Day: November 11, 2017

It seems the rough Bitcoin price trend is slowly coming to an end. It is still way too early to tell how things will evolve for Bitcoin over the next few days, but things are slowly looking up. More specifically, the Bitcoin price is still in the red, but the massive dip to almost $6,400 has been averted for now. With the Bitcoin price back to $6,645 right now, it will be interesting to see how long it takes to reach $7,000 again.

Bitcoin Price Trend Reversal Seems Imminent

No one can deny the past few days have been pretty tense for Bitcoin. With the Bitcoin price reaching a new all-time high a few days ago, things were looking pretty bullish. Ever since that time, however, the Bitcoin price has dropped by over $1,200 in a few days. Most of this money has flown to Bitcoin Cash, effectively pushing this altcoin to a new all-time high in the process. Whether or not this trend will reverse again for both coins in the future, remains to be seen. Right now, it looks pretty likely, though.

More specifically, the Bitcoin price is still down by over 6% in the past 24 hours. Five percent of such a high value results in quite a lot of money being lost for Bitcoin holders. Then again, the Bitcoin price was over $300 lower just a few hours ago, which further indicates things are not looking all that bad right now.  This doesn’t mean we will see the Bitcoin price recover in full before the weekend is over, mind you, but it also shows the sky isn’t falling either. an interesting situation to keep an eye on in the coming hours, to say the very least.

This volatile Bitcoin price ride has certainly allowed speculators to make a lot of money. Over the past 24 hours alone, the Bitcoin price went from, $7,110 to $6,436 and is now back at $6,645. These wild fluctuations create a lot of day trading opportunities for Bitcoin holders. Especially margin traders will reap the benefits from opening longs and shorts on the Bitcoin price. There is so much momentum in place right now, the market can easily swing either way and completely reverse over the course of 24 hours.

One thing still working in Bitcoin’s favor is how the trading volume is still incredibly solid right now. With over $5.18bn worth of BTC changing hands in the past 24 hours, things are still looking pretty bullish for Bitcoin. Then again, the Bitcoin Cash trading volume is still close behind, despite a $1bn gap between the two. We also see Ethereum generate close to $1bn and Tether surpassing $740m in volume these past 24 hours. All of this momentum is incredibly bullish for cryptocurrency in general, and no one knows how things will evolve in the future.

Unlike all other major cryptocurrencies, the Bitcoin trading volume is not dominated by Bithumb for a change. Instead, Bitfinex is the largest exchange for Bitcoin, with a $160m lead over Bithumb. bitFlyer still completes the top three, although they face some strong competition from Bittrex’s BCC/BTC pair. It will be interesting to see how these markets evolve in the coming hours. We do see a total of 12 different trading pairs generate over $100m  in 24-hour volume, which hasn’t happened all that often until now.

In the end, no one can make any accurate predictions as to where the Bitcoin price is headed. Right now, it seems a small recovery is forming, but it may not be a stable support for the long run. One has to keep in mind the current Bitcoin price is still a 550% increase compared to January of this year. There is no reason to panic and Bitcoin is not going away anytime soon. It is always important to look at the bigger picture rather than what happened today or in the past week. Bitcoin is still the king of cryptocurrencies, and it will be incredibly difficult to change that fact.

It is evident there are multiple altcoins which are clearly getting pumped right now. There is no real reason for a currency such as Ethereum Classic to go up in value by 15% over the past 24 hours. For some reason, that is exactly what happened, pushing the Ethereum Classic price back to $17.38. An interesting development, as this sudden spike in trading volume shows how the markets are being manipulated as we speak.

Ethereum Classic Price Pump Part III

The past two weeks were pretty interesting for the Ethereum Classic price, even though things looked incredibly weak for most of it. On November second, the Ethereum Classic price hovered around $10 after a slow and steady decline during the months prior. Ever since that time, however, there has been an increase in trading volume, resulting in the ETC price being pushed up in quick succession. So far, there have been three pump cycles to take note of, with the latest one occurring over the past 24 hours.

This first pump cycle saw the Ethereum Classic price reach $12 on November 4th. With a trading volume that increased fivefold from days prior, it became evident this is not natural growth whatsoever. A second cycle followed in the next two days, resulting in an Ethereum Classic price of $15.2 at the peak. Again, a much higher trading volume than normal, mainly driven by the Bithumb exchange. This trend has been pretty steady, as every Ethereum Classic price gain is thanks to Bithumb trading rather than actual developments.

