Investing.com - Cryptocurrencies fell on Monday, while Bitcoin eased from a two-and-a-half-week high as an academic study found that Tether does not impact its price.
Bitcoin decreased 1.56% to $6,630.30 on the Bitfinex exchange, as of 8:52 AM ET (12:52 GMT).
Cryptocurrencies overall were lower, with the coin market cap of total market capitalization at $219 billion at the time of writing, compared to $228 billion on Sunday.
Ethereum,or Ether, fell 4.44% to $235.08. XRP dipped 7.58% to $0.53092 and Litecoin was at $58.20, down 6.77%.
A report from the University of Queensland Business School found that any impact of Tether on Bitcoin prices and trading volumes is temporary, with volume returning to normal within five days.
“We find no empirical evidence supporting the notion that Tether grants cause subsequent Bitcoin returns to rise on a daily basis. In fact, when we examine the Bitcoin return equation of our VAR model, none of the lagged variables impacts Bitcoin returns. This suggests Bitcoin returns are showing greater signs of market efficiency than previously studied on older datasets,” the paper states.
Tether was under scrutiny last year by the U.S. Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which subpoenaed the company for proof the coin is backed by a sufficient reserve of U.S. dollars.
Meanwhile, a paper by the University of Texas published in June claimed that the Bitcoin price increase to $20,000 in December 2017 was a result of price manipulation by Tether.
In other news, the Dubai Department of Finance and the Smart Dubai Office debuted their blockchain-powered payment system, which is geared towards government entities. The system aims to offer a more accurate and transparent governance process.