Investing.com - Cryptocurrency prices were higher on Tuesday amid a lack of a clear trigger, although optimists took heart from an announcement the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission will host a series of meetups with crypto and fintech companies across the country.
The meetings, organized by the regulator’s hub for innovation, aims to help the SEC gain insight into the industry.
Entrepreneurs and others will be able to ask SEC staff about clarification on federal securities laws and if their companies and products, including digital assets, fall under their purview.
The SEC is currently reviewing more than one application to list exchange-traded funds dealing in cryptocurrencies. Its approval would greatly expand the accessibility of crypto assets for mainstream investors. It has refused all applications so far.
Bitcoin rose 1% to $3,891.10 as of 8:43 AM ET (12:43 GMT) on the Investing.com Index.
Cryptocurrencies overall recovered to $134 billion at the time of writing, compared to $133 billion on Monday.
Ethereum gained 1.7% to $134.30 and XRP inched up 0.35% to $0.31064 while Litecoin was jumped 3.7% to 0.3111.
In other news, the digital coin reportedly being worked on by Facebook could generate as much as $19 billion in annual revenue for it by 2021, Barclays (LON:BARC) analyst Ross Sandler wrote in a note to clients - although he said $3 billion was his base case. The $19 billion figure assumes that Facebook could use a new payments function to wring as much out of users as Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) does through Google Play.
“Merely establishing this revenue stream starts to change the story for Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) shares in our view,” Sandler said.
The social media giant is reportedly working creating a coin for global payments for use through its messenger app “WhatsApp.” The 'stable coin' will be linked to the U.S. dollar, making it less volatile than digital currencies on a public blockchain.