Bitcoin Prices Will go Even Higher Once Regulations Become Clearer

Global Stock Markets

Ryan Rabaglia isn’t ready to stop being bullish about Bitcoin any time soon. The Octagon Strategy trader believes that the top-ranked cryptocurrency can still hit new highs.

BTC prices have risen above $6,500 after twice dropping below $6,000 in June 2018.
Regulatory Certainty Will Take Pressure off Bitcoin

In a recent interview with CNBC, Rabaglia declared that clearer market regulations were the likely catalyst for a sustained Bitcoin price rally. According to Rabaglia, regulatory uncertainty was putting immense pressure on the market.

He also said that mainstream investors were reticent on committing fully to the market since the laws guiding crypto commerce are still somewhat vague

In another development, David Garrity, the CEO of GVA Research believes the current BTC price surge is a temporary relief. Speaking recently, Garrity opined that trading levels had come under pressure in the market. Thus, a “relief rally” was inevitable.

Garrity also pointed to the emergence of some positive regulatory developments as the reason the current BTC price surge. According to the GVA Research CEO, recent comments by the SEC concerning the status of Bitcoin and Ethereum, in particular, have taken away some of the negative sentiment among retail investors in the market.

Unlike Rabaglia, Garrity identified end-user adoption as the critical parameter that will drive any sustained BTC price rally. He decried that lack of significant Bitcoin use cases especially in the payments market.

In addition to slow adoption, Garrity mentioned a large number of government investigations into activities in the market as another reason for the price struggles of 2018.

Bitcoin skids below $6,000, hits lowest level since November

Bitcoin’s value slid to its lowest level since November on Friday, as waning investor interest and recent negative headlines from global regulators weakened demand for the cryptocurrency and most of its rivals.

Virtual currencies, including the best-known and biggest, bitcoin, have been stuck in a downward trend for most of 2018 after last year’s frenzied interest fizzled.

Recent hacks and the “cyber intrusion” of cryptocurrency exchanges in key Asian markets has also encouraged investors to exit.

Bitcoin fell to as low as $5,774 BTC=BTSP on the Bitstamp exchange, the lowest since Nov. 12. It was last up 0.7 percent at $5,891.

So far in 2018, bitcoin has tumbled almost 60 percent after soaring more than 1,300 percent last year. It is now down 70 percent from its December peak.

Other cryptocurrencies .MVETH .MVXRP also slid on Friday. Ethereum’s ether, the second-biggest cryptocurrency by value, fell 4 percent to $416, its weakest since April. Ripple’s XRP also dropped 4 percent to $0.44, a 2018 low, according to Coinmarketcap.com.

The Bank of England on Thursday warned banks and insurers that they should be wary of crypto assets because they can be highly volatile and vulnerable to fraud.

After cryptocurrency prices surged in 2017 big institutional players were predicted to step into the industry, but most have waited on the sidelines amid regulatory worries and as they weight up whether investor interest is more than a fad.

The total market capitalization of cryptocurrencies has fallen to around $230 billion from a peak of around $800 billion in January.

Still, money continues to be plowed into the sales of new digital currencies. Sales jumped to $13.7 billion in the first five months of the year, nearly double the amount raised for the whole of 2017, according to a report released on Thursday.

Korea’s Biggest Cryptocurrency Exchange Bans Trading in 11 Countries

Global Stock Markets

Citing money laundering concerns, South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb has banned trading in 11 countries including North Korea, Iran, Iraq.

In an announcement on Monday, the exchange said it will comply with global anti-money laundering norms by blocking all transactions of residents in jurisdictions belonging to the Non-Cooperative Countries and Territories (NCCT) blacklist.

The 11 NCCT countries are seen by the inter-governmental Financial Action Task Force (FATF) as nations that have taken insufficient measures to combat money laundering, terrorist financing and other threats to the international financial system.

The countries, in addition to North Korea, include Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ethiopia, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Sri Lanka, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Vanuatu and Yemen.

The measure took effect on May 27 with Bithumb no longer accepting new users from the 11 nations listed by the NCCT initiative. Existing users from those nations will also see their accounts disabled from June 21.

According to data from Coinmarketcap, Bithumb is Korea’s largest and the world’s fifth largest cryptocurrency exchange with over $400 million in tokens traded over a 24-hour period.

In addition, Bithumb says it has strengthened its own anti-money laundering policies by implementing the recommendations of authorities from the South Korean government and the Korea Blockchain Association, a self-regulatory industry working group.

Established in December, the body introduced a number of measures including ethical codes in an effort to foster transparency in domestic crypto trading markets.

The industry body also mandated strict rules to prevent market manipulation and insider trading.

A number of major exchanges including Bithumb and Upbit will undergo periodic evaluations.

For international users, Bithumb is in the process of mandating a mobile verification process to avoid any instances of falsification of user information, the exchange added.

Bitcoin slips again on reports of US DoJ investigation

Global Stock Markets

Bitcoin shed another 4 per cent of its value after a media report that the US justice department had begun criminal investigations into potential price manipulation of several cryptocurrencies, taking its losses for the week so far to 14 per cent. 

The largest of the cryptocurrencies, bitcoin was trading around $7,300 on Thursday morning, according to Coinbase figures, down from $8,500 on Monday.

Bloomberg reported the move by the Department of Justice earlier on Thursday. Other digital coins also fell on the news — Bitcoin Cash, a bitcoin clone, lost 6 per cent, while ether, the cryptocurrency used on the Ethereum blockchain, was down some 6.5 per cent.