All of this brings us to the current Ethereum Classic price of $17.8, which is another 15.26% gain over the past 24 hours. With a 23.17% gain over Bitcoin – which is still struggling pretty hard to find any solid support levels right now- things are looking pretty good for ETC holders. It also pushed ETC back to the #9 spot of cryptocurrencies ranked by market cap. Whether or not this position will be maintained from the time the weekend has come and gone, remains to be seen.

This latest Ethereum Classic price pump is the direct result of a massively inflated trading volume. With $572.5m worth of ETC trading in the past 24 hours, it is evident market manipulation is working at its finest right now.  This trading volume is well beyond the $35m ETC normally generates during a day. It also shows how much money is being thrown around in cryptocurrency right now with the sole purpose of making coins look far more popular than they are. None of the coins which actually deserve attention get it because the money flows elsewhere.

Bithumb generated nearly half of all ETC trades, just like it does for Bitcoin Cash right now. It is evident these South Korean exchanges are taking China’s place when it comes to effectively manipulating cryptocurrency prices beyond belief. Coinone and Korbit are also in the top three of exchanges ranked by trading volume. Once this volume shifts to the next coin to pump and dump – which will potentially be Dash, by the look of things right now – the Ethereum Classic price will start tumbling down once again.

In the end, there are those who make good money by getting in on cryptocurrency pump cycles and those who stand to lose it all. Chasing  a pump, such as Ethereum Classic, is never a good idea when you don’t know where the top is. It is evident the Ethereum Classic price may continue to rise for some time to come, although reaching $20 may be a bit too steep of a challenge. Always remember to take profits before the pumpers decide to offload and take your hard earned money with them. Cryptocurrency markets are not charity by any means, that much is certain.

Following the cancellation of Segwit 2X, the pump has been withdrawn and as a result, alt coins are back to their initial trading ranges. Coincidentally, these reversals happened at key Fibonacci retracement levels drawn between August-September/October Hi-Los. Let’s see what happened yesterday.

MAIN RESISTANCE TREND LINE AT $0.22 CAP ALT COIN NEM RALLY AFTER SEGWIT 2X IS PUT OFF

Based on our conditions yesterday, NEM price action failed to close above $0.22 main resistance line.

There was a strong rebound from that level and USD bulls pare losses recovering $0.04 and closing at November 9 lows. Note that this re-bounce was at the 68.2% Fibonacci level. As such, our game plan today is if alt coin NEM will close below the main support level at $0.20 today.

It is likely, check the long upper wick this morning which indicate USD bull pressure and a probable spill over from yesterday’s bear run.

STRONG PRICE REJECTION AROUND $335-$370 SELL ZONE FOR DASH BULLS

Yesterday’s alt coin DASH price action ended up as a doji candlestick closing above the upper BB. Concurrently, alt coin DASH highs reversed in our sell zone between $335 and $370 following segwit 2x cancellation.

November 10 and 11 candlestick characteristics indicate sell pressure build up.  After all, $327 November 10 close is above the upper BB meaning DASH is expensive, not at equilibrium with waning bull momentum as stochastics shows.

According to our plan, should sell pressure increase as it is happening now, then we initiate short positions anywhere between 38.2% and 23.6% Fibonacci levels drawn from August-September Hi-Los. Fine tune your entry and enter short in the 4HR time frame.

ALT COIN IOTA WAS OVER-PRICED AND IS NOW CORRECTION LOWER

After testing highs of $0.60 resistance line, alt coin IOTA corrected lower and is now trading at $0.50 after news of segwit 2x cancellation.

That means within two days, alt coin IOTA has shed $0.10. Then again, it is reversing from the 61.8% Fibonacci level as drawn from August-October Hi-Los. That’s not all. Between November 9 and 10, alt coin IOTA price action ended up closing above the upper BB at $0.53 and $0.50 respectively.

This correction lower should continue now that bull momentum is wearing out as stochastics show. More importantly, if USD bulls manage to close below $0.48 support level, then the bear pressure should continue back to $0.38 main support line.

