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Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ripple Bruised by Multiple Negative Headwinds

Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ripple Bruised by Multiple Negative Headwinds

Nick Cawley, Senior Strategist

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Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ripple News and Talking Points

- Increased regulatory fears in the US and Japan weigh on cryptocurrency prices.

- Cryptocurrency exchange Binance reports irregular trading activity.

Bitcoin Price Drops Below $10,000 on Regulatory Clampdown

The US Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) announced yesterday that cryptocurrency exchanges will need to register with the agency, causing the price of Bitcoin (BTC) to fall sharply. The US regulatory agency said in a statement that if a digital trading platform operates as an exchange, “then the platform must register with the SEC as a national securities exchange or be exempt from registration.”

The SEC added that, many online trading platforms appear to investors as SEC-registered and regulated marketplaces when they are not. Many platforms refer to themselves as "exchanges," which can give the misimpression to investors that they are regulated or meet the regulatory standards of a national securities exchange.”

Full SEC Statement

In Asia, The Japanese Financial Services Agency (FSA) suspended two domestic cryptocurrency exchanges for a month and warned a total of seven exchanges that they must detail improved security measures by March 22. The clampdown follows the theft of around $500 million NEM tokens from Japanese exchange Coincheck on January 26.

Cryptocurrency Exchange Binance Reveals Large Scale Phishing Attempt

One of the world’s largest exchanges, Binance, revealed Wednesday that the company had been the target of a large scale phishing attack – an attempt to obtain sensitive user information –and an attempted stealing incident. The exchange said that the hackers created API keys and placed a large number of buy/sell orders on the VIA/BTC market before attempting to remove funds. The company said that “our automatic risk management system was triggered, and all attempts were halted immediately.”

Full Binance Release.

Bitcoin (BTC), Litecoin (LTC), Ripple (XRP) Prices All Under Pressure

Cryptocurrency prices have been falling in the past few sessions with sellers in control of the market. We discussed in yesterday’s weekly crypto webinar how the current market set-up looked exhausted and that the path of least resistance for cryptocurrency prices was lower.

The price of Bitcoin was also under pressure after news hit the market that Mt. Gox trustees had sold around $400 million of Bitcoin (BTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) coins with the funds redistributed to creditors. The sales, made in the past few months, leave the trustees with around $1.7 billion of BTC and around $197 million of BCH coins – at current values - left to sell.

The current Bitcoin chart continues to point to lower prices with four lower highs being made in a row. Currently trading around $10,000, BTC has broken below the $10,971 Fibonacci level and is just above Zone One on the charts - $9,300 - $9,900 – which if broken leaves $8,523 as the next downside target.

Bitcoin (BTC) Price Chart in US Dollars (August 2017 – March 8, 2018)

In Short,Ripple (XRP) is currently trading just under the noted $0.86 - $0.93 trading band with a close below opening the way to the February low at $0.57, while Litecoin (LTC)currently changing hands at $186 - is stuck between Fibonacci retracement levels at $210 and $173.

Cryptocurrency Trader Resources

If you are interested in trading Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash or Ethereum check out our Introduction to Bitcoin Trading Guide.

--- Written by Nick Cawley, Analyst.

To contact Nick, email him at nicholas.cawley@ig.com

Follow Nick on Twitter @nickcawley1

DailyFX provides forex news and technical analysis on the trends that influence the global currency markets.

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