Major cryptocurrency prices are rising on expectations of eased regulations in the United States.
According to CoinMarketCap, a cryptocurrency market tracking site, as of 9:09 a.m. on the 21st, Bitcoin was $73,260, up 5.35% from 24 hours earlier. Ethereum rose 3.24% to $2,331, and Ripple surged 14.36% to $1.26.
President Trump met with cryptocurrency industry executives at the White House on the 19th (local time) and urged Congress to swiftly pass the Clarity Act. The core of the Clarity Act is to classify sufficiently decentralized cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin as "digital commodities" and have the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which is relatively less stringent in its regulation, serve as the primary overseer.
In the United States, it is not clearly defined whether cryptocurrencies are securities or commodities, or which agency between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the CFTC should oversee them. If the bill passes, the legal burden on cryptocurrency corporations will ease, and it is expected to become easier for financial companies and institutional investors to enter the market.