Bitcoin Slumps Below $63k as Regulatory Delays Offset Rate Cheer

Bitcoin's price fell below $63,000 on Friday due to regulatory delays offsetting optimism over no imminent interest rate hikes. The delay in a major government measure for tokenized securities, which had been expected to be unveiled this week, has weighed on crypto sentiment.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is set to further delay its planned 'innovation exemption' for tokenized securities after the White House and Wall Street raised concerns over the proposal's legal footing and market impact.

Industry insiders have been told that the effort may need to wait for the outcome of the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, a key piece of crypto legislation that has faced numerous delays in the past year. The act aims to set a regulatory framework for the crypto industry.

Crypto prices were also affected by Strategy's latest sale of Bitcoin, which weighed on sentiment and led most altcoins to head for weekly losses.