Investing.com - Cryptocurrency prices were mostly lower on Friday as Ireland passed an anti-money-laundering bill.
Bitcoin fell 1.7% to $3,768.30 on the Investing.com Index, as of 7:58 AM ET (12:58 GMT).
The digital coin was launched 10 years ago, but remains far from the everyday currency its creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, envisioned. Bitcoin has had a volatile year, down nearly 70% in 2018 and far from its peak of $20,000 in December 2017. Other coins have also fallen dramatically amid concerns of increased regulatory scrutiny and volatility.
Cryptocurrencies overall were slightly lower, with the total coin market capitalization at $130 billion at the time of writing, compared to $132 billion on Thursday.
Ethereum, or Ether, increased 1% to $150.75 and Litecoin was at $31.464, down 0.8%, while XRP slipped 2.5% to $0.35261.
Meanwhile, Ireland approved a bill aimed at combating money laundering. The proposed law would restrict the use of “virtual currencies for terrorist financing and limiting the use of pre-paid cards” and improves safeguards for financial transactions to and from “high-risk third countries,” according to The Irish Times.
This bill came after the European Commission’s fifth anti-money-laundering directive entered into force in July last year. The measures include limiting the use of anonymous payments via pre-paid cards, which will see virtual currency exchange platforms come under the anti-money-laundering rules.
EU member states are expected to implement the new rules into their legislation in January 2020.
In other news, DX.Exchange announced it would launch its trading platform on Monday, which will allow users to indirectly purchase shares of major companies through the token-based site. The company plans to use Nasdaq’s engine to facilitate the trade of digital securities.