Investing.com - Bitcoin and other virtual currencies were higher on Wednesday, as G20 members said the cryptocurrencies acted more like assets than currencies.
Bitcoin was trading at $9,046.50, increasing 7.89% as of 8:43 AM ET (1243 GMT) the Bitfinex exchange, not far from its session high of $9,140.60.The cryptocurrency has struggled to gain ground after falling to $6,000 in early February and is far from its peak of $20,000 in December.
Financial leaders at the G20 summit in Buenos Aires this week are not expected to issue any specific action in regards to cryptocurrencies. Instead they view the popular alternative currency as an asset, which could prompt a capital gains tax on profits from Bitcoin and other digital coins.
Prices of cryptocurrencies were bolstered on the news, as investors had feared a regulatory crackdown. The group is expected to closely monitor the sector for financial risk and has asked the Financial Stability Board for a report in July on their work in crypto-assets.
On Monday FSB Chair and Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said in a letter to G20 leaders that virtual currencies do not pose a risk to financial stability
"As its work to fix the fault lines that caused the financial crisis draws to a close, the FSB is increasingly pivoting away from design of new policy initiatives towards dynamic implementation and rigorous evaluation of the effects of the agreed G20 reforms," Carney said.
Other virtual currencies were higher, with rival Ethereum, the world’s second largest cryptocurrency by market cap, rose 9.76% to $572.97 on the Bitfinex exchange. Ripple, the third largest virtual currency, was up 4.72% to $0.6984 while Litecoin was last at $173.01, an increase of 8.91%.
In other news, the U.S. National Security Agency has been tracking Bitcoin users for several years, according to whistleblower Edward Snowden. The project, called Oakstar, was originally founded to fight terrorism but have also used it to investigate money laundering. The memo shows that the NSA also collected password information and monitored the internet activity of Bitcoin users.