Investing.com – Bitcoin prices edged lower on Thursday amid reports that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was looking into the cryptocurrency market.
Bitcoin was trading at $10,449.0 by 12:10am ET on the Bitfinex exchange, down 4.3% over the previous 24 hours.
Ethereum, the world’s second largest cryptocurrency by market cap, was down 2.9% at $860.19 on the Bitfinex exchange.
Ripple’s XRP token, plunged 4.9% to $0.89490 on the Poloniex exchange.
Meanwhile, Litecoin also dived 7.26% to $203.90.
The SEC has targeted the initial-coin-offerings (ICO) industry, and has issued “scores of subpoenas” to request information from companies tied to the crypto markets, according to the reports, which added that the agency was seeking information regarding the structure of ICO sales and pre-sales.
An ICO is a fund-raising method in which companies issue their own cryptocurrencies, usually in exchange for bitcoin. The market was generally considered highly risky, as 46% of new ICOs this year have gone out of business, according to a survey from news.Bitcoin.com.
The news came following the recent regulatory crackdowns in multiple countries that sent prices of the digital coin to below $6,000 last month from a record high above $19,000 in mid-December.
SEC chairman Jay Clayton warned in a statement in December that ICO markets present investors with “many questions”, and that investors should “ask questions and demand clear answers”.
"A number of concerns have been raised regarding the cryptocurrency and ICO markets, including that, as they are currently operating, there is substantially less investor protection than in our traditional securities markets, with correspondingly greater opportunities for fraud and manipulation," Clayton warned.