Investing.com – Cryptocurrency prices rose on Friday morning in Asia. Reports that the defunct cryptocurrency exchange Mt Gox sparked concerns of an imminent price crash gathered some attention. Meanwhile, a hedge fund CEO voiced his optimism for the digital tokens.
Bitcoin was trading at $9,178.9 by 12:30AM ET (04:30GMT) on the Bitfinex exchange, up 3.49% over the previous 24 hours.
Ethereum, the world’s second largest cryptocurrency by market cap, gained 4.8% at $653.28 on the Bitfinex exchange.
XRP/USD token added 4.49% to $0.83110 on the Poloniex exchange.
Meanwhile, Litecoin was up 3.55% to $150.7.
The defunct cryptocurrency exchange Mt Gox reportedly moving 16,000 bitcoins from its vaults to an unknown address gathered attention of investors who were worried about an imminent price crash.
The Tokyo-based exchange went out of business in 2014 after losing around 1 million of its customers bitcoins.
The sale of such a large amount of bitcoins could have a significant impact on cryptocurrency markets. Some investors expressed fears of an imminent price crash, with some claiming that Mt Gox may have to wait for a court ruling before it is permitted to sell any more of its remaining funds.
Mt Gox trustee Nobuaki Kobayashi, however, claimed that the movement of cryptocurrency from the bankrupt exchange’s cold storage wallets did not affect the price.
Meanwhile, a hedge fund CEO gave his blessings on Bitcoin.
Dan Morehead, chief executive officer of $1 billion cryptocurrency hedge fund Pantera Capital Management LP, said Bitcoin “is a screaming buy right now.”
Morehead expected Bitcoin to recover from recent retreats and reach new highs within 12 months, and said the crypto market could balloon to even $40 trillion in a 10-year forecast. He added that institutional investor interest in tokens is also on the rise.