In the latest news from the world of cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin and Ethereum have held their positions despite a Wells notice issued to Coinbase by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) alleging possible securities violations. The two largest cryptocurrencies even bounced back from earlier losses, with Bitcoin reaching its highest level since June of last year, rising by 4%, and Ethereum rising by 4.7% on Thursday.
Despite the recent market corrections, Bitcoin and Ethereum have both gained over 20% in the past month, with their recent rallies coinciding with the failures of US banks Signature and Silicon Valley Bank. Sheila Warren, the CEO of the Crypto Council for Innovation, said in an email to Blockworks that a “reprehensible amount of resources” has been spent in the US trying to engage with the SEC.
Coinbase’s chief counsel, Paul Grewal, stated in a blog post that the company has spent millions on legal support for SEC proposals and has repeatedly requested feedback from the SEC, but to no avail. Meanwhile, the SEC’s renewed focus on enforcement actions with minimal mediation was evident from its recent settlement with Kraken, a San Francisco-based exchange, over its staking-as-a-service products.
Although Coinbase’s stock immediately plummeted by 20% on the news of the Wells notice before recovering slightly, Bitcoin and Ethereum are still holding strong. Justin Sun, the founder of Tron, faced direct SEC action on Wednesday, which caused TRX to fall by up to 13%, along with other tokens linked to Sun, such as BitTorrent and Huobi Token. Stay tuned for more updates on Bitcoin and Ethereum’s performance in the coming weeks.
