bitcoinDefinition

Bitcoin (BTC) dropped below $9,000 on June 15 as a new week produced fresh selling pressure across macro assets.

Bitcoin price tests $9,000 resilience

Data from Cointelegraph Markets and CoinMarketCap showed BTC/USD entering the $8,000 range in Monday trading — for the first time since May 28.

The latest bearish move follows a difficult week for Bitcoin in which markets almost regained $10,000 before shedding $800 in a matter of hours on Thursday.

After spending the weekend at around $9,400, support gave way once more as the outlook for the week on stock markets looked bleak. 

At press time, BTC/USD traded at around $9,000 amid an attempt to re-establish the level as support. 

Stocks wobble ahead of predicted “crash”

On Sunday, Dow Jones futures alone fell 900 points, with United States markets similarly uncertain prior to opening. 

As Cointelegraph reported, Bitcoin has become increasingly resilient to the impact from stocks gaining or losing dramatically, a process which has become known as “decoupling.”

Nonetheless, hints of correlation remain, with Bitcoin now at its lowest in over two weeks. Last week came a warning that traditional markets were due for a crash-style correction within the next three weeks.

At the same time, Cointelegraph analysts suggested that $10,000 would continue to evade the market for the short term — and perhaps even longer.

The S&P 500 plunged 5.89% on June 11, its fourth-worst fall this year. This brought back memories of the sharp sell-off seen in March when investors dumped most asset classes as the coronavirus pandemic took hold. 

Although gold managed to close in the green on June 11, Bitcoin (BTC) plunged 6.16%. This suggests that investors sought the safety of gold over BTC, the top-ranked cryptocurrency on CoinMarketCap.

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development said in a report that governments should prepare for a possible second wave of coronavirus cases. The OECD heavily emphasized the continuance of ultra-accommodative monetary policies and higher public debt until inflation and economic activity picks up and unemployment levels fall.

During the current crisis, the U.S. debt has crossed the $26 trillion mark. As the central banks balance sheets continue to balloon, several institutional investors may consider investing in higher risk assets like Bitcoin to hedge their portfolio against future currency crises. 

If the second wave of coronavirus is as bad as medical experts predict, the short-term panic selling in cryptocurrencies cannot be ruled out but lower levels are likely to witness strong buying by long-term investors. 

BTC/USD

Bitcoin (BTC) broke above the resistance line of the symmetrical triangle and reached the five-figure mark on June 10. However, $10,000 again proved a stiff hurdle to cross as the price turned down sharply on June 11.

This suggests that the bears are aggressively defending the overhead resistance zone between $10,000 and $10,500.

The bulls held the 50-day simple moving average ($9,177) on June 11 and managed to keep the BTC/USD pair inside the triangle. However, buyers are struggling to push the price above the 20-day exponential moving average ($9,529). 

If the pair turns down from the 20-day EMA and breaks below $9,078.96, a decline to $8,130.58 is possible. If this level cracks then the pair could start a new downtrend.

On the other hand, if the bulls can scale the price above the 20-day EMA, another attempt to climb the $10,000–$10,500 zone is likely. If successful, the pair is likely to pick up momentum and start the next leg of the sustained uptrend.

ETH/USD

Ether (ETH) broke above the $247.827 resistance on June 10 and 11 but failed to sustain it. This attracted profit booking that dragged the price back below the support line of the ascending channel on June 11.

The bulls again purchased the drop to the uptrend line, which makes this an important support to watch closely. 

Currently, the bulls are attempting to push the second-ranked cryptocurrency on CoinMarketCap back into the ascending channel. If successful, a rally to $253.556 is possible.

Conversely, if the ETH/USD pair plunges below the uptrend line it will signal a possible change in trend. 

XRP/USD

The sharp drop in XRP was arrested at the support line of the symmetrical triangle on June 10. This is a positive sign as it shows that the bulls are defending this support aggressively. They will now attempt to push the price back to the downtrend line of the triangle. 

A breakout of the downtrend line will be a positive sign and it could offer a buying opportunity to the traders.

Above the triangle, the third-ranked cryptocurrency on CoinMarketCap can rally to $0.235688 and then to the pattern target at $0.2707. 

However, if the XRP/USD pair fails to sustain the rebound, the bears will try to sink the price below the triangle. If successful, a drop to $0.16 and then to $0.14 is likely. 

BCH/USD

Bitcoin Cash (BCH) broke above $255.46 on June 10 but could not scale above the $260 level. This resulted in profit booking by short-term traders and the price plunged back below the moving averages.

akeshi Fujimaki, a former adviser to George Soros, has said that Paul Tudor Jones is attempting to capture the big trend. According to Fujimaki, Jones’ recent investment into Bitcoin (BTC) indicates that he is concerned about inflation and believes that cryptocurrencies could benefit in such an environment.

