Bitcoin volatility fading away -where from here?

Bitcoin volatility fading away -where from here?

Bitcoin volatility fading away -where from here?

  • BTC/USD is hovering around $4,300.

  • Mati Greenspan says volatility is good for Bitcoin's popularity.

Bitcoin is hovering around $4,300 handle, locked in a narrow range with the upper border at $4,400. The first digital coin has calmed down after a volatile week as the market players seek to understand what comes next.

According to Mati Greenspan, a senior market analyst at eToro, volatility growth brought the discussion of crypto mass adoption issues to the forefront.

“Certainly, it would be better for the use case of cryptocurrencies if they remained more stable, or to see a slow but steady increase in prices. But let’s be straight, would bitcoin be as popular as it is today if not for the wild volatility?” he commented.

Mr. Greenspan believes that the bull run of 2017 brought a vast amount of new users to the crypto universe.

“The outrageous bull run of 2017 has been largely responsible for bringing an unprecedented number of new users into the network but it seems that excitement can be generated on the way down as well.”

Bitcoin's technical picture

From the short-term point of view, BTC/USD is supported by SMA50 (1-hour) at $4,166. Once this level is cleared, the downside may be extended towards critical $4,000 with SMA200 (1-hour) on approach. A sustainable move under $4,000 with expose $3,900-$3,870 area

On the upside, the nearest resistance lies with congestion zone $4,500, which needs to be cleared before we can proceed to the next psychological hurdle $5,000.

BTC/USD, 1-hour chart

 

Tanya Abrosimova

FXStreet

David Ogden – Http://markethive.com/david-ogden

Bitcoin Prices Soar -Nasdaq to Launch Bitcoin Futures in Q1 2019

Bitcoin Prices Soar -Nasdaq to Launch Bitcoin Futures in Q1 2019

Bitcoin Prices Soar -Nasdaq to Launch Bitcoin Futures in Q1 2019

Investing.com – Bitcoin and other major digital coins’ prices all traded higher on Thursday in Asia on news that Nasdaq is set to introduce Bitcoin futures in the first quarter of next year. ?

Bitcoin jumped 6.55% to $4,187.5 by 09:31 PM ET (02:31?GMT) on the?Investing.com index.?Ethereum added 4.49% to $118.77 and XRP gained 2.48% to $0.37633?on the?Poloniex?exchange.???

1337/LTC?also advanced?8.68% to $33.550?on the?Bitifinex?exchange.?

Bitcoin regained a bit of momentum following a second low this week. The most traded digital coin dropped below $3,800 in mid-week before bouncing to this week’s peak at $4,395 on early Thursday morning.

However, Bitcoin remains trading 30% less of its value since mid-November, when the digital coin dropped from above $6,500.

On Thursday, media reported that Nasdaq is set to launch bitcoin futures in the first quarter of 2019 despite the current bearish sentiment for cryptocurrencies.

Bitcoin futures will provide investors with a centralized marketplace where participants can speculate on the future price movements of Bitcoin.

Nasdaq has reportedly been working closely with the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to secure regulatory approval for its proposed Bitcoin futures launch together with investment management firm VanEck.

Gabor Gurbacs, VanEck's director of digital asset strategy, said the firm "ran a few extra miles working with the CFTC to bring about new standards for custody and surveillance."

Nasdaq is not the first one to enter the digital currency space. The CFTC has so far approved two crypto futures products. One is from the Chicago Board Options Exchange and another from the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

Nasdaq showed interest in tapping into the crpyto space earlier. In April, its CEO Adena Friedman told media that “certainly Nasdaq would consider becoming a crypto exchange over time.”

 

David Ogden – Http://markethive.com/david-ogden

Bitcoin (BTC) Bulls Are Back in the Game!

 

Bitcoin (BTC) Bulls Are Back in the Game!

Bitcoin could be due for a reversal from its slide as it just broke past the top of a descending channel.

Bitcoin was previously trending lower inside a descending channel but has just broken past the resistance to indicate that a reversal is due. Price has also closed above the 100 SMA dynamic inflection point as an additional bullish signal.

However, the 100 SMA is still below the longer-term 200 SMA to indicate that the path of least resistance is to the downside. In other words, the downtrend is more likely to resume than to reverse. Price has yet to test the 200 SMA dynamic inflection point which might also lead to some bearish pressure.

