Cryptocurrency prices slumped on Friday in Asia, with Bitcoin down more than 7%. Reports that U.K. regulators warned investors against crypto derivatives received some attention.
Bitcoin fell 7.3% to $4,315.4 by 12:35 AM ET (05:35 GMT) on the Bitifinex exchange. The world’s largest digital coin has now lost more than 25% of its value within a week.
XRP/USD plunges 9.1% to $0.41275 on the Poloniex exchange.
ETH/USD slumped 10.6% to $125.05, while Litecoin declined 8.8% to $32.219 on the Bitifinex exchange.
Christopher Woolard, Executive Director of Strategy and Competition at the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), announced the latest findings of the large-scale study conducted by the British authorities concerning digital assets and the blockchain technology.
Woolard mentioned a possible ban on some crypto-based derivatives during the “Regulation of Cryptocurrencies” event that took place in London this week.
“We’re concerned that retail consumers are being sold complex, volatile and often leveraged derivatives products based on exchange tokens… Given this, the FCA will also consult on a prohibition of the sale to retail consumers of derivatives referencing certain types of cryptoassets (for example, exchange tokens), including contracts-for-difference, options, futures and transferable securities,” Woolard warned.
In other news, Live Bitcoin News reported on Thursday that Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are together developing a cryptocurrency that is set to be launched in mid-2019. The official name of the virtual coin is not revealed, and not too much is known about the currency at the moment, the article noted, adding that the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority is still investigating the feasibility of such a currency.
This currency will have the backing of the Saudi central bank and a “limited number of banks,” the article said.