Bitcoin Price Extends Run But Litecoin Stalls

Bitcoin (BTC/USD) extended its steady winning streak, hitting another 8-week high of $256.50 on Bitstamp.

Bitcoin right now resembles that stable, dividend-paying stock putting together a steady stream of 0.5% gains- healthy for long-term returns in your well-diversified portfolio, but boring for many bitcoin traders with fond memories of wilder times.

Many have argued, however, that the stability is just what Bitcoin needs if it has any chance of becoming a widely used currency. In the past, regulators, banks and businesses have all placed Volatility on their list of risks relating to digital currency.

The streak bears some resemblance with the one during June-July, which eventually accelerated into bitcoin briefly breaking above $300 at the height of the latest Greece debt crisis.

Still, it has a long way to go- it is still down by 20% year-to-date. The stability needs to last for more than a few weeks at a time, and those disturbing flash crashes need to stop happening.

Bitcoin is now nearly 10% above its 50-day moving average (MA), the greatest differential since the aforementioned rise above $300.

Litecoin (LTC/USD), however, generally restricts its trailing and amplification of BTC movements to volatile times. Here, it has failed to keep up with bitcoin, languishing just above the $3.00 mark for about a week. It is in fact negative during the past 24 hours. The LTC/BTC rate has thus declined to 0.012.