Bitcoin Is Tumbling Because Regulators Are Paying Attention – Barron’s

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Few assets are more symbolic of the speculative fervor that has gripped the market than Bitcoin. And right now, few assets are falling faster.

Bitcoin traded under $33,000 Monday morning after nearly hitting $42,000 on Friday, a drop of around 20%.

With cryptos, it can be hard to figure out why they rise or fall. Not this time. The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority called crypto investments high risk and speculative, and reminded firms to tell investors they should be prepared to lose all their money.

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Still, the speculative nature of Bitcoin isnt news to some crypto investors, and at more than $33,000, Bitcoin is still up about 15% year to date and 310% over the past 12 months.

Not all speculative investments are getting hit on Monday. Chinese electric vehicle stocks are rallying after NIO launched a luxury sedan over the weekend, and search-giant Baidu and Chinese auto maker Geely said they are developing a smart electric vehicle together. Expect EVs to big a big topic of conversation at the Consumer Electronics Show, which kicks off this week.

It will take more than just one regulators warning to pop this speculative bubble.

Al Root

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Articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump could be brought to the House floor Tuesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said. However, the House may then decide to delay sending the articles to the Senate until well after President-elect Joe Biden takes office.

Whats Next: President-elect Biden has not said directly whether he supports impeachment, which may drag on well past his inauguration. The Senate is in recess until Jan. 19, and in a memo to his Republican colleagues, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said an impeachment trial would not be possible before Bidens inauguration.

Ben Walsh

Amazon cut off Parler, a social network that has become a favorite among conservatives, from its web hosting services because of the services lack of content moderation, particularly regarding threats or incitement to violence. For now, the site is offline, at least until it finds a new hosting service.

Whats Next: Its unclear how Parler can resume operation if the major hosting services other than Amazon decline to do business with it. There is a possibility that Parler will be unavailable on the internet for up to a week as we rebuild from scratch, the companys CEO John Matze said in a statement.

Ben Walsh

The U.S. plan to distribute Covid-19 vaccines has been sluggish, with just 7 million shots given out of the more than 22 million shipped, in part because of a decentralized strategy focused more on getting doses from the federal government to states than on how to deliver shots to patients.

Whats Next: Theres also the potential approval of Johnson &Johnsons single-shot vaccine, which does not require complex storage, on the horizon. Clinical trial results from its final trials could be available in the coming weeks, with the company expected to file for emergency use authorization soon after.

Ben Walsh

U.K. Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty said Monday that England was facing a major health emergency unless people strictly abide by the lockdown rules set by the government, with the countrys health service threatening to be overwhelmed by the number of Covid patients.

Whats Next: The race between the vaccination campaign and the new variant of the virus is intensifying. The current U.K. lockdown is formally due to end on Feb 15, but there is little chance restrictions will be totally lifted then.

Pierre Brianon

China condemned the U.S. Monday for lifting curbs on interaction with Taiwanese officials and reiterated the governments policy that no one could prevent the countrys reunification.

Whats Next: The question now is whether the Biden administration will cancel Pompeos mostly symbolic decision, or wait until it has clearly formulated its own China policy.

Pierre Brianon

Why has the number of consumer bankruptcies decreased significantly during this time of financial stress for many Americans?

A MarketWatch correspondent will answer this question soon. In the meantime, send any questions you would like answered to thebarronsdaily@barrons.com.

Newsletter edited by Anita Hamilton, Stacy Ozol, Ben Levisohn, Matt Bemer

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Bitcoin Is Tumbling Because Regulators Are Paying Attention - Barron's

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