Regulators across the globe have become increasingly vocal about cryptocurrency risks.

But enforcement actions, led by the US’ Securities Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission, have so far focused on policing initial coin offerings — the novel fundraising mechanism which gained popularity last year, as a way for entrepreneurs to raise digital money while providing scant, if any, guarantees for investors.

 There have long been fears that unregulated cryptocurrency markets are vulnerable to manipulation by traders. After crashing from a $19,000 high in December to $7,200 by February, bitcoin rallied back up to $11,000 in March. It did not hold the high ground for long: it dipped below $7,000 in April.

Bitcoin Price Prediction 2018: Can cryptocurrency hit $50,000 this year?

Global Stock Markets

Can Bitcoin hit $ 50,000 this year? While most of the cryptocurrencies are much below their earlier highs but there are newer and newer predictions coming up for cryptocurrencies. One such prediction is that Bitcoin can rise to as high as $ 50,000 in the calendar year 2018.

A cryptocurrency portfolio manager by the name of Jeet Singh, stated at World Economic Forum in Davos, that the current volatility is completely normal when it comes to the cryptocurrencies space. He also stated that it is normal for cryptocurrencies to fluctuate by 70% to 80%. This is one of the main reasons why the current volatility does not worry him at all. [sm_bitcoin_price]

He compared cryptocurrencies to the current bellwether companies like Microsoft as well as Apple. Initially, their stocks were also pretty volatile. However, as the companies develop their business model, the stocks not only rose but they become much more stable as well.

However, many of the investors are actually currently worried due to the high volatility in cryptocurrencies. According to him, however, long-term investors need not fear the volatility at all. Since they are here to stay for a longer period of time, they would have no problem at all in holding the cryptocurrencies for a longer period of time as well.

He further added that Bitcoin would reach as high as $ 50,000 this year. If indeed that happens, the current price of Bitcoin being around just $ 10,000, that would be a fivefold increase once again.

Whether the portfolio manager is right or wrong, only time would be able to tell. The truth is that currently, many of the investors are worried about putting new money into Bitcoins. Only once they are sure that the volatility would end and the Bitcoin resumes its uptrend you can be sure that most of the investors would actually get ready to invest in this cryptocurrency.

For now, however, most of the investors are keeping away from the cryptocurrency boom. Many of the investors are just holding their holdings patiently in order to find out whether the cryptocurrencies resume their uptrend or not. It is still too uncertain for most of the investors to take a call. On the other hand, institutions are increasing their presence in the cryptocurrencies pace as well which is sure to benefit the cryptocurrencies space and would add value and credibility to the cryptocurrencies in the future as well. This is one of the main reasons why it is not seeing further fall after creating a bottom few weeks back. Also, once the regulatory hurdles are sorted, you can be sure that the value of cryptocurrencies would again more.

Bitcoin prices in 2018 have been marked by volatility which has made bitcoin price prediction in short-term a bit of a challenge, even for the experienced analysts. As at the time of writing, the price of Bitcoin took a dip from 10k to under 8k following news that search engine giants, Google will ban crypto-related ads. So far, 2018 has presented its own surprises though not a dramatic as the rollercoaster we say in 2017.

History generally has a way of repeating itself but bitcoin has a lot of history which makes it an equal challenge predicting which history will be repeated. It takes more than a study of past trends to get predictions spot-on this time and so we ended this article by highlighting certain area expert analysts were looking at.

Analysts, enthusiast, and industry figures have very diverging opinions and bitcoin price predictions for both long and short-term. Optimism is still high in many quarters—reports of a new survey among British financials suggest a wide majority will buy more coins in hope of price resurgence later this year.

Bitcoin Price Continues to Decline as Bears Continue to Reign

Global Stock Markets

Today will prove to be another difficult day for all cryptocurrency markets. The bearish pressure is not relenting by any means, as market makers are intent on keeping the prices down for some time to come. 

With the Bitcoin price now dropping below $8,200, it seems to be a matter of time until the value dips below $8,000 once again. That would certainly trigger an even bigger sell-off in the altcoin department.

It has been documented over the past few months how the Bitcoin price is seemingly incapable of catching a break. No solid positive momentum has been achieved at this stage, and it seems things will not necessarily improve in the near future either. The past three months have seen some attempts at recovering losses, but ultimately seem to result in lower lows for the Bitcoin price.

More specifically, three months ago, the Bitcoin price was hovering near the $12,0000 mark. Ever since that time, it has dipped below $11,000, then $10,000, and even hit $7,200 a few weeks later. While that is still the proverbial bottom as of right now, it remains to be determined if any positive momentum can be generated before the year 2018 comes to a close. The current trend doesn’t look all that promising so far, but things are always subject to change in the world of cryptocurrency.

Over the past 24 hours, the Bitcoin price has lost another 1.95% of its value. This decline pushes the price per BTC below $8,200, and will seemingly result in a price dip below $8,000 by the time the weekend has come to a close. It remains unclear what is causing all of this negative Bitcoin price pressure this year, but it seems evident things will not improve anytime soon.

Even the Bitcoin trading volume is on the decline as of late, which is anything but promising. More specifically, the trading volume has dropped to $8.894bn, which is $2bn below what one would expect to see these days. This seems to indicate the overall demand for the world’s leading cryptocurrency is on the decline, which doesn’t bode well for Bitcoin and any other cryptocurrency on the market these days.

