Bitcoin prices moved slightly lower in Thursday trading as the No. 1 cryptocurrency by market value remained trapped below the $9,000 threshold. Prices had rallied as high as $9,745 a day earlier.

Here are the stories you can't miss in cryptocurrency for Thursday, April 26.

17 Millionth Coin Mined

On Thursday morning, the 17 millionth bitcoin was mined. It was the first time the No. 1 cryptocurrency reached a million-coin mark since mid-2016, when the 16 millionth bitcoin was mined. Due to bitcoin's current rules and blockchain setup, there are only 21 million bitcoins that can ever be created. Finite supply, capped at the 21 million level, was a central tenet to bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto's thesis. Mining bitcoin is an extremely energy-consuming process, and only about 1,800 bitcoins are mined on an average trading day. Because bitcoins are mined in blocks - with about 12.5 bitcoins per block - it's unlikely the crypto world will know exactly who mined the 17 millionth bitcoin. With Thursday's 17 millionth bitcoin, about 81% of all bitcoin supply will be accounted for.

Gemini Exchange Partners With Nasdaq

Cryptocurrency exchange Gemini announced this week it has partnered with Nasdaq to better monitor trading activities on its platform. Gemini was created by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, the Harvard-educated twins known for suing Facebook (FB) - Get Report founder Mark Zuckerberg over allegations Zuckerberg stole their idea for the social media site. Gemini will use Nasdaq's SMARTS Market Surveillance system in order to automatically detect possible price manipulation and illicit activities on the exchange platform. Nasdaq currently uses the technology to do the same unusual trade monitoring within its own marketplace. The tie-in with Nasdaq will help ensure Gemini "is a rules-based marketplace for all market participants," said Tyler Winklevoss, who serves as CEO.

Cisco's New Patent Brings Mining Possibilities

Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) - Get Report won a patent this week for a "crowd-sourced cloud computing system" that would allow computer owners to offer their unused processing power to others for energy-intensive activities - including activities such as mining cryptocurrency. A patent filing first created in September 2015 describes how users could partition their own computing resources to establish computing power for a cloud application. That cloud application would in turn be used for a number of energy-sucking processes. Cisco wrote in the patent filing that, "One such [use case] involves bitcoin mining, which may be very computational intensive and is typically more convenient for every participant when done in 'mining pools,'" according to CoinDesk.

Pfeffer Capital: Bitcoin to Replace Gold

Speaking at the Sohn Investment Conference, John Pfeffer, partner at Pfeffer Capital, said that bitcoin is the first real asset that could meaningfully replace gold. He noted that bitcoin is better "on every front," according to numerous media outlets. The fund manager explained that if bitcoin can replace 25% of a country's foreign reserves, the coin's network could grow in value to about $6.4 trillion. With that, he said the crypto would be a useful tool for countries with failing currencies. Pfeffer added that, while he is a big fan of bitcoin and blockchain technology, not all cryptocurrencies are viable, and many are bad bets.