New US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chief Gary Gensler took over the role in April and has since expressed that he wants to see more regulation of cryptocurrency in order to protect consumers. Gensler says that the nation has a duty to protect investors against fraud. 

Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at Avatrade, has pinned bitcoin’s price drop on Gensler’s recent comments. Just before 9am in London, bitcoin was down 3.8% to $38,587. The drop saw a return to levels seen last Friday, before a weekend rally pushed bitcoin over the closely-watched figure of $40,000. 

As he is one of the very few experts on cryptocurrencies amongst international financial regulators, Gensler had been marked as a potential booster for the industry by cryptocurrency enthusiasts. As such, the drop in bitcoin comes as a particular disappointment to many.