Tag: bitcoin

Italy’s Economic Pain Is the Bitcoin Price’s Gain

Italy's Economic Pain Is the Bitcoin Price's Gain

Italy’s Economic Pain Is the Bitcoin Price’s Gain

 

Perhaps it took an economic crisis of another kind to lift the cryptocurrency markets. Italy’s economy is reeling amid a political crisis that has placed a spotlight on the cracks in the EU’s economic foundation.
 

Bitcoin Price Trends up as Italy’s Economy Falters

Italian bonds are going bust, and the negativity has spilled over into stocks as well. But as the global financial markets are reeling, bitcoin is finally beginning to see the light of day again, and it could just have something to do with the fact that a potential threat to the euro highlights the benefits of a decentralized currency like bitcoin.

 

The bitcoin price is currently trading above the $7,400 threshold after falling to a May low earlier in the day.

Reason to Rally

The cryptocurrency markets have been searching for a reason to rally, and many of us have been looking to the centralized governments of the world to provide that catalyst.
 

Meanwhile, the mechanics of the cryptocurrency markets are working just fine, and have pulled off a rally — albeit on modest trading volume — on a development that highlights the very strengths of a decentralized world. Bitcoin and its altcoin peers have proven once again the power of a digital currency that is not controlled by the central bank but instead the masses.
 

The crisis in Italy has placed a great deal of pressure on the euro, sending Europe’s common currency to its lowest levels against the USD in months. Italian bonds have similarly sold off amid the possibility of Europe’s third-largest economy staging a Brexit of its own. A decentralized currency like bitcoin becomes even more attractive when the common currency of Europe becomes unstable.
 

Fundstrat’s Thomas Lee cheered the crypto market’s response, telling Business Insider:
 

“To an extent, I think its good to see Bitcoin rallying with Gold, as the adverse developments in Italy and globally are pushing investors to risk-off. It’s good to see Bitcoin as an uncorrelated trade on a risk off day.”

 

Take the Latin American economy of Venezuela as an example. While the economic conditions in Venezuela are specific to the region, comprised of hyperinflation, food crisis and a broke government, the end result is a currency whose value has been destroyed. As a result, Venezuela’s currency was being exchanged for bitcoin at a record pace in mid-April, when more than $1 million in “bolivar-to-bitcoin” conversions occurred in a single day.
 

Italy’s fate in the EU has yet to unfold, and a snap election appears to be taking shape for the coming months there. In the meantime, it’s not just bitcoin that’s benefitting. Other leading digital currencies including ethereum, ripple, bitcoin cash and litecoin were all trading between 2%-4% higher while cardano soared nearly 10%.
 

AUTHOR Gerelyn Terzo CNN

Alan Zibluk Markethive Founding Member

A New Twist On Lightning Tech Could Be Coming Soon to Bitcoin

A New Twist On Lightning Tech Could Be Coming Soon to Bitcoin

Bitcoin's lightning network may be just starting to send transactions over the blockchain, but already its developers are looking to rearchitect the technology.
 

That's because, while touted as a way to significantly boost bitcoin's capacity, the network itself does require users to store a significant amount of data, which makes it difficult to download and run. As such, several lightning developers — Lightning Labs co-founder 'Laolu' Osuntokun and Blockstream's Christian Decker and Rusty Russell — have published a new proposal which imagines an alternative, "simplified" way of making off-chain transactions called eltoo.
 

But the new proposal isn't only about condensing the amount of data users need to store, it's also about keeping users' cryptocurrency safe.

 

For instance, all this data poses another problem in that if users accidentally broadcast older data, they might lose money. As such, this data has been coined "toxic information."
 

Eltoo, on the other hand, only stores the most recent off-chain transaction data, solving the well-known "information asymmetry" problem — that is if something happens to the device you're running your lightning app on — say your smartphone — you might lose access to the whole history of data.
 

