The crypto world is going through a storm right now. After the resounding bankruptcy of FTX that began at the end of 2022, 2023 will have seen the SEC (Security and Exchange Committee) launch legal proceedings against 2 giants of the sector, Binance and Coinbase. Paradoxically, cryptos seem to arouse ever more enthusiasm. The proof, last week, the Reddit groups dedicated to Bitcoin and Ethereum have seen their follower numbers reach record highs. Explanations.
Lawsuits That Don’t Tackle Growing Crypto Interest
According to specialist media Theblock, the week of June 4 to June 11 saw the subReddit r/Bitcoin welcome over 364,000 new subscribers, growing the community to more than 5 million people. There r/Ethereum community has registered the arrival of 461,000 new members. It now has more than 2 million users. THE subReddits r/EthTrader and r/Cryptocurrency also saw an increase in subscribersagain according to data published by Theblock.
Records that were recorded the same week when the SEC announced a series of complaints against 2 industry giants, Binance and Coinbase. However, these ads did not materially affect Bitcoin and Ethereum priceswhich, as financial securities, are not affected by the lawsuits brought by the giants of financial regulation in the United States.
Even though the turmoil caused by the SEC lawsuit announcements has affected crypto prices, Bitcoin and Ethereum have kept a relatively stable value. As a reminder, the Bitcoin started 2023 around $16,500, surged above 30,000 in April to stabilize in June between 26 and 27000 dollars. The value of Ethereum followed a fairly similar curve, starting the year at around $1200, reaching $2100 in April and finally stabilizing at $1732 on June 18.
Just like the dollar and gold in the so-called “traditional” economy, can we deduce that these 2 crypto currencies have become safe havens for most investors? That is to say, financial assets on which it is advisable to invest your money to escape the turbulence of a volatile market that is difficult to anticipate. In any case, these figures tend to prove it.
Protests against Reddit
Reddit groups dedicated to Bitcoin and Ethereum seem to be moving in clear skies. But an announcement, which fell on June 13, 2023, seems to darken this horizon somewhat.
In order to Protest against Reddit’s new API pricing terms, multiple cryptocurrency-related subRedditsincluding r/Bitcoin and r/Ethereum, have gone into private mode for 48 hours. A movement launched by many users of the platform after Christian Seligthe developer of a third-party application named Apollo, announced that it would cease operations due to Reddit-imposed pricing changes. Modifications that would result in financial losses of several million dollars for him.
Sources: Theblock, SEC, BTCdirect