Cryptocurrencies took a breather today as Bitcoin's price retreated from $100,000 and was trading around $97,500 as of 1:00 pm ET. U.S. Treasury yields rose in anticipation of new inflation data to be released later this week, but otherwise it wasn't immediately clear what triggered the selloff.
Other cryptocurrencies followed Bitcoin and struggled today as well. XRP price (Crypto: XRP) It was down 6.6%. Meanwhile, the meme token Dogecoin (Code:Doge) and Shiba Inu (Code: SHIB) They decreased by 5.4% and 5.2%, respectively.
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Most of the crypto news this morning looked positive, despite the rise in the 10-year US Treasury yield, which has weighed on Bitcoin prices so far. MicroStrategy, a large Bitcoin buyer, just announced that it will buy an additional $2.1 billion in Bitcoin at an average price of $98,783, and the company currently holds $25.6 billion in Bitcoin.
Meanwhile, some Amazon shareholders have proposed that the company follow in MicroStrategy's footsteps and hold 5% of its assets in Bitcoin. This is an interesting development because the deeper Bitcoin becomes entrenched in the mainstream financial system, the better it is likely to perform.
In more negative headlines, media reported that El Salvador plans to roll back parts of its Bitcoin laws in order to secure financing deals from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, and Inter-American Development Bank. El Salvador bet big on Bitcoin several years ago, making Bitcoin legal tender in the country in 2021 and amassing large amounts of Bitcoin. This country has made billions in profits.
At the end of the day, I think the most likely reason for the decline is investors taking a breather, which is healthy in a bull market. In more token-specific news, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse appeared on CBS' 60 Minutes last night to discuss President-elect Donald Trump's victory, what it means for the industry, and other cryptocurrencies. We discussed regulations. Ripple is the company that develops XRP. Investors are excited about this arrival, which may have contributed to XRP's incredible recent rally.
But Garlinghouse seemed disappointed in the interview. Regarding X, Garlinghouse omitted important details about the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) lawsuit against Ripple in the interview, such as how a federal judge ruled in Ripple's favor that XRP is not a security. He said that it has been done. This may be a contributing factor to XRP's struggles today. There's no way to know, but we would generally expect meme tokens like Dogecoin and Shiba Inu to underperform or outperform most sectors, so any downside in XRP's performance today could be more token-specific. It may indicate news.
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