"With eltoo, we reduce the risk of funds being swept away. We remove this toxic information," said Decker, who noted that the proposal's name is a joke of sorts — the phonetic spelling of "L2," which stands for layer-two, what many people call technology like lightning that pushes transactions off-chain.
 

And this is something Decker is very interested in since he's experienced the problem personally.
 

"This actually happened to me," he said, adding:
 

"I had an old lightning node on my laptop. I restored it. I didn't know I didn't have the newest state. The guy closed the connection because they knew it was an old state! Because he could steal it. Which he did, by the way."
 

All about revoking

Developers have long been trying to come up with a way for users to make a bunch of transactions using bitcoin, without bloating the blockchain with unnecessary data.
 

That's really what most of the scaling debates are all about.

 

But the first attempt to do this was way at the beginning of bitcoin's history when off-chain transaction capabilities were experimented with using so-called "sequence numbers" to keep track of which off-chain transaction is the most recent.
 

The idea was simple — if Alice has $10 and sends a $1 transaction to Bob, obviously her balance dwindles to $9.00. This then gets a sequence number "1." If later, she sends Bob $4, her balance is now $5, and this most recent transaction gets a sequence number "2."
 

But according to Decker, the mechanism "didn't work out," because miners didn't have any reason to enforce the rules and replace old transactions with the more recent ones.
 

Miners could just broadcast the one transaction where Alice's balance drops to $9 (even though she had made another transaction that dropped her balance to $5). While it's unclear why a miner might want or decide to not revoke a transaction for another one, they could decide to do so since there was no enforceability.
 

In this way, revoking old transactions in crucial otherwise Bob might not get the second transaction and Alice could run away with the money.
 

This "lack of enforceability" is a problem that wasn't solved until 2015.

 

And the lightning network is the best-known solution to this problem so far. Today, revoking old state is accomplished with the "L2-penalty" model — whereby a lightning wallet or node stores all of these intermediary states, then, if someone tries to broadcast an earlier, now-invalid state, this is detected and the cheating user is punished by losing money.

 

Eltoo and L2

But, three years on, the researchers are, in fact, going back to the idea of using sequence numbers to revoke old transactions.
 

Unlike bitcoin's old code, which didn't have an enforcement mechanism for these sequences, eltoo adds a procedure that makes every state update prescribed. Every state update — Alice sending Bob money, for instance — is composed of two transactions, each of which both parties store and which totally replace the prior update transaction.
 

"Only the last settlement transaction can ever be confirmed on the blockchain," the introductory blog post explains.
 

The tangential advantage of this system is that it increases lightning's scalability. With eltoo, each lightning node doesn't need to store all the intermediary states, rather, it stores only the most recent version and some information about the transaction itself, such as it's corresponding settlement transaction and potentially the HTLCs that spend from that settlement, the post notes.

What's perhaps the most beneficial part of the proposal, though, is that it isn't built on a "winner takes all" model.
 

Instead, eltoo and older L2 penalty schemes can be used side-by-side.

 

"Eltoo has quite different tradeoffs. I'm not implying it's better in all senses," Decker told CoinDesk, pointing to some arguments on the bitcoin developer mailing list about the technology increasing waiting times for transactions to be settled.
 

Still, overall, he's pretty excited about eltoo and the simplicity it brings, adding:

 

"We don't know which one is nicer, but I would like eltoo as the better option. I think eltoo is easier to explain and to extend later on."

 

Code obstacle

Not only are developers still discussing the proposal's merits, but there's another thing standing in the technology's way — "sighash_noinput."

 

This long-anticipated code option needs to be added to the bitcoin codebase for the cryptocurrency to be able to support eltoo (at least in an efficient form).
 

To understand why, it's important to know what the basic sighash function does. It works as a flag of sorts that specifies what part of the transaction data needs to be signed when it's transferred over to someone else. Users can choose from a range of options — for instance, the default flag, sighash_all, indicates that all parts of the transaction need to be signed, meaning that none of these parts can be changed throughout the process.
 

