Investing.com - Cryptocurrency prices were down on Thursday. Reports that Nasdaq’s CEO voiced support for the digital coins gathered some attention. Meanwhile, U.S. state Wisconsin is considering accepting Bitcoin for donation.
Bitcoin was trading at $8,860.5 by 12:30AM ET (04:30GMT) on the Bitfinex exchange, down 5.74% over the previous 24 hours.
Ethereum, the world’s second largest cryptocurrency by market cap, shed 5.43% at $621.74 on the Bitfinex exchange.
Ripple’s XRP token lost 5.08% to $0.80275 on the Poloniex exchange.
Meanwhile, Litecoin slipped 5.49% to $145.93.
Nasdaq CEO Adena Friedman said Nasdaq is open to launching a cryptocurrency exchange in the future as the regulatory environment evolves.
"I believe that digital currencies will continue to persist...it's just a matter of how long it will take for that space to mature," said Friedman. "Once you look at it and say, 'do we want to provide a regulated market for this?' Certainly, Nasdaq would consider it."
But the virtual currencies are still very lightly regulated. That is part of the appeal to many early adopters but would have to change in order for Nasdaq to operate a cryptocurrency exchange, Friedman said.
Meanwhile, reports that Wisconsin ethics officials in the U.S. are considering accepting political contributions in bitcoins and other digital currencies attracted some attention. The move caused concerns about the inherent anonymity of such donations and the fluctuation of exchange rates.
The traditional method of campaign donations via cheque or credit cards allows authorities to trace their source and learn about the donor’s identity.
This came after the federal government, Montana and Washington, D.C., already allow bitcoin campaign contributions, while most U.S. states have been lukewarm in accepting cryptocurrencies due to untraceable source of donation.