Good news for Bitcoin traders. We’re starting the week with a positive breakthrough from the $630 range of the past two weeks, with the current price consolidating around $655. The biggest push happened during the weekend when the price saw a $19 jump and at one time even went over $660. Will the value hold or will we see a reverse back below the previous range will be up to the trading market, which for now shows mixed signals.
In other news from the Bitcoin world, The Indian Narcotics Control Bureau (INCB) have recently announced that they will be seizing 500 Bitcoins in a police raid against dark-web drug trafficking rings. The INCB are investigating three different drug syndicates who have been using darkweb markets and Bitcoins to traffic party drugs around India.
For the time being, the Bureau is not giving any more details on the operation or the criminal rings involved as the seizure is yet to be conducted. Since this is the first time that an Indian criminal agency will be seizing digital currency, the Bureau is still preparing the legal grounds for authorizing the seizure and prefers to keep as many details as they can undisclosed.
Bitcoin up by Nearly $20; Will it Hold?
For the second time this month we are starting the week with a major price boost that opens the door for many questions, the key being will the price consolidate, at least, and not reverse back to the previous range?
For the past 24 hours, we’ve seen the price stabilize close to the $655 mark, with minor volatility. After the price boost, the trading volume has subsided and is once again on familiar grounds, with the current value being $53,012,500. The market cap, on the other hand, is notably higher at $10.4 billion – a normal value considering the price boost.
The trading situation shows no clear path for now, with the current overall signal being neutral. The technical oscillators indicate that the market is inclined towards selling, with the Stochastic and 2 more indicators even showing that the Bitcoin is “oversold”. On the other hand, the moving averages send a neutral signal, with 6 out of 12 moving averages indicating a buying trend and 6 being pro-sell. However, the SMA 100 is above the long-term SMA 200, which hints at a further growth upwards.
The current situation is suggesting a price consolidation, at least, with further breaks depending on the market trends. If the selling pressure continues, we might see the price go back to previous support just below $630. As always, a close look out on the market is advised.
British Banks Stock Up on Bitcoin for Ransoms
A number of undisclosed major London-based banks are building up their own BTC funds as a protection against hacker attacks, the Guardian reports. According to Dr. Simon Moores, chairman of the international e-Crime Congress, due to previous ferocious hacker attacks banks are now under the impression that it’s cheaper to pay a Bitcoin ransom than suffer the damage of hack attacks.
The main reason why financial institutions are prepping up to handle eventual attacks by themselves is due to the inability of the law enforcement units to cope with the ever-expanding number of attacks that have been going on in the past months. Previous instances have left many companies to suffer profit and user loses, which to many of the unidentified banks is more expensive than having to pay ransom.