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.

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.