Investing.com - Top cryptocurrencies saw their values suddenly tumble on Monday in Asia, recording double-digit losses after they seemingly picked up momentum last week. Market capitalisation shed $12 billion over the weekend.
Bitcoin lost 9.23% to $3,819.5 by 12:21 AM ET (5:21 GMT).
Ethereum plunged 17.44% to $139.79, XRP dived 12.15% to $0.30308, and Litecoin dropped 17.08% to $44.911.
The crypto market cap dropped sharply from $141 billion last Saturday to $129 billion on Monday.
But the market tumble has not deterred Japanese corporations from tapping into the crypto space. On Monday, Japanese financial giant Mizuho was said to be launching its new digital token J-Coin to offer cashless transactions.
The firm is now reportedly working with around 60 financial partners to launch the digital token that will link existing bank accounts to new J-Coin wallets. Users will be able to make payments with their smartphones.
Japanese news outlet Nikkei Asian Review said the platform is to launch on Friday.
While Japan is keen to spearhead its crypto development, Korean regulators are still looking for cues from the U.S. about whether it plans to take further actions to regulate crypto assets.
Speaking to The Korea Herald on condition of anonymity last week, an official of Korea Exchange said the bourse will see if U.S. regulators will greenlight Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
“The U.S. has been the front-runner on the cryptocurrency market and related derivatives, and there are strong voices supporting the launch of Bitcoin ETFs within the market — which is why we are observing the progress and response of the U.S. [SEC]’s decision on Bitcoin ETFs,” the official said.
The Korean bourse is looking into the feasibility of a Bitcoin index. The official was quoted saying that such ETFs “would eventually concern investor protection issues.”
In other news, Russian financial outlet Rambler reported that the Russian State Duma is going to review and adopt new crypto regulations next month. The country ’s former Energy Minister Igor Yusufov also proposed an oil-backed digital token.
“Perhaps the oil-backed cryptocurrency will be the pioneering project that will create a reliable structure for the cryptographic market as a whole,” Yusufov told Rambler.