Why Bitcoin (BTC) is in a Free Fall and the Key Support Levels to Watch

Bitcoin (BTC) has dropped hard in the last 12 hours, breaking several support zones in the process.

In brief:

• Earlier today, Bitcoin (BTC) was trading at $7,900.
• The King of Crypto seems to be in a free-fall associated with the global impact of the Coronavirus.
• Key support zones have been lost, including $7,800, $7,500, $7,300, $7100, $6,900, $6,500, $6,300, $6,100 and $5,800.

Bitcoin (BTC) is in a free-fall since 00:00 UTC. The first few minutes of March 12th, 2020, found the King of Crypto trading at $7,900 with relatively good support at the $7,800 area. However, with the battle against the Coronavirus ongoing on a global scale and the lockdown of Italy and quarantine measures across Europe and the United States, things look thick for not only the crypto markets but the general global economy. BTC is currently trading at $5,500 at the time of writing this.

Key Bitcoin Support Levels Lost in an Instant

In approximately 12 hours, Bitcoin (BTC) has lost the following key support zones: $7,800, $7,500, $7,300, $7100, $6,900, $6,500, $6,300, $6,100 and $5,800. Further checking the daily chart, the only support levels left, are $5,500, $5,300, $5,100 and $4,900 before we retest levels in the lower $4,000. If it comes to the latter situation, Bitcoin (BTC) will probably retest December 2018 levels in the $3,000 range.

Also to note, is that the current price of BTC is below the 50 (white) and 100 (yellow) daily moving average as illustrated in the chart below.

Why Bitcoin is in a Free-fall

It is self evident that the global financial markets are in turmoil due to the following reasons:

• The rapid spread of the Coronavirus from its epicenter in Wuhan.
• Manufacturing in China on a standstill due to quarantine measures in the country.
• Oil price wars between Saudi Arabia and Russia.
• The World Health Organization officially categorizing the Coronavirus as a pandemic.
• Italy on total lockdown to curb the spread of the pandemic.
• President Trump halting air-travel between the United States and Europe.
• Multiple schools closing in the United States and Europe.
• The NBA being suspended after a Utah Jazz player tested positive with COVID19.
• Hollywood star, Tom Hanks, and his wife, announcing they have contracted the virus.

In summary, the Coronavirus effect on the global economies has been the ultimate test for Bitcoin since its first block was mined in 2009. In a period of one week, we have confirmed that the digital asset is heavily correlated to the traditional stock markets as well as global events associated with the Coronavirus.

Key Levels to Watch for Bitcoin (BTC)

As earlier mentioned, Bitcoin (BTC) is on a trajectory to retest support levels at $5,300, $5,100 and $4,900. If these areas do not hold for the King of Crypto, we will be looking at situations similar to December 2018 where BTC bottomed out around $3,100. However, there is a slight possibility that it could go lower and retest June 2017 levels of $2,100.

(Image courtesy of Kamil Pietrzak on Unsplash)

Disclaimer: This article is not meant to give financial advice. Any additional opinion herein is purely the author’s and does not represent the opinion of Ethereum World News or any of its other writers. Please carry out your own research before investing in any of the numerous cryptocurrencies available. Thank you.

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Original article posted on the EthereumWorldNews.com site, by John P. Njui.

Article re-posted on Markethive by Jeffrey Sloe

Why Bitcoin (BTC) and Crypto Provide the Best Alternative to Banknotes Aiding in the Spread of the Coronavirus

Physical money has been linked to the spread of the Coronavirus. Using Bitcoin (BTC) and cryptocurrencies might reduce the risk of contracting the virus.

In summary:

• Contaminated banknotes have been linked to the spread of the Coronavirus.
• The World Health Organization has advised the use of contactless payments to avoid chances of contracting the virus.
• China was the first country to establish a link between banknotes and the spread of the Coronavirus.
• Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptos can provide an alternative to paying with physical cash.

Earlier this year, Chinese banks were the first to start disinfecting banknotes through the use of ultraviolet light or high temperature in an attempt to stop the rapid spread of the Coronavirus in the country. A spokesperson of the World Health Organization has now advised the use of contactless payments in a bid to curb the spread of the Coronavirus through contaminated money. The Bank of England has also confirmed that "dirty money" can transfer bacteria and viruses to owners and end recipients during transactions. With the Coronavirus having a global infection rate of 121,175 confirmed cases and claiming the lives of 4,377 individuals at the time of writing this, Bitcoin (BTC) and in general, all cryptocurrencies, provide an alternative to using physical banknotes for the payment of goods and services.