Following the recent growth and popularity of Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust security in the past few months, investment firm Wilshire Phoenix has filed an application with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to launch a publicly traded Bitcoin fund. If the fund gets the green signal it is likely to attract institutional investors.

Crypto market data daily view. Source: Coin360

For the past few weeks the top-ranked cryptocurrency on CoinMarketCap has been struggling to break out of the $10,000–$10,500 resistance zone. This can attract profit booking by short-term bulls and shorting by aggressive bears. If BTC weakens further it is likely to have a knock on effect on altcoins but this could also bring about some lucrative investment opportunities. Let’s look at a few cryptocurrencies that may offer trading opportunities to bulls and bears.

BTC/USD

Bitcoin (BTC) is witnessing a tussle between the bulls and the bears. The bulls are attempting to scale the price above the $10,000–$10,500 overhead resistance zone in order to resume the up move. On the other hand, the bears are trying to form a short-term top at the $10,000 levels.

BTC/USD daily chart. Source: Tradingview

The BTC/USD pair turned down from the critical level of $10,000 on June 10 and slumped to the 50-day simple moving average ($9,254) on June 11. Hence, traders should watch these two levels carefully because the next trending move is likely to start after the price breaks out of either level.

If the pair rises above the 10-day exponential moving average ($9,548), the bulls will try to carry the price to $10,000 levels. A breakout of the $10,000–$10,500 zone will signal the possible start of a sustainable uptrend.

Conversely, if the bears sink and sustain the price below the 50-day SMA a deeper correction to $8,638.70 and then to $8,130.58 is likely. A break below this support could attract further selling and result in a downtrend.

Currently, as the 50-day SMA is still sloping up, the intermediate trend favors the bulls while the short-term trend has turned indecisive as seen from the up and down movement of the 10-day EMA.

BTC/USD 4-hour chart. Source: Tradingview

The bulls purchased the dip below the trendline (shown via ellipse on the chart) but they are finding it difficult to sustain the rebound. This suggests selling on any pullback by the bears.

In the short-term, the downtrend line is acting as a resistance. If the pair breaks above the downtrend line, the bulls might make one more attempt to carry the price to $10,058.52. This move could present a trading opportunity to the aggressive traders.

Conversely, if the price turns down and breaks down of the trendline, it will signal an advantage to the bears. If the price sustains below the trendline the bears will make another attempt to sink the pair below $9,078.96. If this is successful then a new downtrend is possible.

XTZ/USD

Tezos (XTZ) had been trading in an ascending channel for the past few weeks. However, on June 11, the altcoin plunged below the channel, which is a huge negative. The large red candle shows that bears were in command.

XTZ/USD daily chart. Source: Tradingview

With this breakdown, the 11th-ranked cryptocurrency on CoinMarketCap also slipped below the 50-day SMA ($2.75). Both moving averages are on the verge of a bearish crossover and the RSI is in the negative territory, which suggests that bears have the upper hand.

If bears sink the price below the $2.5202 intraday low formed on June 11, a downtrend is likely to begin. The next support on the downside is $2.24, which was the intraday low made on May 10.

This bearish view will be invalidated if the bulls reverse direction and push the price back above the downtrend line. In such a case, the trend might turn range-bound in the near-term.

XTZ/USD 4-hour chart. Source: Tradingview

The four-hour chart shows that the selling picked up momentum after the price slipped below the channel and further intensified on a break below the horizontal support at $2.8085.

On the pullback from the lows, the bears aggressively defended the 10-EMA, which is another bearish sign. If the bears can sink the price below $2.5202, the XTZ/USD pair is likely to pick up momentum on the downside. This could offer a shorting opportunity to aggressive traders.

However, if the bulls defend the $2.589–$2.5202 zone aggressively, the pair might rise to $2.70 and then to $2.7568 and remain range-bound for a few days. The bearish view will be invalidated if the bulls propel the price above the downtrend line.

A report published by blockchain and AI investment firm Outlier Ventures has found a decline in developer activity of roughly 20% on average across 12 leading blockchain and cryptocurrency projects.

In Outlier Ventures’ Blockchain Developer Report for the second quarter of 2020, the firm notes that development fell by half for top markets Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Eos (EOS), and Tron Tron (TRX).

Despite the retraction in building, the firm notes that some signs of strong developer activity surrounding various crypto projects, with Theta (THETA) and Cardano (ADA) seeing increases in core code updates of 931% and 580% respectively.

Top crypto projects see slides in development

Eos saw the fastest drop in development, with the project’s mainnet launch in June year precipitating an 86% fall in building taking place.

Bitcoin Cash saw the second-largest decline in activity, with development falling by 63%. Outlier Ventures attributes much of the drop to the Bitcoin SV (BSV) fork that took place in November 20.

Cardano, Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Corda all saw activity fall by nearly 20%, while Ripple (XRP), Hyperledger, and Stellar (XLM) also saw development declines year-over-year.

