Day: May 23, 2018

Following bitcoin’s recent losses, a key long-term trend indicator is looking increasingly bearish. Notably, the five-month moving average (MA) has rolled over in favor of the bears and looks set to cut the 10-month MA from above – a bearish crossover that hasn’t been seen since June 2014. If that occurs it could be a […]

Key Points

• Bitcoin price failed to hold the $8,240 support and declined sharply against the US Dollar.
• There is a major bearish trend line formed with resistance at $8,100 on the hourly chart of the BTC/USD pair (data feed from Kraken).
• The pair may well correct higher in the short term towards the $8,100 and $8,160 resistance levels.

Bitcoin price broke key supports near $8,200 against the US Dollar. BTC/USD may continue to face selling interest near $8,100 and $8,200.

Bitcoin Price Analysis

Yesterday, we discussed about a major support near $8,240 in bitcoin price against the US Dollar. The BTC/USD pair failed to hold the stated $8,240 support and even broke the 100 hourly simple moving average. It opened the doors for more losses and the price broke the $8,160 support level. Sellers took control and pushed the price below the $8,000 handle. A low was formed below $7,900 at $7,860 where buyers defended further losses.

At the moment, the price is consolidating above $7,850. An initial resistance is near the 38.2% Fib retracement level of the last drop from the $8,253 high to $7,860 low. Above this, there is a major bearish trend line formed with resistance at $8,100 on the hourly chart of the BTC/USD pair. More importantly, the 50% Fib retracement level of the last drop from the $8,253 high to $7,860 low is at $8,057. Therefore, if the price moves above $8,000, there are many hurdles near $8,100, waiting to cap upsides.

Looking at the chart, the price clearly broke a key support at $8,160, signaling a short-term downtrend. There could be recoveries towards $8,100 and $8,200. However, as long as the price is below $8,200, it is likely to remain under selling pressure.

Looking at the technical indicators:              

Hourly MACD – The MACD for BTC/USD is mostly placed in the bearish zone.

Hourly RSI (Relative Strength Index) – The RSI is moving higher from the oversold levels.

Major Support Level – $7,850

Major Resistance Level – $8,100

The post Bitcoin Price Watch: BTC/USD Breakdown Looks like Real Deal appeared first on NewsBTC.

A small bank from Argentina, Banco Masventas, announced this week that it’s allowing customers to make settlements using BTC as a payment rail. Argentina Banco Masventas says the firm partnered with the exchange Bitex, and believes the service will reduce costs associated with international transfers.

Also Read: Tim Draper Advises Argentina’s President to Invest in Bitcoin

Argentine Bank Provides Customers With a BTC International Settlement Service

On Monday, May 21 the Latin American exchange Bitex and the small financial institution Banco Masventas announced a partnership which will provide the bank with a new cryptocurrency settlement service now offered to its customers. The bank has been a financial entity located in the heart of Argentina for years offering banking solutions to individuals and businesses mainly in the Provinces of Salta. According to Banco Masventas Facebook and Medium announcement, it will be the first bank to offer settlement services using BTC.

“The service allows you to reduce costs associated with international transfers as there are no international banks as intermediaries,” explains the Bitex and Banco Masventas announcement.      

Our fund logistics solution allows reduced settlement times and send or receive transfers up to 24 hours.

Argentina Becomes More Friendly Towards Cryptocurrencies Every Day

If a Banco Masventas customer wants to utilize the BTC settlement service an account representative will help facilitate the transaction explains the bank. The financial institution also details that if an individual is a current account holder it’s likely they already qualify to use the BTC payment service. The bank announcement reveals the international transfer commission for BTC settlement is 3.00% + VAT.

Argentina government officials are very friendly towards public cryptocurrencies like BTC unlike neighboring countries such as Ecuador. Recently the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic (BCRA) allowed the installation of Bitcoin Automatic Teller Machines (BTMs) in the country and residents may see an influx of BTMs this year. Further last December Tim Draper told the Argentine President Mauricio Marci he should invest in cryptocurrencies. Digital asset proponents think the Argentina-based Banco Masventas creating cryptocurrency services will prompt other Latin American banks to follow the company’s lead.

What do you think about Banco Masventas allowing customers to settle in BTC as an alternative to Swift? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments below.

Images via Banco Masventas, and Bitex. 

At news.Bitcoin.com all comments containing links are automatically held up for moderation in the Disqus system. That means an editor has to take a look at the comment to approve it. This is due to the many, repetitive, spam and scam links people post under our articles. We do not censor any comment content based on politics or personal opinions. So, please be patient. Your comment will be published.

The post Bank in Argentina Launches BTC Settlement Services appeared first on Bitcoin News.

A 13-year old boy named Katlego Marite was abducted by kidnappers in eMalahleni, formerly Witbank, South Africa. A note with a Bitcoin (BTC) address was left at the scene specifying that a ransom of BTC 15 should be paid if the parents wanted to see their kid again.

As of this writing, the ransom is worth USD123,000. It appears to be the first known case in South Africa’s history where criminals demanded a ransom to be paid with cryptocurrency.

According to reports, the boy was playing with two friends on Frangipani Street when a gold Toyota Corolla pulled up. A man dressed in black with a green jacket grabbed the boy and drove off, and the boy’s friends ran home and told their mother who called the police.

It is unclear why the boy was specifically targeted. The parents were not even aware of Bitcoin or how to use it, so this kidnapping did not appear to target a stash of Bitcoin.

