Bitcoin Breaks 4-Day Losing Streak, Creeps Back Above $10,000

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Investing.com - Bitcoin led a general advance in cryptocurrencies on Thursday, breaking a four-day losing streak and creeping back above the $10,000 psychological level, as central banks reinforced expectations for fiat currency weakness.

Total cryptocurrency market capitalization rose to $277.60 billion by 10:42 AM ET (14:42 GMT), compared to $273.49 billion a day earlier.

Among the top five, bitcoin gained 1.6% to $10,045.2 on the Investing.com Index, Ethereum advanced 2.9% to $219.44, XRP inched up 0.1% to $0.31604, Litecoin was little changed at $94.133, while Bitcoin Cash dipped 0.2% to $304.23.

The European Central Bank followed through with expectations by all but promising policy easing at its next meeting in September.

While not making policy moves on Thursday, the ECB made substantial changes to its forward guidance, while President Mario Draghi suggested that the euro zone economy was just getting “worse and worse”, paving the way for a number of policy easing measures.

“It now increasingly looks as if the September meeting will not only bring a single measure but rather a package of several measures," said ING analyst Carsten Brzeski in a research note.

The hints from the ECB come amid signs from a number of central banks around the globe that have begun to pursue policy easing and lend credence to the argument that digital currencies are a safer investment since they cannot be manipulated by policymakers.

The head of the Reserve Bank of Australia hinted overnight that interest rates were likely to remain at their current record low for an extended time to come, while Turkey’s central bank, arguably under political pressure, cut the policy rate by the biggest amount since it began targeting inflation in 2002.

The Federal Reserve, which has been at the center of attacks from U.S. President Donald Trump calling for lower rates, is widely expected to comply on July 31 with a quarter-point cut.

Adding to digital coins’ appeal compared to other assets, euro zone government bonds dove in the wake of the announcement, with the 10-year German bond yield hitting a record low, plunging further into negative territory.

Easing policy measures have resulted in $13.5 trillion of fixed income with negative yields, meaning investors actually must pay to hold those assets, perhaps increasing alt coins’ appeal