Investing.com - Bitcoin and other major cryptocurrencies edged down on Wednesday morning in Asia while Tiberius Technology Ventures moved to stop selling its metal-backed cryptocurrency and plans to refund $1 million to investors, according to the company’s own blog.
Bitcoin dropped 0.46% to $6,629.7 by 11:01PM ET (03:01GMT) on the Bitifinex exchange. ETH/USD fell 0.37% to $230.23 and Litecoin slumped 1.48% to $58.664. XRP fell 1.72% to $0.47754 on the Poloniex exchange.
Tiberius Technology Ventures, part of Swiss commodities fund Tiberius Group, said on Tuesday that unreasonable credit card fees, as high as 15%, had led it to stop sales of its tcoin. The company said it has raised $1 million from 700 investors.
“At the beginning of October we received news that our credit card processors were going to make investing in Tiberius Coin difficult,” Tiberius Technology Ventures said in a statement.
A key feature of tcoin has been its stability, as holders can redeem them for metals including aluminium and copper.
Meanwhile, CNBC reported that Juniper Research expects a gloomy future for digital tokens due to regulatory crackdowns and hacks.
Bitcoin has tumbled 52% this year and more than 65% since December, according to CoinDesk.
“If Bitcoin cannot make gains in such favourable circumstances, then it is unlikely to prosper as and when these issues are resolved. We feel that the industry is on the brink of an implosion,” Juniper’s Windsor Holden said on Tuesday.
Holden’s paper also found out that fewer people want to pay inflated prices for digital tokens. Credit card companies are also not embracing the use of cryptocurrencies while Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) has also prohibited advertisements of initial coin offerings (ICO).
Still, some countries remain eager to experiment with cryptocurrencies. Reuters reported on Monday that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is set to introduce ICOs in 2019 to make it easier for companies to raise funds. The UAE’s securities watchdog is in the process of writing up ICO regulations.