Bitcoin price LIVE: $8k BTC boosted as exchanges 'handle millions' in institutional money

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Bitcoin is priced at $8,184 marking a slight gain of $18 on the day so far.

As the debate over the arrival of institutional rumbles on, Benjamin Dives CEO of The London Block Exchange (LBX) has told Express.co.uk that there has veen a marked increase in his firm's handling of - Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and Ripple, paired with GBP, USD and EUR - across the board.

He said: "The common assumption is that institutional investors shy away from new asset classes such as cryptocurrency.

"However, that’s not what we are seeing here at LBX; we've seen a huge uplift in institutional interest recently. Since Q1 2018, we're now handling many millions in trades each month.

“From hedge funds to pension funds, institutional investors are taking cryptocurrency seriously.

"At LBX, institutional investors have had access to our over-the-counter desk for some time, which allows investors to trade cryptocurrencies under preferential conditions for high volume orders."

READ MORE: City of London investors still cold on 'freak show' bitcoin and unlikely to 'take a punt’

Updates below throughout the day....

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