Investing.com - Prices of major digital currencies advanced on Thursday in Asia, even as regulators in Singapore issued public warnings about crypto scams.
On Jan. 29, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) issued an official statement about “fraudulent websites soliciting cryptocurrency investments” and repeated its stance on digital assets.
“These websites falsely claim that Singapore is adopting a cryptocurrency as its official coin,” the statement read.
The MAS stressed that “putting money in cryptocurrencies or digital tokens is highly risky.” It has issued advisories four times previously to warn the public of the risks of investment offers involving cryptocurrencies.
Singapore’s move was similar to the one recently taken by Malta, whose regulators also warned of an alleged global scam known as “Bitcoin Revolution.” The watchdog stressed that the Bitcoin Revolution is not registered or licenced to provide financial and investment services in the country.
Regulators worldwide are concerned about the scams and illicit uses of digital assets. On Thursday, the chairman of the upper house of Russian parliament urged lawmakers to speed up reviewing a draft regulation to cover crypto assets.
Despite moves worldwide to investigate and warn the public about the risks of digital assets, the prices of cryptocurrencies continued to advance on Thursday.
Bitcoin gained 1.45% to $3,470.8 by 11:11 PM ET (04:11 GMT).
Ethereum edged up 4.10% to $109.48, XRP traded 11.55% higher to $ 0.32746, and Litecoin added 3.21% to $32.059.
In other news, the major messaging application in Japan LINE partnered with local financial giant Nomura Holdings to form a financial alliance focused on blockchain. The companies are looking to collaborate in blockchain business opportunities by leveraging LINE's large user base and Nomura’s financial business know-how.