RIYADH/DUBAI: Bitcoin fell back in the top end of its $30,000 to $40,000 trading range on Monday, after posting its biggest weekly gain in the last three months.
The leading cryptocurrency in trading internationally was down 4 percent to $39,636.98 at 6:02 p.m. Riyadh time, while Ether traded at $2,624.00, up by 1.77 percent, according to data from CoinDesk.
This comes as big companies weighed in on the digital currency trend. Media reports claimed that Saudi Arabia’s Aramco is also considering this trend, but the oil company denied reports it was embarking on bitcoin mining, saying the claims were “completely false and inaccurate.”
PayPal has announced over 100 job openings related to cryptocurrency as the company prepares to expand its crypto services.
According to job postings on the company’s website, there were at least 102 job openings related to cryptocurrency and blockchain technology, Bitcoin News reported.
Payments giant MasterCard also provided an update on its cryptocurrency plans on Thursday.
The company’s CEO, Michael Miebach, outlined plans to develop products and services around cryptocurrencies, stable coins, and central bank digital currencies.
“We want to play a role … it’s clearly a vibrant space around digital currencies,” he said.
In China, the central bank earlier released the results of a monetary policy meeting for the first half of the year and the next steps for the remainder of 2021.
The People’s Bank of China said it will continue to apply high regulatory pressure on cryptocurrency trading and continue the country’s strongest crackdown since 2017.
It added it will promote green finance, open up financial markets, continue its de-risking campaign, and pursue the internationalization of the yuan and the launch of the digital yuan.
Egyptian-American businessman Mohamed El-Erian, who is also the president of Queen’s College, University of Cambridge, has urged governments in the West to “stop dismissing the crypto revolution as some mix of illicit payments schemes and reckless financial speculation.”