Bitcoin can provide a degree of anonymity when sending money, which is speculated to be the reason the kidnappers chose the currency. All they had to do was leave their Bitcoin address behind with no other identifying information. This is unlike Western Union, MoneyGram, or banks where identifying information is required to accept payments.

Realistically, Bitcoin and cryptocurrency, in general, are the only private payment methods that can be used to transact from a distance. Except for its physical nature, cash is technically more anonymous than banks and payment providers like Western Union, since a normal cash transaction requires no identifying information.

Follow BitcoinNews.com on Twitter at https://twitter.com/bitcoinnewscom

Telegram Alerts from BitcoinNews.com at https://t.me/bconews

The post Kidnappers Demand Bitcoin Ransom for South African Boy appeared first on BitcoinNews.com.

Binance, the world’s largest digital-asset exchange by traded value, has announced the listing of ZenCash (ZEN) today, only to see the currency’s network overload due to a price pump, which led the operator to postpone the listing until their blockchain is stable. ZEN is currently trading at the $40 area and Binance is about to list the digital currency on its platform.

ZenCash Jumps 50% Ahead of Binance Listing, Operator Postpones

Binance, a cryptocurrency trading platform originally from China that is planning to launch a decentralized exchange in the coming months, was about to list ZenCash (ZEN) at 2018/05/23 05:30 AM (UTC). A subsequent price pump caused high congestion on the network.

During the listing period, which only lasted two hours, ZEN jumped from $33 to the $50 mark, a gain of more than 50%. Most trading volumes happened for ZEN/BTC at Bittrex (over $17 million) and Upbit (over $12 million). Binance was opening trading for ZEN/BNB, ZEN/BTC, and ZEN/ETH pairs and allowed users to start depositing ZEN in preparation for trading.

Two hours later, the company founded in 2017 by Changpeng Zhao announced the postponement of the listing in a statement:

“Due to high congestion on the ZenCash network, Binance will postpone the listing of ZenCash until their blockchain is stable. We will keep ZEN deposits open and provide a further announcement prior to listing. Thank you for your understanding.”

Binance released a new statement announcing it will give it another try at 07:30 AM (UTC).

“As the ZenCash network is now stable, Binance will open trading for ZEN/BNB, ZEN/BTC and ZEN/ETH trading pairs at 2018/05/23 07:30 AM (UTC).”

The fee structure of ZenCash on Binance includes a transaction fee of 0.002 ZEN and a minimum withdrawal of 0.004 ZEN. The minimum amount of trading for ZEN/BTC is 0.000001. As an end-to-end-encrypted system with zero-knowledge technology, ZEN combines the ability for transactions, communication, and competitive governance, in a secure and anonymous way. ZenCash is an evolution of the Zcash codebase.

Trading around $42, ZenCash is now ranking #89 in the top cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, according to coinmarketcap.com, after having its market inflated to $190 million from $135 million in a couple of hours. Prior to the price pump, the digital currency wasn’t even listed on the top 100 coins by market cap.

ZenCash is the biggest winner in the last 24 hours, with close to 40% gains, followed by Bitcoin Private (+7.09%), MaidSafeCoin (+2.41%), and MonaCoin (+2.15%). The overall market is down today. Bitcoin trades below the $8,000 line and is bleeding nearly 5% of its value. Ethereum is losing 8.63% of its price and Ripple is down by 5.81%.

Image from Shutterstock

The post Binance Postpones Listing of ZenCash Following Pump and Dump appeared first on NewsBTC.

Singapore’s central bank is proposing a change to existing exchange market rules aimed to ease blockchain adoption and decentralization.

Key Highlights

• ADA price declined recently and broke a key support at $0.2300 against the US Dollar (tethered).
• There was a break below an important bullish trend line with support at $0.2450 on the hourly chart of the ADA/USD pair (data feed via Bittrex).
• The pair traded towards the $0.2100 level and it seems like it could revisit the $0.2000 zone.

Cardano price tumbled recently against the US Dollar and Bitcoin. ADA/USD could correct higher, but upsides may be capped by the $0.2300 and $0.2400 levels.

Cardano Price Analysis

There was a crucial downside move initiated from the $0.2600 swing high in ADA price against the US Dollar. The price declined and broke many supports such as $0.2500 and $0.2400. More importantly, there was a break below a significant support at $0.2300, opening the doors for more losses. It is now trading well below the $0.2300 level and the 100 hourly simple moving average.

During the decline, there was also a break below an important bullish trend line with support at $0.2450 on the hourly chart of the ADA/USD pair. The pair traded towards $0.2100 and a low was formed at $0.2125. At the moment, the price is consolidating losses above $0.2100. An initial resistance is near the 23.6% Fib retracement level of the last decline from the $0.2383 high to $0.2125 low. Moreover, there is also a bearish trend line with resistance at $0.2280 on the same chart. An intermediate resistance is near the 50% Fib retracement level of the last decline from the $0.2383 high to $0.2125 low.

The chart indicates that if the price corrects higher, it is likely to face sellers near $0.2250 and $0.2300. On the downside, a break below the recent low of $0.2125 may clear the path for a test of $0.2000.

Hourly MACD – The MACD for ADA/USD is currently in the bearish zone.

Hourly RSI – The RSI for ADA/USD is near the oversold levels.

Major Support Level – $0.2125

Major Resistance Level – $0.2300

The post Cardano Price Analysis: ADA/USD Upsides Remain Limited appeared first on NewsBTC.