Investing.com – Bitcoin edged lower on Friday as U.S. President Donald Trump ordered the U.S. Attorney General to develop a Department of Justice task force to investigate crimes involving cryptocurrencies.
Bitcoin was trading at $6,270.4 by 11:50PM ET (03:50 GMT) on the Bitfinex exchange, down 0.9% drop in the last 24 hours.
Ethereum, the world’s second largest cryptocurrency by market cap, fell by 0.9% to $438.4 on the Bitifinex exchange.
Ripple’s XRP token was also down 0.8% to $0.44328 on the Poloniex exchange.
Meanwhile, Litecoin climbed 0.2% and traded at $77.8.
Trump’s order specifically targeted virtual currency as an area to be investigated, according to an executive order signed on Wednesday in the U.S.
The newly set up task force would prosecute cases concerning financial markets, consumers and government fraud. It would also provide recommendations to strengthen cooperation among government agencies to investigate and prosecute fraud and other financial crimes.
In other news, Canada-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinsquare made headlines after it revealed its plan to expand into Japan.
The exchange, which operates Canadas third-largest crypto trading platform, announced this week that it had formed a partnership with DLTa21, a global blockchain investment bank that has offices in both Canada and Japan, to launch a centralized cryptocurrency exchange in Japan.
“Working with a world-leading investment firm like DLTA 21 to bring a safe, secure, easy digital currency buying and trading experience to Japan is a thrilling next step in Coinsquare’s mission,” said Cole Diamond, Coinsquare CEO, in a statement accompanying the announcement. “Japan is a unique market and we’re looking forward to offering our platform’s capabilities to the Japanese market.”
This announcement came as Coinsquare is preparing to go public on the Toronto Stock Exchange, according to reports.