The proposed "sighash_noinput" function could flag that the "input" data going into a transaction doesn't need to be signed. And in turn, that the input data can change over time, from when the transaction was created to when it's written to the blockchain.
 

And this is exactly what eltoo needs, since the concept is that all the state in between the beginning and final transaction will be deleted, meaning the input will be different from the start and the end.
 

When asked whether he thinks the sighash_noinput proposal will get merged into the bitcoin codebase, Decker laughed and said, "Ever since SegWit, I stopped making these predictions."
 

He's pointing to the fact that Segregated Witness (SegWit) had broad support from the bulk of bitcoin's most active developers, but ended up stirring up a years-long battle within the community. The code change was only added to bitcoin last August, even though it was proposed more than two years prior.
 

Still, even though it's early, the sighash_noinput function is a relatively easy change to make to bitcoin's codebase, Decker said.
 

Plus, it's been theorized for some time that the change would have many positive implications for developers, he continued. Because of these potential benefits, a handful of Twitter users have begun adding the code change to their profiles to express their support, much like Twitter users did during the scaling debate (with #No2X becoming popular among those who were opposed to the Segwit2x initiative).
 

Remaining hopeful, Decker concluded:
 

"Every day new use cases join the sighash_noinput front."

 

Author Alyssa Hertig May 29, 2018 at 04:00 UTC

Posted by David Ogden Entrepreneur

Alan Zibluk Markethive Founding Member

Bitcoin and Ethereum Price Forecast – BTC Prices Crash Through Support

Bitcoin and Ethereum Price Forecast – BTC Prices Crash Through Support

Bitcoin and Ethereum Price Forecast — BTC Prices Crash Through Support

The BTC prices have fallen hard over the last few hours and the prices now trade below the $7500 region as of this writing. We had mentioned yesterday that the support region around $7800 was under severe pressure and if and when there is a break through this region, we should see the bears back in control and that’s what we are seeing now. There are no specific reasons for the fall in prices, as the BTC prices lack fundamentals but we could say that the general risk off sentiment that is seen in the markets could also be one of the reasons.

Prices Below $7800

The lack of fundamentals is also telling and the lack of momentum from the bulls could also be attributed to this fall. The prices have been trading near the support region for far too long and the investors and the traders, who are weak holders, have got tired of this loss of momentum and they were looking for the first opportunity to exit the market and once they saw that the prices began to fall slightly, they have taken the opportunity to sell off and push the prices even lower. Now, we are probably looking even further below for support which could once again come in the $6600 region but if and when the prices get there, we could be seeing some serious panic in the markets.

 

The ETH prices have also crashed lower and the prices are now trading below the $600 region as of this writing. Just as how the move higher in the prices was strong, we are seeing the move lower also being quite strong and this has led the markets to be under a lot of pressure of late. We believe that the market is likely to find some support in the $580 region but we have to see whether that would be enough to hold off the selling that we are seeing.

 

Forecast

Looking ahead to the rest of the day, we could see the selling continue for the short term though some decent supports are nearby in both the BTC and ETH markets. We would wait to see a turnaround in the risk sentiment and if and when that happens, we could see the prices move up higher.

 

Author Colin First

 

Alan Zibluk Markethive Founding Member

Bitcoin (BTC) Price Analysis: Heading For $7,000?

Bitcoin (BTC) Price Analysis - Heading For $7,000?

Bitcoin (BTC) Price Analysis: Heading For $7,000?

Bitcoin continues to slide and may be setting its sights on new last month's lows.

Bitcoin has formed higher lows and lower highs on its 4-hour time frame to create a symmetrical triangle. Price is on its way to the bottom around the $7,000 level.

The 100 SMA has crossed below the longer-term 200 SMA to signal that the path of least resistance is to the downside. In other words, the selloff could continue from here and support might even break. Note that the chart pattern spans $6,000 to $12,000 so the resulting downtrend could be of the same height.

