intervene with a regulatory framework over the crypto ecosystem that would make sure investors are protected.
In his comments, the SEC chair compared the current state of the digital asset market to the Wild West. He also vowed to use all existing authority of the SEC to regulate crypto tokens.
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