Most digital currency prices traded near break-even levels reached after the Securities and Exchange declared that bitcoin and Ether don’t warrant the type of regulatory scrutiny that traditional securities are subject.
A single bitcoin BTCUSD, -0.24% last changed hands at $6,723.53, unchanged since Monday 5 p.m. Eastern Time on the Kraken crypto exchange.
The total value of all cryptocurrencies remains below $300 billion, last valued at $292 billion, slightly above last Thursday’s $290 billion peak, according to data from Coinmarketcap.com.
Last week, the SEC said bitcoin and Ether shouldn’t be labeled as securities, marking a victory for digital-currency enthusiasts who said that conventional securities laws shouldn’t apply to those assets that operate on the decentralized ledger, the technological backbone that underpins cryptocurrencies like bitcoin or Ether, among others.
However, the enthusiasm around that win hasn’t immediately catalyzed into a more substantial price swing for bitcoin or the broader virtual-asset complex, market participants said.
“We just appear to be back in a state of fluctuation,” said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda. “Whether it’s really good news or not may depend on how clear the ruling was for cryptocurrencies and the level of regulation people want. I’m not convinced it’s enough of a bullish catalyst to have a great impact on prices at the moment.”
Read: BIS warns that wide bitcoin adoption could break the internet
Altcoins showing life
Coins alternative to bitcoin, known as altcoins, are outperforming bitcoin in early Tuesday trading.
Ether ETHUSD, +2.33% has risen 3% to $534.32, Bitcoin Cash BCHUSD, +0.09% is up 1.2% at $898.00, Litecoin LTCUSD, -1.44% has gained 0.7% to $100.14 and XRP XRPUSD, +0.47% the coin that runs on the Ripple protocol is trading at 55 cents, up 0.8%.
Futures are showing small gains to start Tuesday. The Cboe July futures contract XBTN8, -0.07% is up 0.7% at $6,750, while the CME June contract BTCM8, +0.00% is 0.4% higher at $6,720.
CryptoWatch: Check bitcoin and other cryptocurrency prices, performance and market capitalization—all on one