OKEx is still leading the charge in terms of Bitcoin trading volume, which is a bit surprising. Its USDT pair remains extremely popular and is well ahead of Bitfinex’s USD pair and the USDT market on Binance. All three platforms generate over $215m in 24-hour volume, which is rather interesting to keep an eye on. With Huobi and OKEx’s TRUE pair in the five as well, there is only one fiat currency market to speak of. That can prove to be problematic for the Bitcoin price moving forward.

Whether or not the Bitcoin price can recover from this latest setback, remains to be determined. Anything is possible in the world of cryptocurrency these days, even though the current trend looks anything but promising. Then again, the weekend is usually very different from the rest of the week when it comes to cryptocurrency trading, and this weekend may prove to be somewhat interesting in this regard.

Investors are going to buy bitcoin whether advisors like it or not - Jamie Dimon, JP Morgan

Global Stock Markets

JP Morgan chairman Jamie Dimon has called bitcoin a fraud, and Vanguard CEO Tim Buckley told CNBC in an interview: You will never see a fund from Vanguard on bitcoin.

However, advisors need to brush up on cryptocurrency and blockchain technology so they can properly address questions from their clients, says Lex Sokolin of Autonomous Research.Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are a good way to add alternatives to allocation, on the order of 3 percent to 5 percent of a portfolio.

Many investors wonder when the right time will be to put some money in bitcoin. It's a question that financial advisors increasingly hear these days.

Yet advisors, for the most part, don't recommend investing in digital currency, or in the investment vehicles that have cropped up around it, at all. In fact, earlier this year, Merrill Lynch banned bitcoin buying across the firm. JP Morgan chairman Jamie Dimon called bitcoin a fraud (he later softened some of his comments), and Vanguard CEO Tim Buckley told CNBC in an interview: You will never see a fund from Vanguard on bitcoin.

There's no doubt that bitcoin has been wildly volatile, so for now, many advisors apparently remain wary and urge investors to avoid cryptocurrency investments altogether.

Cryptocurrency is very controversial, but it's really here to stay, he said. And the underlying [blockchain] technology is really fundamental to the types of companies that people are building right now.

It's important for individuals who want to invest in cryptocurrency to first understand what it is and also how blockchain technology works, Sokolin explained.

To be sure, one of the most compelling things about cryptocurrency is actually blockchain, he added. To that point, Amazon just announced that its cloud computing arm is partnering with a start-up called Kaleido to make it easier for customers to put their services on blockchain.

It's volatile right now, so you should not just go and fill your entire portfolio with cryptocurrencies, he said. But it is a good way to add alternatives to your general allocation, something like 3 [percent] to 5 percent of your portfolio.

Sokolin warned financial advisors that their clients are going to buy bitcoin whether they like it or not.

So [advisors] can choose to say that this whole thing will fall apart and not get educated about it and not help [investors], but that's really irresponsible, he said.

Advisors need to take the time and brush up on the subjects of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology so they can properly address questions from their clients, Sokolin explained.

Advisors really need to start to understand the basics of how blockchain works, he said. Start to understand why there are different cryptocurrencies.

What's the difference between a payments coin, like bitcoin or ethereum? Sokolin added. All of these things are different, so advisors have to spend the time so they can actually help their clients make sense of this.

Two Chinese bitcoin mining equipment makers plan $1 billion Hong Kong listings

Asian Stock Markets

Two Chinese bitcoin mining equipment makers plan to raise up to $1 billion each from Hong Kong listings this year, riding on strong global interest in cryptocurrencies, IFR reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the plans.

Canaan Creative filed a listing application to the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong on Monday, IFR, a Thomson Reuters publication, reported.

Zhejiang Ebang Communication has also started working with advisers on a proposed Hong Kong float of up to $1 billon, reported IFR.

Ebang listed on China’s National Equities Exchange and Quotations, also known as the New Third Board, in 2015 and was

delisted from the over-the-counter market in March after announcing in January that it would seek a Hong Kong listing.

Chinese bitcoin mining equipment makers are hungry for capital to fund their growth as the heightened interest in cryptocurrencies has led to a surge in demand for their machines.

Canaan, which sells “Avalon” mining machines with customised super-fast ASIC chips, made revenue of more than 1 billion yuan in 2017. Although cryptocurrencies can be mined using regular computer equipment, specialised processing devices dedicated to mining are more effective and can generate more income.

The company’s co-chairman Jianping Kong told Reuters in April that he expected China’s push to promote the domestic chip industry to help drive growth for the company.

Credit Suisse, CMB International, Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley are joint sponsors for Canaan’s float, according to IFR.

Canaan Creative declined to comment. Ebang could not be immediately reached for comment. All the banks didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Canaan’s IPO valuation has yet to be set as there is no listed comparable and the prices of cryptocurrencies have

fluctuated a lot, reported IFR. It was valued at $500 million in mid-2017, IFR said, attributing it to one of the people.

Ethereum May Take Over Bitcoin As the Most Popular Cryptocurrency

Global Stock Markets

Roger Ver, aka Bitcoin Jesus, predicts that Ethereum will soon take over from Bitcoin as the most valuable cryptocurrency in the world.

Roger Ver, a cryptocurrency advocate who has been actively involved in the cryptoverse since 2011, believes that cryptocurrencies that are more technologically secure like Bitcoin Cash, and, Ethereum will overtake Bitcoin in time.