RSI has also reached the overbought zone to indicate that buyers are starting to feel exhausted. Similarly stochastic is in the overbought area to signal that buyers might want to take a break. Turning lower could confirm that sellers are about to take over, possibly pushing bitcoin back inside the channel and onto the lows.

Still, it’s also worth pointing out that both oscillators are pointing up for now and have yet to show any inclination to head south. This suggests that bulls could keep charging.

Also, bitcoin is forming a double bottom pattern with the latest move and could be due to test the neckline at $4,200. A break beyond this could spur a rally that’s the same height as the chart pattern, which is around $400. Increased bullish momentum could lead to technical breaks of the next areas of interest, that might draw even more buyers in.

Indications that institutions are pushing ahead with crypto investments despite the recent bear market are making it to the newswires. Confirmation from a few key figures in the industry also led to the improvement in sentiment that is likely driving the recent moves.

 

Rachel Lee by Rachel Lee November 28, 2018

Bitcoin (BTC) Bulls Are Back in the Game!

David Ogden – Http://markethive.com/david-ogden

Bitcoin (BTC) Daily Price Forecast – November 27

Bitcoin (BTC) Daily Price Forecast – November 27

Bitcoin (BTC) Daily Price Forecast – November 27

BTC/USD Medium-term Trend: Bearish

Resistance Levels: $6,800, $6,900, $7,000

Support levels: $3,600, $3,400, $3,200

Yesterday, November 26, the price of Bitcoin was in a bearish trend. On November 25, the digital currency fell to the low of $3,774.80 and made a bullish movement to the 12-day EMA. On November 26, the crypto’s price was resisted at the 12-day EMA and it fell to the low of $3835. Price is likely to make another bullish movement to the 12-day EMA.

However, for the digital currency to resume its uptrend the crypto must break the 12-day EMA and the 26-day EMA to the upside and remain above it. Meanwhile, the crypto's price is below the 12-day EMA and the 26-day EMA indicating that price is in the bearish trend zone. Also, the MACD line and the signal line are below the zero line which indicates a sell signal.

On the 1-hour chart, the price of Bitcoin was in a sideways trend. On November 25, the crypto's price broke the 12-day EMA and the 26-day EMA to the upside and remain above it. On November 26, the crypto ‘s price broke the EMAs to the downside which led to the continuation of the bearish trend.

Courtesy of  BitcoinExchangeGuide.com

David Ogden – Http://markethive.com/david-ogden

Bitcoin Price Prediction- BTC Value by the Year 2020

Bitcoin Price Prediction- BTC Value by the Year 2020

Currently, everyone within the crypto space is wondering what the future of Bitcoin holds for its investors in 2020 and beyond. The cryptocurrency market is widely known for its price volatility which can shoot to incredible highs or lows in a short period.

While this may be great for Bitcoin traders who depend on a buy-low-sell-high method of investment, it makes these digital assets a poor means of value storage. It also gives long-term investors a tough time since they have to continuously track this volatility to ensure the safety of their investments. When the price changes sporadically, it can become difficult to do so.

Despite how unpredictable this volatility makes the future of cryptocurrency seem, it has not stopped industry figures from predicting the possible future of virtual assets, especially Bitcoin. Although most of the predictions stem from mere speculation within the cryptosphere, a good number of them are derived from complex quantitative methods. From research and modeling to creating special indexes, experts are working hard to prove that Bitcoin is here to stay. Predictions for 2020 vary widely, ranging from $20,000 to $1 million.

What is Bitcoin?

Bitcoin was the first cryptocurrency in existence and paved the way for the development of others. Cryptocurrencies like Litecoin were created by directly copying the original Bitcoin source code. It was created in 2009 by an anonymous developer under the pseudonym of “Satoshi Nakamoto” and has functioned as a store of value and an investment vehicle since then.

As a store of value, Bitcoin allows its users to send and receive funds without the need for an intermediary or central authority. The system is fully decentralized, leaving consensus in the hands of its network users. As an investment vehicle, Bitcoin has produced many millionaires, including the Winklevoss twins.

Early investors who bought into the cryptocurrency when its tokens were cheap rose to millionaire status when its price became worth thousands of dollars. Most of all, billionaires were made in December 2017 when Bitcoin soared to a record high of $20,000. Since then, the currency has underperformed in a series of bear runs, marking a market correction far worse than anticipated.

Another factor that makes the future of Bitcoin seem unpredictable is the fact that its usage has not increased by a substantial amount in 2018, implying stagnation. In truth, mass adoption is not occurring as quickly as the crypto industry would like to believe.

