Investing.com - The price of digital currency bitcoin and other major cryptocurrencies moved broadly higher on Thursday as fears over a broad based regulatory clampdown eased.
Bitcoin was trading at $11,320.00 by 04:55 AM ET (09:55 GMT) on the Bitfinex exchange.
Ethereum, the world’s second largest cryptocurrency by market cap, was last at $1,071 on the Bitfinex exchange.
Meanwhile, Ripple's XRP token was trading at $1.33 on the Poloniex exchange.
Cryptocurrencies came under renewed selling pressure earlier in the week after regulators in South Korea said the government will ban the use of anonymous bank accounts in cryptocurrency trading from Jan. 30.
South Korea’s government is examining multiple options for cracking down on cryptocurrency trading, including a blanket shutdown of cryptocurrency exchanges and a closure of only the ones acting illegally.
Cryptocurrency trading in South Korea is highly speculative and digital currencies are often traded at a premium, meaning that they are priced significantly higher in the country's exchanges than elsewhere in the world. The country is one is one of the largest markets for major coins like bitcoin and ethereum.
A senior Bank of Japan official said Thursday that imposing global, across-the-board regulations on cryptocurrency trading will not be easy.
Hiromi Yamaoka, the head of the Japanese central bank's division on payment and settlement systems, said Tokyo wants to ensure any rules that it adopts won't hinder innovation.
"There's undoubtedly growing interest among global policymakers on how to deal with cryptocurrencies," he said. "Japan's approach would be to think about how to curb excesses without discouraging innovation."
Meanwhile, Reuters reported that Russia's finance ministry said on Thursday it was working on legislation that would regulate cryptocurrency transactions without fully banning them, although it would not let digital currencies be used as a mean of payment in Russia.