Investing.com - Bitcoin fell on Monday, as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission suspended two cryptocurrency investment products.
Bitcoin fell 1.60% to $6,307.50 on the Bitfinex exchange, as of 8:22 AM ET (12:22 GMT).
The SEC suspended trading in Bitcoin Tracker One and Ether Tracker One on Sunday. Trading will remain halted in the U.S. until at least Sept. 20, the agency said in a statement.
Both products track the price of cryptocurrencies and are listed on a Nasdaq exchange in Stockholm, but trade over the counter in transactions that occur off exchanges within the U.S.
"It appears ... that there is a lack of current, consistent and accurate information," the SEC said. "Application materials submitted to enable the offer and sale of these financial products in the United States, as well as certain trading websites, characterize them as 'Exchange Traded Funds.'"
The SEC has not yet allowed ETFs to track virtual coins and is reviewing a recent decision to reject the applications of Bitcoin exchange traded funds.
Cryptocurrencies overall were lower, with the coin market cap of total market capitalization at $195 billion at the time of writing compared to $200 billion on Sunday.
Ethereum, the second-biggest alternative currency by market cap, fell 3.73% to $196.29, while XRP, the third-largest virtual currency, decreased 4.58% to $0.2736 and Litecoin was at $54.214, down 2.69%.
In other news, San Francisco-based technology startup Chain was acquired by Lightyear, which focuses on the Stellar blockchain, Reuters reported Monday.
The new company will migrate Chain’s customers to Steller’s public ledger. The startup will create a platform that will allow companies to issue, exchange and manage assets.