"Bitcoin Plunges Below $97K as Sacks' Conference Focuses on Regulation"

Bitcoin's price tumbled below $97,000 on Friday, extending its losses from the previous day, as investors reacted to a regulatory-focused press conference led by David Sacks, the White House's crypto and AI czar. The conference, which was expected to discuss the possibility of a strategic bitcoin reserve, instead focused mainly on regulatory matters. Bitcoin's decline came despite a brief mention of the reserve idea, which was met with caution. The U.S. jobs report on Friday could potentially alter or reinforce the current bearish trend in crypto markets.

The late-day sell-off in bitcoin was accompanied by a decline in the altcoin sector, with solana (SOL), XRP, cardano (ADA), and chainlink (LINK) all experiencing losses of 6% to 10%. Ether (ETH) also fell by 5.3%. The start of the late-day tumble appeared to coincide with the crypto-related press conference held by David Sacks, which centered almost exclusively on regulatory matters and platitudes. Bitcoin was mentioned briefly at the end of the conference, with Sacks noting that a White House working group on crypto is looking into the feasibility of a strategic bitcoin reserve. However, he deferred questions about the potential implications of the recent executive order on the creation of a sovereign wealth fund to Commerce Secretary nominee Howard Lutnick.

As bitcoin's price continues to fluctuate, investors are looking ahead to Friday's U.S. January employment report. A soft number could lead market participants to price in Federal Reserve rate cuts, which could potentially boost prices. On the other hand, a strong print could have investors pricing in a rate hike at some point this year, which could act as a headwind to prices.

Meanwhile, a major flash crash in Ether over the weekend served as a stark reminder of the lack of guardrails in digital-asset markets compared to traditional markets. The second-largest token was down about 27% at one point before quickly recovering. The incident has placed scrutiny on market makers, whose role is to maintain orderly price action. While traditional markets have faced similar issues in the past, they have implemented major guardrails to minimize their occurrence. In contrast, crypto markets lack an overarching legal framework governing market makers and have no circuit breakers to halt trading during periods of intense volatility.

As Bitcoin's dominance falls, several tokens priced below $1 are showing signs of major growth. Stell