It's been a relatively quiet day in the cryptocurrency markets, as bitcoin (BTC-USD), Ethereum (ETH-USD), and most other major cryptocurrencies are slightly up, while Stellar (XLM-USD) continues to build on yesterday's momentum. There was one notable announcement -- that cryptocurrencies and stocks will be available for investing side-by-side on the same platform.
Today's cryptocurrency prices
Here's a look at the largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, and how much each has changed over the past 24 hours:
|
Cryptocurrency Name (Code) |
Price in U.S. Dollars |
Day's Change |
|---|---|---|
|
Bitcoin (BTC-USD) |
$11,385.00 |
1.9% |
|
Ethereum (ETH-USD) |
$1,078.40 |
4.3% |
|
Ripple (XRP-USD) |
$1.32 |
(2.6%) |
|
Bitcoin Cash (BCH-USD) |
$1,662.10 |
1.5% |
|
Cardano (ADA-USD) |
$0.64 |
1.9% |
|
Stellar (XLM-USD) |
$0.60 |
5.5% |
Data source: investing.com. Prices and daily changes as of Jan. 25, 2018 at 3:30 p.m. EST; prices are rounded to the nearest cent where appropriate.
Most of the largest cryptocurrencies are slightly up. Stellar (XLM-USD) is the best performer of the top six yet again, building on yesterday's momentum after Stripe announced that it was going to end support for bitcoin payments, but is open to the possibility of integrating Stellar (XLM-USD) into its platform.
Robinhood plans to roll out commission-free cryptocurrency trading
One potential reason for the generally positive moves in an otherwise quiet news day in the space is the announcement that stock-trading app Robinhood plans to integrate cryptocurrency trading. Customers can now track and receive alerts for 16 cryptocurrencies, including most of those listed in the chart above.
Image source: Getty Images.
To be clear, the initial rollout will be small. Customers in five states will be able to trade bitcoin (BTC-USD) and Ethereum (ETH-USD) beginning in February. However, this will be the first time that people will be able to trade cryptocurrency (not just futures) and stocks side-by-side on the same platform. It wouldn't be surprising if other online trading companies follow suit and offer a similar service.
This is the average bitcoin owner
Only 5% of Americans actually own bitcoin (BTC-USD), despite the digital currency's surging popularity, according to a survey by SurveyMonkey and Global Blockchain Business Council. So who is actually buying bitcoin?
Some of the key findings:
- 71% of bitcoin owners are male.
- 58% of bitcoin owners are between 18 and 34 years old.
- 48% of bitcoin owners are minorities.
When asked why they bought bitcoin, 60% of survey respondents said that they bought the digital currency as a growth investment, and one-third said that it was a way to avoid government regulation. Only 28% see bitcoin as a store of value.
Not surprisingly, 38% of all Americans think bitcoin is in a bubble that is set to pop this year. What is surprising is that 41% of bitcoin owners feel this way. So why do they own it? While they may be skeptical about bitcoin's shorter-term performance, 70% expect bitcoin to be worth more in five years than it is now.
