Investing.com – Cryptocurrencies’ prices sank on Wednesday, with most of the top 10 digital coins plunging more than 4%.
Bitcoin was trading at $10,756.0 by 12:15pm ET on the Bitfinex exchange, plunged 4.45% over the previous 24 hours.
Ethereum, the world’s second largest cryptocurrency by market cap, was down 4.22% at $810.98 on the Bitfinex exchange.
Ripple’s XRP token dived 5.51% to $0.90355 on the Poloniex exchange.
Meanwhile, Litecoin also plunged 5.36% to $196.98.
Reports that Coinbase was set to launch a weighted index fund for digital currencies caught some attention as the news marked the U.S.-based bitcoin exchange’s foray into the asset management industry.
The company’s newly formed unit, Coinbase Asset Management, would oversee the new Coinbase Index Fund, according to the reports.
The fund, which is only available to U.S. residents at the moment, would give investors access to all assets listed on Coinbase’s institutional exchange, GDAX, weighted by market capitalisation.
"We're seeing strong demand from our customers and the market generally for a passive investment management product," said product lead Reuben Bramanathan, who added that the company saw enough demand to justify the launch of the investment product.
Elsewhere, the Bank of England’s chief economist Andy Haldane said cryptocurrencies are risky for consumers, echoing similar comments made by BoE Governor Mark Carney and Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority.
“There’s lots of potential risks there, one of which is the danger to the consumer from buying into this stuff,” Haldane said in a BBC television interview.
However, Haldane added that cryptos do not currently pose a big danger to the world's financial system, as they currently only account for less than 1 percent of total global wealth.