69,000 BTC Could Be Sold by US Government, XRP Price Defends Major Bollinger Bands Level, Gensler Slams Crypto Ahead of His Exit: Crypto News Digest by U.Today

Check out U.Today's selection of the top three news stories over the past day.

69,000 BTC could be sold by U.S. government

The U.S. government has been allowed to liquidate 69,370 Bitcoins seized from the Silk Road marketplace. The claimants (Battle Born Investments Company, First 100 and 1st One Hundred Holdings) sought to pause this enforcement while pursuing a separate lawsuit aimed at revealing the identity of "Individual X," a hacker who helped to forfeit the Bitcoins stolen from Silk Road to the U.S. government. This hacker was allegedly threatened by Silk Road's jailed founder, Ross Ulbricht. The claimants wanted to rely on the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to disclose the hacker's identity, but the United States District Court for the Northern District of California ruled in favor of the government. This means that the government can proceed with the liquidation of the confiscated Bitcoin fortune. The liquidation, however, may negatively impact Bitcoin prices, already struggling to gain momentum.

XRP price defends major Bollinger Bands level: Bullish?

The price of XRP faced a significant test yesterday, Jan. 9. After a recent decline of 6.2% at the beginning of the week, the asset found a bottom at the 20-day moving average, which serves as the median in the Bollinger Bands indicator. After briefly closing above this median, XRP experienced a rebound of 4.51%, but this was interrupted by news of the U.S. Department of Justice's approval to sell seized Bitcoin from the Silk Road; the announcement led to a marketwide sell-off, dragging XRP’s price down again. Despite this, XRP has managed to hold above the median Bollinger Band, maintaining a bullish outlook; however, another retest of this level is possible, which would mean a further decline of 1.48%. If this retest proves successful, it would make reaching the upper Bollinger Band at $2.51 more likely, offering potential for significant gains.

Gensler slams crypto ahead of his exit

Being in the final days of his tenure as chair of the U.S. SEC, Gary Gensler reiterated his concerns about the crypto industry, arguing that it is "rife" with bad actors. During his recent appearance on Bloomberg Television, Gensler noted that the public is well-informed about Bitcoin, which constitutes 80% of the market value. However, he also pointed out that there are about 10,000 to 15,000 ventures lacking fundamental support, stating that they are largely driven by sentiment rather than fundamentals. The chair expressed skepticism about the survival of many of these projects, comparing them to venture capital investments and adding that there is also a fair amount of "pump-and-dump schemes." Speaking of his upcoming departure, Gensler said that it was "a great privilege" to lead the SEC. Despite the attention he garnered for legal actions in the crypto space, Gensler emphasized that such efforts comprised only about 5% of the SEC's overall enforcement activities.