Investing.com - Cryptocurrencies struggled on Tuesday, as Bitcoin continued to trade lower, falling below the $7,500 mark.
Bitcoin was trading at $7,439.10 falling 1.11% the Bitfinex exchange, as of 8:27 AM ET (12:27 GMT), compared to a session high of $7,554.30 on Monday.
Most virtual currencies plunged in May after the U.S. Department of Justice opened a criminal investigation into the possibility that traders are manipulating the Bitcoin market.
Other digital coins were mixed on Tuesday, with Ethereum, the world’s second largest cryptocurrency by market cap, falling 0.63% to $589.34 on the Bitfinex exchange. Ripple, the third largest virtual currency, increased 2.33% to $0.66034 while Litecoin was at $117.70, down 2.00%.
The coin market cap was also lower, with total market capitalization at $335 billion at the time of writing compared to $354 billion on Monday.
While prices are struggling, interest has also declined, with Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) searches for the term Bitcoin dropping 75% since January.
Meanwhile U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchange giant Coinbase announced it was expanding into Japan, which is considered one of the biggest markets for digital coins. The firm is already in 32 different counties and its Japanese expansion plans were two years in the making.
“As in other markets, we plan to take a deliberate approach to our rollout in Japan, which means working hand-in-hand with the Japanese FSA to ensure compliance with local laws at every stage,” Coinbase said in its announcement.
The move is a huge milestone for the firms expansion into the Asia market. It's only prior presence in Asia is in Singapore. Japan has recognized cryptocurrencies as a payment method since April 2017, with many corporations investing in or operating their own exchange in the country.