Investing.com - Bitcoin prices remained below the $4,000 mark on Thursday with no clear driver, ignoring the rally in most other 'risk assets' on the back of reports of progress in resolving the trade spat between the U.S. and China.
News flow in the sector was thin, with Samsung (KS:005930)'s inclusion of a cryptocurrency wallet on its new smartphone filling the void.
Bitcoin slipped 0.08% to $3,943.80 as of 9:01 AM ET (14:01 GMT) on the Investing.com Index.
Cryptocurrencies overall fell slightly to $133 billion at the time of writing, compared to $135 billion on Wednesday.
Ethereum fell 1.2% to $145.31. XRP slumped 1.9% to $0.32111 while Litecoin was at $49.041, down 3.6%.
“The Galaxy S10 is built with defense-grade Samsung Knox, as well as secure storage backed by hardware, which houses your private keys for blockchain-enabled mobile services,” according to the company's press release.
The South Korean smartphone will be available online and in stores from March 8. Its Knox mobile security is meant to secure data like passwords and private keys to wallets.
The announcement follows HTC’s launch of its Exodus phone in October, capable of supporting multiple blockchains, while Sirin Labs launched Finney, a blockchain smartphone, in December.
In other news, Japan’s banking giant Mizuho Financial Group is to become the latest bank to launch a stablecoin for payments and remittance services on March 1, according to the Nikkei Asian Review.
The “J-Coin” platform will link existing bank accounts with digital wallets and be managed by a mobile app called J-Coin Pay. The currency will be fixed a price of 1 yen per unit and users will not be required to undergo credit checks. It will also include a more flexible range of payments, such as splitting bills or transferring money to family members.