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Long due Bitcoin price recovery looks to be on track. We are seeing key resistance levels broken one after another – a sign that bulls are taking control of the market.
Bitcoin rose 5% on Tuesday and crossed $4300 mark to reach $4370, but soon corrected once again to $4212 at the time of writing. Altogether, the cryptocurrency market cap rose more than $7 billion, from $144.5 billion on Monday to $151.8 billion.
Every other major news outlet is reporting that the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) is preparing to ban Bitcoin exchanges, but today it had little to no effect on the Bitcoin price. Meanwhile, Chinese exchanges continue to function normally, restoring short-term trader confidence and initiating a moderate rally.
Over the past few days, the price of BTC/CNY had traded well below $4,000, preventing a breakout on global exchanges. Today, BTC/CNY is valued at about $4,150 and accounts for three of bitcoin’s five largest trading pairs.
Bitcoin is waiting for an official word from China. Until then there is a good chance it will keep trading sideways below the major resistance level of $4400, before we see any breakout.
Top Stories from the Crypto World
1. Swiss town to allow citizens to pay taxes in Bitcoin
A town named Chiasso in Switzerland is to start accepting tax payments in Bitcoin from next year. However, there are limits to this scheme, according to the report, tax payments made in Bitcoin cannot exceed 250 Swiss francs (around $265).
Why it matters: This is a huge news for Bitcoin. For years Bitcoin critics have been saying that the digital currency can’t ever be used to pay taxes. It will always be fiat. This is a step in the right direction for Bitcoin to go mainstream.
2. UK Finance Watchdog warns of ICOs risks
After the US and China, UK issues statement on ICOs. The U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) states on its website that ICOs constitute “very high-risk, speculative investments,” and that, as they are largely unregulated, it may not be able to offer protection of any kind.
UK Financial regulators have also developed an app using blockchain consortium R3’s Corda distributed ledger platform. The app allows regulators to see real-time updates, with receipts being created for mortgage transactions as they are conducted.
3. Kik ICO kicks off
Much anticipated ICO for social messaging giant Kik has already drawn $70 million in its first few hours. Data from the ethereum blockchain indicates Kik has so far raised more than 3.2 million ether with more than 9400 transactions. More than 17,000 buyers have registered to participate in the sale, which will be conducted in two parts.
Breaking now: As I was about to send out this email, Charlie Lee, founder of Litecoin, just tweeted out saying:
“Looks like this time China finally banned Bitcoin exchanges. (Anonymous source I trust fully) There’s only one response: JUST HODŁ 😁”
Looks like China has finally pulled the plug. Bitcoin has already dropped to $4091. It would be interesting to see how market reacts to this news.