Yahoo Finance Bitcoin Prices Gain; PBOC Issues New Warning on Crypto
Investing.com - Bitcoin and other major cryptocurrency prices gained on Wednesday despite reports that the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) issued a new warning regarding investments in crypto and initial coin offerings (ICOs).
Bitcoin traded 1.2% higher to $6,340.2 at 1:00AM ET (05:00 GMT) on the Bitifinex exchange.
Ethereum surged 7% to $212.4 in the previous 24 hours, after plunging more than 11% in the last trading session.
XRP spiked 16.4% to $0.32640 on the Poloniex exchange, while Litecoin also rose 5.4% at $54.207.
The Chinese central bank warned in a notice on Tuesday the illegality of the ICO fundraising model and the dangers associated with trading in virtual currencies. The report also highlighted how Chinese citizens bypassed local crypto regulations.
“ICOs are “suspected of illegally selling tokens, illegally issuing securities, illegal criminal activities, financial fraud, pyramid schemes and other illegal and criminal activities,” said the central bank.
“The global share of domestic virtual currency transactions has dropped from the initial 90% to less than 5%, effectively avoiding the virtual currency bubble caused by skyrocketing global virtual currency prices in the second half of last year in China’s financial market. The impact has been highly recognized by the community,” it added.
The report came one year after the PboC issued its ban on ICO activities in China, which sent major cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin and Ethereum down by more than 10% last year.
Recent reports suggested that while Beijing shut down more than 80 local ICO trading platforms and ICO projects, Chinese investors have been using multiple methods, including the use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) and offshore exchanges, to circumvent the ban.
In other news, Global payments giant Mastercard (NYSE:MA) has developed a blockchain-based system to bring high-volume business-to-business transactions up to date, according to a three patent applications published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
In the applications, MasterCard said that blockchain could be used by B2B teams to store data clearly and in a format that is easily readable by participating parties.
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