Bitcoin prices were drifting lower on Thursday, putting a five-day streak of gains at risk for the best-known digital currency.
In Thursday trade, bitcoin BTCUSD, -0.55% was changing hands at $3,926.35, down 0.7% since Wednesday’s level at 5 p.m. Eastern time on the Kraken exchange. The cryptocurrency remains on track to finish the week in the green having risen 10.4% since Sunday’s closing level.
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What are analysts saying
“While a 10% move in most securities is huge, for bitcoin this still falls within normal gyrations,” wrote Jani Ziedins of the CrackedMarket blog.
Ziedins said “at this point there are still no fundamental story building behind bitcoin or any of the other altcoins and we should expect each bounce to fizzle.”
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In the news
Embattled Canadian crypto exchange QuadrigaCX has returned its remaining cryptocurrency to Big Four accounting firm Ernst & Young. The accounting firm, which recently rebranded itself EY, is the company’s court-appointed monitor.
In a court filing Wednesday, EY said “after testing the transfer arrangements, the applicants successfully transferred the following cryptocurrency to the Monitor.” The total value of all coins returned was more than $300,000.
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Altcoins and futures
Digital currencies other than bitcoin, or altcoins as they are referred to, are showing small losses to begin Thursday. Ether ETHUSD, -1.06% fell 1.7% to $142.60, Bitcoin Cash BCHUSD, -2.78% lost 3.1% to $139.50, Litecoin LTCUSD, -4.57% was off 4.8% to $47.93 and XRP, XRPUSD, -2.44% the cryptocurrency of the Ripple protocol, fell 2.4% to 32 cents.
Bitcoin futures were trading lower on Thursday. The Cboe Global Markets March contract XBTJ9, -0.70% was down 1.1% to $3,900, while the CME Group February contract BTCG9, -1.02% fell 1.% to $3,895.
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