By 
Once again, Bitcoin price is struggling to cross $4500 mark amid uncertainty surrounding the November SegWit2x hard fork. Two days ago the prices gained slight momentum due to the authorization of Japanese cryptocurrency and Bitcoin trading platforms, but it seems hard fork is now playing a major role in determining the price of the cryptocurrency.
There is a lot of investors’ nervousness that can be seen at the current levels, even after recovering from the earlier 40% fall. Earlier today most of the top cryptocurrencies suffered heavy losses including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin, bringing the entire crypto market down to $142 billion.
Although, at the time of writing, a gradual recovery is taking place with Bitcoin trading at $4306 – 1.5% increase in the past 24 hours.
China for some reason still continues to act as a highly potent market for Bitcoin. The closure of Chinese Bitcoin exchanges couldn’t have come at a worse time – it coincided with the proposal of the SegWit2x hard fork, which may lead to a split chain once again.
If the Chinese government wants to establish necessary Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) systems, it must bring back trading volumes from over-the-counter (OTC) markets to regulated exchanges which local authorities can oversee and control.
Potential Fed hike in December is keeping the dollar strong. Geopolitical risks, on the other hand, are retreating as headlines are no longer dominated by North Korean threats. Traders and investors are also wary of South Korea’s next move as the country may follow China’s footsteps to ban cryptocurrency exchanges like it did in the case of ICOs.
That said, short-term indicators like moving average convergence divergence (MACD) demonstrate that Bitcoin will likely increase in value in the short-term. As for long-term, everything hangs on how Segwit2x hard fork will play out on November 1st.
Top Stories from the Crypto World
1. Ethereum-Bitcoin ‘hybrid’ eBTC Gains 300%
An altcoin launched 4 days ago called eBTC, “the new ERC20 Bitcoin”, has increased in value 335 percent since its launch.
The project is attempting to become “a tokenized version of Bitcoin on the Ethereum Blockchain.” It also completed an airdrop to Ethereum (ETH) holders prior to its debut Oct. 1.
Even though eBTC lacks a whitepaper and its technical applications are vague, it has managed to get attention from a lot of investors. The idea of ‘ERC20 Bitcoin’ sounds great, but it remains to be seen how it will translate to mass adoption.
2. Japan’s biggest bank has a plan to overcome Bitcoin’s volatility
The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi (MUFG), Japan’s largest bank, revealed plans toward developing its own digital currency in early 2016. According to the President of MUFG, Nobuyuki Hirano, the bank’s own digital currency, MUFG Coin, will do one better than Bitcoin.
Hirano acknowledged the growing awareness and adoption of digital currencies like Bitcoin in Japan, soon after its classification as a legal method of payment earlier this year. But for him, the bank’s own digital currency will look to alleviate “issues” surrounding Bitcoin, such as volatility.
3. SEC is optimistic on efforts to catch ICO ‘bad guys’
Jay Clayton, the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), appeared before the House Financial Services Committee said the nature of initial coin offerings (ICOs) makes it harder to catch fraudsters compared to penny-stock scams.
This comes after Clayton, who said last week that he is concerned about the risk of the funding use case being used to facilitate pump-and-dump frauds.
He told the committee, “It’s going to be a lot harder to get the benefits of this kind of technology, technological advancement.”