RSI is on the move down so bitcoin could follow suit while sellers have the upper hand. Stochastic is also moving down to signal that bearish pressure is in play. If support holds, though, bitcoin could make another move to the top at $9,000 or even attempt to break higher.

Investor sentiment appears to have turned sour as bitcoin has been unable to break out of its slump, drawing even more selling pressure. Traders could keep holding out for positive industry updates before reviving their long positions.

Meanwhile, the dollar has been on a tear for the most part of the week, drawing strength from both fundamentals and risk sentiment. Geopolitical risk has supported the flight to safety while a few upside data points have supported tightening expectations and US bond yields, making the dollar the preferred safe-haven currency.

For now, it looks like bitcoin is still reeling from the selling of Mt. Gox units and the ongoing investigation into South Korea’s UPbit. This has revived regulatory concerns and once again put the trust of bitcoin exchanges to question.

Looking ahead, this slump could go on until there’s another set of developments in the industry. For now, the focus seems to be on institutional investors looking to trade products based on digital assets as firms and exchanges prepare to include these in their offerings.

 

By Rachel Lee On May 18, 2018

posted by David Ogden Entrepreneur

Alan Zibluk Markethive Founding Member

Bitcoin price CRASH — Cryptocurrency price falls to almost $8,000 after turbulent 24 hours

Bitcoin price CRASH - Cryptocurrency price falls to almost $8,000 after turbulent 24 hours

Bitcoin price CRASH — Cryptocurrency price falls to almost $8,000 after turbulent 24 hours

BITCOIN has dramatically crashed to almost $8,000 in a major drop as it loses almost three per cent of its value in 24 hours, after a shocking 6 per cent decrease the day before.

After falling below $9,000 less than a week ago, Bitcoin is now trading at $8,288.

Despite the fall, Bitcoin has actually made three per cent gains over the last 30 days.

Price trends aren’t looking good for other online currencies either.

Crypto markets have struggled in the last 24 hours.

Almost all of the top 100 listed currencies are currently experiencing drops in value.

Etheream has dropped below $700, making a fall of more than two per cent in 24 hours.

The entire crypto market has lot almost $100 billion over the last ten days.

Despite the falling markets, BitMex CEO, Arthur Hayes, predicted that Bitcoin will be at “$50,000 by the end of the year”.

The former Citigroup trader told CNBC: “It’s my job to make predictions — whether or not they are right or wrong — it doesn’t really matter to me”.

He continued: “I’m a volatility trader at the end of the day.

“We make our money if its volatile.

“If it goes up, if it goes down, if you have Bill Gates calling it a fraud, great. Short it. I don’t care.

Or if you think it is going to be a million dollars in a few months, great, buy it.

“We just match trades.”

Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin are highly volatile and are subject to sudden extreme price changes.

 

Author CAITLIN DOHERTY UPDATED: 04:55, Thu, May 17, 2018

 

Published by David Ogden Entrepreneur

Alan Zibluk Markethive Founding Member

Crypto Watch -Price Drops for Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin

Crypto Watch -Price Drops for Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin

Crypto Watch -Price Drops for Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin
 

Following a rough and tumble week where most major cryptocurrencies and altcoins were trapped in the red, brief signs of recovery on Monday have reversed as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Ripple continue to drop in price. Recent activity on the United States’ east coast also shows that hype surrounding digital currency and blockchain technology hasn’t died down, despite price dips and market volatility.

Bitcoin (BTC)

The father of cryptocurrencies is swiftly rising through the ranks and sits at $8,200 at press time. In just the last four days, the currency has spiked tremendously following a huge Thursday drop to $8,250 — the lowest it’s been since early April — from last weekend’s trading high of $9,800.

Bitcoin is down 5.77% over the past 24 hours.

