Crypto tumble as concerns over regulation intensifies

Bitcoin tumbled to a three-week low Thursday, as crypto exchange Kraken halted its staking program and agreed to pay $30 million to settle charges brought by the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

The largest cryptocurrency
BTCUSD,
+0.30%

fell more than 4% Thursday to as low as $21,850, according to CoinDesk data. Ether dropped 4.5% to around $1,572.

The SEC charged Kraken with “failing to register the offer and sale of their crypto asset staking-as-a-service program, whereby investors transfer crypto assets to Kraken for staking in exchange for advertised annual investment returns of as much as 21 percent,” according to a statement Thursday.

Crypto investors are worried that the SEC might file similar charges for other staking services providers, and hurt cryptocurrencies based on proof-of-stake blockchains such as Ethereum
ETHUSD,
+0.64%
,
Cardano
ADAUSD,
-0.07%
,
Avalanche
AVAXUSD,
+0.66%
,
Polkadot
DOTUSD,
+0.12%

and Polygon
MATICUSD,
+2.57%
,
among others.

Source: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/crypto-tumbles-as-concerns-over-regulation-intensifies-11675978907?siteid=yhoof2&yptr=yahoo