What happened
As of 1:00 p.m. ET, Bitcoin ( BTC 1.57% ), Ethereum ( ETH 1.56% ), and Cardano ( ADA -0.04% ) appreciated 3.3%, 1.2%, and 4.8%, respectively. Earlier in the day, Ethereum showed a 24-hour gain of 3.8%. These modest moves higher have coincided with a rather strong momentum this weekend, on the heels of an early Saturday sell-off that hit the cryptocurrency market yesterday.
Cryptocurrency investors appear to be taking a wait-and-see approach to these large-cap cryptocurrencies, in the wake of what has turned out to be a bumpy week for these major tokens. Each of these three tokens started its sell-off on Wednesday, following a congressional meeting between key cryptocurrency CEOs and lawmakers to discuss the potential for regulation in the cryptocurrency market earlier this week.
Image source: Getty Images.
So what
Bitcoin, Ethereum and Cardano account for approximately 65% of the cryptocurrency market combined. These blockchain networks are behind the vast majority of real-world use cases in the cryptocurrency world. Accordingly, investors often look to these top-6 tokens as bellwethers of which way the wind is blowing in the cryptocurrency universe.
This week’s choppy price action suggests investors are increasingly concerned about the regulatory outlook for the cryptocurrency market moving forward. Capital inflows into the cryptocurrency market may be hampered by higher regulation, with taxation concerns related to Biden’s spending bill already providing headwinds for this sector.
Additionally, early enthusiasts have jumped into the cryptocurrency market due to the idea that the government can’t touch this asset class. The privacy and anonymity provided by major cryptocurrencies are some of the key reasons investors have jumped aboard. The lack of ties to the government, regulators, or other large financial institutions also plays a significant part in their investment theses.
Thus, there’s concern that any sort of appeasement efforts by large cryptocurrency players could impact the investment thesis for this entire sector, which would have adverse impacts particularly for large-cap tokens such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Cardano.
Now what
Based on the initial conversations between prominent cryptocurrency figures and regulators, it appears the market is pricing in some likelihood of broad regulation taking hold in the cryptocurrency space. For investors, these headwinds may be hard to price in, leading to some near-term volatility in the price of these major tokens.
This weekend, it appears these three major tokens are starting to find some footing. There have been plenty of peaks and valleys in the past. And perhaps this will be just the latest volatile swing on a march to new all-time highs.
However, the risks associated with cryptocurrency investments remain much higher than most asset classes. Accordingly, the wait-and-see approach the market is taking right now with these top tokens may be warranted.
This article represents the opinion of the writer, who may disagree with the “official” recommendation position of a Motley Fool premium advisory service. We’re motley! Questioning an investing thesis – even one of our own – helps us all think critically about investing and make decisions that help us become smarter, happier, and richer.