Polkadot and Cosmos (ATOM) were the only projects to exhibit an increase in total development, increasing by 15% and 44% respectively.

Code update on the rise for most cryptos

The report also measured the number of weekly commits and c

ode updates for the top 30 open-source protocols by market cap, plus Corda and Hyperledger.

Weekly code updates for Eos, Tron, and MakerDAO (MKR) saw huge update decreases of 94%, 96%, and 98% respectively, with VeChain (VET), Stellar, BSV, Neo (NEO), Crypto.com (CRO), Cosmos, IOTA (MIOTA), and Polkadot also posting declines overall.

However, more than 50% of the projects examined saw a significant increase in code updates, including Ethereum Classic (ETC), Chainlink (LINK), and Bitcoin.

A new website seeking to compile an active list of every cryptocurrency exchange that welcomes traders in some capacity without forcing them to hand over personal information through know-your-customer, or KYC, verification.

Kycnot.me is only concerned with exchanges that support Bitcoin (BTC) or Monero (XMR), asserting that BTC is the largest crypto asset with the most adoption and XMR offers the strongest privacy protections.

Website tracks KYC-free crypto exchanges

The website currently lists 14 KYC-free trading platforms, many of which offer a peer-to-peer marketplace for crypto assets. 

However, the site has listed warnings concerning more than half of the exchanges mentioned — including noting tight restrictions on verification-free use, withdrawal quirks, and requests for certain identity information despite the absence of KYC requirements.

Surprisingly, the list does not include the popular exchanges Binance, KuCoin, or BitMEX.

KYC incompatible with ethos of crypto

According to a manifesto posted by the website’s owner to Github, Kycnot.me details its mission to “preserve the decentralized and self-governed essence of cryptocurrencies” by “mak[ing] it easier for people to find trustworthy ways to buy, exchange, trade and use cryptos without needing to identify themselves.”

The post asserts that cryptocurrencies were created “to untie the dependency between the users [.] and the centralized entities that are in control [.] of our economy,” adding that many “KYC and AML exchanges have grown to “act exactly like a bank.”

Kycnot.me invites suggestions and recommendations from community members

Bitcoin has spent the last week bashing away at that $10,000 ceiling without quite managing to break through—even as it gained more than 1.5 percent over the last seven days. Analysts have put the failure to rise into five figures down to three factors: a meeting of the Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee which suggested that the jobs market has hit bottom; the liquidation of $14 million worth of short contracts; and an ongoing market reluctance to accept a $10,000-plus price.

As the coin continues to tickle the $10,000 mark though one whale has decided to move more than 132,000 bitcoins. That’s about $1.3 billion. The move came in three transactions a minute apart. The identity of the whale remains a mystery but it’s likely to be an exchange or a custodial service. 

Despite Bitcoin’s struggles against the ceiling, it’s still doing very nicely, thank you. New data shows that the coin has outperformed other markets this year, while statistician Willy Woo has crunched some numbers and found that a $1 investment in Bitcoin in 2009 would buy a luxury yacht today. The same investment in gold would have produced enough profit to buy a chocolate bar. So it’s bad luck if you invested in BTC instead of gold eleven years ago. You missed out on candy.

In other news, a 20-year-old in California has been charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Richard Yuan Li has been accused of targeting 20 people in SIM-swap attacks and attempting to extort a New Orleans-based doctor and cryptocurrency investor. 

Li won’t be appearing in Blockchain Heroes, a new digital trading card series now in development by Joel Comm and Travis Wright, hosts of the Bad Crypto Podcast. The non-fungible tokens will present 50 blockchain personalities as superheroes. Comm and Wright aren’t revealing their identities but they’ll include Lady Lightning, Captain Currency, and Data Avenger.

Some cryptocurrency traders in China could do with a superhero right now. Local law enforcement has frozen the bank accounts of 4,000 traders in a crackdown on money laundering. Innocent traders can ask nicely for their accounts to be restored.

Germany is doing better. The Deutsche Borse Exchange will list a Bitcoin-backed security later this month. The exchange-traded product comes from investment firm ETC Group and will list on the Xetra market. 

And if the thought of a Bitcoin-backed ETC whets your appetite then you can slake your thirst with some Coca Cola—at least in Australia and New Zealand. More than 2,000 vending machines there now accept Bitcoin—but only Bitcoin, although there are plans to expand into other coins. That’s just as well because Prysmatic Labs is moving ahead with the launch of a new test network for Ethereum 2.0.

And finally, after getting walk-on parts in The Social Network, the Winklevoss twins are finally getting a movie of their own. Bitcoin Billionaires will explain how they turned their $65 million lawsuit settlement with Mark Zuckerberg into a billion-dollar crypto-fortune. And Bitcoin can’t even bust $10,000