Investing.com – Cryptocurrency prices were on Wednesday as Japan’s Financial Services Agency gave the industries’ association to self-regulate exchanges.

Bitcoin inched up 0.47% to $6,572.70 on the Bitfinex exchange, as of 9:04 AM ET (13:04 GMT).

Cryptocurrencies overall were steady with the total coin market capitalization at $210 billion at the time of writing. Ethereum,or Ether, increased 1.14% to $206.86 and Litecoin was at $53.676, up 1.43% while XRP jumped 4.36% to $0.47027.

Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) gave the digital currency industry self-regulatory status, allowing the Japan Virtual Currency Exchange Association to oversee and police crypto exchanges.

The move allows the industry association the ability to set rules to prevent money laundering, protect customers and give operational guidelines.

Last year Japan was the first country to regulate cryptocurrency exchanges, requiring exchanges to register with the FSA.

The FSA also published a set of guidelines for those applying to run crypto exchange on Wednesday. The agency said about 160 entities expressed interest.

There are currently 16 approved crypto exchanges in Japan, as the agency has not granted any new approval since December last year.

In other news, the Intercontinental Exchange is releasing a bitcoin futures on Dec. 12 this year, after almost a year after CBOE and CME released their bitcoin futures.

The Bakkt Bitcoin Daily Futures contract “calls for delivery of one bitcoin held in the Bakkt Digital Asset Warehouse, and will trade in U.S. dollar terms,” according to the notice.

Like this: Like Loading...