Despite Binance's recent legal issues, Bitcoin and other leading cryptocurrencies experienced gains on Wednesday. With a 3.9% increase in the last 24 hours, Bitcoin's market value reached $28,380, recovering from its sub-$27,000 dip earlier this week.
This follows the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) filing a lawsuit against Binance, alleging the crypto exchange offered unregistered digital asset derivatives. In March, Bitcoin's value increased by roughly 21%, outpacing other assets such as Ether, stocks, and gold.
BitBull Capital's CEO, Joe DiPasquale, attributed the market's positive reaction to the prevailing narrative of quantitative tightening (QE) and fiat printing. Ether, the second-largest digital currency by market capitalization, traded at $1,794, reflecting a 1.1% daily increase. XRP, ADA, and MATIC tokens also saw gains of nearly 6%, 3.8%, and 3.3% respectively.
DiPasquale suggested that regulatory scrutiny of major players in the crypto space has leveled the playing field for other coins, which were once viewed as contentious. The CFTC lawsuit filed against Binance in Illinois' U.S. District Court classified several cryptocurrencies, including BTC, ETH, LTC, USDT, and BUSD, as commodities. SEC Chairman Gary Gensler has previously argued that proof-of-stake tokens like Ether could be considered securities amid a jurisdictional dispute between the two agencies.
Wednesday saw a "risk-on" day across the board, with equity markets posting gains as investors prepared for upcoming data releases, such as the U.S. final Q4 GDP figures and personal consumption expenditures (PCE) inflation data.
James Lavish, Managing Partner at the Bitcoin Opportunity Fund, said that weaker-than-expected data could give Federal Reserve Chair Powell enough evidence to pause future rate hikes. He added that Bitcoin's price benefited from the risk-on move and news of China's first yuan-settled LNG trade with the UAE, which could pave the way for Bitcoin to serve as a means of exchange in large cross-border energy trades.
