The cryptocurrency had plunged by more than 16% shortly after US markets closed Friday, putting in a low of $978, following the US Securities and Exchange Commission's ruling to reject the Winklevoss twins' exchange-traded fund. But now it's back to $1,231, up 26% from its lows and about $60 below its preannouncement levels. Bitcoin hit an all-time high of $1,327 on Friday morning.
"Based on the record before it, the commission believes that the significant markets for bitcoin are unregulated," the SEC said in its statement rejecting the Winklevoss twins' ETF. "Therefore, as the exchange has not entered into, and would currently be unable to enter into, the type of surveillance-sharing agreement that has been in place with respect to all previously approved commodity-trust ETPs — agreements that help address concerns about the potential for fraudulent or manipulative acts and practices in this market — the commission does not find the proposed rule change to be consistent with the Exchange Act."
2017 has been a volatile year for bitcoin. It gained more than 20% in the first week of the year before crashing 35% on rumblings that China would begin cracking down on trading.
But the cryptocurrency has shrugged off news that China's biggest exchanges started charging a flat fee of 0.2% per transaction in addition to blocking customer withdrawals. It rallied more than 30% over the past month in the face of that news, putting in a high of $1,237 on Friday, as traders speculated that the SEC would approve at least one of the three bitcoin ETFs.
The SEC will rule on SolidX Management's proposed bitcoin ETF on March 30 and Grayscale Investments' at a later date.
Bitcoin rallied 120% in 2016 and was the top-performing currency in each of the past two years. Even with Friday's sell-off, bitcoin is still higher by about 10% this year.
Investing.com