Apart from current adoption rates, there are several other factors to consider when analyzing the future value of a cryptocurrency. These include real-world events.

  • Technological improvements and modifications to a network such as a hard fork or software upgrade

  • The solidity and clarity of a platform’s future roadmap objectives

  • Announcements of new partnerships or sponsorship deals

  • New patents and discoveries by crypto research and development firms

  • A new exchange listing

  • New regulations

It is important to research all of the above factors rather than follow predictions blindly. Investors must also research predictions, looking at the specific reasons for each and ruling out any based on guesswork.

A Few Bitcoin Price Predictions for 2020 From Prominent Industry Figures

John McAfee

He is the creator of popular antivirus software, McAfee antivirus, and a well-known presence in the cryptocurrency industry because of his outlandish price predictions and interesting background. McAfee, who makes a lot of money from ICO promotion, has revealed that cryptocurrency projects are willing to pay him more than $100,000 to make his predictions.

In 2017 he predicted that Bitcoin would reach $500,000 in 2020, a price which he upped to $1 million recently. According to McAfee, his prediction is based on a price model he created, which also predicted that Bitcoin would hit $5,000 by the end of 2017 – a feat that seemed unbelievable at the time. If McAfee’s model is accurate, his prediction puts total market capitalization at $15 trillion. This would mean a 4,900% increase from Bitcoin’s peak of $20,000.

Recently, he predicted that Bitcoin will hit $15,000 in June 2018 despite the cryptocurrency’s poor performance in the previous month. That prediction failed, emphasizing the fact that not all of McAfee’s predictions come true and users must take all predictions with a grain of salt.

McAfee, a major Bitcoin bull, is seemingly unfazed by criticism claiming his predictions defy the mathematical behavior of the market. However, McAfee continues to support Bitcoin.

Tom Lee

Thomas Lee, co-founder and head of research at Fundstrat Global Advisors, a popular cryptocurrency research firm, predicted that Bitcoin could reach $25,000 by the end of the year. [Editor’s note: He later revised that prediction to $15,000.]

Mostly known for his Bitcoin price discussions on live TV and the creation of a misery index for monitoring the price of Bitcoin, Tom Lee is definitely a respected industry figure. He also made another prediction placing the price of BTC at $91,000, through a chart analysis of Bitcoin historical price movements.

Osato Avan-Nomayo

Bitcoinist analyst Osato Avan-Nomayo predicted that the Bitcoin mining reward will be halved from 12.5 BTC to 6.25 BTC by 2020. The Bitcoin mining reward has only been halved twice since the currency first emerged.

In 2012 it halved from 50 BTC to 25 BTC, and in 2016 it went from 25 BTC to 12.5 BTC. When both events happened, Bitcoin saw higher prices shortly thereafter. Although Bitcoinist did not predict a specific price for BTC, their analysis predicts new price peaks up to $20,000.

Fran Strajnar

CEO of Brave New Coin, Fran Strajnar has predicted a Bitcoin price of $200,000 by 2020 as a result of increasing adoption rates. According to Strajnar, as more users join the network, more wallets and apps are being created and used. He expects that as usage increases, so will the price of BTC in the long run.

 

David Ogden – Http://markethive.com/david-ogden

Bitcoin Price Weekly Analysis: BTC/USD Nosedives Below $3,800

Bitcoin Price Weekly Analysis: BTC/USD Nosedives Below $3,800

Bitcoin Price Weekly Analysis: BTC/USD Nosedives Below $3,800

Key Points

  • Bitcoin price fell significantly and traded below $4,000 and $3,800 against the US Dollar.

  • There is a major bearish trend line formed with resistance at $4,200 on the 4-hours chart of the BTC/USD pair (data feed from Kraken).

  • The pair is under pressure below $3,800 and it could even break the $3,500 support level.

Bitcoin price tumbled more than 15% and broke the $3,800 support against the US Dollar. BTC/USD could accelerate declines towards the $3,500 level.
 

Bitcoin Price Analysis

This past week, there was a tiny upside correction above the $4,300 level in bitcoin price against the US Dollar. However, the BTC/USD pair failed to gain traction above the $4,400 and $4,500 resistances. As a result, there was a sharp downside move and the price declined below the $4,000 support. The price declined more than 12% and it is currently trading well below $3,800 and 100 simple moving average (4-hours).

