First Mover Americas: Coinbase Seeks Clear Answers From SEC

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Crypto exchange Coinbase (COIN) asked a federal court on Monday to force the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to respond to a petition it filed last year asking for formal rules for digital assets, in particular whether existing securities laws apply to digital assets. The move comes after the SEC warned Coinbase last month that it expected to sue the exchange over allegations of listing and offering unregistered securities.

Bitcoin’s 50-day moving average is in focus after the cryptocurrency fell 11% from a 10-month high of $31,000 it hit last week. The decline has brought attention to bitcoin’s 50-day simple moving average, which now sits at $27,244. According to Alex Kuptsikevich, senior market analyst at FxPro, a potential violation of the 50-day SMA support would challenge the bullish market sentiment. “The market has erased its previous growth momentum and is now testing the strength of the medium-term uptrend in the form of the 50-day moving average,” Kuptsikevich said in an email. “A break below this would call into question the bull market’s strength, while a consolidation below $26,600 could be the prologue to a more profound decline.”

The U.K.’s Standard Chartered Bank said crypto winter is finally over and bitcoin has the potential to reach $100,000 by year end. The climb to six figures could be driven by a number of factors, including the recent banking-sector crisis that helped to “re-establish bitcoin’s use as a decentralized scarce digital asset,” the bank said in a report on Monday. “Against this backdrop, bitcoin has benefited from its status as a branded safe haven, a perceived relative store of value and a means of remittance,” analyst Geoff Kendrick wrote. Bitcoin has gained 65% since the start of the year.