Cryptos Inch Down as FSB Says Market Needs Monitoring

Investing.com – Cryptocurrencies were lower on Wednesday, as the global Financial Stability Board said they should be monitored.

Bitcoin fell 0.66% to $6,587.90 on the Bitfinex exchange, as of 8:57 AM ET (12:57 GMT).

Cryptocurrencies overall were slightly lower, with the total coin market capitalization at $217 billion at the time of writing, compared to $218 billion on Tuesday.

Ethereum,or Ether, decreased 0.47% to $226.38 and Litecoin was at $58.143, down 1.31% while XRP slipped 1.41% to $0.47101.

Monitoring of crypto assets is needed, even if they do not pose a threat to financial stability, the global Financial Stability Board said on Wednesday.

“Based on the available information, crypto-assets do not pose a material risk to global financial stability at this time. However, vigilant monitoring is needed in light of the speed of market developments,” the FSB said in a statement.

In other news, thefts of virtual coins through hacking rose nearly 250% to $927 million in the first nine months of the year, according to a report from cyber security company CipherTrace.

Smaller thefts are also growing, with money laundering and other criminal activity in the $20 million to $60 million range steadily growing to $173 million in the third quarter, the report found.

“The regulators are still a couple of years behind because there are only a few countries that have really applied strong anti-money laundering laws,” Dave Jevans, chief executive officer of CipherTrace, told Reuters in an interview.

As bitcoin and other coins grow in popularity, cybersecurity has become one of the biggest threats to the market as criminals expose flaws on platforms and wallets.

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