Bitcoin price rises on Israel-Iran ceasefire, Senate major crypto bill

Crypto prices, including bitcoin, rose on Tuesday after President Trump announced a ceasefire between Iran and Israel.

By midday Tuesday, bitcoin had passed the $105,000 level, ether jumped back above the $2,400 mark, and XRP climbed to $2.19. 

The danger-on motion within the markets, which also saw stocks rally on the Mideast de-escalation, wasn’t the one source of momentum, as Republican senators unveiled a significant bill to set the foundations of the road for crypto. Specifically, the laws would define when crypto is a commodity or a security, allow crypto exchanges to register with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and reduce the Securities and Exchange Commission’s regulation of digital assets — an enormous reversal from the plans of President Biden’s SEC Chair Gary Gensler to closely regulate the crypto industry.

The brand new framework was introduced by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott of South Carolina and Senator Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, who heads the panel’s Digital Assets Committee. Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” that the regulatory development was necessary for the U.S. to regain the lead within the crypto industry, where he said it has fallen behind other markets, including Europe.

Last week, the senate passed a stablecoin bill, marking the primary major legislative win for the crypto industry, which now heads to the House for consideration of its version of the bill. Each bills prohibit yield-bearing consumer stablecoins — but differ on agency regulatory oversight. Visa CEO Ryan McInerney weighed in on the advancement of the Senate version, the Genius Act, telling CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” that the bank card giant has been embracing stablecoins. 

Meanwhile, investors increased their bets on crypto company Digital Asset, which raised $135 million in funding from several big names in banking and finance, including Goldman Sachs, BNP Paribas and hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin’s Citadel Securities. The firm, which touts itself as a regulated crypto player, said it should use the funding to advance adoption of its Canton network, which is a blockchain for financial institutions, one other sign of how major financial institutions are embedding themselves into the once obscure crypto world.