Investing.com – Bitcoin rose from session lows but remained under pressure as investors digested fresh criticism from both Warren Buffett and Bill Gates, while renewed regulatory concerns also weighed.
Bitcoin fell 1.87% to $9,410.9 on the Bitfinex exchange but remained above its intraday low of $9,182.7.
Selling pressure across the crypto space emerged over the weekend following renewed regulatory pressures.
Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) reportedly announced stricter guidelines for local cryptocurrency exchange platforms to prevent another hack similar to the $500 million Coincheck heist reported earlier this year.
That rattled crypto investors, who until recently, had seen cryptos rise strongly amid a lack of regulatory pressures and renewed demand.
Negative comments from both Warren Buffett and Bill Gates also weighed on sentiment as the pair of billionaires dismissed bitcoin as a viable investment.
Buffett said bitcoin “created nothing,” claiming it was “rat poison squared,” while Bill Gates said he would short (sell) bitcoin if there were an “easy way to do it.”
The negative comments on bitcoin come as institutional demand for the popular crypto is expected to increase as Goldman Sachs reportedly nears the launch of its bitcoin trading operation over the next few weeks.
Yet, further institutional access to bitcoin could lead to downside pressure as the slump from bitcoin's all-time high of $20,000 was largely driven by institutional investors following the launch of bitcoin futures last year, according to an economic letter from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco released on Monday.
“The advent of blockchain introduced a new financial instrument, bitcoin, which optimistic investors bid up, until the launch of bitcoin futures allowed pessimists to enter the market, which contributed to the reversal of the bitcoin price dynamics,” wrote the San Francisco Fed.
The total market cap of cryptocurrencies fell to about $444 billion, at the time of writing, from about $469 billion last week.
Ripple XRP fell 1.93% to $0.83800 on the Poloniex exchange, while Ethereum fell 2.82% to $760.69.
Bitcoin Cash fell 1.98% to $1,668.90, while Litecoin fell 1.48% to $166.50.