While this cryptocurrencies will have a massive increase in value, the price of Bitcoin will only see modest gains, according to Ver. This will lead to what analysts refer to as “The Flippening”. This marks a time when Bitcoin will no longer be the leading cryptocurrency with the highest market capitalization.

During an interview with The Independent, Ver said:

“The Flippening is imminent, and I see it happening. Before the end of 2020, I see Bitcoin Cash overtaking Bitcoin, and before the end of this year, Ethereum will do the same.”

Ver talked about the obvious issues with the Bitcoin technology citing that it was unable to scale through the problem of slow transaction speed and high transaction fees that came along with increased popularity.

Is a Take Over Possible?

Over 1,500 cryptocurrencies have been created since Bitcoin was launched in 2009. Each one was created in a bid to improve on Bitcoin’s flaws.

Within the last 12 months, the price of Bitcoin has gone up from $1,700 to about $9,360 which reflects a 450% increase in price. Ether had a 1,000% increase in price with its current value at $764. Bitcoin Cash, on the other hand, hiked from $500 in August last year to $1,655.

Even if the price of Ether is still far from the price of Bitcoin, Ether is in circulation five-times more than Bitcoin. The market capitalization of Ethereum is just about half of the market cap for Bitcoin.

Despite Ver’s opinion, some other experts in the market believe that Bitcoin cannot lose its position because it is already well established in the industry.

Although Ver said that there is a chance that Bitcoin will continue to dominate the market, he doesn’t believe it is likely.

Crypto update: Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Ripple (XRP) bounce back

New Zealand Stock Markets

The cryptocurrency market has managed to steady the ship and is up slightly over the last 24 hours.

This means the value of the entire market has edged higher to US$408.4 billion according to Coin Market Cap.

The Bitcoin (BTC) price has pushed 0.2% higher over the last 24 hours to US$9,116.31 per coin, lifting its market capitalisation to almost US$155 billion. The world’s largest cryptocurrency appears to have shaken off recent media reports labelling it a scam. Former Paypal CEO Bill Harris told ReCode that Bitcoin was “the greatest scam in history” and dismissed its use as a means of payment and store of value due to the wild swings in its price.

The Ethereum (ETH) price has climbed 1.3% higher since this time yesterday to US$648.43 per token. This gives the popular alt coin a market capitalisation of US$64.2 billion. Traders have responded positively to news that key developers have expressed an interest in working together on the technical direction of the coin after recent infighting.

The Ripple (XRP) price has pushed 1.6% higher during the last 24 hours to 84.4 U.S. cents, giving XRP a market capitalisation of just over US$33 billion.

The Bitcoin Cash (BCH) price has risen 1.4% over the last 24 hours to US$1,359.59. This latest move higher has increased Bitcoin Cash’s market capitalisation to over US$23.2 billion.

The EOS (EOS) price has slipped ever so slightly lower during the last 24 hours to US$15.01 per token. This gives EOS a market capitalisation of just under US$12.3 billion.

It was a similar story outside the top five with small gains being made by Litecoin (LTC), Cardano (ADA), and NEO (NEO). While Stellar Lumens (XLM) and IOTA (MIOTA) have been the best performers on the market with a 7% and 4.4% gain, respectively, during the period.

Bitcoin price jumps to two-week high, leads broad crypto surge

Global Stock Markets

Cryptocurrency prices jumped on Thursday, led by a surge in bitcoin to two-week highs, with people active in the market citing a squeeze on traders who have bet against prices, given a lack of obvious news to trigger the gains.

On the Luxembourg-based Bitstamp exchange BTC=BTSP, bitcoin rose as much as 17 percent at one point in mid-morning European trading. By 1250 GMT, it was up 11 percent at $7,705, its highest level since March 29.

Other cryptocurrencies like Ethereum .MVETH and Ripple .MVXRP also rose sharply, gaining more than 10 percent. EOS, another virtual currency, rose more than 30 percent, according to CoinMarketcap.com, which tracks the industry.

After rocketing to almost $20,000 in December, bitcoin’s price has fallen this year on the back of worries about a regulatory clampdown and concerns it is a speculative bubble that is now deflating.

That has prompted some traders to bet heavily against - to short - bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
After their prices stabilised in recent days and rose earlier on Thursday, those shorts were squeezed out of their positions, forcing the price upwards.

Two people active in the cryptocurrency market said the biggest moves in trading of bitcoin had occurred on the Bitfinex exchange before spreading to other platforms.

Other analysts said there was no obvious news behind the move, although one cited recent reports prominent billionaire trader George Soros had decided to start trading cryptocurrencies.

Ripple's XRP Just Might Be the Next Big Crypto Futures Market

Global Stock Markets

Bitcoin futures may have been launched with tremendous fanfare - XRP futures, on the other hand, not so much.

But in fact, U.K.-based startup Crypto Facilities has been operating a futures market for the world's third-largest cryptocurrency, developed by blockchain startup Ripple Inc., for almost 18 months now. And while the company's CEO Timo Schlaefer has been tight-lipped about the product so far, he sees trends in recent data that indicate broader XRP futures adoption may be on the horizon.

"We have pretty good order books," Schlaefer told CoinDesk, "And we're in the process of working with some of the large market makers to draw that further."

