The general crypto vibe is still bearish. Even if there are announcements supportive of individual cryptos as Bitcoin, we are not seeing any strong movement on the charts. Only lower lows and negative gains across the board is what we see. Despite everything, news of US DoJ and CFTC looking into possible market manipulation is a good thing for investors desirous of smooth volatility.
From the News
Straight from Argentina’s Banco Masventas to Czech Republic’s Prazska Plynarenska, there is a changing tide on the horizon guys! It’s a monitoring tide, that which could lift cryptocurrencies especially Bitcoin hopefully to new levels.
In a bid to remain relevant and not to be perceived as “old” by the young people of Czech Republic, their energy giant distributor Prazska Plynarenska will from June 2018 begin accepting payment in Bitcoin. It came as no surprise though. The country is a host of several Bitcoin ATMs and several eCommerce platforms accept payment in Bitcoin. However, while elaborating, the company was categorically stating that they won’t be holding any Bitcoin themselves. Instead what would happen is that every time a customer settles their electricity bill in Bitcoin, conversion to fiat-national reserve currency Koruna-will be immediate. Moves like these buoy the cryptocurrency market and in the future-and following the lead of Argentina and Japan, more countries would follow suit and legitimize cryptos.
While this was happening, the US DoJ is looking into what appears to be collective pump and dump efforts. For the keen eyed, this is something that is needed and of course, eyes will be popping soon considering the unregulated nature of cryptos. In the crypto world, especially for traders trading against BTC, wild moves are common. As a matter of fact, it’s not a surprise to see Bitcoin prices swinging more than $1,000 within some few minutes. This worries many and now, together with the CFTC, the DoJ are investigating to check the level of this manipulation and fraud they are sure exists in the market. Efforts of spoofing-where unscrupulous traders place and pull different orders simultaneously or wash trading activities will in the coming days attract the keen eyes of the justice department.
Bitcoin Price Analysis
Weekly Chart
If we pull Bitcoin statistics then we see a gloomy situation. Bitcoin prices are down 12 percent in the last seven days but pretty stable in the last 24 hours shedding 3 percent as I type this. It has been mild but what we should be looking at is the close of each candlestick and the extent of losses within that week. Notice that relative to previous bars, last week depreciation was steep and saw Bitcoin prices slicing though $8,000. At this rate, trend traders should be looking for sell opportunities this day now that our close is below our previous support line at $7,800. Because of this predisposition, Bitcoin sell targets should be at February lows at $6,000.
Daily Chart
To get a perspective of possible trend, May 22 and 23 candlesticks should paint a better picture. During these two days, there was a literal doubling of trade volumes with prices sinking below $7,800. After that, the follow through has been fair in volumes but then prices are not recovering safe yesterday’s weak attempts of buy shore.
In my view, taking shorts anywhere between $8,000 and $8,800 would present with better trade opportunities with targets at $6,000. This is only valid if and only if there is a short covering. Accompanying this appreciation would be light and below average volumes.
On the flip side though, if there happens to be sharp spikes in trading volumes and a bullish engulfing edging past May 23 candlestick, then it will be above time to exit shorts and buy.