One of the reasons for Monday’s spike may be the Coindesk Consensus Conference, which is a three-day event that began in New York on the morning of Monday, May 14. The event’s organizers expect to see over 8,500 visitors and are selling tickets for over $2,000 each. Overall, organizers are expecting revenue of roughly $17 million this year from ticket sales alone.
 

“It’s a bit chaotic here,” said Ronnie Moas, Conference attendee and head of the independent market research firm Standpoint Research. “I think they sold too many tickets.”

Reports have emerged that the line for entry saw attendees occupying both the lobby and second floor of the hotel where the Conference was taking place.

 

“I’ve never seen anything like this for registration,” says Jeff Denton, senior director of global secure supply chain at AmerisourceBergen in Philadelphia. Denton says he waited for over an hour to gain entry to the event. “It’s expensive, but it’s the largest conference in the U.S., so hopefully that brings the value for the cost.”

 

Ethereum (ETH)

Since our last price piece, ETH has experienced a price dip and is now trading for $686.90 — about the same from where it previously stood.

Ethereum is down 5.77% over the past 24 hours.

The Ethereum Ethereal Summit took place on May 11 and 12 as part of the state’s ongoing “Blockchain Week.” The two-day event saw several speakers, business owners and blockchain experts joining together to offer attendees information regarding the powers behind the blockchain and how it can assist in the decentralization of modern society.
 

The high attendance marks for both the Consensus and Ethereum events suggest that investor interest in cryptocurrency remains high despite ongoing volatility.
 

Ripple (XRP)

At press time, XRP is trading for 67 cents. This is about two cents lower than where the currency sat during our last price discussion.

Ripple is down 8.46% over the past 24 hours.

For the most part, big things appear to be happening for Ripple. The company recently announced its new “Xpring” initiative, in which executives are targeting entrepreneurs and startup ventures to build partnerships and expand the XRP ecosystem.
 

According to TechCrunch, the project will be a mixture of “investments, grants and incubation to lure companies and expand the use of XRP whilst allowing Ripple to focus on its financial services business.”
 

Bitcoin Cash (BCH)

Bitcoin Cash has witnessed a solid drop in its price since our last article. Previously trading at just over $1,400, the currency is now trading for about $1,253.86.

700

Bitcoin Cash is down 11.78% over the past 24 hours.

On Monday, the Winklevoss Twins announced they were adding Bitcoin Cash to their New York-based cryptocurrency platform Gemini Exchange.

 

While trading details (i.e. when the currency will be officially added) have not yet been released, the company has also stated that it will enable Zcash deposits beginning on May 19, making Gemini the first official Zcash trading platform in the U.S.
 

Litecoin (LTC)

Litecoin is trading for about $136. This marks a four-dollar decrease since our previous price piece.

Litecoin is down 6.51% over the past 24 hours

Litecoin will be joining Bitcoin Cash on the Gemini Exchange, and while details are scarce for now, the news may have instigated the currency’s

 

temporary rise beyond the $145 mark. CryptoSlate will bring you more on this story as it develops.

Market Summary

The total cryptocurrency market cap sits at $374 billion, roughly $12 billion lower than where it stood during our previous article.
 

While the market is showing signs of recovery, investors are warned that the volatility of the industry remains serious and that cryptocurrency figures are never “set in stone.” Thus, they should always remain cautious during trades, and only invest what they can afford to part with.
 

Author Nick Marinoff

Posted by David Ogden Entrepreneur

 

Alan Zibluk Markethive Founding Member

Bitcoin price analysis: BTC/USD goes below $8,400 again, will Consensus bring relief?

Bitcoin price analysis: BTC/USD goes below $8,400 again, will Consensus bring relief?
 

  • BTC reversed weekend gains, lost 4.5% since the beginning of the day.

  • Fundstrat experts expect that Consensus conference will reverse the trend.

Bitcoin is back below $8,400 again. A recovery attempted on weekend, failed to get the digital currency No.1 above $9,000 threshold. BTC/USD is trading at $8,346 at the time of writing, off the Asian high of $8,712. The coin has lost 4.5% since the start of the day and reversed all Sunday and Saturday gains.
 

