Investing.com - Cryptocurrency markets were broadly down on Wednesday, as the U.S. regulator that oversees Bitcoin futures told employees they can invest in digital currency.
Bitcoin was trading at $10,405, down 2.48% as of 8:00 AM ET (13:00 GMT) on the Bitfinex exchange after hitting an overnight high of $11,048.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the U.S.’s main commodities regulator, said its employees can trade in digital coins, as long as they don’t buy them on margin or have insider information from their jobs. Investing in Bitcoin futures is forbidden.
As the virtual currencies grow in popularity, regulators around the world have been debating about the best way to regulate cryptocurrencies.
Regulators in China are cracking down on cryptocurrency trades, targeting individual and companies involved in banking and online payments suspected of trading on offshore digital currency platforms, according to recent reports. The accounts’ owners could have their assets frozen or be blocked from the domestic financial system.
China banned cryptocurrencies last year have been blocking access to platforms ever since.
Meanwhile self-proclaimed Bitcoin founder Craig Wright, is being sued for allegedly stealing $5 billion in Bitcoin from his former business partner Dave Kleiman. The lawsuit, filed earlier this month in Florida, alleges that the Australian entrepresn used a computer-generated signature to claim Bitcoins his partner mined, after Kleiman died in a motorcycle accident.
Other virtual currencies were trading lower, with rival Ethereum, the world’s second largest cryptocurrency by market cap, falling 2.72% to $858.58 on the Bitfinex exchange.
The third largest cryptocurrency, Ripple, was down 5.09%% to trade at $0.892 and Litecoin was last at $206, a fall of 5.43%.