The cryptocurrency market continues to remain lively with incredible changes. Whether it is camera and other imaging products manufacturer Kodak’s decision to launch a blockchain platform to safeguard image copyrights, Qtum’s joint venture with Baofeng to create the world’s largest blockchain network with 50,000 nodes, US SEC’s order to halt trading of UBI blockchain network’s shares, the launch of world’s first blockchain lottery, North Korea’s attempts to hack crypto coin wallets and exchanges, or Finova Financial’s first-ever equity-linked token, there is one thing certain.
Blockchain technology is going to affect all sectors, and regulators will continue to amend rules to avoid its misuse. Let us look at the major developments that happened in the crypto domain in the past few days.
Bitcoin
Let us begin with positive news. Goldman Sachs, a financial powerhouse with a huge influence on the US government policies, said Bitcoin may become an alternative to fiat currencies in several African countries where the domestic currency continues to lose its value. In particular, Goldman Sachs has underlined Congo and Zimbabwe, where autocratic regimes exist. Similarly, the CEO of JP Morgan Chase, Jamie Dimon, who called Bitcoin a fraud last year, said that he regrets calling so.
While giving an interview to Fox Business Network, Dimon acknowledged the growing influence of the cryptocurrency. In the meanwhile, cryptocurrency billionaire Michael Novogratz is making arrangements to launch the world’s first merchant bank focused on cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. However, all is not well for Bitcoin. Several funds, including ProShares, Raffety Assets Management, and VanEck, have withdrawn their applications for setting up Bitcoin ETFs, at SEC’s request. Therefore, for the third week in a row, Bitcoin continues to remain range-bound between 13,000 and 17,000 levels. Read more here, and here.
Litecoin
It is considered to be a shadow of Bitcoin. However Litcoin transactions are generally 4x faster than Bitcoin. Any news that affects Bitcoin generally affects Litecoin, as both carry similar characteristics. Therefore, in line with Bitcoin, Litecoin remains range-bound between $220 and $300. Further, Litecoin’s founder was accused of insider trading. That is also a reason for the coin to remain range-bound. Read more here.
Ethereum
Barring other little known altcoins, Ethereum is the most bullish crypto coin currently in the market. It continues to gain market capitalization at an amazing rate. Last week, Ripple coin pushed Ethereum behind to become the number 2 currency by market cap.
However, Ethereum quickly bounced back to take second place again, with a market capitalization of about $137 billion. It seems that Ethereum will soon outgrow Bitcoin to become the number one crypto coin. The crypto community supports Ethereum most than any other coin due to the popularity it has among decentralized application developers. Read more here.
Ripple
After rising sharply to touch a level of about $3.80, Ripple coin lost steam to fall back to a low of $1.50. Sharp rallies are generally followed by profit-booking by speculators and Ripple was no exception to the rule. Another reason for the fall is that CoinMarketCap removed several South Korean exchanges from its listings.
Therefore, the average traded price displayed on the reference portal suddenly fell, causing a panic among traders. Not surprisingly Ripple became the first target of speculators. However, Ripple recovered back a portion of the lost ground after MoneyGram announced its partnership with the former to test the payment network. Read more here.
Counterparty (XCP)
It is a project that started four years back. However, outside the crypto community, the coin was hardly spoken about. Back in October 2017, the coin was trading at about $8, with a market cap of about $22 million. However, today, as of writing this, the coin is trading at $65 levels, with a market capitalization of about $180 million. Most of the trading volume is generated in the Bittrex exchange.
It is the first cryptocurrency to use the proof-of-burn method and is written in an entirely new codebase. The native currency is zero-mined and deflationary. Nearly 2.6 million XCP coins were created in January. It can be used in several industries such as betting, financial derivatives, feeds, and distributed exchange. The coin can be used in places where bitcoin cannot be used. The coin has started rising after the Counterparty foundation was dissolved. It is now a 100% open source project. A number of projects are built on the XCP platform. It is a promising cryptocurrency. Read more here.
Our Forex Trading Plan
Ripple. The charts indicate weakness in the Ripple coin. Ripple is declining after facing resistance at 2.10. The stochastic indicator is also moving downwards. Thus, we expect the downtrend to continue.
We are planning to trade the downtrend by going short near 1.90, with a stop-loss order above 2.25. Minor support exists at 1.75. We will also place a take profit order at 1.20.
Our Binary Options Trading Plan
Ethereum Classic. This altcoin has started rising following the update from developers regarding the Emerald project. Technically, the ETCUSD pair has broken the ascending triangle, as shown in the image below. The major support exists at 38. The Fibonacci levels indicate that the ETCUSD pair is likely to face the next resistance at 63 levels.
Therefore, we are considering investing in a call option offered by a reliable binary broker. The option should remain active until January 22nd and Ethereum Classic should be trading at about $40 in the crypto market.
Disclaimer: Any financial trading analysis offered here is our opinion and is not intended as advice or direction for investors. We cannot guarantee the success of any trades made as a consequence of this article, and we encourage traders to incorporate a strong money management strategy to limit losses when they enter the markets. Please use this article as part of your own research before formulating strategies prior to trading.
