Best Penny Stocks To Buy For 2019: Positive ��price drift�� suggests bitcoin has room to move higher

Bitcoin showed further resilience Thursday, building on sharp gains made earlier in the week.

Often in the past, sharp moves higher in the price of the No. 1 digital currency have been followed by pullbacks, or at the least, consolidation. This time, bitcoin has recorded five consecutive winning days and the ��price drift,�� when an asset continues in the same direction after a sharp move, suggests there��s more to come for world��s biggest digital currency, analysts say.

��All in all, we believe that when we see signs of price drift that it indicates that the current price may not be the fair value price. All the information that is relevant may not be fully priced in,�� wrote Thejas Nalval, portfolio director, and Kevin Lu, director of quantitative research, at Element Asset Management, in a note.

��And in the case of positive price drift, it means that bullish market sentiment has not been fully realized in the supply-demand equilibrium and that the price likely has more room to go,�� they said.

A single bitcoin BTCUSD, +0.18% was last valued at $7,416.27, up 1.1% since 5 p.m. Eastern Time Wednesday on the Kraken crypto exchange.

The seasons are changing for bitcoin

Speaking on a webinar conference hosted by private capital markets firm SharesPost, Tom Lee, head of research at Fundstrat Global Advisors said the wintry start to 2018 for crypto investors could be coming to an end. ��We should think about when the season is going to change,�� said Lee, when posed the question has the bitcoin winter ended.

��There��s a reasonable argument that spring has already begun, Lee added��

Lee said the adoption of bitcoin will be generational, highlighting the importance of millennials for the future of cryptocurrencies and blockchain, the distributed ledger technology that underpins bitcoin. ��Every technology change relies on a generational shift,�� Lee said.

��Millennials will be the most important to the crypto space.��

Read: Barry Silbert says bitcoin put in its 2018 low, but 99% of cryptos are worthless

We should ban bitcoin mining: California congressman

During a Wednesday hearing hosted by the House Financial Services Committee, a notable cryptocurrency detractor, California Democrat Rep. Brad Sherman, said the U.S. should ban the buying and mining of cryptocurrencies.

"We should prohibit U.S. persons from buying or mining cryptocurrencies," says Rep. Brad Sherman, a senior Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee.

— Colin Wilhelm (@colinwilhelm) July 18, 2018

Sherman in the past called cryptocurrencies a ��crock,�� saying they are popular with guys who sit around in their pajamas and tell their wives they��re going to be millionaires.

Read: Fed��s Powell says cryptocurrencies have no intrinsic value

Altcoins bucking the trend Thursday

Coins other than bitcoin, colloquially known as altcoins, are underperforming bitcoin in afternoon trading. Ether ETHUSD, +0.44% is down 1.1% at $468.40, Bitcoin Cash BCHUSD, +0.24% has lost 0.7%, trading at $816.50, Litecoin LTCUSD, +0.14% is in the red to the tune of 2.1%, last trading at $86.34 and Ripple��s XRP coin XRPUSD, +0.53% was trading at 48 cents, down 0.8%.

Bitcoin futures markets followed spot markets higher. The Cboe Global Markets Inc. for August XBTQ8, +2.10% closed up 2.5% at $7,465 and the CME Inc. July contract BTCN8, +0.47% finished the day up 0.8% to $7,450.

CryptoWatch: Check bitcoin and other cryptocurrency prices, performance and market capitalization��all on one

Aaron Hankin

Aaron Hankin is a MarketWatch reporter in New York who covers cryptocurrency and financial markets.

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Comment Quote References BTCUSD +13.39 +0.18% ETHUSD +2.06 +0.44% BCHUSD +2.00 +0.24% LTCUSD +0.12 +0.14% XRPUSD +0.00 +0.53% XBTQ8 +152.50 +2.10% BTCN8 +35.00 +0.47% Show all references MarketWatch Partner Center Most Popular