Indeed, when bitcoin was still months away from getting its first Commodity and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) regulated bitcoin derivatives, Schlaefer's company had quietly partnered with Ripple and launched XRP futures, its second cryptocurrency futures product after bitcoin to be regulated under the UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

Later, when Chicago commodities giants Cboe and CME Group opened their first bitcoin futures in December, Crypto Facilities' own XRP futures were trading $14.2 million in volume a month. And by the time Cboe's first bitcoin futures contract expired in January, Crypto Facilities' XRP futures had almost doubled in volume to $24.6 million.

Yet, almost no one outside of the firm's own pool of investors even knew the futures were being traded, much less with that kind of volume. Now, that appears to be changing with the company on track for another positive month, and others exploring the contracts.

While Schlaefer wouldn't reveal the identities of the large market makers the company is currently courting, data he provided exclusively to CoinDesk gives a look into how the offering has been growing - and it largely mirrors the price of XRP itself.

For instance, the volume of cash-settled XRP futures, which the company officially launched in October 2016, were relatively flat from month to month until March 2017.

That's when XRP futures volume more than tripled to $3.08 million and quadrupled to $12.1 million the following month. Over the same time period, the price of XRP experienced similar growth, rising from $0.03 in April to $0.34 in mid-May, before shrinking substantially.

But then again in January 2018, the volume of futures mirrored XRP's price increases, jumping to $24.6 million as the price of the cryptocurrency reached a record $3.53.
And according to Schlaefer, while the number of registered investors in XRP futures, between 2,000 and 3,000 people, seems small, he estimates that those investing in the product comprise only about 30 percent of Crypto Facilities' total number of investors.

With most of those trading falling into the category of retail investors, XRP also represents a growth opportunity for the company, and Schlaefer believes, the industry at large.

"We still want to get them a more diverse user base," he said. 'But it's going in the right direction."
Continuing momentum

And there's reason to believe more products could be on the horizon.

Already, CME Group, valued at $55 billion, has set a precedent of working with Crypto Facilities in the build-up to its own bitcoin futures launch.

While a representative of CME Group declined to comment on whether the company is exploring XRP futures, it participated in Ripple's $55 million Series B investment in 2016. Shortly thereafter, the former head of precious metals and metals options at CME Group joined Ripple as its head of XRP markets, giving Ripple potentially valuable insight into CME Group's inner workings.

Further, in response to CoinDesk's inquiry about XRP futures, a Cboe spokesperson reiterated statements from the company's chief executive, who last year said the exchange was open to adding additional cryptocurrency options.

Lastly, Paul Chou, the co-founder and CEO of LedgerX, a CFTC-regulated bitcoin derivatives provider, said his company was exploring the possibility of XRP futures.

LedgerX launched the first regulated and physically-settled bitcoin derivatives product last year and has since traded $100 million in notional volume.

Still, Chou hinted at what could be reservations that slow adoption.

For example, he said that the company's decision on whether to add XRP futures will stem primarily from its analysis of XRP's "concentration of holdings." Indeed, the reason for LedgerX's concern reflects apprehension more broadly held within the cryptocurrency community about Ripple Inc. and its control over XRP. For one, Ripple's employees reportedly hold large amounts of the cryptocurrency.

As such, in response to demand from customers "who are definitely inquiring about XRP," Chou said, the company established a group to investigate.

In particular, the group is looking into the potential that those that who hold large amounts of XRP could manipulate the price, especially if the futures contracts are settled in cash.

Bitcoin rises from six-week low as G-20 weighs cryptocurrencies

Global Stock Markets

An international group of central bank regulators and government ministers has told the G20 countries that bitcoin poses no threat to global financial stability, sending the cryptocurrency market higher. 

The Financial Stability Board’s chairman, Mark Carney, who also heads the Bank of England, has sent a letter to the G20, saying that the organization doesn't see bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as a threat to the global economy.

The FSB is an international body that monitors and makes recommendations about the global financial system.

he letter comes ahead of the 2018 G20 meeting in Argentina, starting on Monday. At the summit, the participants will discuss bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, and their influence on the global financial stability.

 A number of leading economies – France, Japan and the US – have called for a joint response to the speculation around bitcoin and other digital money.

Bitcoin reacted bullishly to Carney’s letter.

The cryptocurrency surged over 6 percent to $8,200 on Monday, which is still over 50 percent off the $20,000 peak seen in December 2017.

Ripple, ethereum, bitcoin cash, cardano and other cryptocurrencies were also trading in the positive zone, buoyed by the surge in bitcoin. More than 90 of Coinmarketcap’s top 100 cryptocurrencies were gaining on Monday.

Ethereum, litecoin and bitcoin slump after torrid week

Global Stock Markets

The price of bitcoin and its competitors has fallen dramatically over the last three days, with all but two of the top 50 cryptocurrencies further tumbling in value this morning.

Bitcoin, ethereum, ripple and bitcoin cash have all dropped in value by at least 7 per cent in the last 24 hours, according to CoinMarketCap, having slid steadily since Monday.

One bitcoin is worth $8,118 (£5,826) at the time of writing, down 7.15 per cent compared to Wednesday morning, 13.48 per cent on this time last week and 4.41 per cent on mid-February, going by Coinbase data.

Of CoinMarketCap's top 50, only tether and digixDAO - two comparatively obscure coins - saw any growth at all.

The biggest slumps were suffered by nem and steem, which lost 25.06 per cent and 17.93 per cent of their values respectively in 24 hours.

