Here’s what happened in crypto today

Source: Cointelegraph

The price of Bitcoin briefly touched the $35,000 mark, a first for the cryptocurrency in more than a year. Meanwhile, several key pieces of crypto legislation are at a standstill as Republican lawmakers struggle to elect a new House speaker in the United States Congress and Reddit’s r/CryptoCurrency community sacked two moderators allegedly involved in insider trading of the Moons (MOON) token.

Bitcoin price reaches $35K as ETF excitement grows

Bitcoin BTC $33,895 broke through the $35,000 mark for the first time since May 2022, marking a staggering gain in the past 24 hours.

The price of Bitcoin suddenly spiked upward on Oct. 23, with BTC gaining more than 10% from $31,000 to over $34,000.

Less than two hours after breaking $34,000, Bitcoin reached as high as $35,300 according to data from TradingView. Bitcoin is currently changing hands for a price of $34,550.

The sudden uptick in price for Bitcoin comes amid a fresh wave of interest in upcoming spot ETF approvals and a significant increase in overall trading volumes across spot markets.

The iShares spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) proposed by investment firm BlackRock has been listed on the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), suggesting potential approval by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.

In an Oct. 23 X (formerly Twitter) thread, Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas said the DTCC listing was “all part of the process” of bringing a crypto ETF to market. The iShares spot Bitcoin ETF has a ticker symbol of IBTC for a possible listing on the Nasdaq stock exchange, which applied to list and trade shares of the investment vehicle in June.

House speaker vacuum leaves Congress paralyzed on crypto bills

Key pieces of crypto legislation in the United States remain in limbo as lawmakers struggle to appoint a new House speaker.

Without a House speaker, crypto bills passed by the Financial Services Committee have nowhere to go. The Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act, the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act, the Clarity for Payment Stablecoins Act and the Keep Your Coins Act are all on hold until Republicans can agree on a new speaker.

“In the Speaker race there are several pro-crypto candidates,” said Ron Hammond, the Blockchain Association’s director of government relations. Tom Emmer “is the frontrunner, but as the past few weeks have shown it is far from a guarantee he will become Speaker.”

Contrasting with the pro-crypto candidates is a growing chorus of lawmakers who want to “curtail illicit crypto activity,” according to a letter endorsed by Senator Elizabeth Warren and more than 100 other representatives.

Reddit removes moderators involved in alleged insider trading of MOON tokens

Reddit’s r/CryptoCurrency community has fired two moderators who were found to be involved in insider trading of the MOON token, Cointelegraph has confirmed.

At least three wallets linked to Reddit group moderators dumped hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of MOON tokens on Oct. 18, just minutes before the official announcement of the closure of the blockchain-based points program that involved the use of certain cryptocurrencies native to each community. The market dump by the three wallets was highlighted by on-chain analysis accounts on X (formerly Twitter), such as Lookonchain.

Cointelegraph reached out to r/CryptoCurrency to understand the insider trading allegations and how the investigation went through. U/Mellon, a core contributor and founder of MoonDust, told Cointelegraph that two moderators were removed while three others are being investigated:

“Two mods got removed, as they sold their Moons before the official announcement from Reddit: u/Rider_of_the_strom u/McGillby.”

The program allowed participants on the platform to earn points and spend them using community-native crypto tokens such as MOON.

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.