Bitcoin has passed another milestone, crossing $57,000 as of Saturday (Feb. 20), according to a CoinDesk report.
The price of the coin hit $57,492 on Saturday and then settled back to $57,264,55, up 8.77 percent in the past day.
Bitcoin has been surpassing numerous price milestones in recent months, ending 2020 just below $29,000 but skyrocketing in recent weeks.
The CoinDesk report says the cause of the rise could be attributed to the huge demand from buyers looking to guard against inflation when governments continue large amounts of spending and banks keep printing money as everyone keeps the financial aid taps flowing to get through the pandemic.
Australia’s Financial Market Authority is seeing a surge in whistleblower fraud reports, especially concerning cryptocurrencies, according to a report from BNN Bloomberg.
Two thirds of the investment fraud reports were related to crypto and digital currencies, the report finds, with a glut of scam offerings for digital currencies on what officials say were “dubious” platforms advertised on social media.
FMA spokesman Klaus Grubelnik said crypto investigations were tough because of the international factors involved, and said more regulation was needed in general.
The idea of cryptos needing more regulations was also recently espoused by New Jersey’s independent watchdog for organized crime, public corruption and financial waste.
He said cryptocurrency ATMs could be a risk to the public due to a lack of regulation.
The watchdog added that, because of the complexity, federal laws don’t provide adequate protection against money laundering and other financial crimes.
The watchdog’s recommendation was a “licensing mechanism” for crypto ATMs to be required before people can use them, which he said would help cut down on fraud.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is targeting Japanese tourists in a bid to be the first country to target cryptocurrency holders, a report from the Bangkok Post says.
Despite downgrading their target for foreign tourist arrivals this year, the TAT is shifting its goals to add segments with high spending and focused on creativity and quality.
Cryptocurrency holders were determined to be among that market, according to officials.