Bitcoin declined on Wednesday as investors assessed fresh regulatory proposals from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), while ongoing tensions between the U.S. and Iran continued to weigh on sentiment.
Markets were also awaiting further regulatory signals from an upcoming White House meeting. A broader risk-off mood across financial markets, fueled by rising U.S. Treasury yields, kept pressure on cryptocurrencies.
Bitcoin declined 0.55 percent to $64,331 by 9:42 GMT.
SEC proposes new crypto rules
Bitcoin fell after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed on Tuesday new rules designed to establish a tailored regulatory framework for certain investment contracts involving crypto assets.
Named “Regulation Crypto Assets,” the proposal includes two exemptions from securities registration requirements. Under the first, eligible issuers could raise up to $5 million over a four-year period, while the second would allow offerings of up to $75 million within a 12-month period.
SEC Chairman Paul Atkins said the proposal would provide crypto entrepreneurs and market participants with clearer routes to raising capital within the framework of federal securities laws.
He also said the proposal would introduce a safe harbor, consistent with the SEC’s previous interpretative guidance, once an issuer had completed or permanently stopped the key managerial activities outlined in an investment contract.
Read: Bitcoin falls to $64,207 as Fed rate outlook, U.S.-Iran tensions weigh on crypto markets
Trump to attend innovation committee meeting
Separately, U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to attend a White House meeting of his administration’s newly established innovation committee on Wednesday. The session is set to bring together executives from cryptocurrency and prediction market firms, as well as representatives from traditional financial institutions and the artificial intelligence sector.
The White House gathering will be followed by a meeting at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on Thursday. As the agency overseeing the innovation committee, the CFTC is expected to use the session to continue discussions on developing a regulatory framework for the crypto industry.
The latest moves by the SEC and CFTC come as efforts to advance the Clarity Act, a major overhaul of U.S. cryptocurrency regulations, stalled in Congress.
As Bitcoin declined, the broader cryptocurrency market saw positive price movements on Wednesday. Ether, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency, rose 1.11 percent to $1,918.27, while XRP gained 0.83 percent to $1.0043.
Solana advanced 1.70 percent, Cardano added 0.46 percent and BNB edged up 0.23 percent.
Among memecoins, Dogecoin climbed 0.19 percent, while $TRUMP rose 0.79 percent.
