Bitcoin prices jumped above $81,000 on Friday amid a rally in the broader cryptocurrency market, after the US Senate Banking Committee advanced a long-awaited US digital asset market structure bill, a legislation that would create regulations for cryptocurrencies.
Bitcoin prices were up 2.44% at $81,517.46, Ethereum price gained 1.03% to $2,289.69, Tether rose 0.01% to $0.9996, while XRP prices rallied 4.44% to $1.49.
Among other cryptocurrencies, Solana prices gained 1.35%, Dogecoin prices surged 2.16%, and Cardano prices gained 2.57%
The Republican-led Senate Banking Committee on Thursday advanced the so-called Clarity Act, which would establish the Commodity Futures Trading Commission as the primary regulator for large parts of the crypto industry while the Securities and Exchange Commission would retain authority to oversee digital securities.
The bill will now proceed to the Senate floor, where lawmakers will need to combine it with another version from the Agriculture Committee, which has jurisdiction over the CFTC.
All Republicans on the committee voted in favor of advancing the bill, and were joined by Democrats including Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego and Maryland Sen. Angela Alsobrooks, in a huge win for the crypto sector and a potential lifeline for the bill’s chances of passage this year.
Meanwhile, JPMorgan Chase & Co. is expanding its tokenized finance efforts. Charles Schwab Corp. is widening access to spot-Bitcoin and Ether trading. Large financial groups continue to back new crypto infrastructure bets, Bloomberg reported.
(With inputs from Agencies)
