Investing.com — Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies tracked lower on Friday, extending a recent trend that has seen them trade in inverse correlation to gold.

Gold Futures were supported Friday by a report in the Wall Street Journal suggesting that the Federal Reserve will likely stop the wind-down of its crisis-era measures earlier than previously thought, resulting in a larger balance sheet and a consequently looser monetary policy stance than previously thought.

The report adds to impressions that the Fed is close to ending its policy tightening cycle, something that supports the gold price because it makes reduces the risk of a widening gap in attractiveness between interest-bearing assets and the precious metal.

At 10:20 AM ET, Bitcoin was trading at $3,62 on (Bitfinex), down 0.3%, while Ethereum was down 0.7% at $117.77.

XRP was down 0.4% at $0.314, while Litecoin was bucking the trend, up 1.0% at $32.28.

Cryptocurrencies came under pressure late Thursday after JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) analysts said Bitcoin may fall as low as $1,260 or even lower, due to its failure to prove their worth and break into the financial mainstream.

Pension funds and asset managers have largely stayed clear, despite some advances in market infrastructure that have seen safer methods to store digital money emerge, with most worried about volatility, security flaws and propensity for illicit usage.

The usage of cryptocurrencies for payments – the intended purpose of bitcoin – will remain “challenged,” JPMorgan said, adding that it was unable to pinpoint any major retailers that accepted digital coins in 2018.

Bitcoin is likely to have cost support at around $2,400, but could fall below $1,260 if a bear market persists, JPMorgan said.

— Reuters contributed to this report

Like this: Like Loading...