We’re starting off the week with the price of Bitcoin back at $1,200 after Sunday trading pushed it back to former highs, despite the trading market noting a relatively milder interest during the weekend. Bitcoin’s price has been consolidating at this range for nearly a full day now, while current indicators suggest there is still room for further growth.
In other interesting news, the Wall Street Journal is again tackling on the issue of Bitcoin as an investment in traditional exchange traded funds and, unsurprisingly, takes a more traditional stance towards regulated money markets. Namely, the news portal posted an article regarding the denial of the two Bitcoin ETFs and suggesting there are better trade fund opportunities lying with fiat currencies.
The article suggests the same universal arguments that there is regulation and more liquidity with fiat money and no shortage like in the Bitcoin market, once again hinting that the skepticism about Bitcoin as a traditional investment is still here. Yet, the price of the cryptocurrency stays more stable than ever before.
Market Remains Pro-Buy
During the past three days since our last update, the price of Bitcoin has remained, for most part, around the $1,180 level. The highest peak was hit last night, when the price went up to $1211.77, while the lowest point of $1182.19 was reached early Saturday morning.
One noteworthy change was that the high trading volumes have finally subsided, although not entirely, with the current volume being $247,390,000, while the market cap has grown to $19.2 billion.
Our technical analysis shows that the trading market remains mostly pro-buy, although the signals indicate an almost split picture. Out of 12 moving averages, 8 are in the buy zone with 5 out of 12 technical oscillators also selling a buying signal. The RSI is already in the oversold zone, hinting that sellers are getting tired, while the SMA 100 is safely above the SMA 200, showing there’s less resistance to the upside path.
From the current stance, the price seems to be consolidating around the $1,210 level, with a slower growth outside of this range possible due to the overall buying mood. However, if sellers prevail and push the price beyond $1,180 we might see a bigger rollover. So keep your eyes out for any changes.
India to Consider Banning Bitcoin
Local sources in India confirm that the Indian government is to hold a panel on April 20th to discuss the future of Bitcoin in the country. The panel will represent the findings of a study from an inter-ministerial committee, which is to offer their opinion about the legality of the cryptocurrency by the said date, while government sources say that is unlikely a final decision will be made by then.
According to the sources, the government is concerned that Bitcoins are being misused for storing unregistered money after the use of cryptocurrency surged following India’s demonetization efforts. If the government decides to make Bitcoins illegal, the decision will consequently force the local exchanges into closing, a result which local experts believe will do nothing to curb illegal activities.
During the past months, the RBI (Reserve Bank of India) and the government have voiced multiple warnings about the use of Bitcoin for illegal activities like tax evasion and money laundering, but there were no threats that the currency will be entirely banned. Thus, what is certain at this time is that there will be more discussions to follow the April 20th panel, with a decision on how to resolve the problem of the illegal use of Bitcoins in India likely to come soon.