Cryptocurrency prices began to creep back into positive territory after two top US market regulators signaled a cautious approach to cryptocurrency regulation during Tuesday’s high-profile Senate hearing. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Jay Clayton and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chairman J. Christopher Giancarlo spoke before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs for more than two hours, delivering prepared remarks and answering pointed questions from regulators. As CCN reported, Clayton and Giancarlo largely stuck to the script during the hearing, calling for “carefully tailored” regulation of cryptocurrency exchanges at the federal level but cautioning legislators against acting too quickly — or with a heavy hand. Giancarlo, in particular, conveyed an optimistic outlook toward the potential applications of both cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology, even going so far as to remind legislators that “if there was no Bitcoin, there would be no blockchain,” a point that is often forgotten in such discussions. Cryptocurrency Prices | Source: CoinMarketCapTraders reacted positively to the hearing, and the markets were characterized by rising cryptocurrency prices both during the hearing and following its completion. By the time of writing, the 24-hour charts for most major coins had turned green, enabling the markets to emerge from what had been a multi-day plunge into a sea of red. The Bitcoin price and Cardano price had each gained about one percent for the day, rising to $7,168 and $0.33, respectively. Ethereum, meanwhile, led the top five with a five percent gain to $723, while Ripple added about two percent. Bitcoin Cash is the lone cryptocurrency in the top 15 whose 24-hour chart remains in the red, but it will cross back into the green if the recovery proceeds much further. Though not depicted in the chart above, NEO and NEM — ranked eighth and tenth by market cap, respectively — posted gains in excess of 12 percent, making them the best performers among top-tier cryptocurrencies. Featured image from Shutterstock