Bitcoin holds above $6,500 for second session

Bitcoin rose marginally on Friday, holding above $6,500 for the second session as prices strive to gather momentum towards the coveted $7,000.

At Bitstamp, Bitcoin rose $7, or 0.1% to $6,555, with an intraday high at $6,594, and a low at $6,510. 

Bitcoin rose 1.5% on Thursday, the first profit in four days away from week lows at $6,396. 

Market value of cryptocurrencies rose less than a billion dollars on Friday to a total of $219 billion. 

In a speech to the United Nations, prime minister of Malta, Joseph Muscat, declared cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies as the future and the solution to many of the problems facing the finance world today. 

But while Malta continues to be an oasis for crypto incentives and official recognition, many other countries are still eyeing the new business with doubts, with China for example banning cryptocurrencies outright.

In the US, brokerage firm TD Ameritrade has announced an investment in new crypto exchange ErisX, betting on a market that's currently suffering deep selloffs. 

TD Ameritrade, which services up to 11 million clients, didn't disclose the details of the deal, but news outlets reported several other backers such as trading company Virtu Financial.

The new platform is expected to directly sell cryptocurrencies in addition to their futures by early 2019, with the list including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, and Litecoin. 

In a major blow to the crypto business in South Korea, the government committed to proposals to exclude crypto and blockchain companies from being considered venture companies. 

That means they will be treated the same way as entertainment, bar, and gambling companies, with nearly double the tax rate and without many of the benefits that startups and venture companies take. 

In Japan, news outlook reported the self-regulatory Japan Virtual Currency Exchange Association (JVCEA) is planning to tighten the measures related to client asset management. 

The JVCEA is a self regulatory group that includes several major licensed crypto exchanges in Japan, established in April, with the organization also planning to put a cap on the amount of cryptocurrencies managed online through any platform. 

The Japan Times reported the cap would likely by 10% to 20% from total client assets.