Bitcoin price steadies around $59,000
The FDIC chair said a team of U.S. bank regulators is trying to provide a roadmap for banks to engage with crypto assets
Brock Pierce: El Salvador’s Bitcoin adoption shows it can work in many countries
Bitcoin Foundation Chairman Brock Pierce on how governments, institutions and consumers feel about adopting Bitcoin.
Bitcoin was trading 1.5% lower Thursday morning.
The price was around $59,000 per coin, while rivals Ethereum and Dogecoin were trading around $4,000 and 32 cents per coin, respectively, according to Coindesk.
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U.S. officials were reportedly looking to provide a clearer path for banks and their clients that are looking to hold cryptocurrencies.
The move would help keep control over the fast-developing asset.
Jelena McWilliams, who chairs the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), told Reuters on Monday that a team of U.S. bank regulators was trying to provide a roadmap for banks to engage with crypto assets.
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That could include clearer rules over client trading, using them as collateral for loans, or even holding them on their balance sheets like more traditional assets.
"I think that we need to allow banks in this space, while appropriately managing and mitigating risk," she said on the sidelines of a fintech conference.
"If we don't bring this activity inside the banks, it is going to develop outside of the banks. ... The federal regulators won't be able to regulate it."
In other cryptocurrency news, the Salvadoran government has boosted its holdings of bitcoin, acquiring 420 more Wednesday, according to Reuters.
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President Nayib Bukele made the announcement on social media.
The purchase is worth nearly $25 million at current prices.
Last month, El Salvador became the first country in the world to adopt bitcoin as legal tender alongside the U.S. dollar.
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Overall, El Salvador's treasury holds 1,120 bitcoin, according to official data, worth nearly $66 million.