Investing.com - The prices of major cryptocurrencies edged lower on Tuesday, as the first trading day of the new month was met with mild selling pressure, following blowout gains made in April.
Bitcoin was trading at $8,907.40 by 8:45AM ET (1245GMT), down 4.2%. It ended April with an increase of 33%.
U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman J. Christopher Giancarlo said on Monday that Bitcoin is part currency, part security and part digital coin.
Giancarlo went on to say that there are certain aspects of bitcoin that look similar to an asset like gold.
Meanwhile, Ethereum, the world’s second largest cryptocurrency by market cap, lost 4.6% to $651.82. It rose 70% last month.
Elsewhere, Ripple's XRP token was trading at $0.80761, down 3.6% for the day. It gained 66% in April.
Altcoins were also on the back foot, as Cardano, Stellar and TRON all posted declines on the day.
April was a great month for the crypto-space as investors returned to the market after the big falls suffered during the first quarter of 2018 thanks to a less negative backdrop.
The value of the crypto market as a whole increased by almost 40% from a month earlier, to $410 million in April.