Cryptocurrency prices were steady on Thursday, while a new central bank report provided further arguments for why monetary authorities shouldn't issue digital currencies of their own.
A study from the Bank of Korea warned that a central bank-issued digital currency could increase financial instability. The introduction of such a product would replace demand deposits held by local commercial banks, causing a liquidity shortage and increasing interest rates, the study found.
The bank had already decided not go ahead with any such plans, so the report only backs that decision up.
Bitcoin remained in $3,410.00 range as of 8:36 AM ET (13:36 GMT) on the Index.
Cryptocurrencies overall were steady with the total coin market capitalization at $111 billion at the time of writing. Virtual currencies have been thinly-traded over the past few days as China, South Korea and other Asian countries celebrate the Chinese new year.
Ethereum jumped 2% to $105.13 but still remained near two-month lows and XRP inched up 0.3% to $0.2926 while Litecoin was at $33,593, up 2.55%.
Elsewhere, conspiracy theories around QuadrigaCX chief executive Gerald Cotten receded after the state government of Rajasthan in India and the private hospital where Cotten died both issued statements confirming his death, according to Coindesk. The exchange owes its members some $190 million in fiat and digital currencies, and has filed for creditor protection after saying it couldn't access the funds due to Cotten having kept essential passwords in cold - or offline - storage.
In other news, police in New Zealand said they were making progress and working with international law enforcement to track down the hackers who allegedly stole $16.1 million from exchange Cryptopia.
A press release from the police department notes that the “investigation is expected to take a considerable amount of time to resolve due to the complexity of the cyber environment.”
Cybersecurity is one of the biggest threats to the cryptocurrency space and exchanges are especially susceptible to hacks.
