Bitcoin (BTC-USD) broke through $60,000 to reach a high of $61,674 on March 13, Saturday but was in retreat on Monday morning amid reports that one of the biggest markets in the world, India, could ban cryptocurrencies altogether.
The world’s biggest cryptocurrency started the week off with a decline, down 4.4% to $57,847.84 at 9.15 am in London.
A Reuters report on Sunday evening stated that senior government officials in India were working on a law banning cryptocurrencies. Under the proposed law, people could be penalized for mining or owning cryptocurrencies, according to the report.
The cryptocurrency ecosystem barring Bitcoin was also in decline on Monday morning. Ethereum (ETH-USD), the second-largest cryptocurrency in the world, on Monday, was trading 5.7% lower against the dollar to $1,785.49. According to CoinMarketCap.com, the crypto market was down 4.5% over 24 hours.
Nigel Green, chief executive and founder of financial advisory group deVere, said there was a growing concern for bitcoin and the wider cryptocurrency market related to regulations.
“Whether crypto cynics like it or not, there’s no getting away from the fact that bitcoin is becoming an increasingly important part of the global financial system,” he said.
“The move towards digital currencies is going to increase – and at pace – over the next few years. This is why financial regulators must now make regulation of the crypto sector a major priority.
“With a growing dominance, bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies must be held to the same standards as the rest of the financial system with a robust, workable international framework.”
While the cryptocurrencies were under pressure on Monday morning, compared to what the market was six months ago, it is still in good shape right now. Bitcoin’s rally of over 400% amid a surge of interest from institutional players like Square (SQ) and Tesla (TSLA) has helped spark a broader rally for the market.
“While the bitcoin flow picture was dominated by institutional investors during Q4 2020, the flow picture has been more equally balanced between retail and institutional investors in the current quarter,” analysts at JP Morgan said in a note on Friday.
