Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies surged after the US Treasury Department released details of an executive order from President Joe Biden that appears to support a stance on digital assets, writes CNBC.
The crypto rally began as early as Tuesday evening, after the Treasury released details and a statement online in response to the upcoming U.S. presidential order on cryptocurrencies.
Bitcoin was trading at $41,584.21 as of 02:17 AM ET (0717 GMT), according to CoinDesk. Other cryptocurrencies, including Ethereum, also surged.
A now-deleted Treasury statement said the order calls for a comprehensive approach to digital assets and that government agencies will coordinate their work in this area.
Even such a fleeting statement from the Treasury that seemed to support cryptocurrencies was enough to raise optimism in the market.
“The leaked Treasury statement was welcomed by the crypto market as it appears to be focused on developing the industry rather than imposing unrealistic regulations,” said Yuya Hasegawa, a market analyst at Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Bitbank.
While some countries, such as China, seek to destroy cryptocurrency trading, others, such as El Salvador, have embraced it. In the US, there is not yet a sufficiently high-level structure for the development and regulation of cryptocurrencies.