Investing.com - Cryptocurrencies rallied on Tuesday, with Bitcoin rising to a one-week high while in other news, UBS chief Sergio Ermotti praised Blockchain technology.
Bitcoin was trading at $6,738, increasing 4.48% the Bitfinex exchange, as of 8:22 AM ET (12:22 GMT).
Ermotti, CEO of the Swiss bank, told CNBC on Monday that blockchain could help cut business costs and should be adopted.
“The freeing up of resources to become more efficient will come through technology and blockchain is a great way to allow us to … reduce costs,” he said.
While the firm is working with IBM (NYSE:IBM) to test a global trade finance platform using blockchain technology, the bank remains skeptical of Bitcoin and other alternative currencies, which is based on the same technology.
In a paper last year the company distinguished between digital coins and blockchain technology, calling cryptocurrencies a speculative bubble.
Wall Street has been split on the adoption of the alternative coins, with some firms jumping on the chance to trade bitcoin and other crypto futures and other financial leaders critical of its rising popularity.
Cryptocurrencies overall were higher, with the coin market cap of total market capitalization surging to $291 billion at the time of writing compared to $275 billion on Monday.
Ethereum was higher, rising 8.39% to $538.26 on the Bitfinex exchange. Ripple, the third largest virtual currency, increased 6.93% to $0.55008 while Litecoin was at $99.441, up 5.81%.
The digital coins have struggled in recent weeks amid accusations of price manipulation and a Bank for International Settlement report saying alternative coins are unscalable.