<p>Market picture</p><p>Bitcoin has
gained 1.5% in the past few hours to trade at around $22,000. The total market
capitalisation of cryptocurrencies rose 2.3% to $1.03 trillion. In line with
the Nasdaq100, bitcoin outperformed, falling less and strengthening more.</p><p>Once again,
we are entering a phase where institutions are the brakes rather than the fuel
of crypto's growth. This balance of power is a sure sign of retail investor
optimism. However, this sentiment could quickly fade if the sell-off in equity
markets continues.</p><p>The local
technical picture suggests that bitcoin has most likely reached its upside
correction targets from the beginning of the year, paving the way to the
upside. However, it is worth keeping a close eye on the traditional markets, as
a reversal to the downside could send the crypto back into sell-off mode.</p><p>Paxos
announced that it would stop issuing Binance USD (BUSD) stablecoins as of 21
February due to the SEC's designation of the asset as an unregistered security.
Capital outflows from BUSD exceeded $360 million.</p><p>The
capitalisation of Binance USD has fallen below $16 billion. Against this
backdrop, Tether's share of stablecoins has surpassed 51%. According to Nansen,
traders also withdraw funds from Binance at the highest rate in three months.</p><p>News Background</p><p>The Aave
Lending Protocol community will consider a proposal to freeze the use of
Binance USD (BUSD) as collateral amid pressure from the SEC on Paxos.</p><p>According to
Bloomberg, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will make it much
harder for cryptocurrency hedge funds to operate. </p><p>Private
equity firms and pension funds could also fall under the restrictions. The new
rules will make it more difficult to become qualified custodians which are
responsible custodians of crypto assets.</p><p>Crypto
investor platform Bakkt has decided to suspend its retail application and focus
entirely on corporate clients.</p><p>Changpeng
Zhao, head of Binance, described Dubai (UAE), Bahrain and France as
bitcoin-friendly countries and urged cryptocurrency entrepreneurs to consider
relocating there.</p><p>This article was written by <a href="https://www.fxpro.com/" target="_blank" rel="follow">FxPro</a>’s Senior Market Analyst Alex
Kuptsikevich.</p>
This article was written by FxPro FXPro at www.forexlive.com.
