Bitcoin jumped above $43,000 - what's happening?

On Wednesday, Bitcoin experienced a surge of $2,000, pushing its value above $43,000.

Kaiko observed an increase in cryptocurrency trading activity.

The head of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has acknowledged that the majority of cryptocurrencies are to be classified as commodities.

The SEC has held conversations with multiple applicants regarding the introduction of a Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF).

A series of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) featuring a prison photo of Donald Trump have been released.

The results of the Fed meeting had a positive effect on Bitcoin, as well as other risky assets such as stocks. The regulator's signal of the end of the rate hike cycle in the US caused the US dollar to drop significantly, while cryptocurrencies and other assets rose.

Bloomberg reported that in the past week, four companies have consulted with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding their Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) applications. Additionally, BlackRock has made modifications to its application.

Glassnode states that the surge in Bitcoin's value in December had no basis in fundamentals, but was instead driven by speculation about ETFs and halving. Blockchain-based pricing models suggest that the "fair value" of BTC is between $30,000 and $36,000.

Experts interviewed by Forbes predict that when the US Federal Reserve begins printing money again, the crypto market will see an unpredictable surge in asset prices. With inflation expectations on the rise, potential investors will likely turn to the most liquid digital assets, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, to hedge their risks.

Kaiko has observed a rise in the average transaction volume on both centralized and decentralized exchanges since October.

Rostin Banham, the head of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), has stated that the regulator views most cryptocurrencies as commodities. He noted that existing legislation is not suitable for the quickly evolving technological landscape.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has initiated legal action against Richard Schuler, the founder of HEX, who is based in Finland. In July, the SEC filed a lawsuit against Schuler, claiming that he had earned over $1 billion from the sale of HEX crypto assets, which the regulator classified as unregistered securities.

S&P Global Ratings has started to evaluate the risks of eight of the most prominent stablecoins in the world. Of these, the most widely used asset, Tether (USDT), was given almost the lowest score by the company - 4 points.

Donald Trump, the former President of the United States, released the third installment of his personal Non-Fungible Token (NFT) collection, titled "MugShot," featuring a photo of himself from prison.

The FATF may soon lower Russia's rating due to its failure to adhere to the guidelines for controlling digital currencies.