Bitcoin Slips; South Korea to Categorise Crypto Exchanges as Legal Entities

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Investing.com - Bitcoin and other major cryptocurrencies slipped on Friday, while reports that South Korea is planning to categorize cryptocurrency exchanges as legal entities received some focus.

Bitcoin was trading at $6,545.9 by 11:30PM ET (03:30 GMT) on the Bitfinex exchange, down 0.9% over the previous 24 hours.   

Ethereum, the world’s second largest cryptocurrency by market cap, slipped 0.6% to $468.5 on the Bitfinex exchange.   

Ripple’s XRP token fell 4.1% to $0.47365 on the Poloniex exchange.   

Meanwhile, Litecoin traded 1.9% lower to $83.884.   

Crypto exchanges would soon be categorized as “crypto asset exchanges and brokerages” in South Korea, local media outlet TheBchain reported on Friday, adding that the move was an attempt to lay a formal foundation for the legitimacy of crypto and blockchain technology.

The government is expected to release full details on the new system later this month.

In other news, Indian banks, financial institutions and other regulated entities are prohibited from participating in any crypto-related transactions starting from today. The Indian government is expected to maintain its ban on crypto until the markets stabilize, reports this week suggested.

G.V. Anand Bhushan, a partner, at Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co. recently said in an interview with Bloomberg that “Nobody is able to price the risk currently. The minute you have clarity on exchanges and whether digital currencies can be used as a medium of exchange or payment, or if it is a commodity, there will be less speculation and much more stability in pricing.”

Bitcoin and major cryptocurrencies received some support on Thursday after Thailand announced the date for its Initial coin offering (ICO) regulations and Malta passed a series of crypto and blockchain bills.

Source: https://www.investing.com/news/cryptocurrency-news/bitcoin-slips-south-korea-to-categorise-crypto-exchanges-as-legal-entities-1519581