Cryptocurrency Adoption Surges: Financial Institutions Eye $395 Billion Market

Bitcoin prices were slightly down today, but recent survey results from Thomson Reuters show there could be more long-term gains on the way.

The survey found one in five financial institutions is considering trading in the $395 billion cryptocurrency market in 2018. More widespread adoption will lead to more demand, and prices tend to climb when there's more buying activity.

The survey also suggests about 70% of the institutions surveyed will begin trading within the next six months.

Here is a recap of the top five cryptocurrencies by market cap as of 8:30 a.m. EDT.

Cryptocurrency Market Cap Price Change (24h) Bitcoin (BTC) $156,688,679,720 $9,217.91 -1.10% Ethereum (ETH) $63,194,233,666 $638.08 -8.11% Ripple (XRP) $32,449,070,921 $0.83 -10.22% Bitcoin Cash (BCH) $22,359,613,403 $1,308.12 -13.34% EOS (EOS) $11,446,966,760 $14.05 +3.98%

Now here's a closer look at today's Money Morning cryptocurrency insight, as well as the most important cryptocurrency updates you need to know...

Money Morning Cryptocurrency Insight of the Day

On April 19, Litecoin made history.

A $99 million transaction between two digital wallets was completed.

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But it wasn't the amount of the transaction that had heads turning. This exchange was done in just 150 seconds, at a cost that is lower than mailing a letter at the post office.

This has major financial institutions issuing warnings ahead of one of the biggest technological shifts in the history of the world.

The Top Cryptocurrency Stories for Wednesday

• Yesterday, one of Bitcoin's biggest proponents once again released an extremely bullish outlook on the cryptocurrency. Billionaire investor Tim Draper said Tuesday that "Bitcoin is bigger than the Internet," and he also said its influence will be even bigger than the Industrial Revolution, the Renaissance, and the Iron Age. The statement comes after he released a recent price target of $250,000 by 2022.
• Not everyone is buying into Bitcoin's post-tax season rally. Bill Harris, the former CEO of PayPal Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq: PYPL) and Intuit Inc. (Nasdaq: INTU), sounded off Tuesday in an op-ed piece titled "Bitcoin Is the Greatest Scam in History." Harris called the cryptocurrency a "colossal pump-and-dump scheme" that has no precedent on the world stage. Bitcoin proponents immediately took to social media and online blogs to refute Harris' arguments. Forbes contributor Kyle Torpey vented that Harris' focus was misguided and took special issue with his claim that "Bitcoin has no value."
• The crypto world has identified JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon as public enemy No. 1. Computer security pioneer and cryptocurrency guru John McAfee called out Dimon for attempting - and failing - to "end crypto." McAfee lobbed a slew of accusations at the big banker via Twitter Inc. (NYSE: TWTR).
• Finally, it wouldn't be another day in the cryptocurrency markets without another unprovoked threat to Bitcoin. The latest comes from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). In a recent issue of the MIT Technology Review, writers presented three scenarios that could "destroy Bitcoin." The scenarios include a "government takeover" of the cryptocurrency, the "tokenization of everything" that involves a massive influx of tokens and makes Bitcoin less valuable, and a massive, prolonged attack by Facebook Inc. (Nasdaq: FB) against Bitcoin's ongoing implementation efforts.

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