Day: December 18, 2017

Bitcoin Price Key Highlights

• Bitcoin price is still in correction mode, failing to make new highs after bouncing off the trend line support.
• This signals that buying momentum remains weak and that a deeper pullback might be needed to draw more bulls in.
• Still, if another wave higher happens, the Fib extension tool shows the next upside targets.

Bitcoin price might need a larger pullback before attempting to set new record highs past the $20,000 handle.

Technical Indicators Signals

The 100 SMA is above the longer-term 200 SMA, confirming that the path of least resistance is to the upside. This signals that the uptrend is more likely to continue than to reverse. The 100 SMA also coincides with the rising trend line to act as an additional layer of defense.

However, bitcoin price appears to be running out of steam on its rally, which suggests that a larger correction might be underway. The next area of interest below the Fibs is at the $17,000 level, which is around the former resistance and the 200 SMA dynamic inflection point.

Stochastic seems to be pointing down again even without hitting overbought levels, suggesting that sellers are still in the game. RSI is treading sideways to indicate further consolidation but is also crawling slightly higher.

Market Factors

Dollar bulls are back in the game as the tax bill approaches its last stretch. Republicans were able to come up with a unified version of the proposals from Senate and the House, leading up to a final vote this week. If approved, Trump could sign this tax bill into law and spur yet another strong run in US equities and the dollar.

Nonetheless, bitcoin remains supported following the launch of bitcoin futures on CBOE and CME as the elevated demand is has been positive for volumes and activity. A number of funds have included bitcoin in their portfolios but traders appear hesitant to increase their holdings as the cryptocurrency is close to a major psychological hurdle at $20,000.

The post Bitcoin Price Technical Analysis for 12/19/2017 – Larger Pullback Underway? appeared first on NEWSBTC.

This ICO insider sees the market’s hot streak continuing into the new year – even though, there are some potential pitfalls along the way.

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Bitcoin is about to be put under scrutiny by legislators in Iran. Majlis Economic Commission are set to discuss the planet’s most popular cryptocurrency and how they will treat it moving forward. The meeting will comprise of representatives from different sectors of government and banking. The Financial Tribune, a domestic newspaper, reported earlier that the head of the commission told ICANA, the Iranian news portal for parliament:

It has been decided to hold a meeting with the officials of the Central Bank of Iran, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance and the Securities and Exchange Organization on Bitcoin next week.

According to the Financial Tribune, Mohammad Reza Pour-Ebrahimi sounded pessimistic about cryptocurrency. He reportedly said that Bitcoin and other digital currencies were not in line with the nation’s religious beliefs and therefore caution must be exercised:

“Deals and transactions made through Bitcoin are in no way in accordance with Islamic and economic fundamentals, therefore related entities, especially the central bank, must exert the necessary supervision over these deals.”

Previously, the Central Bank of Iran’s deputy for innovative tech had urged those involved with the space to operate using extreme vigilance. Last month, Nasser Hakimi outlined the CBI’s goal of having a legislative framework for cryptocurrencies drawn up by March of 2019 and proceeded to warn those involved with any other medium of exchange other than the countries own currency:

“Because Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have not been introduced by the CBI as official currencies and in light of the high risk and speculative activities associated with purchasing them, we ask investors and the public to enter this field with increased caution because they could lose their money.”

The latest development from the Middle-Eastern state may come as a surprise to regular readers of NewsBTC. We reported earlier this year that Iran seemed to be preparing a suitable infrastructure which would allow for greater adoption of cryptocurrency. This was presumed to be an effort to dodge financial sanctions that the likes of the US have placed on the nation. Being as Iran largely exists outside of global banking networks, it seemed that digital currency could provide a useful avenue for trade that doesn’t require the permission of other State-level and supranational actors. However, judging by the statement today, the mood in Tehran has since soured towards Bitcoin and the rest of the crypto space.

The post Bitcoin on the Agenda for Iranian Lawmakers appeared first on NEWSBTC.

Peter Smith, CEO of Blockchain.info, has told CNBC he expects central banks to start holding cryptocurrencies next year. #NEWS

One of the crypto industry’s most anticipated token sales, that for Overstock subsidiary tZERO, has yet to launch as originally planned.

At 8 in the morning on December 15, agents of Ukrainian security service (SSU) along with two civilian witnesses entered Anatoly Kaplan’s rented apartment and conducted a search. Mr. Kaplan is well-known in the crypto community as the founder of the most popular Russophone media resource on blockchain and cryptocurrencies ForkLog.

The alleged reason for the search was a criminal case involving a group of Ukrainian and US nationals who engaged in fraudulent activities with bank cards.

According to Ukrainian security service suspects “exchanged Bitcoin to hryvna (Ukrainian national currency) using online service ‘Forklog’”. Representatives of cryptomedia expressed bewilderment over this statement, noting that neither the main site, nor sites associated with Forklog have ever provided such services and do not even have the required software. Furthermore, none of the suspects were proven to have any connection with Forklog or its founder.

During the search SSU agents confiscated Mr. Kaplan’s notebook, several cold storage devices and other personal belongings. According to Mr. Kaplan one of the agents tried to immediately transfer his Bitcoins to a different address right in the middle of the search. The agent was stopped only when Mr. Kaplan’s lawyer called the police, alleging robbery.