The virtual currency market has endured a torrid week, with Google announcing plans to cull cryptocurrency advertising from its search results, purging initial coin offerings and other speculative investment promotions on the grounds that they represent "deceptive content" consumers cannot trust.

The crypto-sector was also prominently mocked by John Oliver on his popular HBO show Last Week Tonight and saw security questions raised after an attempted heist on China's Binance exchange.

Binance has since offered a $250,000 (£179,000) bounty for information that led to the thieves' arrest, a gesture doing nothing to quell comparisons between the unregulated digicoin scene and the Wild West.

The spectre of regulation continues to cast a shadow, with India's former Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das the latest to reassert doubts about the market's safety, arguing that online coin transactions were too complex to regulate and should instead be banned outright.

China and South Korea have expressed similarly conservative attitudes towards cryptocurrencies in recent months.

Bitcoin price prediction: $10.000 as the key level to watch for BTC/USD

Global Stock Markets

Bitcoin reached $8479 on Saturday night, setting up a "W" formation, statistically bullish. New regulative actions keep coming, positive in the mid-term but growing doubts in the day-to-day basis

The Crypto sphere is starting the week with more problems for trading platforms, now coming from Finland. The Scandinavian countries have an important role, because there are several Cryptocurrency mining projects stablished there because of the climatic and energetic edge.

The Finnish banks have temporarily blocked the Crypto trading platform accounts, complying with local laws that demand the capital sources of bank accounts to be identified.

Bitcoin is still trading in a technically complicated area, with positive and negative forces colliding, thus complicating the analysis. BTC/USD has drawn a "W" structure during the weekend, which statistically should trigger a turning point to the upside. For now, this is only another ingredient of our analysis, with multiple mixed signals that should be taken into account when drawing a strategy to trade Bitcoin.

Bitcoin price is moving around a congestion zone, an area where the price level attracting more action is $9500. BTC/USD has stopped at this level up to seven times in the last two months, only trading below there in early February, when it set the relative low at $5896.


Looking at key levels for Bitcoin, the first to watch on the upside is the psychological $10000 mark, followed by $10500, where BTC/USD should take back the bullish channel lost on March 7th.

Above this level, another complicated area, where the price could find resistance at $11450 at first, and then at $12000 as the last barrier preventing price from escaping the current negative outlook.

On the downside, BTC/USD is trading inside a tight bearish channel, with the base at the $8900, followed by long-term trends that rule the current bearish leg and are targeting $8500 and $8000.

If buyers don't take reigns of the price action, Bitcoin could fall down to the area where several bearish trendlines are converging, right at $7700, a projected bearish target for the end of this month.
MACD in the Bitcoin 4-hour chart is crossed up, coming from lows.

It is showing a bullish divergence in the candlestick close, but not in the absolute lows, so it lacks some strength. The indicator has some room to grow before facing the equilibrium line.

Directional Movement Index still is not showing any control by the buyers, despite the increase of long positions in the most recent hours. Sellers have fallen a bit, but they are still outnumbering buyers. ADX is sliding and it should follow going south for the time being.

Conclusion
After the recent price action, BTC/USD has gained some bullish potential, but the big number of hurdles leaves some doubts to the bulls. Just those ones with the possibility of taking immediate positions with no delay should now be aggressive, as the key levels are pretty tight and the scenario could worsen quite rapidly. For those that can operate with ease, tight stops below the key levels are recommended.

Bitcoins and Volatility

Global Stock Markets

The cryptocurrency market is a notoriously volatile one, and many virtual currencies have experienced a dip in price in 2018.

This includes the major ones as well, such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple and Litecoin.

Perhaps the most notable is the number one cryptocurrency; Bitcoin.

The digital currency has plunged by around $1,000, which is approximately 2% of its value. So, why is the price of Bitcoin as volatile as it is? One of the main reasons that they are under so much pressure is because of the new regulations that have been brought in by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

They have recently announced that exchanges will now have to register as a national securities exchange.

 This has sparked fear though that more regulations could be introduced, which has reduced the value, causing the price to drop.

Another reason is because of the Coinbase announcement of introducing a weighted index fund for cryptocurrencies.

When the ETF is launched it will help in reflecting major trends in the cryptocurrency market, similarly to how equity index gives a sense of what’s happening in the economy. This will only be available to customers in the US.

Finally, the Bank Of England has also issued a warning regarding the crackdown on cryptocurrencies, which includes Bitcoin.

 The banks have said that virtual currencies are not able to perform the most basic function of money, so the banks believe that by properly regulating them will reduce the amount of illegitimate activities.

Bitcoin’s price fell by more than 60 percent

Global Stock Markets

Earlier this year, when Bitcoin’s price fell by more than 60 percent from its record close, a less-noticed Bitcoin figure also plunged: the number of daily transactions.

There are many explanations for the fall-off in trading, from software- to news-related. What’s less understood is why the level hasn’t recovered as Bitcoin’s price made a 50 percent comeback since Feb. 5.

That’s left some investors wondering whether the cryptocurrency is waning in popularity.

The average number of trades recorded daily has roughly dropped in half from the December highs and touched its lowest in two years last month, even as Bitcoin became a household name and roared back to near $11,000.

The transaction data may be bad news for Bitcoin bulls.

Trading and purchases on the Bitcoin network, which can be measured by metrics like transaction volume, is indicative of price direction.

