FREE now SUBSCRIBE Invalid email Make the most of your money by signing up to our newsletter fornow We will use your email address only for sending you newsletters. Please see our Privacy Notice for details of your data protection rights.

8.30am MORNING HEADLINES Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of all things cryptocurrency, including price, regulation, innovation and financial crime. Bitcoin is priced at $7,330 this morning with ethereum falling to $478 and ripple down at $0.48. The crypto community will watch and wait today with two US House of Representatives Committees hearing on the movement of digital assets into the centre of American life? The Financial Policy Subcommittee hearing will examine "the extent to which the United States government should consider cryptocurrencies as money," while the House Committee on Agriculture will focus on the emergence of "digital assets".

Cryptocurrencies are by design global assets and companies with global perspective are uniquely positioned to help regulators better understand the diverse regulatory approaches and best practices. Guy Hirsch, eToro

Congress is set to "evaluate the merits of any uses by central banks of cryptocurrencies, and discuss the future of both cryptocurrencies and physical cash." Guy Hirsch, US Managing Director of eToro, told Express.co.uk that “today’s hearings are a great step in the right direction." He said: "We encourage regulators to hear more from good actors and companies with an international presence since they would be valuable to this discussion in Congress. "Cryptocurrencies are by design global assets and companies with global perspective are uniquely positioned to help regulators better understand the diverse regulatory approaches and best practices. "Any law that Congress will pass affecting cryptocurrencies will have global impact on foreign companies that are doing business in the US or want to enter the US market and therefore it is important for US lawmakers to facilitate dialogue with other nations on this matter."

Bitcoin price LIVE: BTC has slipped from yesterday's high

Hopefully we have a Bitcoin sign guy attending the Crypto talks at Congress today...

Please tell me we sent a sign guy???#CryptoCongress #AgOnCrypto pic.twitter.com/0fRU0ppckA — Sean Davis (@Crypto4thepeeps) July 18, 2018

On the challenges for Congress he adds that digital assets have properties that don’t apply to our current understanding of securities or commodities. He adds that while it makes sense to classify some tokens as securities, others are more accurately classified as currency or commodities, or perhaps a new asset class altogether. He said: "Our industry should provide education and support for regulators to define a framework that will lead to logical and growth-oriented classification of each crypto.” Got something to add? Send your reaction / thoughts / analysis / price predictions over to @DavidGDawkins. Updates below throughout the day....

9.13am - Goldman Sachs set to board the BTC bus with new CEO Bitcoin's continuing rise towards mainstream finance is set to continue with the appointment of a new CEO at Goldman Sachs, known to be more positive on cryptocurrencies. Goldman Sachs announced this week that David Solomon will replace Lloyd Blankfein as CEO. Mr Blankfein took control in 2006 and led the company through a recession created in part by bulge-bracket banks in the late 2000s. However, the outspoken chief was more watchful with his comments on all things crypto, claiming in June that if “it does work out, I could give you the historical path why that could have happened." However, Mr Solomon has been positive on bitcoin and other cryptocurrency investment. In June he said it’s “arrogant” to think cryptocurrency won’t be successful. Read the full report HERE.

Bitcoin price LIVE: All eyes on Washington today

10.00am - Ripple is 'not a cryptocurrency' - expert warns on 'big dip' in value Ripple’s remarkable journey from obscurity to $3.40. back down to today’s price of $0.49 could soon see it ring-fenced from other competing cryptocurrencies, with concern over its centralisation potentially excluding XRP from entry into a price boosting regulatory framework. Anatoly Castella, CEO, Elpis Investments told Express.co.uk that ripple is set to miss out because it is not a "Digital Fiat", and not a “real” cryptocurrency. Mr Castella warns that XRP falls short of the “purest interpretation of ‘cryptocurrency’.” He said: “Ripple resembles a fintech platform combining the best elements of fiat money and blockchain cryptocurrency. “It should be considered 'Digital Fiat', not a cryptocurrency.” On the potential for missing out on the very regulations that go on to propel rival cryptocurrencies to all new price levels, Mr Castella says that the SEC should consider to creating a regulatory framework for ‘digital fiats' like ripple and a sustainable ecosystem for the “crypto startups”, currently “held in a state of limbo”. He said: “This will ensure that ‘real’ cryptocurrencies like bitcoin will not be damaged and misunderstood by these start-ups adopting the wrong regulatory approach from the outset.” Read the full report here.

Bitcoin price LIVE: ETH on the up?

12.40pm - Ethereum could make blockchain mainstream Jeremy Allaire, CEO and co-founder of fintech company Circle too CNBC today that the ethereum movement is now gathering momentum. He said: ”It’s a really fertile space in terms of the fundamental, technical and infrastructure. "Right now ethereum has an enormous amount of developer activity. "One of the things that really catalyzed the cryptocurrency market last year was actually that ethereum, in particular, kind of got to a place where you could build apps on top of it. "You could issue new tokens on top of it; you could create new kinds of financial contracts, using the smart contracts technology." Read the full report here.

Bitcoin price LIVE: Bitcoin is rising

12.54pm - Bitcoin climbs Losses have been reversed and BTC is now up $28 to $7,407 on the day so far. 14.13pm - Blackrock U-turn Blackrock Chief Executive Larry Fink back-tracked yesterday, claiming that the world’s largest asset manager was “a big student of blockchain,” but didn’t see a “huge demand for cryptocurrencies.” He told Bloomberg Television: "I don’t believe any client has sought out crypto exposure. I’ve not heard from one client who says, ‘I need to be in this.’ Anatoly Castella, CEO, Elpis Investments was surprised by the u-turn. He told Express.co.uk: “Are they honestly saying that out of $6.3 Trillion of Assets Under Management, not even a fraction is invested into cryptocurrencies? “Being part of the crypto sector for a while, the interest from Institutional investors is rising on a daily basis, and its hard to believe that a financial powerhouse such as Blackrock is limiting itself to just research into cryptocurrencies.” But why take the risk? Mr Fink’s statements come from a need to protect his client’s money and trust, is bitcoin really worth the bother? Mr Castella said: “I see Bitcoin as a new opportunity to diversify personal and institutional wealth by adding another type of asset in a portfolio. “Larry Fink mentioned that his clients didn’t express any interest in the crypto market, but since when do clients know what they want? I believe in a change of tune from institutions such as Blackrock and Berkshire Hathaway is long overdue. There are potential opportunities that must be considered before their competitors gain a solid advantage over them.”