Investing.com - Prices of the digital currency Bitcoin bounced higher on Monday in Asia a day after they dropped below the $3,500 level, while other major cryptocurrency prices also rose.
Bitcoin was up 7% to $4,084.7 by 1:02 AM ET (06:02 GMT) on the Bitifinex exchange.
XRP gained 7.1% to $0.37860 on the Poloniex exchange. Ethereum advanced 7.9% to $116.82, while Litecoin jumped 9.6% to $32.095 on the Bitifinex exchange.
Bitcoin fell 10% on Sunday and traded as low as $3,447.58, its lowest level since September 2017.
The largest digital coin in the world has now lost more than 35% of its value over the last seven trading days. The weekend losses brought its year-to-date lost to more than 75%. Other major cryptocurrencies, including XRP and Ethereum, also plunged around 10% over the weekend.
While the trigger for the latest sell-off is unclear, it has coincided with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s penalties against two crypto companies that did not register their initial coin offerings (ICO) as securities.
The two companies, Airfox and Paragon Coin, will each have to pay penalties of $250,000 to compensate their investors; Bloomberg reported citing SEC’s statement.
Separately, Bloomberg reported earlier this month that the U.S. Justice Department is investigating whether cryptocurrency’s rally last year was fueled in part by manipulation.
Meanwhile, others blamed fears that a “hard fork” in Bitcoin cash may have driven down demand for the virtual coin.