Investing.com - Bitcoin and other major cryptocurrency prices gained slightly on Friday. Reports that India is considering imposing a ban on virtual coin received some focus.
Bitcoin was trading at $6,418.40 on the Bitfinex exchange by 1:22 AM ET (05:22 GMT), up 0.5%, continuing what has been a relatively subdued period for the world’s largest digital currency.
Bitcoin has not traded outside the $6,200-to-$6,800 range since October 16. It ended October with a decline of 3.8%.
Beyond Bitcoin, the price of the other major cryptocurrencies also increased.
Ethereum, the world’s second largest cryptocurrency by market cap, traded 1.1% higher to $200.2. It lost 14.7% last month.
Meanwhile, XRP was trading at $0.46200, up around 1.3%. It slumped 22.1% in October, making it last month's worst-performing digital currency.
Litecoin was also higher, up 2.1% at $51.101.
India’s central authorities are considering imposing a ban on virtual coins, a press release published by the central government’s Press Information Bureau (PIB) revealed this week.
Indian regulators would continue to encourage the use of blockchain technology, although they would seek to ban “private” virtual coins, according to the statement.
Meanwhile, Cryptovest suggested that Indian authorities do not want to completely close the door on central bank digital currencies (CBDC). Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the country’s central bank, announced earlier this year that it is working on a CBDC project.