Investing.com - Bitcoin fell below $8,000 on Tuesday, as other cryptocurrencies also struggled to gain ground.
Bitcoin was trading at $7,891.2, falling 3.19% on the Bitfinex exchange, as of 8:28 AM ET (12:28 GMT).
The digital coin rose above $8,000 last week amid rumors that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission would approve an exchange traded fund. But the ETF proposed by Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss was rejected on Thursday because regulators said it would not be protected from manipulation.
Cryptocurrencies overall were lower. The coin market cap of total market capitalization was at $281 billion at the time of writing, compared to $294 billion on Monday.
Ethereum, the second-biggest alternative currency by market cap, fell 5.98% to $435.51 on the Bitfinex exchange. Ripple, the third-largest virtual currency, decreased 3.50% to $0.43492, while Litecoin was at $78.377, down 5.93%.
In other news, digital token exchange Coinbase hired finance executive Jeff Horowitz as its new chief compliance officer, a new role for the company. Horowitz, who served as global head of compliance for Pershing LLC, a subsidiary of Bank of New York Mellon (NYSE:BK), will help the exchange navigate regulations.
“As Coinbase - along with the cryptocurrency space as a whole - grows and matures, continued regulatory compliance across all the varying jurisdictions globally will be critical,” Asiff Hirji, Coinbase president wrote in a blog post.
With cryptocurrencies gaining popularity and becoming increasingly volatile, regulators around the world have struggled with how to oversee digital currencies, with exchanges facing increased scrutiny in the past year. Companies in the sector have been paying closer attention to their compliance procedures as a result.