We’re right at the middle of the week with Bitcoin’s price still struggling to stay into one range thanks to regrouped buyer pressure on the market that sent the price back over $900, although briefly, less than a week after it plunged down to $755. Once again, it’s hard not to admire Bitcoin’s trading profitability, which in this case is large for those patient enough to wait for the market storms to pass.
What’s interesting to note though is that the price boost comes so close to the inauguration of future U.S. President, Donald Trump, who many have said will likely to have a profound impact on Bitcoin’s value. From day one of becoming President Elect, he sent the price up by $30 dollars, most presumably due to fears of insecurity and restrictions that his administration was expected to bring.
However, while some have made outrageous predictions about Trump’s effect on the price, for now the reality remains more grounded, unless he makes drastic moves that can send the markets spiraling down or up. Thus, it always pays out to keep an eye on the U.S. government, especially one that’s run by Trump.
Sellers Return to Bitcoin Market
After the early morning hours saw the price jump for nearly $20, during the past few it has reversed slightly and started to move within the $885-890 range. The lowest point since our last update was yesterday afternoon, when the price dipped down to $870, while the highest it got was this morning, when it hit $908.05.
It seems that Trump’s inauguration might have really done the trick because the trading volume doubled in size yesterday, which, coincidentally, took the price up. But since morning it has been on the decline, so don’t get your hopes up too much. It is now at $126,895,000, while the market cap is up again, at $14.4 billion.
Our technical analysis shows that the market is losing its bullish momentum. Where 5 hours it was heavily into buying, 7 out of 12 moving averages are now pro-sell, along with 3 technical oscillators. The long term SMA 100 has moved past the SMA 200, which shows that there is less resistance on the upside and the RSI and Williams %R already show Bitcoins are being oversold, so there’s still hope.
From the current state of the market, the overall conclusion is that the price is headed for a negative correction, if the seller pressure persists. With declining volume and overall loss of buyer pressure, the price doesn’t seem ripe for another boost, at this time.
Central Bank of Nigeria Warns Against Bitcoins
In other news from the Bitcoin world, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has issued a statement aimed at Nigerian citizens against using any virtual currency, including Bitcoins. The reason, according to them, was that such currencies are mainly used to finance terrorist acts and launder money due to their inherent anonymity, and that they were also not a legal tender in the country.
The statements also warns banks and other financial institutions that they are obliged, until a new regulation is issued, to ensure they don’t hold or trade in any virtual currencies but also that they exercise effective anti-money laundering controls over existing virtual currency exchangers. This, as the statement reads, will involve customer ID and verification as well as monitoring of transfers.
The CBN also advises banks to immediately report any suspicious money transfers to the Nigerian finance Intelligence Unit (NFIU) and warns anyone who engages with Bitcoins that they will be doing it at their own risk.