Meanwhile, crypto enthusiasts are flocking to New York for one of the largest crypto event of the year — CoinDesk's Consensus conference. Fundstrat's managing director and technical strategist Robert Sluymer expect that the event will serve as a good bullish trigger for Bitcoin and other coins, dispelling pessimism about regulatory risks.

"The regulatory risk, the fundamental risk around what's happening with cryptos has hit a bottom and now we're in a state of general recovery," he said on CNBC's "Fast Money" Thursday.

He explained that Bitcoin increased each year after Consensus, though it remains to be seen if the market follows the tradition this year.
 

Bitcoin's technical picture

On the longer-term scale, Bitcoin is jammed between 100-DMA and 50-DMA ($8,826 and $8,263 respectively). A sustainable break in either direction will trigger a strong movement with the next upside target seen at psychological $9,000 and support at $8,000. Both levels are critical for Bitcoin, as move below $8,000 will signal that a recovery from April's low at $6,400 is over.

BTC/USD, the daily chart

 

Author  Tanya Abrosimova FXStreet

 

Posted by David Ogden Entrepreneur

Alan Zibluk Markethive Founding Member

Bitcoin runs into selling pressure for the week

Bitcoin runs into selling pressure for the week

Bitcoin tried to reach above the resistance barrier, but of course has failed again. It looks as if the crypto currency markets are going to struggle, and we are starting to get very negative technical signals in this market. I think that the next move seems to be lower.

BTC/USD

Bitcoin fell against the US dollar during the week, slicing through the $9000 level, an area that I thought was a bit of a barrier or “zone” that extended down to the $8800 level. Now that we are below there, I think the market unwinds, with an initial target of $8000, perhaps followed by $6000. When you look at the chart, you can see that the highs in this market continue to go lower, and I think that $10,000 has just proven itself to be an even more significant barrier than originally thought. Because of this, it’s obvious that we will continue to struggle in that general vicinity.

BTC/JPY

Bitcoin has also fallen against the Japanese yen, well below the ¥1 million level. I think that the market is going to test the ¥900,000 level, and then possibly even as low as the ¥700,000 level as it is the bottom of the overall consolidation. Whether we break down below there, I don’t know yet, but I do know that it certainly makes a nice target. I believe that the markets continue to punish Bitcoin, with the ¥700,000 level being massive support. If we were to break down below that level, things could get ugly, especially if we break through the “zone” that extends down to the 600,000 level. In fact, if we break down below there I think we are looking at a multi-year bear market. The alternate scenario is that we turn around and break above the ¥1.1 million level, but that doesn’t look likely right now.


 

Author Christopher Lewis

 

Posted by David Ogden Entrepreneur

Alan Zibluk Markethive Founding Member

Bitcoin set to be SURPASSED in the crypto realm? Expert predicts SHOCKING future for BTC

Bitcoin set to be SURPASSED in the crypto realm? Expert predicts SHOCKING future for BTC

BITCOIN will be surpassed in the cryptocurrency realm by the end of 2018 according to an expert that predicted a shocking future for the virtual money during a period of BTC market gains.

Roger Ver, made the unprecedented announcement that he believes other cryptocurrencies will exceed Bitcoin in value.

He stated: “I see it happening, and I believe it’s imminent.”

Mr Ver declared Ethereum possesses the technological capabilities to overtake Bitcoin by the end of 2018 while Bitcoin Cash could surpass its crypto brother “before 2020”.

He told the Independent: “Ethereum could overtake Bitcoin by the end of the year and Bitcoin Cash could do the same before 2020.”

Mr Ver claimed Bitcoin Cash could “double” in value by next week thanks to a slew of funding from “big investors”.

He went on: “It’s not guaranteed but it is much more likely to happen than not.

