Bitcoin and Ethereum price update

Bitcoin’s price saw a slight rise leading up to American markets opening on Wednesday (February 5), rising as high as US$98,904 in early trading. However, the cryptocurrency failed to breach US$100,000 on Wednesday (February 5). Apart from momentary bursts above US$98,000, Bitcoin mostly traded within the US$97,000 range throughout the day, briefly falling as low as US$96,574 just before 19:00 UTC, according to data gathered from CoinGecko. In a market note, CoinDesk crypto market analyst Omkar Godbole cited tightening USD liquidity and a prolonged delay in the establishment of the Bitcoin reserve Trump promised during his campaign as two recent developments that could impede Bitcoin’s price movements. As of writing, Bitcoin is down 0.4 percent over 24 hours to US$97,310.

Ether’s price also climbed before the markets opened but trended down with the rest of the crypto market. However, the world’s second most popular cryptocurrency is experiencing a greater recovery than Bitcoin; as of writing, Ether is US$2,771.12, marking a 2.8 percent increase over 24 hours. The cryptocurrency reached an intraday high of US$2,817.32 and a low of US$2,722.70 on Wednesday (February 4).

Altcoin price update

SOL is currently valued at US$198.76, down 3.2 percent over 24 hours, after falling from a high of US$206.76 shortly after the opening bell. It fell to its lowest valuation of US$196.58 at midday.

XRP rose to US$2.55 minutes after North American markets opened, its highest price point of the day. After sinking to a low of US$2.36, it has recovered somewhat to its current valuation of US$2.42.

Following a similar trajectory, SUI saw its valuation peak at US$3.63 as trading began but trended downward, reaching a low of US$3.33.It is currently priced at US$3.37, a decrease of 4.5 percent over 24 hours.

Finally, ADA, the native token of Cardano, is down just 0.2 percent, priced at US$0.74. Its highest price on Wednesday was US$0.77 and its lowest was US$0.73.

Crypto news to know

The crypto market managed to recoup some of its losses after fears of an impending trade war led to a sell-off of crypto and other risk-on assets on Monday. After President Donald Trump reneged on his intention to apply 25 percent tariffs against Mexico and Canada, delaying them for at least 30 days as of Monday afternoon while the countries’ leaders work out a deal, Bitcoin retook US$100,000 but stood on shaky ground.

On Tuesday, David Sacks, the newly appointed AI and crypto czar, and House and Senate leaders held a press conference to discuss their objectives for establishing a framework for crypto policy in collaboration with the US Securities and Exchange Committee (SEC). At the press conference, lawmakers said their priority would be passing a newly-introduced stablecoin bill introduced by senators led by Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.).

Later, speaking with CNBC, Sacks said that legislation could be passed within the next six months and that his other priorities would include “evaluating the feasibility of a Bitcoin reserve.” The press conference and Sacks’ remarks, which seemed to raise questions about the Bitcoin reserve promised by Trump during his campaign, may have contributed to the abrupt downturn in the crypto market yesterday afternoon. Ether and Solana’s drops were especially steep.

The new SEC Commissioner, Hester M. Peirce, also tried to present a friendlier and more cooperative front to the crypto industry. In an open letter published on Tuesday, Peirce invited “builders, enthusiasts, and skeptics to engage with us to figure out what the final rules should be and what interim steps might help to foster innovation” as regulatory guidelines begin to take shape.

Additionally, the New York Times reported on Tuesday (February 4) that the agency would scale back its crypto enforcement unit, and Caroline Pham, acting chair of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), announced a restructuring of its Division of Enforcement into two task forces: one mainly concerned with retail fraud, and another for “complex fraud and manipulation”. These events could be early signals of a more accepting and cooperative relationship between regulators and the crypto industry.