Bitcoin price LIVE: BTC gets Cash app BOOST – 'malaise' won't stop crypto going mainstream

8.30am MORNING HEADLINES

Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of all things cryptocurrency, including price, regulation, innovation and financial crime.

Bitcoin enjoyed a mini price spike late last night after New York’s Department of Financial Services granted a virtual currency licence to Square, developers of the popular ‘Cash’ app.

Cash has 7 million monthly active users, and New York residents are now able to trade bitcoin on the app.

Phillip Nunn, CEO of The Blackmore Group, a bespoke investment house, told Express.co.uk that New York-based Cash App adopting bitcoin comes as a surprise after Plattsburgh, New York, became the first city in the US to ban cryptocurrency mining, in March.

He said: “This is a great sign for the industry, as a BitLicense has previously only been awarded to the big industry platers – Circle, Coinbase, Gemini Trust and Bitfinex. By allowing app users to enter the market they’ve created a gateway for new cryptocurrency adopters to thrive.”

Jordan Hiscott, Chief Trader at ayondo markets told Express.co.uk that despite the headlines and the volatility, “each week we move a step closer to crypto becoming more mainstream.”

He said: “A malaise seems to have struck all cryptocurrencies recently. The extreme price gains from last year, certainly from a speculator perspective, have long since disappeared and in the very short term, we’re seeing a trend of downward moving prices.

“Generally, this comes at an important time for cryptocurrencies. Each week we move a step closer to the asset class becoming more mainstream, certainly in the financial world, as more officially regulated exchanges start trying to adopt either just pricing, or actual trading for cryptocurrencies.”

Mr Hiscott cites last week’s positive news on Ether futures contracts as an example.

However he does warn that there remain a number of issues surrounding bitcoin. Most notably the price volatility.

He said: “For a genuine monetary tool, like fiat currency, you shouldn’t have 5 percent or 10 percent movements.

“Ideally it would be stable and consistent. But also for the use as a monetary tool, the asset needs to decide if it’s a genuine form of exchange or a turbo-charged speculation tool. It can’t be both and the latter leads to issues with what I call opportunity cost.

“If you’d bought a coffee with your bitcoin wallet five years ago, it’s likely that coffee could have bought you a car, a very nice car even, at today’s prices.”

Updates below throughout the day….

10.15am – Rich people board the BTC bus

A survey has found that rich people are moving towards cryptocurrency, but they want better advice.

High net worth individuals (HNWIs)- defined in the Capgemini poll as having at least $1 million to invest excluding their main homes and things such as art collections and cars — saw investment returns above 20 percent in 2017 for the second year in a row.

According to the research, rich people’s enthusiasm for digital currencies swelled last year, with 29 percent of millionaires expressing a high degree of interest in buying or holding cryptocurrencies and nearly 27 percent somewhat interested, the survey found.

Still, only around a third said they had got information about cryptocurrencies from their wealth managers.

The report said: “Although regulatory uncertainty and firm caution have prevented cryptocurrencies from penetrating the wealth management industry, the strong demand for information on cryptocurrencies from younger HNWIs is likely to force wealth management firms to at least develop and offer a point of view during the months ahead.”

10.54 – BTC steady at $6,707

Ethereum is climbing at $523. Ripple is continuing on its path at $.052. 

12.13pm – Bitcoin to be replaced?

Luke Shipley, CEO, Zinc told Express.co.uk that we could be looking at the last days of bitcoin.

He said: “When it comes to the future of bitcoin, there is an argument against it being the best long term investment in that bitcoin is a first generation blockchain that’s been around for almost ten years. It’s quite far along the growth cycle and has reached resistance-stability.

“It may not have too much more to offer and become outdated soon as more blockchains come along with better scalability, transaction speeds and more functionality.

“We’re also looking at new consensus and governance models being formed and released into the wild in these 3rd generation blockchains  – Tezos, EOS, Cardano. Many with tonnes of potential – if one of these takes hold it’s sure to change the future of blockchains.”

13.52pm – Bitcoin at Parliament 

Leading figures from the British bitcoin community will journey to Westminster tomorrow to help the executive plots the UK’s path on digital currencies.

Marco Santori, Chief Legal Officer, Blockchain, Obi Nwosu, CEO, Coinfloor, Iqbal Gandham, Chairman, CryptoUK and Managing Diretor, eToro and Izabella Kaminska, Editor, FT Alphaville will provide evidence to the Treasury Committee Digital Currencies’ inquiry on how crytocurrencies and the related technology might shape the future.

The last meeting was dominated Martin Walker, director of the Centre for Evidence Based Management, who slammed bitcoin and blockchain called the latter technology a “fad”.

He said: “In terms of demonstrable benefits there’s a big problem in the blockchain world with confusing ‘could’ for ‘is.’

“All that it takes to make a credible idea into a fad is people just switch off their brains and stop thinking. Over 20 years in and around the banking industry — blockchain is a fad but I have seen many fads in my career.”

Read more: BITCOIN LATEST: MPs told blockchain has ‘very little obvious benefit to society’

15.47pm – Bitcoin heading north

BTC is on the up. Gains today are a slim $31.