Investing.com – Major cryptocurrencies were mixed on Monday morning in Asia, after a dramatic evaporation of over six times the industry’s total market capitalisation this year.

The market is also impacted by the U.K. financial watchdog’s investigation into more than a dozen companies associated with crypto-transactions.

Bitcoin inched up 0.68% to $3,754.9 and Ethereum gained 0.79% to $134.12 at 11:11PM ET (03:11 GMT) on the investing.com index.

XRP rose 0.13% to $0.35748 on the Poloniex exchange, while Litecoin dropped 0.79% to $30.652 on the Bitifinex exchange.

The total market capitalisation of digital currencies plummeted 6.39 times from $815 billion in early January to $128 billion as of Dec. 31, according to the CoinMarketCap.

Britain’s financial regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), told the Financial Times that it is probing 18 firms involved in the sales of digital tokens. It also issued warnings on suspected crypto-investment scams.

The U.K. has no regulations covering cryptocurrency transactions, but companies that sell regulated investments with cryptocurrency elements might need FCA’s nod.

Scams aside, the U.S. is also concerned about drug cartels and criminal organisations in Asia conducting money laundering via cryptocurrencies.

In a recent U.S. congressional hearing into Mexican drug cartels, a few government officials spoke of the emerging threat posed by the crime syndicates, according to the Asia Times.

“The participation of Asian money launderers has become more prominent in some areas. The shift toward Chinese and Asian money launderers is believed to be, in part, due to the natural relationship created by the large volume of both licit and illicit trade goods and chemicals imported from China,” Paul Knierim, deputy chief of operations in the Office of Global Enforcement at the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, was quoted as saying.

Elsewhere, Singapore-based Huobi Group’s cryptocurrency mining arm, Huobi Pool, announced on Sunday that it would launch its first exchange dedicated to EOS in the first quarter next year.

Users can trade EOS on the platform against a number of other cryptocurrencies, but Huobi did not disclose any names.

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