Investing.com – Cryptocurrencies prices fell on Tuesday, with Bitcoin falling below the $7,000 mark after surging more than 30% last month.
Bitcoin was down 2.1% to $6,945.0 at 12:20AM ET (04:20 GMT) on the Bitifinex exchange.
Ethereum slipped 1.3% to $405.8 on the Bitifinex exchange.
Ripple was trading at $0.41090, down 5.7% in the last 24 hours on the Poloniex exchange, while Litecoin also fell 2.9% to $72.588.
Reports that investment giant BlackRock Inc. formed a team to look into cryptocurrency and blockchain investments were cited as the major catalyst that pushed Bitcoin prices to above $8,000 in July.
Meanwhile, CFA Institute’s announcement that it is adding topics on cryptocurrencies and blockchain to its Level I and II curriculums for the first time next year were also cited as supportive.
Some analysts believed JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon’s comments over the weekend may have triggered the selling.
Dimon reiterated comments he made last year, calling cryptocurrencies a "scam" and said he had "no interest" in the world’s largest digital currency. He also suggested governments may shut down the currencies, because of an inability to control them.
"To say it’s the same thing as the U.S. dollar is virtually insane," he said on Saturday at the Aspen Institute’s 25th Annual Summer Celebration Gala.
In other news, Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) is reportedly exploring the options to to offer custody for crypto funds, according to people with knowledge of the matter, adding that no timeline has been set at the moment.
“In response to client interest in various digital products we are exploring how best to serve them in this space,” a spokesman for Goldman Sachs said. “At this point we have not reached a conclusion on the scope of our digital asset offering.”
The services would reduce risk for the banks’ clients seeking to guard against the threat of losing their investments to cyber attacks, as the firm would hold the securities on behalf of the funds.
In May, Nomura Holdings created a custody consortium called Komainu. Reports also suggested that at least three other firms, including the Bank of New York Mellon (NYSE:BK) Corp., JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM). and Northern Trust Corp (NASDAQ:NTRS)., are also considering to offer crypto-custody services.