The crypto market is on the brink of change: banking licenses for crypto companies, the return of Strategy, and a potential SEC breakthrough.
Last night was marked by a series of significant events capable of radically changing the landscape of the American crypto market. The head of the OCC spoke in favor of granting crypto companies access to a banking license, Strategy announced the resumption of bitcoin purchases, and the SEC, apparently, is preparing an important step in the field of tokenized assets.
Market dynamics: consolidation and moderate volatility
As of 08:45 Moscow time, bitcoin (BTC) was trading around $63,794. Night trading took place in the range of $63,200–$64,450, after which the price returned to the opening level. Ether (ETH) showed a similar picture, consolidating near $1,890 after a pullback to $1,853.
In the top 10 by capitalization, no noticeable movements were observed. The growth leaders were Dogecoin (DOGE) and BNB, gaining 2.91% and 2.19%, respectively. The outsider was Hyperliquid (HYPE), which lost 1.47%.
Among the top 100 assets, Canton (CC) stood out with a gain of 5.52%. Also in positive territory were NEAR Protocol (+4.48%) and Curve DAO Token (+4.07%). The largest decline was recorded for the Audiera (BEAT) token — down 10.7%.
Flows into spot ETFs were mixed. Bitcoin funds attracted $4.89 million, Solana — $1.43 million, while ether products lost $1.76 million. Over the day, positions worth $175.22 million were liquidated among 76,376 traders.
Regulatory news: new horizons for the industry
The head of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Jonathan Gould, made an important statement: crypto companies should have a path to obtaining a banking license in the United States. He emphasized that access to a national license should be opened to everyone conducting legitimate activities, including work with digital assets. Over the past 18 months, the agency has received 40 applications to create new banks.
Meanwhile, Strategy CEO Phong Le confirmed that the company will resume bitcoin purchases before the end of the year. This statement alleviates some of the market's concerns following recent sales of part of its reserves. Since the beginning of the year, Strategy has acquired about 175,000 BTC, selling only about 7,000 — meaning the volume of purchases exceeded sales by 25 times. The proceeds from the sales went to dividends and share buybacks, but now the company is returning to building up its reserves.
The key event of Friday could be the SEC meeting, at which the regulator will likely present an exemption for trading tokenized stocks. This step could open the door to 24/7 trading of such instruments on the blockchain. However, public companies will be able to object to the tokenization of their securities by third parties, and platforms will be required to tighten anti-money laundering rules.
My analysis: The OCC statements and the possible SEC decision are not just tactical steps, but a systemic shift in the approach of American regulators. If the exemption for tokenized stocks is adopted, we will witness the formation of a new class of assets that could attract significant institutional capital to the crypto ecosystem. However, we should not forget that any easing will be accompanied by stricter compliance requirements, which will increase operational costs for exchanges.