Investing.com – Bitcoin prices gained on Thursday as a startup owned by Goldman Sachs announced on Wednesday that it is launching a new cryptocurrency named the “Circle USD Coin”.
Bitcoin was trading at $8,361.0 by 12:02AM ET (04:02GMT) on the Bitfinex exchange, up 2.3% over the previous 24 hours.
Ethereum, the world’s second largest cryptocurrency by market cap, gained 4.2% at $709.71 on the Bitfinex exchange.
Ripple’s XRP token climbed 4.1% higher to $0.70057 on the Poloniex exchange.
Meanwhile, Litecoin added 2.2% to $139.08.
The new cryptocurrency to be launched by Circle, a company owned by Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS), represents the first virtual coin released by a major financial institution.
It was reported that Circle USD Coin would tie its value to that of a US dollar to avoid the heavy regulation surrounding most cryptocurrencies, a strategy that drew criticism as some question this goes against the whole point of cryptocurrencies.
“It is difficult to use something like bitcoin if the volatility is so high,” Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire told reporters at a media event. “Something like this makes it more possible.”
Circle is “one of the most well-funded startups,” according to reports on Tuesday. The company is rumored to be worth about $3 billion, reports said, adding that work on its new crypto is expected to begin this summer.