Bitcoin In-Demand, Chinese Traders Flow as Prices Steady above $5,000

bitcoin bulls in control, up 25 percent
Stable coins and OTCs allow Chinese participation

Chinese traders are back. Thanks to OTCs and stable coins, traders can by-pass trade restrictions but at a premium. Overly, their involvement hints of bulls. Because of clear breakouts, it is likely that bitcoin (BTC) would surge to $6,000.

bitcoin Price Analysis

Fundamentals

In China, engaging in cryptocurrency trading is illegal. However, citizens can be holders of the world’s most coveted digital asset. It is now emerging that despite the obstacles placed by the restrictive government, savvy bitcoin enthusiasts can still invest and profit from the asset’s fluctuation.

To do so, CN Ledger, a Twitter user, says that most do buy stable coins as USDT and later convert them into bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies via the OTC market. The demand for the stable coin force traders to buy BTC at a premium since OTCs avail USDT at 7 CNY against the normal 6.7 CNY against the USD.

1/ Chinese markets reveal strong buys. OTC (Over-The-Counter) trades, the almost only way to buy bitcoin with fiat in China, showing considerable $ premium (1 USDT = 7 CNY) over the official rate of 1 USD = 6.7 CNY. pic.twitter.com/bd0n0DGFVU

— cnLedger (@cnLedger) April 8, 2019

The blanket ban on cryptocurrency trading and investment in ICOs did cut out liquidity from tech-embracing Chinese audience attributed to the first pump that saw bitcoin prices rally from cents to above $1.

Aside from their involvement, Chinese miners play a crucial role in securing the network. As such, the revelation that they are exposed mean the demand of bitcoin is real. Because of this, prices will likely print higher in days ahead. After all, Paul Schmidt, a renowned technical analyst expects another wave of higher highs to thrust prices towards $10,000 or higher in coming weeks.

Candlestick Arrangement

All the same, while there is excitement that citizens from the second largest economy are investing in bitcoin, it appears as if upside momentum is waning. At the time of press, bitcoin (BTC) is up 25 percent from last week’s close but stable in the previous day.

After last week’s steady gains, bulls could slow down allowing for a natural correction back to $4,700—$5,000 zones. That pullback shall allow traders to ramp up, feeding the next wave of higher highs towards $6,000—our immediate resistance level.

After all, the trend is clear, and Bitcoin (BTC) is trending within a bullish breakout pattern after closing above the 5-month resistance trend line visible in the weekly chart.

Technical Indicator

Last week’s volumes were humongous—153k against 78k averages– and found our trade inclination. However, in the daily chart, volumes are thin and shrinking. But unless otherwise, prices drop with equally high transaction levels exceeding 54k of Apr 2, we shall maintain a bullish outlook with targets at $6,000.

Chart courtesy of Trading View

Published at Mon, 08 Apr 2019 17:00:20 +0000

April 3, 2017

Is Ripple Price Being Fueled by Confused Investors?

Riding the wave of recent positive news for Ripple, the XRP token is roaring with a 200% price surge over the weekend as the cryptocurrency market is reaching higher highs. But is Ripple for real or is it being fueled by confusion among new investors?

Is Ripple For Real?

Jokes were abound this weekend as the cryptocurrency industry embraced April Fool’s Day in usual fashion. Meanwhile, Ripple experienced a serious surge with its market cap soaring from $360,000 USD to over $2.3 billion.

The price of Ripple XRP token experienced a whopping seven-fold increase in the past few days, and easily outperformed recent stalwarts such as Dash, Monero and the SegWit hopeful Litecoin in the past week. Even bitcoin, which managed to break the $1,100 barrier on news of becoming a legal form of payment in Japan, could not match yesterday’s 200% rise.

The rise comes amid news of Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ recently joining Ripple’s Interbank Group for Global Payments Based on Distributed Financial Technology.

“We are pleased to join Ripple’s Global Payments Steering Group,” said Hirofumi Aihara, General Manager, MUFG Digital Innovation Division. “…Collaborating with other members of GPSG, MUFG will contribute to the creation of standards for Ripple’s network.”

Ripple is positioning itself as a cheaper payment network, particularly for large banks and enterprises, with a much higher throughput compared to bitcoin. CEO Brad Garlinghouse explained that Ripple could rival traditional systems such as Visa with nearly 70K transactions in just 3.7 seconds and at a lower cost than bitcoin.

3. Avg XRP fee: $0.00031. Avg BTC fee: $0.48. #fasterandcheaper

— Brad Garlinghouse (@bgarlinghouse) March 31, 2017

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However, the token might be setting up for a reality check as some believe the price surge has been fueled by a “misunderstanding.” Critics on Bitcointalk.org reacted to the meteoric rise, pointing out that Ripple, the company, is not the same as the XRP token and its Ripple Consensus ledger.

According to Ripple, its Global Payments Steering Group (GSPG) is where “leading banks are working with Ripple to reduce the time and cost of settlement, while also enabling new types of high-volume, low-value global transactions.”

By coming together to form the GSPG, these banks are laying the foundation for a new payments network, underpinned by Ripple’s solutions and supported by rules and governance for global settlement.

In other words, new demand for the XRP token could merely be speculative at this point as banks would be able to bypass transactions on the Ripple Consensus Ledger with their own Ripple-inspired platforms.

The commentator also noted:

Check the volumes, [Poloniex] currently stands for $150M+ volume, RCL only 20. What now is happening is a pump, driven by people misunderstanding the news.

The Rise and Rise of Cryptocurrencies

Overall, April is getting off to a hot start for cryptocurrencies as the total market capitalization is now a record $27 billion. It has been on an uptrend, particularly accelerating as of late following the rejection of the COIN bitcoin ETF in mid-March.

Though Bitcoin price has remained relatively stable oscillating between $900 and $1,200 amid scaling uncertainty, its overall dominance of the market has seen a huge drop from 84% to 68%.

Nevertheless, while the rejection of the first ever ETF might be seen as a setback for bitcoin to some, the media attention received in the run-up to the decision appears to have attracted new investors to the crypto space as a whole.

What is the real cause for Ripple’s price rise? Is bitcoin waning dominance a temporary phenomenon? Let us know in the comments below!

Images courtesy of coinmarketcap.com, Shutterstock, twitter, MUFG

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