A new yearly low was formed at $3,620 and it seems like the current decline is not over. The last swing low was at $3,678 before the price started an upside correction. It moved above the 23.6% Fib retracement level of the recent decline from the $4,340 high to $3,678 low. However, the upside move was capped by the $4,000 level. The price was also rejected near the 50% Fib retracement level of the recent decline from the $4,340 high to $3,678 low. Finally, the price declined again and broke the $3,678 swing low. A new low was formed below $3,650 and it seems like there could be more losses. The next key support is near $3,500, below which the price could test $3,200.

Looking at the chart, BTC price is facing a lot of selling pressure below the $4,000 and $3,800 level. If there is an upside correction, the price could face sellers near $4,000.

Looking at the technical indicators:

4-hours MACD – The MACD for BTC/USD is placed heavily in the bearish zone.

4-hours RSI (Relative Strength Index) – The RSI is currently well below the 20 level.

Major Support Level – $3,500

Major Resistance Level – $4,000

 

AAYUSH JINDAL | NOVEMBER 25, 2018 | 5:28 AM

David Ogden – Http://markethive.com/david-ogden

Bitcoin Moving in a $400 Range with Resistance at $4,700

Bitcoin Moving in a $400 Range with Resistance at $4,700

Bitcoin Moving in a $400 Range with Resistance at $4,700

The path of least resistance is clear and as long as prices are trading below $4,700 then we could see further declines towards $3,000 or lower. But even as analysts and investors track price, the survival of Bitcoin conjures memories of the dot com bubble. It did burst; birthing Amazon and Google, companies that wield so much control with individual market caps more than triple that of cryptos.

Latest Bitcoin News

Much has been talked about price, the collapse and the effect of low trading volumes. In fact there has been some comparison about the current bear market and the dot com bubble. Well, this isn’t the deepest correction Bitcoin traders have had to contend. Back in 2013-14, losses were deeper and prices more volatile mostly because of thin trading volumes as investment channels were few and Bitcoin not as common as it is now.

Regardless, blockchain and Bitcoin is a solution that is here to stay. Just like Paul Krugman, a non technical financial guru of yester years said the internet was a fad and famously suggested it would be no more transformational than the fax machine, current nay sayers as Jamie Dimon and Roubini or Dr Doom will surely watch as the technology shape and disrupt current systems.

While the contention is different there is strong correlation between events around the dot com bubble and recent discussions around DLTs, public blockchains and even competing protocols as IOTA. The mass is split and some are betting on IBM’s HyperLedger–interoperability, others on Bitcoin—security and community and more on the IOTA and the internet of things.

However, many are backing open source solutions to prevail over permissioned systems just like TCP/IP did nurturing current mega-corporations as Google and Amazon. If that is the case then the stars are sparkling for Bitcoin investors.

 

BTC/USD Price Analysis

Weekly Chart

Like before, the top down overview is pretty clear—BTC/USD is in a meltdown and poised to lose more as trading volumes dry up and the so called whales cover their positions to stay profitable. But, thing is even as bear pressure rage and threaten to wipe out 2017 super gains, prices have been stable in the last few days.

Moving within a tight $4,300-$4,700 range, there is obvious support. If prices close above $4,500 then odds are we might see prices recover above $5,000 and towards $5,500 as laid out before. Conversely, strong losses below $4,000 could open a flurry of sell orders pushing BTC towards $3,000–$3,500 from where analysts expect prices to find strong support.

The significance of $4,300–$4,500 support is beginning to show in the daily chart. Here, we have a doji bar, a mark of overall market indecision but still trading volumes are light.

Nonetheless, this did shore prices confining movements within a $200 range of which we expect buyers to build their momentum on.

Now, if today ends up as a bull, closing above immediate resistance of $4,700 then our previous upbeat BTC/USD price forecast would most likely go live as buyers thrust prices above $5,000 towards $5,500. If not and BTC capitulate below $4,000 then we shall trade as above.

All Charts Courtesy of Trading View

 

by DLT Guru November 24, 2018

David Ogden – Http://markethive.com/david-ogden

Bitcoin (BTC) Finds Support at $4,200, What Next?

Bitcoin (BTC) Finds Support at $4,200, What Next?

Bitcoin (BTC) Finds Support at $4,200, What Next?

After a brief recovery mid-week that hinted at a possible bottom found, a fresh crash has decimated the cryptocurrency market this morning. After dipping sharply from $4,440, Bitcoin (BTC) managed to find support at $4,200, which has long been considered a critical support level. Should it breach it, though, the next test will likely be $3,000 – the level that buoyed up the markets in the brief September dip last year before the epic late November rally.

