Investing.com - Cryptocurrencies eased back from a week of losses as the World Bank announced it was creating the first blockchain bond.
The World Bank has mandated that the Commonwealth Bank of Australia will be in charge of the first bond created and managed by blockchain, the technology behind Bitcoin.
Called the bond-i, it will be issued and distributed on a blockchain platform operated by the two organizations.
"Blockchain has the potential to streamline processes among numerous debt capital market intermediaries and agents. This can help simplify raising capital and trading securities; improve operational efficiencies; and enhance regulatory oversight," a joint press release from the two organizations said.
The price of digital coins fell on Wednesday after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission postponed its decision on a crypto exchange traded fund. The SEC will decide by the end of September if VanEck Associates and Solid Partners can list their Bitcoin-backed ETF, the agency said. The SEC already denied a similar ETF proposal in July and nine other proposals are being considered by the agency.
Cryptocurrencies overall were slightly higher on Friday. The coin market cap of total market capitalization was at $228 billion at the time of writing, compared to $224 billion on Thursday.
Bitcoin rose 3.52% to $6,488.10 on the Bitfinex exchange, as of 9:11 AM ET (13:11 GMT).
Ethereum, the second-biggest alternative currency by market cap, rose 1.96% to $361.29 on the Bitfinex exchange. Ripple, the third-largest virtual currency, increased 0.59% to $0.33725, while Litecoin was at $62.165, up 1.40%.