- The White House confirmed today that President Biden will be signing an executive order whose details had leaked through Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.
- Bitcoin shot up to over $42,400, a 10% gain, but it quickly retracted as traders seemed to take profits, while Ether, LUNA, Solana and more recorded gains as well.
Bitcoin has recorded gains to hit $42,400 after the White House confirmed that President Joe Biden would sign an executive order on cryptocurrencies. The eagerly-anticipated order is the first of its kind and seeks to give a regulatory framework for the $2 trillion industry in the biggest market globally.
At press time, BTC trades at $41,800, gaining 7.8 percent in the past day.
As CNF reported, the contents of the executive order were at first revealed through a leak by the Treasury Department’s Janet Yellen. Although the leaked comments were quickly taken down, crypto enthusiasts had already seen them and knew what to expect from the White House.
Read More: Janet Yellen’s comments on crypto executive order leaks before schedule, crypto market rallies
Following the leak, BTC shot up to $42,400 almost immediately. However, shortly after, it dropped slightly by $200 as most traders seemed to have set sell positions just north of $42,400. It has since dipped marginally by a further $400 but is still up over 7 percent in the past day.
Market experts say that despite the slight retracement, the outlook is very bullish in the long run for Bitcoin, especially as investors will feel much more assured by the Biden order.
Other cryptos shot up as well, with Ether, Chainlink and Polkadot up 5 percent, as Bitcoin Cash and Cosmos gained 7 percent. Terra was among the biggest gainers as it shot up 21 percent.
Greg Waisman, the co-founder of Mercuryo, a payment network, commented:
While volatility is currently rocking the digital assets as some buyers are currently taking profits, the certainty that more investors will invest in these leading assets, in the long run, is high, as they align with what Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen tagged ‘responsible innovation.’ With the plausible future buyup, we can expect BTC and ETH to breach new resistances in the near future.
After the accidental leak, the White House officially announced the executive order today.
Acknowledging the meteoric rise of crypto from $14 billion five years ago to $3 trillion in November last year, the Biden administration claimed that they present a prime opportunity “to reinforce American leadership in the global financial system and at the technological frontier, but also has substantial implications for consumer protection, financial stability, national security, and climate risk.”
The order, as per the White House statement, will protect investors and businesses, mitigate the systematic risk posed by crypto, protect the U.S and global financial stability and maintain the country’s position as the global leader in tech and finance.
Significantly, the order is expected to pave the way for a digital dollar, placing urgency on “research and development of a potential United States CBDC.” It instructs the government to assess the feasibility of a CBDC while encouraging the Fed to continue its research into the field.
White House concluded:
The Administration will continue work across agencies and with Congress to establish policies that guard against risks and guide responsible innovation, with our allies and partners to develop aligned international capabilities that respond to national security risks, and with the private sector to study and support technological advances in digital assets.