The cryptocurrency market continues to steadily rise, despite some intraday downtrends that arise due to minor negative news.
The most notable developments in the past few days include the Swedish government’s short-listing (19 out of 40) of IOTA (IOT) cryptocurrency for its e-krona digital currency project, South Korea’s plan to regulate cryptocurrencies in a manner similar to New York (offers Bitlicense), Switzerland financial authority FINMA’s guidelines for ICOs, surprising reports revealing that Bank of America leads the list of institutions which have filed blockchain-related patents (45 so far), and CFTC’s announcement offering 10% to 30% bounty to informers of pump-and-dump schemes. Read more here.
Bitcoin (BTC)
The cryptocurrencies leader crossed above the psychological level of $10,000, after staying below that level for nearly two weeks. The rally was aided by the launch of cryptocurrency mining by Z.com Cloud Mining, a European subsidiary of Japan’s tech conglomerate GMO Internet Group.
Similarly, Iron Bridge Resources (TSX: IBR), a Toronto stock exchange-listed oil & gas exploration company announced the launch of a subsidiary named Iron Chain Technology (ICT) to mine cryptocurrencies using the excess power produced from natural gas. Read more here.
Ripple (XRP)
The coin that drives the real-time gross settlement system in the xRapid platform of Ripple, a San Francisco-based company, continues to trade around $1. The company has signed a few more solid deals in the past week. This includes a contract with the UAE exchange and the central bank of Saudi Arabia.
Ripple is also expected to gain more support as the second-largest public sector bank reported a $1.70 billion scam orchestrated through the SWIFT network. Furthermore, Russia has also announced that its central bank has lost around $6 million to hackers. Ripple is expected to replace the SWIFT network completely in the next few years. Read more here and here.
Ethereum Classic (ETC)
Quite often in the cryptocurrency market, when Bitcoin rises bullish altcoins will move up and avoid declining when Bitcoin declines. That will improve the ratio between the Bitcoin and the corresponding bullish altcoin. Ethereum Classic is probably the only altcoin that has gained tremendously against Bitcoin in the past two weeks.
In July 2016, after Ethereum (ETH) split away from the original chain, which is the Ethereum Classic, many people had expected Ethereum Classic to disappear. However, trading and mining have never stopped until now. Ethereum Classic also made a “Declaration of Independence” saying that the developers believe in a decentralized, permission-less, censorship-resistant blockchain. The developers also proclaimed that Ethereum Classic as a world computer cannot be shut down and smart contracts cannot be reversed.
The core principle as mentioned in the Declaration of Independence is: “Code is law; there shall be no changes to the Ethereum Classic code that violate the properties of immutability, fungibility, or sanctity of the ledger; transactions or ledger history cannot for any reason be reversed or modified.”
The Ethereum Foundation, however, did not accept the principles, and both teams are not involved in any common project. The Ethereum Classic (ETC) is backed by software engineers with more than a decade of experience in programming. They intentionally kept cool and held a low profile. That aligns well with their philosophy of remaining a totally decentralized structure.
It is now starting to pay. Investors who are looking for an immutable blockchain continue to be drawn towards Ethereum Classic and that has turned the crypto coin bullish. The team is also going to launch the Callisto Network Project. All holders of ETC coin will get Callisto (CLO) coin for free on a 1:1 basis.
Our Forex Trading Plan
Ethereum. The Classic Ethereum chain remains bullish in the chart provided below. The MACD histogram reading is increasing and the cryptocurrency is moving above the 50-day moving average. The coin also has strong support at 27. Therefore, we are expecting Ethereum Classic to rally further in the days ahead.
We may use our trading account with one of the Forex brokers listed here to trade the uptrend. The intended long position will be opened near 30, with a stop-loss order below 27. We will exit when the price of ETC trades near $40.
Our Forex Trading Plan
Litecoin. Litecoin has gained nearly $60 in the past one week to trade at $220 levels. The Litecoin network is expected to undergo a hard fork today (February 19th) and result in the creation of Litecoin Cash (LCC). We anticipate a breakout to begin, following the completion of the hard fork. Technically, Litecoin is consolidating between 210 and 220. The momentum indicator has crossed above the reading of 100 only on Thursday last week. Therefore, we can expect another round of uptrend in the crypto coin.
We prefer to trade the uptrend by investing a portion of our surplus money in a call option contract. Before parking our funds, we would negotiate with the chosen binary broker for a contract valid until February 26th. Furthermore, we may enter only when Litecoin trades near $210 in the cryptocurrency 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.