While last weeks drops have been attributed by some to be investors selling assets ahead of Black Friday, these new losses are too close to the time for that explanation. It’s more likely that these continuing declines are fuelled by a number of factors, including depressed tech stocks as a result of the on-going China-U.S. trade war, the DOJ’s Tether manipulation probe and the Bitcoin Cash (BCH) war that is driving hash power away from Bitcoin mining.

There is also mounting evidence to suggest price manipulation by Wall Street whales in order to accumulate ahead of the ICE’s Bakkt launch, although that little nugget of hope has now been delayed until late January next year, so if true, we may see similar dips again after New Years.
 

Black Friday Fever

Several exchanges have chosen to take advantage of Black Friday fever and sell assets at discount prices, with some going as far as giving away Bitcoin for free. Unfortunately, while these actions may grow adoption, they also serve to further devalue cryptocurrencies in the short term.

After the drop to around $4,150 on some exchanges earlier today, Bitcoin has shown signs of recovery, rallying up to the $4,250 range more recently. Whether or not this support will hold is unclear, with many bearish analysts becoming more and more convinced that Bitcoin’s real bottom is likely to be in the $3,000 range. Should it maintain support above $4,200, the next resistance level is $4,720 with strong resistance at $4,830.

Any analytical comparisons to last year’s epic mid-December bull run don’t hold up within today’s vastly altered landscape. In light of the BCH hash war, tighter SEC regulations, more substantial institutional interest, and an entirely different psychological viewpoint, to assume a similar event would happen this year is optimistic at best. However, considering that last years rally was almost certainly the result of market manipulation and left the majority investors in debt, maybe that’s a good thing.

AUTHOR Mark Hartley November 23, 2018, UTC, 4:41 am

David Ogden – Http://markethive.com/david-ogden

There Is No ‘Bitcoin’ – What the SEC Doesn’t Get About Cryptocurrency

There Is No ‘Bitcoin' - What the SEC Doesn't Get About Cryptocurrency

There Is No ‘Bitcoin’ – What the SEC Doesn’t Get About Cryptocurrency

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has been gone to significant lengths in an attempt to understand the crypto asset space. This effort is to be applauded. However, the SEC has failed to come to terms with one fundamental aspect of crypto assets and systems.

Namely, properly constructed crypto systems do not involve “persons” or “entities” and do not represent a form of property. For this reason, they do not have any analogue in the traditional financial world, nor can they fall under financial regulation.

In the traditional financial world, assets are a claim on a specific property. For example, a commodity, shares in a company or a debt owed.

Crypto assets, however, are not a claim on anything. What is bitcoin a claim to? Or ether?

Instead, crypto assets are a form of proof. They are cryptographic proof that a specific set of mathematical functions has been performed. They are proof that certain software instructions have been performed and of the algorithmic outputs of that software. And crucially, the mathematical functions are performed by nobody in particular, they are performed by the network as a whole.

Property is “ownership determined by law.” Crypto assets are not property because they are not determined by law – they are determined by maths. This presents some obvious issues when it comes to figuring out exactly how to regulate them.

There is no bitcoin

Many people today speak of cryptocurrencies in the shorthand of property. They say things like “Alice transferred a bitcoin to Bob,” but we shouldn’t let this metaphor confuse us.

In actual fact, there was no bitcoin that existed anywhere and it didn’t move from any one place to another.

In “The Matrix,” Neo understood the true nature of the world when he understood that “there is no spoon.” Likewise, we can only understand the true nature of blockchain when we recognize that “there is no bitcoin.”

Instead, what really happened is that Alice proved to Bob that she had certain secret knowledge and that she had used that knowledge to perform a mathematical operation. But wait, the rabbit hole goes even deeper.

Even “Alice” and “Bob” are misleading fictions. Alice is not necessarily a person, that is shorthand too. Alice is really only an address – an output of a hash function, that may or may not be associated with a specific “entity.”

Now, of course, sometimes Alice is a person. And sometimes Alice created a “token” (another metaphor) and sold it to Bob as an investment. In which case, arguably that was a securities offering and can be regulated by the SEC.

However, the SEC doesn’t stop there. The agency wants to regulate what happens to those tokens, as they interact with smart contracts too. In its November 16 “Statement on Digital Asset Securities Issuance and Trading,” the agency says:

“Any entity that provides a marketplace for bringing together buyers and sellers of securities, regardless of the applied technology, must determine whether its activities meet the definition of an exchange under the federal securities laws.”

