Bitcoin (BTC) Hits New All-Time High Above $62,900 As Kraken CEO Warns of Crackdown
Bitcoin (BTC) has turned absolutely unstoppable with the overall cryptocurrency market cap soaring past $2.05 trillion. Today, April 13, Bitcoin (BTC) has surged another 5% hitting its new all-time high above $62,900 levels.
At press time, Bitcoin (BTC) is trading at a price of $62,954 with a market cap of $1.17 trillion. Bitcoin has been on a phenomenal rally this year gaining more than 100% just within the first 100 days of 2021.
The massive Bitcoin price rally comes on the backdrop of strong institutional participation along with Bitcoin attracting some of the biggest corporates like Tesla. Interestingly, today’s Bitcoin price rally and the overall crypto market surge comes at a time when Jesse Powell, the CEO of Bitcoin Exchange Kraken, warned of a possible crackdown.
Powell warned that governments worldwide may start clamping down on the use of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Kraken is currently the fourth-largest crypto exchange in the world by trading volumes. The exchange reported massive trading volumes during the first quarter of 2021. Besides, it is also considering a move for going public ahead this year.
Speaking to CNBC during his recent interview, Kraken said: "I think there could be some crackdown. I hope that the U.S. and international regulators don't take too much of a narrow view on this. Some other countries, China especially, are taking crypto very seriously and taking a very long-term view”.
He further believes that the regulatory uncertainty around digital currencies will not go away very easily. Besides, he also expects some sweeping regulations coming from government bodies to curb crypto use for criminal activities, money laundering, or terror financing.
Earlier this year, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen red-flagged cryptocurrencies for its use in illicit activities. Besides, ECB President Christine Lagarde also voiced similar opinion on the use of digital assets.
Besides, the U.S. government also passed a new anti-money laundering rule requiring people to submit their identity for any transactions above $3000 in cryptocurrencies. Commenting on it, Jesse Powell said: "Something like that could really hurt crypto and kind of kill the original use case, which was to just make financial services accessible to everyone”.
Lashing out at the U.S. government, Powell said that the U.S. is far more “shortsighted” than other nations and more “susceptible" to pressures from traditional financial institutions like the banks.
However, Powell thinks that it’s too late to ban Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies at this stage. "Maybe the genie's out of the bottle and just trying to ban it at this point would make it more attractive. It would certainly send a message that the government sees this as a superior alternative to their own currency,” he added.