Investing.com - Cryptocurrency prices were mixed on Wednesday morning in Asia, with Bitcoin alone edging up among other major digital tokens, and HSBC investing in New York-based blockchain startup Axoni on Tuesday.
Bitcoin inched up 0.18% to $6,435.5 at 10:51PM ET (02:51 GT) on the Bitifinex exchange.
Ethereum fell 0.71% to $210.12 on the Bitifinex exchange, XRP dropped 0.9% to $0.51647 on the Poloniex exchange and Litecoin shed 1.2% to $50.529 on the Bitifinex exchange.
HSBC joined Axoni’s series B financing round, raising a total of $36 million. The startup said it will use the funds to enhance its data synchronization technology, expand its suite of infrastructure products and to advance an Ethereum-compatible smart contracting language that enables formal verification.
“Distributed ledger technology will clearly be important in modernizing the shared infrastructure of capital markets,” said Matthew J. Flanigan, COO of HSBC Bank USA, in a statement.
Elsewhere, over a third of German logistics managers said they believe blockchain technology could significantly enhance cooperation in supply chains, according to a Hermes survey.
This comes after nine ocean carriers and terminal operators inked an MOU last week to set up a consortium, with the aim of developing an open digital platform based on distributed ledger technology, according to the Maritime Executive.
Set to be available next month, the platform will allow shippers to digitize and organize their dangerous goods documents and connect with relevant parties to expediate the approval process.
On the flip side, frauds and scams concerning digital currencies continue to be a concern.
Bloomberg reported that U.S. trader Joseph Kim was sentenced to 15 months in prison for mishandling $1.1 million in Bitcoin and Litecoin in 2017, marking the first criminal prosecution involving crypto trading. Kim’s scheme hurt at least five investors.
Recent reports showed that hackers obtained control of the Twitter account of department store retailer Target (NYSE:TGT) on Tuesday, among others. With the accounts, they distributed messages promising to compensate people with bitcoin if they pay in cryptocurrencies. Target said later that Twitter is currently investigating the incident.