Bitcoin price has erased a portion of its losses on Wednesday afternoon on news that U.S. president-elect Donald Trump is planning to name Paul Atkins as new SEC Chair.

Atkins is currently the CEO at Patomak Global Partners (NYSE:GLP). He served as SEC commissioner from 2002-08.

Bitcoin price is steadying below recent peaks as traders awaited more cues on U.S. monetary policy and what Donald Trump’s administration will entail for crypto. Major altcoins performed better on the day.

Bitcoin rose 0.4% to $95,611.0 by 13:56 ET (17:56 GMT), remaining largely within a trading range of $90,000 to $100,000 established over the past two weeks.

While the world’s largest crypto had risen sharply after Trump won the 2024 presidential elections, it turned rangebound after failing to cross the coveted $100,000 level. 

Trump crypto policies in focus 

Crypto markets were largely anticipating more cues on policy from Donald Trump, following promises of friendlier regulation from the President-elect. 

Trump had vowed to make America the crypto capital of the world, and had also floated the idea of a Bitcoin national reserve. 

Trump’s cabinet picks- particularly for the Treasury Secretary and Secretary of Commerce roles- have both presented pro-crypto positions. 

Reports suggested that Trump was also planning on shifting crypto regulation to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission from the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Still, traders doubted whether Trump will be able to deliver on all of his crypto promises. A particular point of contention has been the establishment of a Bitcoin reserve, with analysts stating that a focus on reducing government spending and upholding the dollar will take precedence over any government buying of more coins.

Recent data also showed the government mobilizing about $1.9 billion of Bitcoin onto an exchange, raising fears of a potential sale event. 

US govt moves $33mn in seized FTX crypto

The U.S. government has transferred approximately $33.6 million in cryptocurrency from a wallet linked to assets seized from the defunct crypto exchange FTX and trading firm Alameda. The funds were moved to two unidentified addresses.

Several transactions were recorded on Tuesday, including a transfer of 5,024 ether—valued at roughly $18 million—to wallets beginning with “0x9cd” and “0x9ac,” according to Arkham Intelligence.

Additional funds, labeled under “FTX Alameda Seized Funds” by Arkham, included $13 million in BUSD, $1.5 million in SHIB, and various other tokens such as AERGO, POWR, AXS, YFI, WBTC, NMR, COMP, SRM, and RLC, all sent to the same two addresses.

Crypto price today: altcoins move higher, Fed cues in focus 

Broader crypto prices mostly performed well Wednesday, though caution remained ahead of more cues on U.S. interest rates. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is set to speak later on Wednesday, while key nonfarm payrolls data is due on Friday. 

World no.1 altcoin Ether rose nearly 5% to $3,711.62

XRP fell 0.4% to $2.55, cooling after a stellar rally to six-year highs. XRP was boosted by speculation that a change in leadership will see the SEC drop its long-running lawsuit against XRP issuer Ripple. 

Solana rose 5.7%, extending recent gains, while Cardano traded flat. Polygon jumped over 6%. 

Among meme coins, Dogecoin added 3.1%.