Day: August 13, 2018

Key Highlights

• Ripple price fell significantly and broke the $0.2800 and $0.2600 supports against the US dollar.
• Yesterday’s highlighted important bearish trend line is intact with resistance near the $0.2950 level on the hourly chart of the XRP/USD pair (data source from Kraken).
• The pair is currently correcting higher, but it could face sellers near $0.2700 and $0.2800.

Ripple price nosedived against the US Dollar and Bitcoin. XRP/USD may perhaps recover a few points, but it is likely to face sellers near $0.2800.

Ripple Price Decline

Yesterday, we discussed that Ripple price could drop towards the $0.2600 level against the US Dollar. The XRP/USD pair failed to move past the $0.2900 and $0.3000 resistance area, which resulted in a bearish wave. The price dropped and not only broke the $0.2600 support, but it also cleared the $0.2500 support. A new monthly low was formed at $0.2471 and the price is currently correcting higher.

It is testing the 23.6% Fib retracement level of the recent drop from the $0.3088 high to $0.2471 low. Above $0.2650, the price may well trade towards the $0.2770 and $0.2800 resistance levels. Moreover, yesterday’s highlighted important bearish trend line is intact with resistance near the $0.2950 level on the hourly chart of the XRP/USD pair. An intermediate hurdle is near the 50% Fib retracement level of the recent drop from the $0.3088 high to $0.2471 low. Therefore, there are many resistances aligned between the $0.2700 and $0.2850 levels. Any recoveries towards the $0.2800 level are likely to face sellers.

Looking at the chart, ripple price is clearly in a downtrend below $0.3000. On the downside, the $0.2500 level is a decent support, below which, the price is likely to test the $0.2400 level in the near term.

Looking at the technical indicators:

Hourly MACD – The MACD for XRP/USD is slowly reducing its bearish slope.

Hourly RSI (Relative Strength Index) – The RSI for XRP/USD is slowly correcting higher from the oversold levels.

Major Support Level – $0.2500

Major Resistance Level – $0.2800

The post Ripple Price Analysis: XRP/USD Nosedives, Recoveries Remain Limited appeared first on NewsBTC.

Key Highlights

• ETH price extended declines and dropped below the $260 support zone against the US Dollar.
• Yesterday’s highlighted crucial bearish trend line is intact with resistance at $305 on the hourly chart of ETH/USD (data feed via Kraken).
• The pair may well correct a few points higher towards $277-280, but it is likely to face sellers.

Ethereum price dropped significantly against the US Dollar and bitcoin. ETH/USD is likely to decline further below $250 in the near term.

Ethereum Price Decline

There was no recovery in ETH price above the $320 level against the US Dollar. The ETH/USD pair faced an increased selling pressure and declined below the $300 and $280 support levels. The decline was such that the price tumbled below the $260 support as well. A new monthly low was formed at $249 and the price is currently consolidating losses.

An initial resistance is the 23.6% Fib retracement level of the last drop from the $322 high to $249 low. However, any major upsides are likely to face a strong barrier near the $277-280 zone. More importantly, yesterday’s highlighted crucial bearish trend line is intact with resistance at $305 on the hourly chart of ETH/USD. An intermediate resistance is the 50% Fib retracement level of the last drop from the $322 high to $249 low is near $286. Therefore, if the price corrects higher, it is likely to face sellers near the $277, $280 and $286 levels.

Looking at the chart, ETH price is under a lot of selling pressure below $285 and the 100 hourly simple moving average. On the downside, the $250 support zone is very important. If it fails to hold losses, the next support is near the $220 level. Below this, the last important support for buyers is at $200 and $205.

Hourly MACD – The MACD is placed heavily in the bearish zone.

Hourly RSI – The RSI is attempting a recovery from the extreme oversold conditions.

Major Support Level – $250

Major Resistance Level – $286

The post Ethereum Price Analysis: ETH/USD Could Drop To $200-220 appeared first on NewsBTC.

The cryptocurrency markets continue to fall despite strong fundamentals, and the market decline has been largely led by tokens.  The continued decline precedes a short lived, yet promising, rally when Bitcoin rose to approximately $8,400 on July 24th before gradually falling to lows of $6,100 on August 10th.

Major Tokens Setting New Yearly Lows

Although Bitcoin has fallen nearly 30% from its monthly highs, altcoins have been especially affected by the market decline. Currencies like EOS and Ethereum have been pushed to yearly lows and haven’t seen the same upside as Bitcoin during short-term rallies.

While Bitcoin’s market cap has decreased from monthly highs of $145 billion on July 24th to its current market cap of $108 billion at the time of writing, Ethereum’s market cap has nearly halved from its monthly highs of nearly $52 billion on July 17th to its current levels of just over $28 billion.  EOS has followed Ethereum’s price action closely, also halving its market cap from just over $8 billion on July 17th to its current levels of just over $4 billion.

Part of the reason for the massive decline in token pricing is increasing Bitcoin dominance, which is pulling investments from altcoins with unproven or presently unutilized products.  It is clear that many cryptocurrency investors view Bitcoin as the sole cryptocurrency with adequately proven utility and endurance, as Bitcoin has been through many crashes since its birth in 2009.

Fundamentals Strong, Other Factors Could Influence Micro-Price Movements

Although the fundamentals for many coins in the markets are incredibly strong, the prices clearly aren’t reflecting these revelations and investors are more concerned with upcoming events that could affect prices.

Fundamentals that will ultimately affect the markets include an increasing amount of options that allow for institutional investments, like Coinbase Custody, Gemini’s custodial options, as well as New York Stock Exchange parent company ICE’s foray into the industry.  Unfortunately for investors, these revelations have not yet led to substantial and sustainable price movements.

