Today In Cryptocurrency: UK Regulators Confirm Investigation of 24 Crypto Businesses; Crypto Publicity Stunt Turns Deadly

Cryptocurrencies finished another difficult week Friday, with most major cryptocurrencies trading lower by more than 1 percent. Here’s a look at some of the headlines that were moving the cryptocurrency market today — and which currencies were on the move.

Headlines

One day after the U.S. Justice Department said it has launched a probe into potential price manipulation in the bitcoin market, the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority said Friday that it is investigating 24 businesses that deal with cryptocurrencies. The FCA said it has opened up seven new investigations this year thanks to whistleblower reports of potential misconduct.

A cryptocurrency publicity stunt turned deadly this week when a Nepalese Sherpa accompanying a group of Mount Everest climbers organized by Ukranian social network ASKfm died during a climb. ASKfm sponsored a group of four people to climb Everest and bury a hard drive containing an estimated $50,000 in digital tokens. The plan was to encourage other Everest climbers to claim the crypto prize, which has a value based on an “estimate of their value once the pre-sale and ICO launch,” ASKfm said.

On Thursday, the Anti-Phishing Working Group released a new study that found $1.2 billion in cryptocurrency has been stolen since the beginning of 2017. Cryptocurrency bulls often cite the security of the blockchain verification process, but the reports found that cryptocurrency investors have still lost billions to scams, hackers and frauds.

Price Action

The Bitcoin Investment Trust GBTC GBTC traded at $12.22, down 0.1 percent.

Here’s how several top crypto investments fared Friday. Prices are as of 3:45 p.m. ET and reflect the previous 24 hours.

• Bitcoin declined 2.1 percent to $7,420;
• Ethereum declined 1.7 percent to $582;
• Ripple declined 4.8 percent to 60 cents;
• Bitcoin Cash declined 4.6 percent to $1,006;
• EOS declined 0.7 percent to $12.11.

The three cryptocurrencies with at least $1-million market caps that have made the biggest gains over the past 24 hours are:

• Photon: $2-million market cap, 87.4-percent gain.
• MUSE: $17.4-million market cap, 42.9-percent gain.
• Carboncoin: $1.6-million market cap, 39.2-percent gain.

The three cryptocurrencies hit hardest in the past 24 hours were:

• BunnyCoin: $1.9-million market cap, 69-percent decline.
• Jiyo: $3.8-million market cap, 31.4-percent decline.
• LiteDoge: $1.2-million market cap, 31.1-percent decline.

Related Links:

Today In Cryptocurrency: Crypto Market Hits One-Month Low, India Mulls New Taxes

Riot Blockchain's 10-Q Sheds Light On Crypto Mining Operation