Investing.com - Major cryptocurrencies were mixed as the week opened in Asia, with Bitcoin gaining but other top digital tokens losing ground.
On Monday morning, Bitcoin added 0.21% to $3,987.9 by 01:07 AM ET (05:08 AM GMT). The coin continues to struggle to break the $4,000 mark without a clear directional catalyst.
Meanwhile, Ethereum lost 0.30% to $136.32, XRP went down 0.73% to $0.30639 and Litecoin dropped 0.52% to $59.998.
Traders took note of reports that the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is reviewing applications related to cryptocurrencies. One of them concerns Bitcoin futures from institutional trading platform Bakkt, which has been delayed.
Without pointing to Bakkt’s applicaton specifically, commissioner Dan Berkovitz said the CFTC is “working diligently with all the applicants to process their applications.”
“But we need to ensure that a crypto product, just like any other product that’s traded on our markets, meets all the standards,” he noted.
The Bakkt platform by the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE (NYSE:ICE)) has much been anticipated by the market. ICE planned to launch Bakkt in mid-December, but then postponed the launch to January. The exchange platform will offer physically delivered daily futures contracts traded in BTC/USD.
Now it is still pending full regulatory approval due to a lack of consensus over how Bakkt would handle its Bitcoin futures.
Elsewhere, Switzerland’s Federal Council has begun a consultation on adapting the country’s federal law for blockchain development. The move aims to improve legal certainty over blockchain applications in order to lay a basis for regulatory framework for the industry.
The council has also proposed segregating crypto assets when bankruptcy takes place, reflected by the proposed amendment to the Federal Law on Debt Collection and Bankruptcy.
Earlier this week, Switzerland’s Federal Assembly also approved a motion to instruct the Federal Council to adapt existing legislation for crypto regulation.