Still, the next day a large sum of ETH was transferred from Mr. Kaplan’s wallet (https://etherscan.io/address/0x34972356af9b8912c1dc2737fd43352a8146d23d) to a newly created one (https://etherscan.io/address/0x5afacaa2c4e41db37dd792d1295226f0749bb784). Mr. Kaplan also reported a failed attempt by an unknown party to withdraw 3,000 hryvna ($110) from his personal bank card.

“I believe that this strange situation perfectly illustrates one of the possible scenarios for the state-cryptocommunity relationship. That is why we decided to make it public. It’s not as much about protecting my personal interests as it is about protecting the interests of the entire community. This sends a warning to everyone who is in any way connected to blockchain technologies. It does not matter if you are a public figure.

Right now we are trying to return what we believe was unlawfully seized from us. We find the attempts to transfer cryptocurrencies to wallets controlled by SSU agents to be an extremely strange practice. Other than ETH, large sums in several other cryptocurrencies were moved to freshly created wallets. As to Bitcoin wallets, the situation is not quite clear yet. During the search my lawyer has detected a score of other procedural violations, including turning off the camera”, – says Anatoly Kaplan.

At the same time Forklog’s Odessa office was also being searched. As a result all available cash, expensive equipment (10 iMacs) and a bottle of Kraken rum were taken by SSU.

Artem Afian, Juscutum lawyer firm’s managing partner, promptly expressed intent to provide Anatoly Kaplan with legal help. Mr. Afian insists that this incident is extremely significant for the cryptocommunity at large.

“Financial regulators might still be on the fence regarding cryptocurrency, not being ready to even legally define it yet. But at the same time Ukrainian law enforcement shows that cryptocurrency is a valuable enough asset to conduct an occasional raid in search for it. Traditionally searches and raids conducted on New Year’s eve are linked to jewelry shop heists. But this year cryptocurrency is trending.

We have no reason to doubt that this search was completely useless in regards to the criminal case in question. By the same logic you could accuse a news channel of gun trafficking on the premise of it running a story about gun trafficking”, – comments Artem Afian

Mr. Afian also highlighted the fact that the search was sanctioned following the investigator’s claim that cryptocurrency was exchanged using Forklog media resource.

“On investigator’s part this is either blatant incompetence or deliberate obfuscation of facts. Such searches were a well-known M.O. of Ukrainian law enforcement before the reform (pre-Euromaidan). Many IT companies have already lived through this nightmare a few years ago even though today Ukraine’s accomplishments in IT sphere are celebrated even on state level.

We expect a prompt and proper reaction from the authorities and swift return of seized iMacs. As to the return of seized cryptocurrency and SSU agents’ legal liability, I can only say that this will be a highly emblematic and evincive case”, – concluded Anatoly Kaplan’s lawyer

The searches season in IT companies offices and personal apartments of the industry’s figureheads started as early as 2015, when more than 2,500 highly qualified professionals were forced to leave the country. One of the most illustrative cases was the search conducted in the apartment belonging to Kuna Bitcoin Agency’s founder Michael Chobanian. The alleged reason for that search was a criminal investigation pertaining to Bitcoin trade information located on Michael’s site.

According to varoius sources, IT sector lost approximately $40 mln due to law enforcement pressure. Damage pertaining to destruction and seizure of expensive equipment amounted to $9 mln.

Due to exponential growth shown by cryptoindustry in 2017, SSU also started targeting mining farms, even though mining is not illegal in Ukraine.

Despite all odds Forklog will continue providing its loyal readers with quality content and latest news from the world of blockchain tech and cryptocurrencies. Stay tuned.

Investor Bill Miller said last week that his MVP1 hedge fund has half of its investments in bitcoin.

As expected Bitcoin went on a bit of a roll up the chart leading up to the launch of CME Group’s futures contracts on Sunday. Being a much larger exchange it was predicted that this would have a bigger effect on the market than last week’s CBOE offerings. The king of crypto inched up to just over $20k just before the trading doors were opened at CME.

According to Coinmarketcap.com BTC reached $20,089 at 12.19 UTC on December 17.  It has since corrected back to around $19,100 where it is currently trading with a 24-hour volume of $13.1 billion. There was a little less volatility and a little smoother ride for CME, their website stayed up for a start. Pricing was another factor that was more streamlined as the contracts are based on prices from four different exchanges unlike CBOE’s which are only based on the one.

CME priced their contracts just 2% off the actual Bitcoin price which made them more efficient and more attractive as investments. CBOE conversely had quite a price disparity of around 13% when their futures were launched last Sunday. According to sources and data from the CME website, more than 200 one month contracts were sold during the first hour of trading. People seemed better prepared this time around and they knew how they were going to hedge their positions.

The value of the contracts also differs with CME’s being five times more since they are based on 5 Bitcoin’s compared to just one at CBOE. Coindesk claims that the contracts are still priced at a premium when looking at the actual price of BTC. They are more secure as traders do not actually own the Bitcoin so are not subject to these wild fluctuations.

Volatility protection is in place with larger exchanges and CME stated they will suspend trading if the contracts rise or fall 7% or 13%, prices won’t be allowed to move more than 20%. Institutional traders will be more attracted to this type of investing, buying and selling off crypto charts is not for the faint-hearted, though ‘hodlers’ can usually handle it.

More recognition for Bitcoin and its brethren will be awarded from the news that major regulated exchanges are getting into the crypto markets. With Nasdaq and Wall Street’s Cantor Fitzgerald looking to launch Bitcoin-based products in 2018 long may the crypto mania continue.

The post CME Futures Rolled Out Smoothly; Bitcoin Remains Bullish appeared first on NEWSBTC.