Investing.com - Cryptocurrencies were mixed on Tuesday, with Bitcoin gaining 1% to recover above $6,200.
Bitcoin was trading at $6,221,10 increasing 1.61% the Bitfinex exchange, as of 8:56 AM ET (12:56 GMT), but still remained at a four-and-a-half-month low.
Cryptocurrencies overall were slightly higher, with the coin market cap of total market capitalization rising to $253 billion at the time of writing compared to $235 billion on Sunday.
Ethereum fell 1.45% to $449.77 on the Bitfinex exchange. Ripple, the third largest virtual currency, increased 0.51% to $0.47759 while Litecoin was at $81.02, up 0.50%.
The digital coins have fallen in recent weeks amid increased concern over security and regulatory concerns. Bitcoin fell to a low of $5,787 on Sunday, its lowest price so far in 2018. The virtual coin fell more than 70% from its December high of just below $20,000.
Cryptocurrencies struggled to gain ground after news on Monday that Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) told six local crypto exchanges to improve their business, specifically with money laundering measures and risk management.
Digital coins were also held back by reports that South Korea-based crypto exchange Bithumb was hacked last week and 35 billion won (US$31.5 million) worth of virtual coins stolen.
In other news, blockchain venture capitalist Spencer Bogart told CNBC he’s bullish on crypto and expects prices to go lower as crypto hedge funds hit their one-year anniversary. With many prices of virtual coins down more than 50%, many providers are looking to sell.
"They’re saying, ‘hey, I want to redeem out of that fund,'" Bogart said. "That means forced selling on behalf of all of these new crypto funds that have popped up. I think that could take prices artificially lower."