We’re starting off the week with little changes since Friday, as Bitcoin price keeps moving within the $730-735 range. As we discussed in our last update, the price consolidated around $735 with minor changes thanks to the Thanksgiving break of the US market. But with another fresh start of the week eyes are once again on the market, with new hopes of price breaks above the current range. However, at this time, a big push upward is not on the horizon, according to the technical market data.
In other news from the Bitcoin world, the increasing demand for Bitcoin in India has inspired India’s most popular Bitcoin exchange Unocoin to introduce a native mobile app for iOS and Android phones. Following government attempts to curb black money by demonetizing small Rupee notes and ban gold import, the interest for Bitcoin in India has massively expanded, prompting Unocoin to release a new level of convenience for their users.
The new app has been in development for over a month and it will now give Unocoin users a chance to send/receive and buy/sell Bitcoins from their smartphones, but also have access to other features like price updates.
Bitcoin at $730; Sellers Taking Lead
The Bitcoin trading market had expectedly remained stagnant during this weekend, resulting in fewer surprises than the last two weeks. The highest the price got was early Saturday morning, when it climbed briefly to $738.32, while the lowest point was reached this morning, when the price briefly dipped down to $725.39. As of now, it’s near $731.
The holiday break brought one of the lowest instances of market traffic in a while, with the trading volume barely exceeding $50 million. But with the weekend over, the volume has been slowly picking up and now amounts to $57,908,600. The increase in interest, as always, signals a further price correction, the direction of which will be dictated by the trading winds.
As the technical analysis shows, the market is pro-sell, with the all 12 moving averages and 3 out 12 technical oscillators in the sell zone. The long term SMA 100 is below the SMA 200, which indicates that the likelier path is to the downside. If the seller pressure continues, we might see a test of the $730 support. But if buyers regroup, as they thus far have, a break from $735 is possible. As always, a close lookout for market changes is advised to all traders.
San Francisco Transport Victim of Ransomware Attack
San Francisco locals were able to use the public transportation system for free this weekend, thanks to the efforts of a group of hackers that targeted the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (Muni). As reported by the BBC, the transport authority was hit with a ransomware attack from hackers asking for a total of 100 BTC.
The hackers hijacked the computer system of the agency, displaying a uniform message on every screen that informed Muni to contact a Yandex e-mail account for a key to decrypt their data. A total of 2,000 machines were hacked, while customers’ private information remained safe, according to an agency spokesman. The trains remained fully operational and unaffected by the attack.
Muni is in charge of the city’s entire transportation network, including the buses, trains, trams and cable cars. The agency was able to bring the machines up on Sunday, sharing no information on whether the attack was contained or not. According to a spokesman, an investigation is still in order, so any details will not be revealed at this time.