Bitcoin price led a brief bullish rally in the market yesterday, gaining more than $200 in less than 1 hour. Bitcoin used $7,120 as a support while the bulls were eyeing $7,600. At the moment, BTC/USD is trading a bullish flag pattern pending another upside breakout.
It is still unclear what caused the sudden upsurge in Bitcoin on Tuesday 29, however, one of FXSTREET writers, Yohay Elam believes that there is a connection between the political discord in Italy. ‘Italexit’ might have been the boost that took Bitcoin from trading $7,120 to above $7,500. The elections in March resulted in an economic crisis in the country. Italy’s stock prices have plummeted almost similar to the Brexit situation in Great Britain. The money flowing out of Italy’s bonds, the Euro as well as the global stocks could have ended up in the crypto market. Elam Yohay wrote referring to the crisis in Italy, “When the establishment is in crisis, alternatives are sought after.”
However, at the time of writing, Bitcoin price is supported at $7,500. There is a bullish trend in progress which could test $7,600 again. There are a couple of other support areas at $7,440 and $7,400 respectively. The MACD is slightly in the positive region, moreover the Stochastic is above the 70 mark showing that the bulls still have the momentum to push for higher corrections.
BTC/USD 15’ chart
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Ethereum price is up 1.44 percent on the day, although it is facing immediate resistance at $580. Besides, applying the Fibonacci levels shows that the area around $580 is a major hurdle towards $600.
A report in the market says that more than 1,000 decentralized applications have been developed and launched on Ethereum network. This comes after the ‘ConsenSys Community Day’ that took place in Tel Aviv earlier in the week. The event is organized in support of the Ethereum blockchain. Speaking at the conference, Christian Crowley, an analyst from Alethio a company specializing in Ethereum blockchain said that the network has reached 29.2 million addresses that are unique. Moreover, there are more than 100,000 new users on Ethereum network on average daily.
At the moment, Ethereum price is trading between the moving averages support and resistance. The 50 SMA is preventing gains to the upside, while the 100 SMA is supporting the price close to $560 (23.6 percent Fib retracement level). ETH/USD has formed a bullish flag pattern but is still at risk of downward movements. A stronger support, is, however, expected at $520 but $500 will be an overstretch for Ethereum. The Stochastic on the 1-hour chart is moving upwards toward 50 signaling that the buyers still have the momentum to attack $580.
ETH/USD 1-hour chart
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Ripple, the third largest coin by market value, is changing hands at $0.6160, amid quiet trading session. The recovery momentum has faded away on approach to $0.6200 resistance, while 200-SMA (hourly chart) serves as a good short-term support Related: Tech Giants Struggle To Comply With New Privacy Laws
As we reported earlier, two Canadian banks were hacked with over 90,000 accounts compromised. The thieves demand $1M ransom paid in XRP for a safe return of personal data, which is somewhat unusual as hackers traditionally request Bitcoins.
Attackers were going to leak the information if they didn't receive the payment before May 28 2018 11:59PM and probably they did it as the banks were not eager to comply to the requirements.
"Our practice is not to make payments to fraudsters," Bank of Montreal said. "We are focused on protecting and helping our customers."
Meanwhile the community is discussing how such unwanted popularity among hackers may influence XRP price and whether Ripple company should step in and block the transaction. It's an interesting case as it brings us back to a moral choice between immutability and non-intrusion and countering harmful and illegal activities.
XRP/USD, the hourly chart
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By John Isige via FX Street
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