Bitcoin Rises; Swiss Bank Julius Baer Enters Crypto Market
Investing.com - Cryptocurrency prices rose on Wednesday, recovering from the slump earlier in the week. Meanwhile, Swiss-bank Julius Baer (SIX:BAER) has partnered with a digital currency startup as it plans to expand clients' access to virtual coin assets.
The 125-year-old bank’s partnership with Seba Crypto will help bridge the gap between traditional banking and the newer disruptive currencies, the bank said in a statement.
“At Julius Baer, we are convinced that digital assets will become a legitimate sustainable asset class of an investor’s portfolio,” said Peter Gerlach, head of markets at Julius Baer.
While a number of Swiss banks are active in the digital currency space, Julius Baer’s entry could help extend the reach of alternative currencies, as it has about 382 billion Swiss francs ($382.8 billion) of assets under management.
Bitcoin gained 0.6% to $3,826.70 as of 8:11 AM ET (13:11 GMT) on the Investing.com Index.
Cryptocurrencies overall were up slightly at $132 billion at the time of writing compared to $129 billion on Tuesday.
Ethereum rose 1.9% to $138.66 and XRP slipped 0.6% to $0.31705 while Litecoin was at $45.542, up 1%.
In other news, JP Morgan’s digital coin could eventually be used for retail payments, CEO Jamie Dimon said on CNBC on Tuesday.
“JP Morgan Coin could be internal, could be commercial, it could one day be consumer,” he said.
The banking giant announced Feb. 14 that it would launch its own digital currency for internal use, first focusing on international settlements by corporations. Some crypto advocates have criticized the technology, saying it misses the point of digital coins and is more of a ledger.
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