28.07.202115:26 Forex Analysis & Reviews: US Treasury Department takes on Tether and Facebook

Bitcoin buyers clearly do not intend to give up and managed to bring back the exchange rate to the $40,000 area today after its sharp correction to the support of $36,700. But before we talk about the technical picture of the trading instrument, I would like to say a few words about the ongoing hidden struggle of the US authorities, albeit not with the cryptocurrency market, but with one of its key players: Tether and Facebook Inc. During a recent meeting of US regulators on the financial risks associated with stablecoins, the Treasury Secretary had a lot of questions for Tether and Facebook Inc., which issues its Diem token.

The Working Group on Financial Markets, led by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, was particularly concerned about Tether's claims that it has huge volumes of commercial securities – in other words, debts that companies issue to meet their short-term financing needs. The participants of the dialogue compared the situation with unregulated money market mutual funds, which may be subject to a chaotic outcome of investors, which will lead to a sharp collapse in the market. The regulator also spoke unflatteringly about Diem, a coin developed by an association that includes Facebook, as well as other companies and non-profit organizations. The risk of its widespread distribution through social networks can also harm the financial system, since Facebook has almost 3 billion active users. Yellen called on agency managers to "act quickly" to ensure that the stablecoin complies with the rules put forward by the regulator. The statement of the Treasury Secretary also emphasized the fact that the market value of stablecoins currently exceeds $100 billion, with Tether accounting for more than half of this amount.

In my review on Tuesday, July 27, I made a special emphasis on this company. According to recent reports, an investigation has been launched against Tether in the United States, in which it will be established whether the leaders of this company committed bank fraud related to this token. A potential criminal case will have serious consequences for the cryptocurrency market. The authorities of many countries are now seriously concerned about their own digital currencies, and companies such as Tether are standing in their way. The investigation of the Department of Justice focuses on events that took place many years ago, when Tether was at the initial stage of its development. Apparently, there is nothing to catch on to now. In particular, federal prosecutors are investigating whether Tether hid transactions related to cryptocurrency from banks. As I noted above, the criminal prosecution will be one of the most significant events in the US government's fight against digital currencies.

Facebook has not yet commented on the statements of the Department of Treasury, and the Diem association declined to comment. Like Tether, Diem has repeatedly stated that they work closely with US regulatory authorities and that they are building their token based on consumer protection and crime prevention.

As for the technical picture of bitcoin, the sharp breakout of the $35,900 level and the growth in the $39,000 area leave quite a lot of hope that the bulls will once again test the resistance at $41,100 in the near future. A breakout and an exit beyond this range will open a direct road to the highs of $46,700 and $52,000. If the pressure on bitcoin returns in the near future, the bulls will need to try not to let BTC fall below the support at $36,700, as a lot depends on it. If the exchange rate goes below this level, most likely, the pressure on the world's first cryptocurrency will return, and we will see a support update of $33,300 and then a retest of $29,200, which will be the last blow to buyers' hopes for the rapid growth of the cryptocurrency. So far, everything is turning in favor of the bulls.