STOCHASTIC SELL SIGNAL WITH REVERSALS AT 38.2% FIB LEVEL

Now that alt coin Monero bulls are at break even, it is better to exit this trade with some profit. Obviously, the pump is over and capital is flowing back to BTC after Segwit 2x hard fork cancellation.

After all, alt coin Monero is topping as price action hints. That strong bearish engulfing candlestick reversing from 23.6% Fibonacci retracement levels means Monero prices might fall back to $80. In the mean time, let’s not forget that there is a stochastics sell signal, indicative of sell pressure.

Additionally, November 9 candlestick is above the upper BB and a close lower to counter this in-equilibrium was necessary.

NEO IS BACK WITHIN NOVEMBER 8 CANDLESTICK AFTER YESTERDAY’S BEAR CANDLE

Alt coin NEO didn’t break above the $40 mark and after registering highs of $38.5, USD bulls took over.Furthermore, there is a 3-bar reversal candlestick with bearish momentum kicking in after November 10 bear candlestick.

Unless there is more NEO bull pressure and price close above $33, we maintain a bearish outlook. In light of this, the break out strategy is still in play.

All charts courtesy of Trading View

 

 

The post AFTER SEGWIT 2X CANCELLATION, CAPITAL FLOWS BACK TO BTC (November 11, 2017) appeared first on NEWSBTC.

Malware targeted against cryptocurrency users is becoming increasingly prevalent, a new report shows. Attacks are also getting more sophisticated, with enterprising hackers less focused on cryptocurrency holders and more intent on directing their firepower at bitcoin exchanges. The blame for such intrusions is being directed firmly at North Korea, where many of the attacks are believed to originate.

Also read: South Korea Advances Crypto Bill Targeting Multi-Level and Door-to-Door Sales

It Came From The North

New statistics released by the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA) have identified over 5,000 instances of ransomware damage between January and September of this year. This was a 3.7x increase on the same period last year, and was accompanied by a spate of malicious code injections. While much of this malware was ransomware-based, 44 attacks were specifically designed to steal personal information from the targets.

Cryptocurrency holders must constantly remain vigilant against malware attacks, but for exchange staffers, overseeing millions of dollars of digital assets, this requirement exponentially heightens. In July, it emerged that hackers had been trying to infiltrate South Korean exchanges and with some success. Malware injections were directed against exchange employees who didn’t have to look far to find the source of the attacks.

Something Phishy

North Korea is a nation which doesn’t excel on many fronts, but its hacking prowess is a matter of national pride and international hand-wringing. It’s become fashionable to blame the North Koreans for all manner of internet mischief, from the Sony pictures hack to distributing ransomware across the web. It was inevitable that North Korea would be accused of trying to infiltrate its southern neighbor’s bitcoin exchanges, and the evidence is compelling.

The Yonhap News Agency reported a KISA official as saying:

Hackers are boldly spreading malicious code not only to hunt for bitcoins but to directly attack internet sites. Such attacks are likely to continue.

Cybersecurity firm Fire Eye previously revealed further details of the summertime assault on South Korean exchanges, asserting that the attempted theft of bitcoin was to fill “the personal coffers of Pyongyang’s elite” and intended “as a means of evading sanctions and obtaining hard [safe haven] currencies to fund the regime”.

Thankfully for South Korea’s exchanges, the country seems to have no shortage of entities tasked with safeguarding key cyber infrastructure. In recent weeks, both the National Police Agency (NPA) and Cyber Warfare Intelligence Center of South Korea have warned of further incursions by North Korean hackers. Email phishing attempts are a favored attack vector, and it’s one that’s borne fruit on a number of occasions.

The NPA reported that 25 employees from four South Korean exchanges have been targeted from a North Korean IP address, with the Yapizon exchange surrendering $5 million of funds, including bitcoin, following a successful breach. For political and financial reasons, South Korean cryptocurrency exchanges are an alluring target for North Korean hackers. As the value of the cryptocurrency markets continues to rise, officials have warned exchange staffers to remain on high alert.

Do you think North Korea is to blame for the spate of South Korean exchange attacks? Let us know in the comments section below.

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The post North Korean Hackers Ramp Up Malware Attacks Against Bitcoin Exchange Staff appeared first on Bitcoin News.