Bitcoin price back above USD 20,000, Ether jumps as UK votes to regulate crypto

Bitcoin traded above US$20,000 for the first time in nearly three weeks on Wednesday morning in Asia. Ether and the rest of the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, excluding stablecoins, also gained after the UK parliament voted for crypto to be regulated as financial instruments.

See related article: Top ‘UK Crypto Hub’ Champion Rishi Sunak Becomes Prime Minister

Fast facts

• Bitcoin rose 4% to US$20,091 in the 24 hours to 08:15 in Hong Kong, hitting a three-week high of US$20,348, according to data from CoinMarketCap. Ether jumped 8.8% to $1,406, after rising as high as $1,562 earlier, or in line with levels before the network merger in mid-September.

• This comes as Britain’s House of Commons, the lower house of parliament, voted to regulate crypto-assets as financial instruments on Tuesday as part of the proposed Financial Services and Markets Act. The bill now goes to the House of Lords, the upper house, for a vote before it becomes law. This comes as Rishi Sunak became the country’s new prime minister on Monday, and he has a record of comments supporting cryptocurrency when he served as finance minister.

• Cardano saw the biggest gains in CoinMarketCap’s top 10, jumping 11.3% to $0.40, after hitting a more than two-week overnight high of $0.4142. Solana also saw significant gains, rising 8.9% to $30.91, also hitting a two-week high earlier at $32.19.

• BNB, the initial token of the BNB Smart Chain – powered by the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance – rose 3.8% to $285, passing the world’s second largest stablecoin circle, ending up in fourth place on the list as its market cap broke. 45.6 billion dollars.

• “Crypto volatility has been extremely low over the past two months compared to the NASDAQ and S&P, suggesting that crypto is less reactive to macro pressures,” said Tracey Plowman, CEO of Bamboo 61 Pty Ltd., an Australian company that offers micro – investments in cryptocurrency. “As a result, we see strong buy-side pressure in crypto, especially for Ethereum showing a potential shift in momentum. While this is a welcome reprieve, volatility is still expected in the medium term.”

• US stocks also rose on Tuesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.1%, the S&P 500 rose 1.6% and the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 2.3%.

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