Investing.com – Cryptocurrency prices traded higher on Friday morning in Asia despite potential regulations worldwide. Spanish lawmakers gave unanimous support to regulate blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies, and an IMF official also called for regulation.
Bitcoin was trading at $7,498.1 by 12:18AM ET (04:18 GMT) on the Bitfinex exchange, up 1.51% over the previous 24 hours.
Ethereum, the world’s second largest cryptocurrency by market cap, gained 1.59% at $571.94 on the Bitfinex exchange.
Ripple’s XRP token added 2.53% to $0.60905 on the Poloniex exchange.
Meanwhile, Litecoin traded 0.77% higher at $118.17.
On Wednesday, a draft legislation favouring a regulation on blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies received unanimous support in the Spanish Congress.
It called for a review of regulations on cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin as well as blockchain, proposing to introduce the technology to the Spanish market through “controlled testing environments,” commonly referred to as “regulatory sandboxes”.
The draft also proposed the government to cooperate with the National Securities Market Commission and the Bank of Spain to coordinate a common regulatory position regarding cryptocurrency in the broader European context.
Spain’s majority parliamentary party People’s Party agreed on the draft initiative, while all parties also voiced their support.
Elsewhere, an official from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) suggested that central banks need to make fiat currencies “more attractive for the digital age”.
Deputy Director of the Monetary and Capital Markets Department Dong He published an article on Thursday, arguing that it is necessary to regulate the use of crypto assets to hold off regulatory arbitrage and any “unfair competitive advantage” crypto assets can get from lighter regulation.
“That means rigorously applying measures to prevent money laundering and the financing of terrorism, strengthening consumer protection, and effectively taxing crypto transactions,” he said.
IMF officials have a track record of strongly suggesting crypto currencies to be more thoroughly regulated.