“Bitcoin Cash has more than doubled in value in the last month and big investors coming in soon could see it double again by next week.

“People love to chase a rising star.”

However Michael Jackson, from venture capital firm Mangrove Capital Partners, emphasised Bitcoin is able to adapt thanks to people who are working to solve its “scalability problems”.

He stated: “There is so much talent in the crypto space, and people are working on solving these scalability problems.

“I don’t see why Bitcoin shouldn’t remain in the number one spot.

“It is still by far the best known and it is ultimately the reserve currency in the space.”

Bitcoin is trading at $8,295.85 at the time of writing while Ethereum is selling for $730.86.

Both cryptocurrencies have seen incredible spikes in value over the course of the last month.

Bitcoin has added a whopping $2,091.97 to its value in the last month.

This marks a sharp value increase of 30.61 per cent.

Meanwhile, Ethereum has seen a sharp 75.85 per cent increase in price in the last month, marking a rise of $315.25.
 

However, the persistent peaks and troughs of cryptocurrencies demonstrate the market’s monstrous volatility.

Author JOSEPH CAREY UPDATED: 05:23, Fri, May 11, 2018

 

Posted by David Ogden Entrepreneur

Bitcoin set to be SURPASSED in the crypto realm Expert predicts SHOCKING future for BTC

Alan Zibluk Markethive Founding Member

Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, Ripple, Stellar, Litecoin, Cardano, IOTA, EOS — Price Analysis, 4th May

Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, Ripple, Stellar, Litecoin, Cardano, IOTA, EOS - Price Analysis, 4th May

Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, Ripple, Stellar, Litecoin, Cardano, IOTA, EOS — Price Analysis, 4th May

Goldman Sachs, one of the biggest investment banks in the world, is taking the plunge into the exciting world of cryptocurrency trading. The bank’s decision was made because of the overwhelming client requests.

This is a very positive sign for the crypto market’s future along with the news about analysts from BlackRock, an American global investment management company, leaving the firm to fund a Blockchain-focused venture capital fund. Other places where the banks or institutions are still pondering over their decision, the analysts are quitting to open their own ventures. Investors plowing money into these funds shows a growing interest.

After the decline from the frothy levels in December 2017, the investors are getting a favorable entry opportunity. In the past few weeks, the volatility has also reduced, which is an added attraction to get in early.

While the number of crypto optimists has increased, there is no dearth of the naysayers as well. Economist Nouriel Roubini continued his criticism of cryptocurrencies. While he may have forecast the 2008 Financial crisis correctly, his crypto prediction seems to be way off.
But there are positive predictions as well.  Alexis Ohanian, a co-founder of Reddit, claims that Ethereum is on its way to $15,000 this year.

We already hold a few positions. Let’s see if the charts present us any fresh buying opportunities?

BTC/USD
Bitcoin broke out of the small symmetrical triangle pattern and entered the ascending channel on May 03, which is a bullish sign. Currently, it is facing resistance close to the April 25 highs, but we remain bullish because it has not given up ground.

If the digital currency rises from the support line of the ascending channel, it increases the possibility of a break out above the immediate resistance zone of $9,800 to $10,000.

Following the breakout, the first target is $11,000, and the next target is $12,000. We anticipate a strong resistance at the $12,172.43 mark.

On the downside, if the BTC/USD pair breaks below the support line of the ascending channel, it can fall to $9,178 and then to the 20-day EMA, close to $9,000 levels.

The up move will be in danger only on a break below $9,000 levels. Therefore, we suggest raising the stops on the long positions from $8,600 to $8,900.

ETH/USD
Ethereum broke out of $745 on May 03, which completed a ‘V’ shaped bottom formation. This bullish set up has a pattern target of $1,130, with minor resistances at $900 and at $1,000.

On the downside, $745 will act as the first support. If this breaks, the bulls will defend the trendline close to $700 and the 20-day EMA at $645. The trend will turn bearish or range bound only if the ETH/USD pair sustains below $700.

