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Did US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen just revive the crypto market? Bitcoin shoots back above $42k
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Bitcoin has sprung back to life over the past several hours as news emerged of a prematurely published document from US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen regarding president Joe Biden’s upcoming crypto executive order.
The statement, dated March 9, was posted on the Treasury Department’s website on Tuesday night (EST) but was taken down shortly after it was published.
And, while Yellen’s early response does address risks related to illicit finance and threats to the financial system, the document’s tone was surprisingly supportive of innovation.
@USTreasury Janet Yellen on @POTUS #digitalassets Executive Order. This bodes well. Excited for @Digital_Dollar_ to support the work!
@giancarloMKTS @DGorfine @DBTreat @Pure_Giancarlo https://t.co/3PtIHugZBq— Jennifer Lassiter (jennlassiter.eth) (@Jbrookslassiter) March 9, 2022
“President Biden’s historic executive order calls for a coordinated and comprehensive approach to digital asset policy,” the statement read. “This approach will support responsible innovation that could result in substantial benefits for the nation, consumers, and businesses.
“Treasury will work to promote a fairer, more inclusive, and more efficient financial system,” added Yellen, “while building on our ongoing work to counter illicit finance, and prevent risks to financial stability and national security.”
Under the executive order, the Treasury will apparently be partnering with interagency departments to produce a report on the future of money and payment systems in the US.
Bitcoin surges back above US$42k
As news of the leaked document hit Crypto Twitter and beyond, Bitcoin and the crypto market quickly regained some of its recently lost territory. The total crypto market cap is currently up by about 6.5 per cent compared with this time yesterday.
And Bitcoin has recovered about US$3,500 over the past eight hours or so. It’s changing hands for a bit over US$41,000 at the time of writing.
Prominent crypto participants and identities have been quick to respond, including crypto exchange and custodian Gemini’s billionaire twin Cameron Winklevoss…
I applaud this constructive approach to thoughtful crypto regulation and look forward to working together with the various stakeholders to ensure that the US remains a leader in crypto.
— Cameron Winklevoss (@cameron) March 9, 2022
Other prominent cryptocurrencies including ETH (+6.7%), SOL (5.3%) and AVAX (7.4%) have followed suit, according to CoinGecko data.
But look at Terra’s LUNA in particular – up 18.8%. This one’s been on an absolute tear just lately, riding on the back of a wave of positive sentiment for the Terra layer 1 blockchain, an expanding ecosystem, capital inflow and increasing partnerships.
