Bitcoin, Ethereum, and major altcoins rise following the SEC and CFTC sharing a statement on spot crypto trading.
Major digital assets ticked up for a second day on Wednesday, Sept. 3, boosted by macro optimism and regulatory tailwinds after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said that regulated exchanges are not prohibited from facilitating certain spot crypto trades.
Bitcoin (BTC) rose 1.2% over the past 24 hours to $112,000. Ethereum (ETH) is up 3.8% on the day to $4,459. XRP increased 2.8% to $2.87, while Solana (SOL) ticked up 5% to $210.
“The whale rotation from Bitcoin to Ethereum that took BTC below $110,000 has taken a pause and most likely is almost complete now,” Paul Howard from Wincent said in comments shared with The Defiant. “What I expect we see is a gradual grind higher with institutional flows coming back into BTC.”
He explained that while September is historically a poorly-performing month from a price perspective, he believes it could “surprise by month-end given institutional interest and the consistent volumes we are seeing from OTC buyers this week.”
In the altcoin space, Maple Finance’s SYRUP surged 12% on Wednesday amid news that the asset manager is expanding syrupUSDC to Arbitrum. ONDO is also up 7% after announcing it would launch tokenized U.S. Stocks on Ethereum.
The broader total cryptocurrency market capitalization climbed nearly 2% over the past 24 hours to $3.96 trillion, with Bitcoin dominance at 56.3% and Ethereum at 13.6%, according to CoinGecko.
Liquidations and ETFs
Over the past 24 hours, around $171 million in crypto positions were liquidated, including $52 million of long positions and $119 million of shorts, per CoinGlass. Ethereum led with over $53 million in liquidations, followed by Bitcoin at $35 million.
Spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) attracted $332 million in net inflows on Tuesday, Sept. 2, according to SoSoValue.
By contrast, spot Ethereum ETFs suffered outflows for the second straight day, with nearly $135 million withdrawn on Sept. 2.
Regulatory Developments
The market rise comes as investor confidence improved after the SEC and CFTC staff issued a joint statement on Sept. 2, clarifying their views that registered exchanges “are not prohibited from facilitating the trading of certain spot commodity products.”
“[Tuesday’s] joint staff statement represents a significant step forward in bringing innovation in the crypto asset markets back to America,” said SEC Chair Paul Atkins. “Market participants should have the freedom to choose where they trade spot crypto assets. The SEC is committed to working with the CFTC to ensure that our regulatory frameworks support innovation and competition in these rapidly evolving markets.”
Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve announced earlier today that it will host a Payments Innovation Conference on Oct. 21 to explore emerging technologies, including decentralized finance (DeFi), stablecoins, and tokenized financial products.
“Innovation has been a constant in payments to meet the changing needs of consumers and businesses,” said Governor Christopher J. Waller. “I look forward to examining the opportunities and challenges of new technologies, bringing together ideas on how to improve the safety and efficiency of payments, and hearing from those helping to shape the future of payments.”
The possibility of the Fed lowering interest rates on Sept. 17 has also fueled risk-taking, helping to boost major digital assets, experts say. The odds of a cut currently stand at 91%, according to MacroMicro.