Bitcoin (BTC) and Crypto Provide the Best Alternative

The exchange of BTC and other cryptocurrencies such as ETH, XRP, and LTC, is truly a contactless event. All the user needs is the corresponding address of the person they want to pay. They can also scan QR codes that are embedded with the aforementioned crypto address of the recipient.

Payment processing apps that offer merchant services such as Pundi X, Bitpay, CoinPayments and Coinbase Commerce, provide businesses with avenues of accepting Bitcoin and other cryptos for their online and onsite stores. This, in turn, bypasses the need to use physical cash for the payment of goods and services.

Whether paying directly via the use of a crypto address or through a crypto merchant service provider, going completely contactless will lessen the risk of contracting the Coronavirus through potentially contaminated banknotes in circulation. As a result, the risk of contracting the infection is drastically reduced.

The use of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies will also bolster the awareness that digital assets are legal tender. Countries such as France, Germany, Australia, Japan and South Korea, have acknowledged that BTC and other cryptocurrencies are a form of money. Therefore, citizens of these countries that are also hard hit by the Coronavirus, can instantly switch to contactless payments through digital assets.

(Image courtesy of Unsplash.com)

Disclaimer: This article is not meant to give financial advice. Any additional opinion herein is purely the author’s and does not represent the opinion of Ethereum World News or any of its other writers. Please carry out your own research before investing in any of the numerous cryptocurrencies available. Thank you.

Markethive Advertisement

Original article posted on the EthereumWorldNews.com site, by John P. Njui.

Article re-posted on Markethive by Jeffrey Sloe

Bitcoin Gains Amid Stock Market Crash

By Joji Xavier | Published: 3/6/2020 10:01 AM ET

Bitcoin stayed strong when the equity markets across the world crashed this week over coronavirus concerns.

Unlike the previous week, when the most popular cryptocurrency reflected the weakness in shares and bond yields, Bitcoin m

From $8500 last Friday, it has added $500 to its value.

Bitcon is trading at $9079 as of this writing, 7 percent up from the month’s opening price.

Bitcoin’s downward journey continued until the last day of February. It was for the first time since 2014 that it failed to make gains in that month. But the trend reversed after it entered the new month.

Ether also improved its strength in the past seven days.

From $234 last Friday, the second most popular cryptocurrency rose to $240, nearly 6 percent increase in its value.

Currently, Ether is trading at $237.

On Friday, Bitcoin has a market capitalization of $166.12 billion, and a 24-hour trade volume of $40 billion, according to CoinMarketCap.

Ether has a market of capitalization $26.12 billion, and a 24 hour trade volume of $19 billion.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

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Article written by an RTT News Staff Writer, and posted on the RTT News.com website.

Article reposted on Markethive by Jeffrey Sloe

Bitcoin Not Affected as US Fed Prints Equivalent of 9.8M BTC in 1 Day

Image courtesy of CoinTelegraph

            MARCH 07, 2020

The United States Federal Reserve has funneled the equivalent of half the entire Bitcoin (BTC) supply into the economy — but banks want even more money.

As the New York Fed confirmed on its website, so-called repurchase operations, or “repos,” totalled $89 billion on March 5 alone.

Coronavirus sparks liquidity scum

Repos are designed to provide temporary liquidity to lenders. As Cointelegraph previously noted, the practice is akin to conjuring fiat value out of thin air.

The Fed was reacting to economic weakness in the face of coronavirus, having already cut its interest rate target significantly this month.

Thursday's liquidity spree was equal in value to approximately 9.8 million BTC — over half the total mined supply.

The overall demand for repo cash in recent weeks has meanwhile exceeded even the Fed's own limit, the Wall Street Journal added on Friday.

Bitcoin commentators were already quick to sound the alarm over the health of the fiat economy, based on money that has no intrinsic value and which is not backed by any verifiable asset.

“Cut interest rates and print money. These are the tools of central banks,” Morgan Creek Digital co-founder Anthony Pompliano summarized last week.

More dollars, not more value

The coronavirus outbreak has highlighted the systemic instabilities of traditional markets. Stocks have seen historic volatility, while rate decreases and a drop in oil consumption saw many countries' fiat currencies hemorrhage value.

Such fragility puts “hard” money such as Bitcoin in the spotlight. In a world which uses money with a verifiably limited supply which is impossible to manipulate, there is neither a need for foreign exchange markets, nor for “management” of the economy by central banks.

Bitcoin's reliable supply means that it has a high stock-to-flow ratio. The creator of an accompanying model using stock-to-flow has shown that it is co-integrated with Bitcoin's price and that that should, therefore, hit $100,000 at some point in 2021.

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Original article posted on the CoinTelegraph.com site, by William Suberg.

