The price of Bitcoin noted a small uptick in the past day thanks to an increased buyer interest in the cryptocurrency, but all is not well, as the trading market is still not fully pro-buy. But the good news is that the panic that struck the trading market during last week seems gone, judging by the low trading volume that materialized in the aftermath of the PBOC investigations.
Other positive news that this week brought was that of an increased interest in Bitcoin from another Asian market (apart from China) – Japan. Namely, as the Merkle reports, Singapore Bitcoin exchange Quoine has rapidly grown into one of the top 5 BTC exchanges in the world according to trading volume, thanks to a major uptick in JPY (Japanese Yen) trades.
In fact, the currency exchange has grown so fast that it now poses a future threat to bitFlyer- the number one JPY to BTC exchange. But while their competition may be noteworthy, the more important conclusion here is that a new strong Japanese Bitcoin market is in the making, which is always good news for every Bitcoin user who hopes to see their cryptocurrency keep growing.
Bull Pressure Returns on Market; where Now?
This weekend was fairly quiet in terms of trading, with no particular breakouts or high interest visible in the market. After finishing near to $820 on Friday night, the biggest price dip was noted on Sunday evening when the price dropped down to $808.66, only to recover within a couple of hours and to start stabilizing around the current $820 range.
The trading volume coincidently reflected the Friday price dips, when it was highest, while ever since Saturday it has consistently remained below $100 million. It is currently quite low at $70,880,000, while the market cap is at $13.3 billion.
Our technical analysis shows that buyers are picking pace, although not a very strong one since the overall picture is still neutral. Our technical oscillators are generally pro-buy, with 6 oscillators sending a buying signal and only 1 being pro sell. On the other hand, the moving averages are pro sell, with 7 being in the sell zone, while only 5 are pro buy.
Moving into the specifics, the Stochastic is moving into the oversold zone, which signals a drop in selling pressure is in the making. But while this is a good sign, the SMA 100 has also dropped below the SMA200, hinting at a downward path. The overall conclusion is that similar force is being exerted from both sides, which is likely to lead the price into further consolidation, unless a change in tides happens.
Californian College Held Ransom for Bitcoins
In other Bitcoin news, a new case of university Bitcoin ransomware attack has surfaced this week, one involving the Loss Angeles Valley College. According to currently disclosed information, the college’s entire computer infrastructure was frozen by cyberattackers who left a warning note that the college has 7 days to pay $28,000 worth of Bitcoins, if they didn’t want to lose their files.
The attackers took hold of their electronic system by encrypting all their files with a “private key” that was later given after the ransom was paid. The payment was made due to the better cost efficiency of settling the ransom rather than rebuilding an entirely new system. As of now, the computer system is back up, while the college is to launch further investigations into the origin of the attack.