Bitcoin on Wednesday climbed back above $96,000, recovering slightly from a pullback this week that knocked it from record levels.
TakeAway Points:
- Bitcoin recovered little from a decline this week that knocked it from record highs, rising back above $96,000 on Wednesday.
- According to Coin Metrics, the flagship cryptocurrency’s price increased by about 6% to $96,676.70, while ether’s price increased by over 9% to $3,636.46.
- The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) of the United Kingdom released a calendar outlining the dates and benchmarks it is aiming for on its regulatory roadmap for crypto
Bitcoin bounces back above $96,000 as investors foresees $100,000
The price of the flagship cryptocurrency was last higher by nearly 6% at $96,676.70, according to Coin Metrics, while ether jumped more than 9% to $3,636.46. The broader crypto market, as measured by the CoinDesk 20 index, gained 7%.
Although bitcoin is widely viewed as a store of value and a digital alternative to gold, the cryptocurrency often trades in tandem with the stock market. On Wednesday, however, it decoupled with the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite, which was lower by 0.6%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 dropped as well.
Coinbase was up more than 6% as bitcoin lifted it along with other crypto stocks. Robinhood, which offers crypto trading and is viewed as a beneficiary of a more crypto-friendly environment in the incoming Trump administration, gained 3%. MicroStrategy, which trades as a proxy for bitcoin, advanced 9%.
Bitcoin progress lately
Bitcoin has been regularly hitting records since the Nov. 5 presidential election, up about 38% in that time. On Friday, it rose as high as $99,849.99 before testing the $90,000 support level this week.
“The bitcoin bull market has legs,” Alex Thorn, head of firmwide research at Galaxy Digital, said in a report Wednesday. “There will be corrections and hiccups, which is normal. There could even be some twilight regulatory or law enforcement actions from the outgoing Biden administration that jitter markets. But a combination of increasing institutional, corporate, and potentially nation-state adoption, a new U.S. administration that is shaping up to be extremely pro-bitcoin, and solid positioning and network data all point to higher over the near and medium term.”
Market responses
Fairlead Strategies’ Katie Stockton told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Monday that, at current levels, bitcoin investors are in “uncharted territory in terms of where there’s resistance—which, of course, there is none.” Meanwhile, support is around $74,000. Bitcoin reached $92,000 for the first time ever just two weeks ago, on Nov. 13.
“Bitcoin does tend to stairstep both to the downside and to the upside, meaning that it sees these very sharp runups and then consolidates,” she said. “People should… be willing to give bitcoin, and the cryptocurrencies in general, more room because of the volatility there and also because of the long-term potential.”
Bitcoin is up 126% for the year and is still widely expected to reach the $100,000 milestone before the year is over. Ether, the outperformer since the election, is trailing bitcoin on a year-to-date basis with a 59% gain.
UK’s Finance Watchdog Sets Out Crypto Regulation Implementation Plan
The British authority for financial services outlined on Tuesday a strategy to enact a comprehensive regulatory framework for the cryptocurrency sector by 2026.
The British financial services watchdog on Tuesday set out a plan to implement a wide-reaching regulatory regime for the cryptocurrency industry by 2026.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which oversees banking and investment products in the U.K., unveiled a timeline detailing key dates and milestones it’s working toward on its regulatory roadmap for crypto.
In the fourth quarter, the regulator will launch discussion papers on the rules governing the issuance and custody of stablecoins, as well as admission and disclosure processes and how to tackle market abuse.
In the first half of 2025, the FCA said it plans to launch papers on trading platforms, intermediation, lending, prudential crypto exposure, and so-called staking rewards offered by firms on users’ token holdings.
By 2026, the FCA said that a full regime governing cryptoassets will go live in the U.K. following the publication of final policy statements that same year.
The FCA said its latest research indicates that crypto adoption is expanding in the U.K. The average value of crypto held by people in the U.K. rose to £1,842 as of August this year from £1,595 a year ago, according to the watchdog.
Market misconceptions
However, there are still misconceptions about how the market is regulated. For example, a third of people surveyed for the FCA research said they believed they could raise a complaint with the regulator if something went wrong and they sought recourse or financial protection.
The FCA findings “highlight the need for clear regulation that supports a safe, competitive, and sustainable crypto sector in the U.K.,” Matthew Long, director of payments and digital assets at the FCA, said in a statement Tuesday.
“We’re committed to working closely with the government, international partners, industry, and consumers to help us get the future rules right,” Long added.
