Bitcoin is Down 50% From 2018 Highs But up 700% From 2017 Lows

By Raghav Sawhney

Cryptocurrency continues to show a bearish pattern on the charts. The charts are mostly showing lower lows and negative gains across the board. The news of the US DoJ and CFTC with ideas of a possible market manipulation is going to guarantee smooth volatility and will be good for investors in that process.

There’s a tide of change ranging right from Argentina’s Banco Masventas to Czech Republic’s Prazska Plynarenska, and this monitoring tide could lift cryptocurrencies, especially Bitcoin, to new levels. Prazska Plynarenska, an energy giant distributor of Czech Republic, in an attempt to look advanced, will begin accepting payment in Bitcoin from June 2018.

The country hosts several Bitcoin ATMs and several eCommerce platforms which accept payment in Bitcoin(BTC). However, the company won’t be holding any Bitcoin themselves. Instead, every time a customer pays in Bitcoin, it will be immediately converted to fiat-national reserve currency Koruna. Moves like these boost the cryptocurrency market and set an example for more countries to follow suit and legitimize cryptos.

Meanwhile, the US DoJ is looking into what appears to be a collective pump and dump efforts. It is not uncommon to see Bitcoin prices swinging more than $1,000 since wild moves are common amongst traders against BTC. This worries many, and now, together with the CFTC, the DoJ is investigating to check the level of this manipulation and they are sure that some sort of foul play is being committed Efforts of spoofing-where unscrupulous traders place and pull different orders simultaneously or wash trading activities will in the coming days attract the keen eyes of the justice department.

Bitcoin statistics currently show a dreary situation. Bitcoin(BTC) prices are down 12% in the last seven days. It has been mild but on careful observation, one can see that relative to previous bars, last week depreciation was steep and saw Bitcoin(BTC) prices slicing though $8,000. At this rate, trend traders should be looking for sale opportunities this day, now that our close is below our previous support line at $7,800. Because of this predisposition, Bitcoin sell targets should be at February lows at $6,000.

On May 22 and 23, there was a literal doubling of trade volumes with prices sinking below $7,800. After that, the follow through has been fair in volumes but the prices are not recovering to safety. On the flip side though, if there happen to be sharp spikes in trading volumes and a bullish gulf moving past the May 23 candlestick, it will be about time to exit shorts and buy.

Sources:Charts from TradingView