Crypto Today: Bitcoin, Ethereum and XRP what to expect as SEC executive says Howey test applies to cryptos

• Bitcoin trades above $62,500 on Monday, sustains above key support as head of US SEC enforcement division says Howey test applies to cryptos. 
• Ethereum and XRP trade above key support, extending gains by nearly 3% on the day. 
• Gurbir Grewal noted in a recent talk that the principled definition of securities applies to cryptos and emphasized the need to address crypto fraud. 

Bitcoin, Ethereum and XRP update 

• The US Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC)’s head of enforcement, Gurbir Grewal, said that the Howey test applies to cryptocurrencies. Howey test is a legal framework outlined by the US Supreme Court to determine whether a transaction qualifies as an investment contract (security) and therefore can be regulated by the SEC. 
• Grewal notes that several courts have issued rulings that reaffirm the application of the Howey test to cryptocurrencies. 
• Grewal’s statement clashes directly with Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chair Rostin Behnam’s statement that 70-80% of cryptocurrencies are commodities, including Bitcoin and Ethereum. 
• Bitcoin held newfound gains, steady above $62,500 on Monday, while Ethereum and XRP trade above $3,100 and $0.533 at the time of writing. 
• Bitcoin noted the fifth largest weekly inflows on record as institutions poured $1.35 billion in BTC funds, per a recent Coinshares report. 
• Bitcoin, Ethereum and XRP hold steady, even as the two US agencies continue to battle on who will regulate cryptocurrencies. 

Chart of the day

FLOKI/USDT daily chart

FLOKI, a meme coin that ranks in the top 100 assets by market capitalization, extended gains and erased losses from the second week of July. FLOKI trades at $0.000159 at the time of writing. 

The meme coin is primed to extend gains by over 15% and rally to the lower boundary of the Fair Value Gap (FVG) at $0.000183, as seen in the daily chart above. The momentum indicator, the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD), supports the thesis with green histogram bars above the neutral line and the MACD line crossing above the signal line. 

FLOKI could find support at the July 13 high of $0.000144 in the event of a correction.

Market updates 

• The attempted assassination of former US President Donald Trump was followed by a rally in cryptocurrencies as traders anticipate Trump’s win in the November elections.
• Bitcoin breaks $60,000 as market anticipates re-election of pro-crypto former President Trump
• Analysts at QCP Capital maintained a medium-term bullish view since the demand for Bitcoin across institutions remains high, evidenced by inflows.
• Scroll bagged a place in the top 10 Ethereum Layer 2 protocols with a surge in the total value of cryptocurrencies locked in its platform. Scroll’s TVL is $1.01 billion on Monday, per L2Beat data.

Industry updates

• Alex Pertsev, the co-founder of Tornado Cash, was denied bail by a Dutch court on Friday. Pertsev was convicted of laundering $1.2 billion in funds through the crypto mixing service. The sentence is five years and four months.
• US presidential candidate Donald Trump’s team confirmed the former President will speak at the Bitcoin conference on July 27, per the Bitcoin Magazine team. 
• Golem, the project that raised funds through an ICO in 2016, has sent 4,049 Ether, worth over $12.93 million to Coinbase and Binance. The project holds another $211 million worth of Ethereum.