Bitcoin was trading more than 1.5% higher Saturday morning.

The price was around $48,670 per coin (+1.67%), while rivals Ethereum and Dogecoin were trading around $3,520 (-0.19%) and 24.4 cents (-2.95%) per coin, respectively, according to Coindesk.

FIDELITY LOBBIES SEC FOR BITCOIN ETF

The Biden administration is preparing an array of actions, including sanctions, to make it harder for hackers to use digital currency to profit from ransomware attacks, according to people familiar with the matter.

The government hopes to choke off access to a form of payment that has supported a booming criminal industry and a rising national security threat.

Bitcoin was trading more than 1.5% higher Saturday morning.

The Treasury Department plans to impose the sanctions as soon as next week, the people said, and will issue fresh guidance to businesses on the risks associated with facilitating ransomware payments, including fines and other penalties. Later this year, expected new anti-money-laundering and terror-finance rules will seek to limit the use of cryptocurrency as a payment mechanism in ransomware attacks and other illicit activities.

In other cryptocurrency news, shortly after Texas securities regulators issued an order to crypto lender Celsius to appear in court in New Jersey, that state has also filed a cease-and-desist order, Coindesk reported.

GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE  

“If you sell securities in NJ, you need to comply with NJ’s securities laws. And that includes those operating in the cryptocurrency market,” tweeted New Jersey Acting Attorney General Andrew Bruck. “Our Bureau of Securities has ordered an NJ-based company – Celsius – to stop offering interest-bearing accounts.”