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Crypto market had one hell of a week. News from China was the main driver of cryptocurrency price movement. Bitcoin price plummeted to below $3000 as rumours that the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) was planning to ban Bitcoin exchanges began to receive confirmations.
There was a lot of uncertainty and fear being spread at the same time. As soon as BTCC informed about the shutdown, the market took a nosedive. OKCoin and Huobi shutdown rumours also stirred the pot. Although both these exchanges continue to work, but have halted CNY deposits.
It is clear that China is following the path of regulation. It is fascinating to see that even though there is no official announce from the PBoC or the government, insiders who may or may not be correct managed to create havoc in the market.
Everything happened so fast and the market was so unpredictable, analysts barely had time to weigh in their analysis. Should we buy the dip, or the price will go further down or just “hodl”– was the question floating around on online forums.
Prominent trader WhalePanda argued that the Bitcoin exchange ban had already been priced into the market over the past week. He stated that most of his buy orders are placed at $3,200. CEO of Civic, Vinny Lingham, on the other hand, stated that he would not consider buying until the price reached $2,500 to $2,700.
At the time of writing Bitcoin is trading at £3612 with a market cap of $59 billion and 48.2% dominance. In the past two days Bitcoin price managed to bounce back up to $3800 level from $2900.
Rumours are going around that China has reportedly blocked access to all major Bitcoin exchanges. The price did not show any drastic movement as a result of this. Any news from China will likely have very little effect on the Bitcoin price from now.
Commenting on this, Simon Dixon, investment Banker and author of ‘Bank to the Future’, wrote: “They tried to copy it, fork it, ban it, clone it, ridicule it, launch at it, discredit it and kill it, and yet #Bitcoin is still sound money.”
PS: Someone just bought $9.8 million worth of Bitcoin at $3620. What!?
Top Stories from the Crypto World
1. Crypto compatible browser API being adopted by Google, Apple and Mozilla
Top tech companies are creating a browser API that could soon make it easier to buy goods and services online with cryptocurrency. The work was started back in 2013 by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) with the help of Microsoft, Google, Facebook, Apple and Mozilla.
The API is being implemented in Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Apple Webkit, Mozilla Firefox, the Samsung Internet Browser and Facebook’s in-app browser.
Consumers will then be able to choose from a drop-down menu of available payment methods supported.
2. China’s stricter regulations may strengthen Hong Kong market
Yesterday, Bitcoin price rebounded from $2,900 to $3,600 as the Chinese government and local exchanges confirmed the nationwide suspension of exchanges. Traders were looking to buy the dip and they couldn’t have asked for a better price than $2900.
First contingency plan for the exchanges that have been shut down will be to move offshore. Hong Kong and nearby countries like Japan and South Korea will be the ones benefiting off it.
Hong Kong has been praised for being a regulatory friendly region for Bitcoin and Blockchain startups. Still, unlike China, South Korea and Japan, Hong Kong’s Bitcoin and cryptocurrency exchange markets have struggled to demonstrate exponential growth.
This could possibly change as more and more Bitcoin and Blockchain startups find refuge in Hong Kong.
3. India’s central bank is looking to provide legal tender to digital currencies
The Indian central bank Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has established a task force that will assess the possible granting of legal tender status to Bitcoin and other virtual currencies. The bank is also considering digitizing rupee, with an outright dislike for Bitcoin.