Article re-posted on Markethive by Jeffrey Sloe

'You OK Boomer?' Gold Sees Biggest Loss Since 2013 as Bitcoin Steadies

Image courtesy of CoinTelegraph

            FEB 29, 2020

Bitcoin (BTC) saw a difficult week as it hit one-month lows, but on gold markets, traders were nursing the biggest daily falls in over seven years.

According to data tracking XAU/USD on Feb. 29, Friday saw the precious metal's worst 24-hour drop since 2013.

Gold drops 7% in 5 days after coronavirus sell-off

Over the past five days, gold broadly succumbed to the sell-offs affecting traditional markets due to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak. Between Feb. 24 and Feb. 29, XAU/USD lost a total of 7.3% before a slight rebound.

The fragile performance puts gold roughly on par with "digital gold," Bitcoin, the weekly losses for which currently stand at around 9%.

Gold year-to-date chart. Source: TradingView

As Cointelegraph reported, after rebounding from 4-week lows of $8,450, the largest cryptocurrency returned to its forecast average price and has since attempted to reclaim its 200-day moving average near $8,800.

While gold remained steadfast in a plummeting stock market, its proponents had cause for celebration. Gold bug and infamous Bitcoin skeptic, Peter Schiff, took the opportunity to rubbish those who believed BTC could act as a safe haven.

Schiff: gold "not invalidated"

Following the U-turn in its fortunes, Schiff remained convinced in gold's promise, while acknowledging such drops were "very rare."

"Today's 4% drop in gold is a very rare move in a single day. But it does happen occasionally," he wrote in a tweet on Friday.

"However a 4% drop in @Bitcoin is quite common, which often posts daily declines much larger. Today's move doesn't invalidate gold's safe haven or long-term store of value status."

Bitcoin figures, notably Schiff's sparring partner Morgan Creek Digital co-founder Anthony Pompliano, had wryly suggested that someone should "check on" him as gold's own health waned.

Stock market misery meanwhile continues after the Dow Jones suffered its own record-breaking daily loss on Wednesday. Traders have since overwhelmingly bet on the United States Federal Reserve cutting its short-term interest rate target significantly in 2020.

Original article posted on the CoinTelegraph.com site, by William Suberg.

Article re-posted on Markethive by Jeffrey Sloe

BITCOIN (BTC) DROPS TO $9,350 AS DOW JONES FALTERS, BUT BULLS ARE STILL HOPEFUL

Nick Chong   •   February 25, 2020

Over the past few hours, Bitcoin (BTC) has started to tank lower once again, reaching $9,350 just an hour or two ago on some exchanges. The asset has since seen a slight bounce, returning to $9,400.

This means that in the past 24 hours, the price of the leading cryptocurrency has fallen by 3.25%, crushed after reaching $10,000 on the weekend for just a brief moment.

Bitcoin’s weakness comes amid similar weakness in the traditional stock market, with the leading indices in the Dow Jones, S&P 500, and Nasdaq 100 recently selling off amid fears of the coronavirus spreading into the West and having a substantial economic impact.

Yesterday, the Dow Jones lost 1,000 points, plunging by 4%. It just so happened that BTC fell by a similar amount. Today, the same index is down 1%, while Bitcoin is also down.

Some have suggested that despite the cryptocurrency being classified by “digital gold” as many economists, it remains an asset that performs well in risk-on environments, meaning the stock sell-off hasn’t been conducive to the success of Bitcoin.

Not All Hope Is Lost for Bitcoin

While the recent drop obviously isn’t good for Bitcoin investors, for it liquidated over $40 million worth of BitMEX long positions, some are hopeful that a bullish bounce may soon be in store for this nascent market.

Quantum Economics’ Mati Greenspan remarked that BTC is currently trading in a symmetrical triangle-esque formation, with prices consolidating towards the apex. Symmetrical triangles are often seen as continuations higher when the leading price action is an uptrend (and vice-versa).

There’s also this chart from chartist Nunya Bizniz, which shows BTC’s price action on a weekly basis over the past four years. It suggests that Bitcoin has been trading in a clear logarithmic uptrend the entire time, with the asset bouncing off the support depicted on at least seven separate occasions.

History repeating will see BTC bounce at the uptrend, which is currently around $8,800-$9,000, depending on how fast the price gets there. This is important as bounces off this growth level are historically what led the asset into bull markets.

There have been some fears of a deeper correction though, with some analysts eyeing $8,500, as there exists a CME futures gap at that price, and some targeting even lower prices.

Original article posted on the EthereumWorldNews.com site, by Nick Chong.

Article re-posted on Markethive by Jeffrey Sloe