Investing.com - Cryptocurrencies were higher on Monday, as Bitcoin rose above the $6,600 mark for the first time in a week.
Bitcoin rose 1.53% to $6,669.00 on the Bitfinex exchange, as of 8:57 AM ET (12:57 GMT).
Cryptocurrencies overall were higher, with the total coin market capitalization at $221 billion at the time of writing, compared to $218 billion on Friday.
Ethereum,or Ether, increased 2.69% to $229.30 and Litecoin was at $59.178, up 1.85% while XRP jumped 3.75% to $0.49517.
Meanwhile Goldman Sachs-backed exchange Circle acquired crowdfunding firm SeedInvest on Friday. It will help startups issue digital tokens and provide clients with a wider range of virtual currencies. The deal is pending approval by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).
SeedInvest allows small companies to source capital from smaller investors. If the partnership is approved, SeedInvest will be able to expand its offerings to companies and investors.
“This was a company who had been at the forefront of collaborating with government to figure out how to make it possible to innovate in the way people raise capital. Crypto securities are going to become a major new category of securities that ultimately every business is going to adopt, just like every business has a website,” Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire said.
The acquisition will “accelerate our strategy of delivering a token marketplace that enables businesses and individuals to raise capital and interact with investors using open crypto rails and infrastructure.”
In other news, Bitfinex platform announced a partnership with bank HSBC, its first since it banked with Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) in 2017.