Regulation Concerns Lead to a Decline in Cryptocurrency Prices

On Thursday, it was revealed that Bitcoin prices plummeted to a three-week low as the crypto exchange Kraken announced they were halting their stake programs in the United States as well as settling with the Securities and Exchange Commission for $30 million, as part of the charges brought against them.

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In line with CoinDesk's data, the world's largest cryptocurrency, BTCUSD, -1.11%, dropped more than four percent on Thursday, dropping to a level of $21,850, a two-year low, according to CoinDesk data. It is currently around $1,572 for Ethereum, which is a drop of about 4.5% from where it was just a couple of weeks ago.

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It has been reported that Kraken was accused of not registering their crypto-asset staking-as-a-service program which, according to the SEC's official statement released on Thursday, was a result of an investigation by the agency, for failing to register the offering and sale of the program. In exchange, investors transfer their crypto assets to Kraken to be staked and are promised an annual return of as much as 21 percent if they so choose.

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Many investors in cryptocurrencies are concerned about the possibility that the SEC will file similar charges against other providers of staking services, which could adversely affect cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum ETHUSD, -1.53%, Cardano ADAUSD, -1.79%, Avalanche AVAXUSD, -2.04%, Polkadot DOTUSD, -1.92%, and Polygon MATICUSD, 0.66%, among others, which are based on proof-of-stake blockchains.