Major cryptocurrencies lost ground on Tuesday night as the global cryptocurrency market cap fell 2.43% to $1.56 trillion.
What Happened: Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) traded 3.42% lower at $38,247.65 over 24 hours at press time. The largest cryptocurrency by market cap is down 2.29% for the week.
Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) was lower by 4.98% at $2,496.74 over 24 hours. The cryptocurrency gained 9.34% over a seven-day period.
See Also: How To Buy Ethereum (ETH)
Shiba Inu-themed Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE) was down 3.44% at $0.20 and fell 2.55% for the week.
DOGE traded flat against BTC falling 0.05% and rose 1.73% against ETH over 24 hours.
Over 24 hours, Terra (CRYPTO: LUNA) saw the most gains rising 15.84% to $14.52. Over a seven-day trailing period, LUNA rose 53.02%.
LUNA is up 19.20% and 21.32% against BTC and ETH respectively over 24 hours.
Other coins that rose in 24 hours included, Celo (CRYPTO: CELO), Voyager Token (CRYPTO: VGX), and Cardano (CRYPTO: ADA).
CELO rose 10.61% to $2.93, VGX was up 3.2% to $2.91 and ADA traded 2.5% higher at $1.35 in the period.
Why It Matters: On Tuesday, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler said at the Aspen Security Forum that in his belief a large number of initial coin offerings and cryptocurrency tokens might violate U.S. security laws, reported CoinDesk.
He said, “I believe we have a crypto market now where many tokens may be unregistered securities, without required disclosures or market oversight.”
Gensler reportedly made the observation that a typical trading platform has more than 50 tokens on it and while each token’s legal status may vary on facts and circumstances “the probability is quite remote that, with 50 or 100 tokens, any given platform has zero securities.”
See Also: Is Ethereum On Track To Cross $3,000 Mark?
Meanwhile, Blockchain Association’s Karen Smith said on Tuesday that the SEC is unlikely to approve a BTC ETF anytime in the near future. Smith noted Gensler’s passion for consumer protection.
“I think that Gary Gensler is very passionate about consumer protection, and wants to see more robust regulation of the underlying spot market for crypto.”
The U.S. is not the only jurisdiction that is clamoring to regulate cryptocurrencies. Last month the deputy governor of the People’s Bank of China said “Global stablecoins may bring risks and challenges to the international monetary system.”
Europe and West African countries are also mulling regulatory measures.