Investing.com - Cryptocurrencies inched forward on Monday, as Bitcoin struggled to recover from a volatile Easter weekend.
Bitcoin was trading at $7,003.8, increasing 4.19% as of 8:33 AM ET (12:33 GMT) the Bitfinex exchange, not far from its Sunday low of $6,474.40. The virtual currency is far from its peak of $20,000 in December 2017 and has struggled to recover since falling below $6,000 in February.
The cryptocurrency sector struggled during the first quarter of 2018, with the capitalization of all combined cryptomarkets falling 59% since January, according to Coinmarketcap. The total market cap is currently at $260 billion.
In Taiwan, the central bank is considering new rules to apply its anti-money laundering laws to Bitcoin.
Central bank governor Yang Chin-long told the island’s parliament that the central bank is monitoring the volatile price movements of bitcoin prices and has recommended to the Ministry of Justice that bitcoin should be regulated according to anti-money laundering laws.
Other Asian markets have also regulated cryptocurrencies under anti-money laundering rules. In South Korea, banks are not permitted to provide anonymous accounts for virtual coin exchange users and in Malaysia, Know-Your-Customer processes must be followed for all digital currency exchanges.
Other virtual currencies were also up, with rival Ethereum, the world’s second largest cryptocurrency by market cap, rising 2.74% to $386.44 on the Bitfinex exchange. Ripple, the third largest virtual currency, increased 2.46%% to $0.48884 while LiteCoin was at $119.00, jumping 5.65%.