Currently, price action indicates that investors, and moreover traders, are more interested in events that could affect the immediate price action of Bitcoin, and that they are mainly looking towards upcoming Securities and Exchange Commission decisions regarding Bitcoin ETF approvals.

The Winklevoss Bitcoin ETF denial caused ripples through the markets, although the resulting decline was short-lived as many anticipated the ETF to be denied due to a variety of factors.  The ETF that most investors are eyeing as a huge factor in upcoming price action is the CBoE VanEck/SolidX ETF which is seen by the majority of investors as the most likely ETF to be approved.

Following the SEC’s decision to delay the CBoE VanEck/SolidX ETF, Bitcoin’s price fell nearly $500 instantly after the news broke.  In addition to Bitcoin’s price falling, the overall cryptocurrency markets fell from daily highs of $257 billion to daily lows of $236 billion.  Investors should be prepared to see both Bitcoin and alt-coins rise or fall tremendously depending on the ETF verdict, which is scheduled for September 30th, 2018.

Featured image from Shutterstock.

The post Crypto Markets Continue to Decline, Tokens Especially Affected by Bear Market appeared first on NewsBTC.

With the opening night of ChainXchange blockchain convention, Las Vegas blockchain week is officially under way. Tonight’s main stage was headlined by World Food Programme CFO Houman Haddad, Wall Street Journal Deputy Editor Sam Walker, and Editor-in-Chief of Wired Magazine, Nicholas Thompson.

The theme of the night, and the convention as a whole, is the idea of the emergence of the fourth industrial revolution, one highlighted by the adoption and integration of blockchain technology, robotics, and artificial intelligence.

Walker kicked off the talks with his speech about leaders and captains- the integral role a paramount leader plays in a dominant team, different leadership styles, and traits that define the ideal leaders. He suggested that, in this impending technological revolution, humility will be a defining trait of the leaders of tomorrow.

Walker was followed by Houman Haddad, who explained his recent initiative in integrating a blockchain-based beneficiary system for refugees to purchase groceries from the camp supermarkets. Prior to blockchain, the World Food Programme had fed refugees by giving them allowances in the form of mobile money, food credits, and sometimes cash to be used at the camp market. However, this system required a lot of sensitive information from the refugee, which, in often cases, either wasn’t accessible or compromised the safety of the individual.

Instead, Haddad introduced a system upon the Ethereum blockchain, where each refugee was granted an Ethereum wallet, linked to their iris. By scanning their iris at checkout, the private keys could be accessed to transfer funds. This eliminated security needs, and provide a far more efficient manner in connecting refugees with funds. Haddad shared that there are over 100,000 refugees using this system, and he expects that number to grow to 500,000 by the end of the year.

Lastly, Nicholas Thompson theorized about the future of technology through different angles, factoring in societal impact alongside revolutionary benefits. Among different possibilities, Thompson spoke in regards to the radicalization of political ideals through technology, and the leverage it gives to emotional candidates. He also talked about the intentions of Instagram to leverage AI to monitor and filter mean comments in hopes to build a nicer internet, and the possibility of conscience and brain power being stored and interacted with after death.

Following the speeches, the three participated in discussion regarding this fourth industrial revolution. Major themes of the conversation included job displacement and even societal change through automation, the implications of quantum computing, and, of course, how blockchain can factor into all of this. When asked about his fears for the immediate future, Thompson responded, “The thing that scares me in tech, more than anything else, is consolidation of power.” He goes on to add, “Blockchain restores power to decentralized alternatives… This is happening, you can’t stop it!”

Prior to the speeches, several startups interacted with attendees at various booths. Among setups included Skycoin and its unique Skyminer and a demonstration of the hot virtual reality game, Beat Saber, which is akin to a virtual reality evolution of Guitar Hero. The demonstration was put on by Reality Smash, who also developed an augmented reality game in which attendees can explore the venue to collect points that can be redeemed for Block Venture (XBV) tokens.

Ripple Price Key Highlights

• Ripple price recently fell through short-term consolidation to test the bottom of its channel.
• Support appears to be holding, so price could be due for a pullback to the descending channel resistance from here.
• The Fib retracement tool shows the potential correction levels where more bears might be waiting.

Ripple price fell to the bottom of its descending channel on the 1-hour chart and might be due for a quick correction.

Technical Indicators Signals

The 100 SMA is below the longer-term 200 SMA to show that the path of least resistance is to the downside. In other words, the downtrend is more likely to resume than to reverse.

RSI is already indicating oversold conditions or that sellers are feeling exhausted. Turning higher could bring more buyers in and allow the correction to unfold. Similarly stochastic appears to be making its way out of the oversold region to signal a pickup in bullish momentum.

Both oscillators have plenty of room to climb, so Ripple might even have a chance at busting through the channel top if buyers persist. Then again, the 100 SMA is just close by and could add another layer of resistance near the swing high.

XRPUSD Chart from TradingView

Market Factors

Ripple drew some support from news that the US District Court of the Northern District of California has ruled to deny a motion to demand against Ripple, its subsidiary, and CEO. This lawsuit was filed by XRP investor Ryan Coffey in a San Francisco court on May 3, 2018, claiming that he lost $551.89 while trading Ripple tokens. The court said:

“The parties candidly admit that their research failed to turn up any case directly addressing this question and the court’s own research fared no better.”

The court decision did add a bit of legitimacy for Ripple as these lawsuits tend to threaten the reputation of altcoins and their founders.

The post Ripple (XRP) Price Watch: Bearish Pullback in the Making appeared first on NewsBTC.

The central bank of Curaçao and Sint Maarten has signed an MOU with blockchain startup Bitt to research the feasibility of issuing its own digital currency

Lightning nodes are making money – albeit not much – displaying the potential for a growing fee market on the layer two tech.