Traders can wait for a retest of the breakout levels and buy if the $745 level holds. The stop loss can be placed just below the 20-day EMA at $640. Traders should confirm that the levels are holding before entering long positions. No trade should be initiated if the digital currency closes (UTC) below $700.

BCH/USD
Bitcoin Cash has reached close to the upper end of the range at $1,600, which should act as a stiff resistance. If the price fails to break out of this level, the range-bound action between $1,221 and $1,600 will continue.

The BCH/USD pair will become positive if the bulls break out and close (UTC) above $1,600. The immediate target objective is a move to $2,000; above it, the rally can extend to $2,400 levels.      

Aggressive traders can buy on a close (UTC) above $1,600 and keep a close stop loss of $1,400. Due to numerous overhead resistances, we consider this as a risky trade, hence, keep the allocation size less than 50 percent of usual.

XRP/USD
Ripple continues to trade inside the range of $0.76 to $0.93777. A break out of this range will indicate bullishness, and a rally to $1.229 is likely.

If the XRP/USD pair fails to break out of $0.9377, a few more days of range-bound trading can be expected.

On the downside, support exists at the 20-day EMA and below that at the lower end of the range at $0.76.

The longer the cryptocurrency trades inside the range, the stronger will be the ensuing breakout. We propose waiting for it before entering any long positions.

XLM/USD
Stellar is facing a stiff resistance at the $0.47766719 mark. Though it has failed to cross above this level, it is undergoing a shallow pullback.

he XLM/USD pair should find support at the trendline, but if it breaks, a slide to $0.335 is probable. The negative divergence on the RSI is a bearish development, hence, traders should wait for a breakout and close (UTC) above the overhead resistance of $0.47766719 before initiating any long positions.

LTC/USD
After remaining in a tight range for the past few days, Litecoin finally scaled above the overhead resistance of $160 on May 03. However, it could not reach our target objective of $180, as the bears strongly defended the April 24 highs of $167.399.   

If the LTC/USD pair doesn’t breakout within a couple of days, it will continue to be range bound. On the downside, any break of the $141 levels will be a negative sign.

Therefore, we suggest retaining the stops at $140. We shall trail the stops higher once the digital currency breaks out of $168.

ADA/BTC
Cardano has failed to extend its uptrend after breaking out of 0.00003445. We had suggested raising the stops higher if the virtual currency crosses above 0.000042 levels, but it did not happen.

The ADA/BTC pair should now find support at the 0.00003445 levels because there are three major supports close to it.

The first level is the horizontal support, the second one is the trendline support, and the third is the 20-day EMA.

We shall retain the stops at 0.000029 until we see a rally above 0.000042 levels.

Our target objective on the upside is a move to 0.000045, followed by 0.00005217 levels.  

IOTA/USD
IOTA broke out of the overhead resistance at $2.2117 on May 02 and followed it with another up move on the next day. However, it couldn’t break out of the resistance line of the ascending channel.   

Currently, the IOTA/USD pair is retesting the breakout levels of $2.2117. If the level holds, the bulls will try to break out of the channel and push prices towards $3 and $3.5.

If the digital currency breaks below $2.2117 but finds support close to $2 levels, then the ascending channel will be in play, and a move to the resistance line of the channel can be expected.

Due to the uncertainty, it is better to wait for a couple of days and then buy if the support levels hold. Presently, we don’t have any buy recommendation.

EOS/USD
EOS, after the recent rally, has entered into a period of consolidation. Though it found support at the 38.2 percent Fibonacci retracement level on May 01, it could not scale the $20 levels in the ensuing up move.

On the downside, $16 should act as a strong support, below which, the EOS/USD pair can slide to the 20-day EMA.

We shall wait for the consolidation to play out and a new buy setup to form before recommending any fresh long positions.

By  Rakesh Upadhyay

Alan Zibluk Markethive Founding Member