Bitcoin Falls; Mnuchin Says U.S. Likely to Issue New Rules on Crypto

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Investing.com – Prices of Bitcoin fell again on Friday after U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said U.S. regulators are likely to issue new rules on cryptocurrencies to ensure that they do not negatively impact the financial system.

Bitcoin fell 3.2% to $9,785.6 by 12:52 AM EY (04:52 GMT). Ethereu fell 2.8% to $213.70, while XRP and Litecoin dropped 2.2% and 1.9% respectively.

Mnuchin on Wednesday repeated concerns that Bitcoin is being used for criminal activity and urged regulators around the world to work together on the issue.

“We’re looking at all of the crypto assets,” Mnuchin said in a CNBC television interview. “We’re going to make sure we have a unified approach and my guess is that there are going to be more regulations that come out from all these agencies.”

Questions over Facebook’s proposed plan to launch its own cryptocurrency have pushed Bitcoin down about 17% so far this month.

In other news, Australia said it is setting up the world’s first dedicated office to police Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) and Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) to address concerns on anti-trust issues.

“These companies are among the most powerful and valuable in the world,” Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg told reporters in Sydney after the release of a much-anticipated report on future regulation of the dominant digital platforms.

“They need to be held to account and their activities need to be more transparent.”

Meanwhile, Bloomberg said the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market value appears to have solid support around $9,500, its 50-day moving average – it bounced off that level twice last week, during which the coin lost close to 12%.