After a strong start to the week, Bitcoin and the broader cryptocurrency market are once again facing bearish pressure. $100 billion was wiped from the total cryptocurrency market value. Meanwhile, the price of the meme coin Shiba Inu dropped 9 percent. So, what happened in the market?
Bitcoin and altcoins crash with crypto decision in EU
This backlash in the crypto space comes as the EU Parliament passes new rules calling for the crackdown on non-custodial and unattended crypto wallets. On Thursday, March 31, more than 90 lawmakers from the ECON and LIBE committees voted in favor of banning anonymous crypto transactions. According to these new rules created to prevent money laundering, crypto service providers and exchanges will be forced to collect personal information of individuals who transact more than 1,000 euros using individual wallets.
Legislators said these rules seek to detect and block possible suspicious transactions. Such wallets are wallets where the user protects their private keys. EPP economics spokesperson Markus Ferber said: “We need to take the risks of AML in crypto seriously, but not ban individual wallets. This would be tantamount to banning cash,” he said. In addition, crypto industry advocates also reacted to the proposal. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong described these measures as “anti-innovation, anti-privacy and anti-law enforcement.”
SHIB was one of the top falling cryptos
The second largest meme coin, SHIB, is underperforming in the broader cryptocurrency market as can be seen in the 24-hour chart below. As we reported on Kriptokoin.com, the Shiba Inu team recently announced details about the highly anticipated metaverse project, but the price correction could not be avoided. Dogecoin co-founder Billy Markus shared his criticisms of the project.
Dogecoin (DOGE) has also lost more than 7 percent in the last 24 hours, erasing almost all of its gains in the last 24 hours. Bitcoin (BTC), the world’s largest cryptocurrency, tumbled more than 5%, dropped below $45,000 and dragged the rest of the cryptocurrency market down. Cardano (ADA) fell 6.2 percent.