Bitcoin Weekly Update
- At 6:00 GMT, Bitcoin is trading at $8284.04/coin.
- Bitcoin recorded a weekly loss of 21.2% and closed the week at $8570.00/coin on Friday, as investor sentiment was dampened
following a crackdown on virtual currencies by regulators in China, South Korea and India. - Bitcoin started trading on a weaker footing in the previous week, after news emerged that Japan’s Financial Services Agency
announced that it is considering conducting on-site inspections of domestic cryptocurrency exchanges following a $530.0 million hack at
Coincheck. Losses in the digital currency were extended further after South Korea’s new restrictive policies on cryptocurrency trading
officially came into effect. Additionally, news that Bitfinex and Tether were summoned with subpoenas by the US Commodities Futures
Trading Commission (CFTC) and comments from India’s Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley, also weighed on the cryptocurrency. - Over the weekend, Bitcoin prices rebounded and surpassed the $9,000 mark.
- Ripple prices fell 25.4% last week. Meanwhile, National Bank of Abu Dhabi has collaborated with Ripple to integrate with Ripple’s
technology and offer intrabank transfers and real-time cross-border payments to its customers. Also, Ethereum registered a weekly loss
of 11.8%. - At present, the total market value of all cryptocurrencies is $387.18 billion, with Bitcoin accounting for $137.13 billion.
Key News Last Week
- Japanese digital currency exchange, Coincheck, has abruptly stopped withdrawals after it confirmed that more than $400.0 million worth
of NEM cryptocurrency were lost after the tokens were routed “illicitly” outside the platform. - The Japanese Financial Services Agency has announced that it would inspect all 32 cryptocurrency exchanges in Japan.
- A Hong Kong-based Blockchain investment fund acquired the world’s oldest Bitcoin exchange, BTCC.
- China-based Bitcoin exchange, Huobi, is planning to start an office in San Francisco, and stated that it would build new headquarters in
the Silicon Valley area. - Facebook has issued a new policy to prohibit all cryptocurrency advertising including Bitcoin and initial coin offerings (ICOs) to prevent
deceptive and misleading advertising practices. - The CFTC has issued subpoenas to cryptocurrency exchanges, Bitfinex and Tether, amid growing concerns over balance sheet audit.
- The New York State Department of Financial Services has ordered South Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service and Financial
Intelligence Unit to disclose cryptocurrency related data obtained from their recent inspections of six major Korean banks. - Japanese Finance Minister, Taro Aso, demanded strengthening of cybersecurity posture and standards at domestic cryptocurrency
exchanges following the $530.0 million hack on Coincheck. - The CFTC is developing a “heightened review process” for cryptocurrency futures to help regulators which would enable the self
certification by the exchanges. - India’s finance minister, Arun Jaitley, stated that the government does not consider cryptocurrencies as legal tender and would work
towards eliminating the use of these crypto assets in financing illegitimate activities. - Venezuela’s oil-backed cryptocurrency, the Petro’s Whitepaper has been released ahead of its $5.0 billion ICO.
Bitcoin likely to extend its weakness this week
- At 6:00 GMT, Bitcoin is trading at $8284.04/coin.
- In the last week, Bitcoin continued to trade lower for the fourth consecutive week and settled at $8569.99 on Friday, following a low at
$7614.11. - A signal line crossover by the weekly MACD from above, accompanied by the RSI and stochastic oscillators directing towards the south,
suggests at a weak technical picture for the near term. Immediate support is situated at the $7790 level, followed by the $7272/70 and
$6926/25 levels. A move back below the latter might generate increased selling pressure on the cryptocurrency. - However, on the daily chart, the RSI and stochastic indicators are slightly moving higher, indicating that the downside might remain
limited. Key near-term support is positioned at the $8770 level, followed by the $8770 and $9201/05 levels. A clear break and stability
above the latter might lessen the bearish pressure on the digital currency.
Set a price alert now to be notified if these levels are reached.
