The SEC postponed its decision on whether to approve the Bitcoin ETF, dealing a blow to bulls who had bet a green light from the regulator would help sustain last month’s tenuous rally. Optimists are counting on the wider adoption of cryptocurrencies to support prices, but regulators and many institutional investors have remained wary amid concerns over security and market manipulation.

Eoin Treacy's view

The pump and dump schemes which prevailed during the most aggressively bullish portion of the cryptocurrency bubble helped to attractive speculative flows but also act as a headwind to longer-term investors who might otherwise have had an interest.

A bigger point is that it would be difficult for the crypto market to achieve ETF status without first having regulators conclude they are securities. However, if they are securities then pump and dump schemes are tantamount to securities fraud and, since it occurs online, wire fraud could also be thrown in. That catch-22 situation is at least part of the reason bitcoin and the other crypto assets remain under pressure.

Bitcoin continues to hold a progression of lower rally highs and needs to hold the $6000 area to defray the risk of a further leg downwards.


Smaller crypto assets like Ripple and Iota have already broken downwards.