An “entity” here refers to a legal person.

As an example, they use EtherDelta, and specifically its smart contract, saying:

“EtherDelta’s smart contract was coded to, among other things, validate order messages, confirm the terms and conditions of orders, execute paired orders, and direct the distributed ledger to be updated to reflect a trade.”

Here is where taking metaphorical thinking can easily go too far, and where the SEC is introducing vague and problematic language. EtherDelta, as an entity, provided various services (such as a webpage user interface for interacting with the smart contract). EtherDelta also developed the smart contract.

But who “provided” the smart contract? Who performed its functions? Not EtherDelta or anyone else in particular.

The SEC might regulate the EtherDelta website but to attempt to regulate the smart contract is a result of confusion.

The rabbit hole goes deeper

This confusion gets worse when the SEC talks about secondary markets for these “securities.”

Crypto assets are so new that even many experienced practitioners are confused and think that they represent a distinct property. As a result, as an industry, we have been far too willing to indulge the SEC view that since something was the product of a securities offering, it remains a security thereafter. Once we realize that there are no “tokens” and no “property,” we realize that this is a categorical error.

It becomes easy to see this error when one imagines the following scenario: Bob, having purchased the tokens from Alice sends them to a smart contract owned by nobody. He has given up claim of ownership – which would mean that no legal entity owns the “security.”

By definition, a security is an “investment contract.” A contract is “an agreement between legal persons, creating obligations that are enforceable by law.”

So for something to be a security, it must, therefore, (a) be between legal entities and (b) be enforceable by law (not math).

Tokens held by smart contracts fail both these tests. They cannot properly be described as securities. However, the SEC is suggesting something radically new: that a set of instructions which involves no agreement, no persons and is not enforced by law (but rather by math) can yet still be viewed not just as a contract but as a security. This is a radical departure from existing law.

Property laws and financial laws rely on enforcement by governments. Since there are many governments and their jurisdictions are limited, there is no truly global system of enforcement that is appropriate to the borderless world of the internet.

A huge potential benefit of crypto assets is that they overcome this problem — by not being a product of law or limited to its jurisdiction.

The SEC, for obvious reasons, would like to establish jurisdiction over crypto assets. However, this jurisdiction is only appropriate where there are legally enforceable contracts between legal entities.

For the SEC, or anyone, not to recognize this important distinction is a recipe for overreach and confusion. It has the potential to rob many of us for the benefits of a truly global, digital method of managing ownership and value.

 

Edan Yago

Nov 22, 2018 at 05:00 UTC

David Ogden – Http://markethive.com/david-ogden

Bitcoin price plunges below $4,500 mark in new 2018 low

Bitcoin price plunges below $4,500 mark in new 2018 low

Bitcoin price plunges below $4,500 mark in new 2018 low

The price of bitcoin continued to plunge on Tuesday as it fell another 7% to $4,387, taking its losses to almost 30% in the past week.

A 14% tumble in the price of the world’s biggest and best-known cryptocurrency on Monday had taken bitcoin below $5,000 for the first time in 13 months. It is now at its lowest level since October last year.

Other cryptocurrencies have also declined in the past days.

Why central bank digital currencies will destroy bitcoin

Last December the cryptocurrency surged to an all-time high of $19,511 in highly volatile trading but fell back to $13,500 at the start of this year.

“The crypto bloodbath continues,” said Neil Wilson, the chief market analyst at Markets.com. “Things looks like they only get worse from here. Where is the incentive to buy? It does rather look like the bottom is coming out of this market.”

On Friday, the US Securities and Exchange Commission took action against two cryptocurrency startups that staged initial coin offerings, or ICOs, selling cryptocurrency tokens to the public. Airfox and Paragon Coin agreed to pay civil penalties for conducting token sales last year without registering them as securities offerings.

That sparked numerous warnings from central bankers and JP Morgan boss Jamie Dimon who declared in September 2017 that bitcoin was a fraud that would ultimately blow up.

However, this year bitcoin has become increasingly attractive to institutional investors. Fidelity Investments announced last month that it was launching a new company for institutional clients that will trade and store cryptocurrency assets. Fidelity said it wanted to make them more accessible to investors such as hedge funds, family offices and market intermediaries.

Central banks have also begun to discuss the idea of issuing their own digital currencies, as cash is used less and has nearly vanished in some countries, such as Sweden and China.

 

Nouriel Roubini

David Ogden – Http://markethive.com/david-ogden