Transactions plunged from a seven-day average of almost 400,000 in mid-December to about 200,000 this week.

The last time it was this low, the currency traded below $500.

Transactions waiting to be officially recognized by the Bitcoin network dropped from a seven-day average of 130 million bytes in early January to about 35 million now.

Average transaction confirmation times have tumbled -- though that may be in part because the technology that underlies Bitcoin has already been adapted to address some of these delays.

For example, a software enhancement known as the SegWit protocol, changing the way data is stored on the blockchain, was activated last week by Coinbase Inc., the largest U.S. cryptocurrency exchange.

Not everyone agrees that lower volumes signal trouble for Bitcoin. It may be a healthy return to normality and signs that the market is maturing.

Should prices start rallying again, traders may well be coaxed back.

He sees the currency soaring to $35,000 by the end of the year.

The decline in prices may itself be to blame for lower trading volumes in Bitcoin.

And websites that once only allowed payment in Bitcoin now accept a much wider range of digital currencies.

That makes alternative currencies more appealing than the first-mover in the space.

A year ago, bitcoin’s market capitalization was about 85 percent of the total sector. It’s now around 40 percent.

Bitcoin-Futures Regulator Clears Crypto Coins Trade

Global Stock Markets

The U.S.’s main commodities regulator recently told its employees that they are allowed to invest in cryptocurrencies, a determination that came weeks after the agency began overseeing Bitcoin futures.

Under the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s ethics guidance, workers can trade digital tokens as long as they don’t buy them on margin or have inside information gleaned from their jobs. Investing in the Bitcoin futures that the CFTC polices, however, is barred.

While it’s not known how many people at the CFTC are actively trading the products, the agency’s general counsel, Daniel Davis, told employees in a Feb. 5 memo that the guidelines were being issued after the commission’s ethics office had received “numerous inquiries” about whether the investments were permissible.

The CFTC’s ruling comes at a time when federal agencies are debating whether and how to impose rules on the nascent products that have rapidly become a global investment craze. A number of officials have been wary of putting a government stamp of approval on cryptocurrencies, raising concerns about their wild price swings, their use in illicit transactions and the frequency with which they’ve been hacked and stolen.
Mind-boggling Decision

The CFTC has been ahead of the crypto frenzy, first declaring in 2014 that the digital currency was a commodity subject to the agency’s oversight. Still, that supervision has mostly consisted of enforcement actions to halt alleged frauds. Much of the trading for coins now takes place on lightly regulated exchanges or in foreign countries where the commission has little reach.
Oversight Forefront

That began to change late last year when Giancarlo allowed two major U.S. exchanges to offer Bitcoin futures -- a move that placed his agency at the forefront of crypto oversight. The decision concerned some other regulators who thought Giancarlo was moving too quickly, people familiar with the matter have said.

The guidance on trading digital currencies was based on the CFTC’s standard ethics rules, which allow investments in physical commodities. That’s because the agency doesn’t regulate markets where corn or oil, for example, are bought and sold. Instead, it regulates futures contracts derived from oil or corn prices.

The guidance does note that staff members shouldn’t invest if they have nonpublic information that could impact the trade. That could potentially arise if they are handling an enforcement case, conducting surveillance or working on a regulation involving digital tokens.

The Securities and Exchange Commission also allows its workers to invest in digital currencies, with some exceptions similar to the CFTC. However, the SEC has less responsibility for overseeing the crypto markets.

The SEC’s jurisdiction right now is largely limited to so-called initial coin offerings, where companies raise money by selling tokens. The agency’s employees cannot invest in those until seven days after the ICO, according to a memo its ethics counsel issued in January. The SEC also requires its staff to pre-clear all their digital currency trades -- a requirement that the CFTC doesn’t have.

Attorneys specializing in government ethics were split on whether CFTC employees should be allowed to trade the products.

There is no government-wide policy on the investments and each agency has to set its own rules. That task is made harder because digital currencies are relatively new and there isn’t broad agreement about how they should be classified.
Regulators Grappling

Regulators and government ethics lawyers are grappling with a number of tricky questions, including whether the coins are commodities, currencies or securities. Another potential issue is whether they are akin to an investment or more like a pile of cash in a drawer.

However, Richard Painter who specializes in securities law and was a White House ethics lawyer under President George W. Bush, said that cryptocurrencies seem to be more like futures than physical commodities.

While most CFTC employees aren’t likely to trade barrels of oil or bushels of wheat, partly because they could need a warehouse to store them, digital coins don’t present that problem.

Also, regulatory decisions can have an impact on the underlying markets. One major example: The price of Bitcoin jumped 13 percent on Dec. 1, the day of the CFTC’s announcement that it was allowing Bitcoin futures.

There’s a new cryptocurrency in town: the petro.

Global Stock Markets

The newest cryptocurrency is the invention of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. The “petro,” as the cryptocurrency is known, was launched this week as a very creative Hail Mary by a struggling autocrat.

The website for the cryptocurrency claims that in its first issue, opened for trading on Feb. 20, it made available 100 million tokens, each selling for about $60, a figure that is close to the price of a barrel of oil. Each petro is supposedly backed by a barrel of oil, though analysts are not sure what this means in practice. Maduro values this issuance at $6 billion: $60 for each token for 100 million tokens.

The currency is one of many sold as tokens on the New Economy Movement platform, a technology that supports cryptocurrencies. The New Economy Movement blockchain confirmed on its Twitter account that it was the platform that the Venezuelan government had selected for the petro, while also adding that it does not make political endorsements.

