Investing.com - Cryptocurrencies were higher on Friday, as Ethereum rose after news that U.S. regulators don’t think that Ethereum is a security.
Bitcoin was trading at $6,525.40, rising 0.53% the Bitfinex exchange, as of 8:39 AM ET (12:39 GMT), but was still down 24% over the week.
William Hinman, a Securities and Exchange Commission official considered the point-person regarding bitcoin, said Thursday that Ethereum is not subject to securities transactions.
"Putting aside the fundraising that accompanied the creation of Ether, based on my understanding of the present state of Ether, the Ethereum network and its decentralized structure, current offers and sales of Ether are not securities transactions," Hinman said at a crypto event in San Francisco.
The regulator made no changes to its views on initial coin offering, which the agency sees as a security and subject to regulation.
As Bitcoin and other digital coins have risen in popularity, governments around the world have struggled to regulate the alternative currencies.
Ethereum soared after the news, rising nearly 10%. The price was lower on Friday but still up 1.44% to $491.23 on the Bitfinex exchange. Ripple, the third largest virtual currency, decreased 0.83% to $0.54292 while Litecoin was at $97.202, rising 0.12%.
Still, cryptocurrencies were down over the week, with coin market cap of total market capitalization falling to $281 billion at the time of writing compared to $294 billion on Thursday.