Ether hit an eight-month high, rising above $4,000 at one point amid Donald Trump's executive order allowing pension funds to invest in alternative assets, including cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin and Solana also rose in price. The SEC's decision to close a multi-year case against Ripple gave the market additional impetus.

Details

Ether's price climbed to $4009.7 at one point during trading on Aug. 8, back to peaks late last year, according to data from CoinDesk.

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies also rose in price after U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Aug. 7 allowing pension funds to invest in alternative assets, including cryptocurrencies. 

According to data from CoinDesk, bitcoin was up more than 2% to $117,624 in momentum during trading on Aug. 8. It is now trading about 5% below its all-time high, reached in mid-July. Solana is up 2.3%.

What gave cryptocurrencies a boost?

Trump's executive order opening up retirement plans to investments in private funds, cryptocurrencies and other alternative assets is making possible the influx of trillions of dollars in digital assets. Such savings totaled $8.9 trillion at the end of last September, according to the Investment Company Institute, writes Barron's. Typically, participants in voluntary retirement insurance under Section 401(k) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code were offered a standard choice of stock funds, bonds and index products, notes Yahoo Finance.

The market was further supported by news from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which announced an end to a multi-year legal battle with blockchain company Ripple Labs. This put an end to one of the longest-running cases against the crypto sector. 

Context

With Trump's arrival in the White House, the legalization of cryptocurrencies has begun in the United States, and the SEC, which previously harassed crypto companies, has become more loyal to digital assets. In July, Congress held the so-called Crypto Week, during which the House and Senate worked to pass three key pieces of legislation - CLARITY, GENIUS and the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act.

The GENIUS Act signed by Trump on July 18 laid the legal groundwork for the use of stablecoins such as Tether (USDT) and Circle (USDC). The CLARITY Act, which aims to define the regulatory boundaries of the cryptocurrency industry, and the Anti-CBDC Act, which blocks the Fed from launching a digital dollar, have already passed a vote in the House of Representatives and await consideration in the Senate.

After the inauguration of Trump, who promised in his campaign program to "make the U.S. the cryptocurrency capital of the world," bitcoin updated its high several times. 

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor

Share