Unlike Venezuela’s official currency, the bolivar, the petro exists online only and is not regulated by the central bank. Unlike other cryptocurrencies, such as bitcoin and ether, the petro is controlled by a government, although it is not clear which specific government entity is responsible for issuing the currency. The minister of science, technology and university education was by Maduro’s side at the launch, suggesting that the petro might fall under his jurisdiction.

 The United States prohibits Americans from buying and selling petros, arguing that Venezuela is using them to skirt tough sanctions. That’s probably true. Here is what you need to know about this cryptocurrency.

1. Venezuela is sort of rich

Venezuela’s riches have always been underground. The country sits atop the world’s largest proved oil reserves, estimated at 300 billion barrels of crude. Since the oil was discovered in 1914, the country has sought ways to translate “rich in oil” into just plain rich. Beginning in the mid-1970s, a series of Venezuelan governments approached this in more or less the same way: have a state-owned oil company extract the oil and sell it abroad, distribute some of the money to citizens and keep the rest. However, Maduro has mismanaged the national oil company, and world oil prices have plummeted — leading Venezuela into its current crisis.

2. But it’s not very rich right now

Venezuela is deeply in the red. In all, the country owes foreign creditors about $60 billion. The country has just under $10 billion in foreign reserves, the lowest level the country has seen in at least two decades. Maduro surprised analysts by making a few debt payments last year, though Venezuela eventually defaulted in November. Venezuela’s next debt payment of $753 million is due in August. The majority of Venezuelan citizens go to bed hungry; many are starving and living without necessary medicine and health care, leading to riots and mass emigration.

3. The petro is not a new Bitcoin but a new way to get money from oil

The petro is officially the first cryptocurrency backed by a country. Until now, one of the things that made cryptocurrencies distinct from regular currencies was that none have been the official currency of any country, backed by any one economy or controlled by a central bank.

The petro is almost all of the above. So why invent a new national currency? Under Maduro oil production in Venezuela has fallen to just around two million barrels per day and is unlikely to recover soon. The government has tried — and failed at — other strategies to raise revenue, such as selling oil assets to Russia. As Maduro has consolidated power in autocratic ways, including stripping the National Assembly of its powers, the United States cut off Maduro’s access to credit markets last August. That made it even more difficult for the government to bring in the cash it desperately needs to stay in power.

Selling petro tokens that are backed by the crude is a way to get money from oil without having to put in the effort to extract it. The oil fields that are being flaunted as backing the petro have a recovery rate of only about 6 to 8 percent — meaning that existing technology only allows for the extraction of a small portion of the underground reserves — and would be expensive to develop. Selling cryptocurrency that is supposedly backed by these resources is a quick way to convert this into much needed foreign exchange.

While Maduro claims that these tokens are backed by oil reserves, Venezuela’s constitution says that oil belongs to the public domain. As an “inalienable and imprescriptible” resource, it cannot be used as collateral.

4. Earnings from the petro won’t do most Venezuelans any good

Everyone in Venezuela needs foreign exchange. The regime needs it to stay in power and Venezuelans need it to buy food and medicine, which can no longer be purchased with the nearly worthless bolivar. The country is facing a dramatic food and medicine shortage. Many countries, including the United States, have offered to send emergency humanitarian aid, including food and medicine. But the Venezuelan government insists that there is no emergency, and has refused to allow humanitarian aid to enter the country. Given this refusal to acknowledge the very real crisis, the government is unlikely to use petro revenue to help citizens in a meaningful way.

The petro tokens can be purchased only with U.S. dollars. Venezuela’s exchange rate controls severely limit the amount of foreign currency that Venezuelans can buy.

Bitcoin is Back Over $10K, But Rally Looks Weak

Global Stock Markets

Bitcoin is witnessing a minor corrective rally today, but the bulls may have a tough time regaining control, the technical charts suggest.

CoinDesk's Bitcoin Price Index (BPI) fell to $9,592.96 at 01:59 UTC - the lowest level for one week. As of writing, the BPI is seen a little higher at $10,090.

It is worth noting that the global average price calculated by CoinMarketCap is holding around $200 higher, largely due to the "Kimchi premium" - that is, BTC is changing hands above $11,000 on Korean exchanges Upbit, Bithumb, and Coinone. Meanwhile, across western exchanges, the world's largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization is trading closer to $10,000.

The cryptocurrency has depreciated by 1,86 percent in the last 24 hours, CoinMarketCap indicates.

So, it appears a relief rally has gathered pace, a move indicated by the bullish relative strength index (RSI)

BTC is stuck inside a falling channel, creating lower lows and lower highs. However, the RSI continues to diverge in favor of the bulls, so the corrective rally could be extended further towards $10,250 (falling channel resistance).

However, only a daily close (as per UTC) above $11,228 (38.2 percent Fibonacci retracement of the sell-off from the record highs), would signal a revival of the rally from Feb. 6 lows below $6,000.

Moreover, the odds are stacked against the bulls as, against the backdrop of the bearish "gravestone" doji reversal on the daily chart reported yesterday, BTC is more likely to extend the decline towards $8,800 (1-hour head and shoulders breakdown target as per the measured height method).

Additionally, as seen in the chart above, the 50-hour moving average (MA), 100-hour MA and 200-hour MA have topped out in favor of the bears.