Investing.com - Cryptocurrency prices slumped on Wednesday, as Bitcoin fell to a one-week low, while a Canadian judge ordered a temporary pause in lawsuits against a digital currency exchange that lost millions of dollars of coins after the founder died.
Gerald Cotten, who was the only one with knowledge of company passwords, died of complications from Crohn’s disease in India, leaving his company, Quadriga, in disarray.
Cotten’s widow has said she cannot find the password to digital wallets containing C$180 million ($137.13 million) worth of cryptocurrencies.
A judge on Tuesday ordered a 30-day reprieve from filing claims against the company. According to court filings the company could sell its platforms and other assets to cover its debts, Reuters reported.
Bitcoin fell 1.84% to $3,401.00 as of 8:27 AM ET (13:27 GMT) on the Investing.com Index.
Cryptocurrencies overall were lower with the total coin market capitalization at $111 billion at the time of writing, compared to $113 billion on Tuesday. Virtual currencies were thinly-traded over the past few days as China, South Korea and other Asian countries celebrate the Chinese new year.
Ethereum dipped 4.3% to $103.08 and XRP slipped 2.4% to $0.29083779 while Litecoin was at $32.719, down 04.42%.
In other news, Coinbase has expanded its support of Paypal withdrawal to all its customers in the European Union. Before, SEPA and U.K. Faster Payments were the only options U.K. users could use to withdraw funds from the exchange.
The company also now allows users to store Bitcoin directly on the Coinbase Wallet app. It already supports Ethereum and Ethereum Classic.