Investing.com– Bitcoin rose on Thursday, extending a recent recovery as markets digested a proposed U.S. bill that intends to create a regulatory framework for cryptocurrency.
The world’s largest crypto recovered from a sluggish start to the year after top corporate holder Strategy disclosed a major purchase this week. But it still remained well below the coveted $100,000 level, with risk appetite for crypto also remaining under pressure.
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Bitcoin rose 1.4% to $96,370.1 by 00:05 ET (05:05 GMT), hitting its strongest level in two months.
US Senate delays crypto bill after Coinbase opposition
The U.S. Senate Banking Committee said on Wednesday it had postponed discussion of a proposed crypto bill, just hours after Coinbase Global Inc (NASDAQ:COIN) CEO Brian Armstrong voiced opposition to the measure.
Senator Tim Scott said in a social media post that discussion over the measure, which was set to take place on Thursday, was now postponed.
In a social media post earlier on Wednesday, Armstrong criticized the bill and said Coinbase could not support it in its current measure.
Armstrong rebuked several facets of the bill, including a proposed ban of tokenized equities, prohibitions on decentralized finance, lesser oversight by the CFTC, and “draft amendments that would kill rewards on stablecoins.”
“This version would be materially worse than the current status quo. We’d rather have no bill than a bad bill,” Armstrong said, criticizing the bipartisan measure.
Coinbase was a major donor during the 2024 election cycle to pro-crypto entities, and is regarded as a major stakeholder in negotiations over the bill. The company is the largest crypto exchange in the United States.
The crypto industry has long pushed for a comprehensive regulatory framework in a bid for clarity on whether crypto tokens can be regarded as securities or commodities.
Crypto price today: altcoins lag as risk appetite remains frail
Broader crypto prices lagged Bitcoin’s advance, remaining under pressure as overall risk appetite still remained weak.
Global geopolitical tensions remained high, with markets wary of any more U.S. intervention in Venezuela and Iran.
Despite Bitcoin’s recovery, the crypto also continued to trade at a discount in U.S. markets, specifically Coinbase, in comparison to global averages. The trend, which has been in play since mid-December, indicated that retail demand for the crypto remained weak.
Among altcoins, world no.2 crypto Ether fell 0.6% to $3,312.22. XRP fell 2.4%, while BNB shed 0.5%.
Solana was flat, while Cardano shed 4.6%.
In memecoins, Dogecoin fell 2.7%, while $TRUMP shed 4.1%.
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