Join the BingX community
Crypto market news highlights today
Three Republican lawmakers have accused SEC Chairman Gary Gensler of hiring agency employees based on their political beliefs, which if true, they say could violate the law. House Financial Services Committee Chairman Patrick McHenry of North Carolina, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan of Ohio and House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer of Kentucky have asked Gensler to turn over documents related to the agency’s XEM of political affiliations in prospective employees.
They said the SEC’s hiring practices may violate the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, which is designed to prevent unfair practices. “Oversight by the committees is essential to assessing whether the SEC is complying with federal law in hiring civil servants and to determining the extent to which individuals’ political affiliations influence the SEC’s personnel decisions,” the lawmakers said in a letter sent earlier this week.
Although the letter did not mention cryptocurrencies, Gensler has faced scrutiny from the crypto industry for years. The chairman asserted that most cryptocurrencies are securities under his agency’s jurisdiction. He also called on crypto platforms to register with the SEC. Crypto companies have argued that they cannot register with the SEC and that the current regulatory framework is not appropriate for digital assets.
McHenry, Jordan and Comer said they discovered the SEC’s potentially illegal hiring practices in an email exchange between Gensler and Dr. Haoxiang Zhu, the SEC’s director of trading and markets. After a call between the two in May 2021 about Dr. Zhu’s future employment, the lawmakers said Dr. Zhu emailed Gensler about his political affiliations. “Dr. Zhu emailed him to affirm his ideological suitability to work under him, stating, ‘I believe I am on the right side of the political spectrum and I am happy to provide as much detail as I can to make you feel comfortable,’” according to the letter. “Six months later, on November 19, 2021, the SEC hired Dr. Zhu.”
Bitcoin BingX Chart
Bitcoin 1D Chart 09/13/2024 | Source TradingView & BingX
Bitcoin prices rose today as traders found their appetite for risk amid expectations of a rate cut at the FOMC next week. Bitcoin prices rose after Wall Street opened on September 12 as fresh macroeconomic data from the United States sparked risk-on sentiment across the broader crypto market. After the CPI released on September 11 showed a slowdown in year-over-year inflation, Bitcoin reacted positively to the Producer Price Index (PPI) data released on September 12.
August PPI data showed a 0.3% monthly increase , slightly above expectations, while the annual equivalent was lower than expected at 2.4%. However, market participants focused more on the unemployment figures, which also rose sharply at 230,750 compared to the expected 227,000.
For weeks now, the market has been betting on a 50 basis point (bps) rate cut at the FOMC meeting on September 18, and this week’s macroeconomic data has reduced the odds of a 0.5% cut to less than 15%, down from 40% at the start of last week. Capital markets commentator The Kobeissi Letter maintains that the Federal Reserve should cut rates by 0.25% at the next FOMC meeting.
Data from CME Group’s FedWatch tool confirmed this, showing that the futures market priced in an 87% chance of a 0.25% cut at the Fed’s September 18 meeting. The liquidation of short positions relative to long positions further fueled Bitcoin’s bullish performance on September 12. Notably, the Bitcoin Derivative market saw about $27.39 million in liquidations in the past 24 hours, of which $19.97 million were shorts. When short positions are liquidated, which typically involves buying the asset (voluntarily or through a broker), this can increase the price.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin's open interest (OI) has increased from $28.30 billion on September 8 to around $30.02 billion on September 12. Additionally, Bitcoin's funding rate has turned positive. It is currently at 0.0483% per week, indicating that longs are now willing to pay short sellers to keep their positions open. However, the funding rate has increased significantly from its low on August 17 of over -0.1365% per week.
BTC 's current support level is $56,500 and resistance level is $60,500.
Disclaimer : Readers should conduct their own research before making any transactions. BingX is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or reported as a result of use of, reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in the article.
