Altcoins Could Get Hammered by Upcoming Regulations, Says Crypto Analyst Benjamin Cowen

Popular crypto analyst Benjamin Cowen says he expects the price of altcoins to go down significantly in the face of imminent regulation on the industry. 

In a new interview on Digital Asset News, Cowen says that regulators could set their sights on the crypto space, potentially targeting issues such as the energy consumption of proof-of-work blockchains, or whether or not certain altcoins are unregistered securities. 

Last week, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler hinted that Ethereum (ETH) could be considered a security following the leading smart contract platform’s transition to proof-of-stake.

“I do think that alts need to go down a lot. Not only with respect to the US dollar but with respect to Bitcoin as well and I think that the narrative that will fuel that will be the regulatory concerns for the altcoin market.”

Cowen says such a situation could raise issues of whether or not these assets can be listed on crypto exchanges. 

“We have to consider that if altcoins are deemed securities, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. We trade stocks all the time and stocks are securities, but the problem is that, I’m not trying to just spread FUD [fear, uncertainty and doubt], in the United States, there might be some questionable things related to [the question of] can U.S exchanges list them?”

Cowen recalls what happened after regulators filed a suit against Ripple over allegations that the payments company sold XRP as an unregistered security. 

“Think back to when the SEC filed a lawsuit against Ripple. A lot of exchanges were de-listing Ripple or XRP in the United States. They were temporarily delisting it and what if that is like the tip of the iceberg as to what is about to happen in the altcoin market?… 

The regulation on things like proof-of-stake or just in general like are these things securities if they had ICOs, that kind of stuff. That kind of stuff can really cause a lot of fear very quickly and lead to the next leg down in the altcoin market and more specifically like the alt-Bitcoin pair where it goes back to Bitcoin.”

Featured Image: Shutterstock/Declan Hillman

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