Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called on democracies across the globe to coordinate over the way to tackle cryptocurrencies so they do not "end up in the wrong hands", as the country's government mulls over the shape of its policy towards digital currencies.
His said, during a speech to the Sydney Dialogue: "Take cryptocurrency or Bitcoin, for example. It is important that all democratic nations work together on this and ensure it does not end up in the wrong hands, which can spoil our youth."
According to India's Economic Times the country is likely to bar the use of cryptocurrencies for transactions or making payments, but allow them to be held as assets like gold, shares or bonds.
Elsewhere the US Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) rejection of what would have been the first US spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund by VanEck was one of the pieces of news that analysts said dampened the bitcoin, ethereum and other cryptocurrency prices as they have fallen back from their peaks in the last few days.
Craig Erlam, senior market analyst, UK & EMEA, OANDA, said: "Bitcoin is continuing to struggle and once more we're seeing it test the late October lows around $58,000. A significant break below here could see it accelerate to the downside, at which point focus may shift back towards the $50,000 region. While this would represent a large correction from the highs, it would still be relatively minor considering how far it's come in recent months."
