Bitcoin price LIVE: 'Symbolic' Goldman Sachs puts crypto into 'mainstream circles'

8.10am HEADLINES

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

Bitcoin hit a high of $9,779 overnight and is currently priced at $9,670. 

Yesterday's news was dominated by the arrival of Goldman Sachs into the crypto space.

Goldman - one of the most famous names in global investment banking - is set to take on the Bitcoin challenge after its board signed off on the firm’s entry into the crypto futures market.

Although many institutional investors, like Anton Marchenko, Managing Editor at Waves are encouraged by the "symbolic" arrival of Goldman to the space, Gabriel Francisco of the TMT Blockchain Fund is wary about the entry of bank involved in the "economic meltdown" of 2009 who have previously labelled the technology a scam.

Mr Marchenko told Express.co.uk that after the financial crash, "these same bad actors want in on Bitcoin and the blockchain revolution they have denounced for years."

However, he adds, "for supporters of cryptocurrency, Goldman’s entry into the market is a significant turning point.

"While the presence of a major Wall Street bank is considered an announcement for the institutional adoption of digital assets, the wise remain wary. Goldman Sachs' timing is perfectly correlated to Bitcoin's retracement and support lines of $8,700.

Consumer demand and market sentiment are both high. Big banks have much to gain but so do the 'little people'.

"Big banks are joining the bandwagon only because they have to. Bitcoin has been called dead by the mainstream media 288 times and yet here we are, upon the brink of global awareness and adoption."

Updates below throughout the day....