Late last week, the cryptocurrency market experienced a spark of life as Bitcoin stirred from its September sluggishness. A brief surge of roughly 3% lifted Bitcoin to $26,400, but the gain was short-lived as the digital coin retreated below the $26,000 mark during the European morning. Overall, Bitcoin has had a somewhat lethargic month, largely remaining under $26,000 while market watchers anticipate decisive news regarding key regulatory issues notably, the SEC’s decision around the listing of a spot Bitcoin ETF in the U.S.
Historically, September has proved a challenging timespan for Bitcoin, which has posted negative returns every year since 2016. As it seems, 2023 is following suit.
One of the renowned players in the crypto industry, Coinbase, has recently released plans of a forthcoming international expansion effort. Their strategy mainly focuses on obtaining licenses in significant financial jurisdictions with clear rules stipulated for the crypto industry. The platform’s CEO, Brian Armstrong, has expressed apprehensions over the recent months regarding the vagueness of regulatory certainty in the U.S. Considering this, Coinbase targets the EU, U.K., Canada, Brazil, Singapore, and Australia as immediate areas of interest.
On other news, accounting standards seem set to change, which would resolve MicroStrategy‘s distorted company value perception due to substantial Bitcoin impairment losses. Since August 2020, MicroStrategy has reported cumulative impairment losses from Bitcoin holdings amounting to $2.23 billion. The proposed changes by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) are poised to mitigate the adverse optics created by these impairment losses, introducing fair-value accounting. This move will enable companies to reflect gains and losses promptly in their income statements.
The future of cryptocurrency market remains uncertain. Will Bitcoin break through its September lows, or will it continue to drift? How influential will Coinbase’s international expansion and changes in accounting standards be to the overall landscape of the crypto industry? With the hint of change in the air, we, the crypto enthusiasts, continue to keenly observe and analyze, hoping for a more empowering global regulatory environment for cryptocurrencies.
Source: Coindesk
