Bitcoin, Ether, XRP Weekly Market Update: October 11, 2018

Bitcoin managed to hold its ground and defend the $6,500 level on October 4, 2018, closing the day with a $90 gain. BTC then moved above $6,600 on October 5 and stopped at $6,640 – its second green day in a row.

BTC-USD

In a series of documents, published on October 4, the United States Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced it will begin reviewing Bitcoin ETF applications from ProShares, Direxion, and GraniteShares, as soon as October 26. The SEC already rejected these applications in August, promising to make another review before allowing exchange operators to list Bitcoin ETF products.

European Union’s securities watchdog, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), will be reviewing every ICO and decide if to regulate it or not on a case-by-case basis according to a report by Reuters. Steven Maijoor, chair of ESMA, said he was examining how ICOs fit into existing regulation and how they affect competition on the broader capital raising sector.

At the same time, The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) has issued the country’s first cryptocurrency asset management license to a crypto investment fund on October 9. According to the announcement, Crypto Fund, a Crypto Finance AG subsidiary, will receive a license that will permit it to legally offer a broad spectrum of collective investment products that track bitcoin and other crypto assets, including domestic funds. The fund has reportedly, until now, only been able to distribute offshore-based cryptocurrency funds under FINMA rules.

Bitcoin was trading in the $6,600 to $6,650 zone during the weekend of October 6 to 7. The pioneer cryptocurrency dropped back down to $6,600 on October 6 and made a slight move upwards on the next day, keeping the price above the mentioned level. The successful defense suggested further towards $6,800 and $7,000. The biggest cryptocurrency was almost flat for the week with no significant price changes during that period. The world saw a myriad of other news updates affecting the entire crypto ecosystem.

Gemini (founded by the Winklevoss twins) partnered with banking giant AON to provide insurance coverage for their digital assets. The insurance will be provided through a consortium of insurers arranged by Aon.

Another cryptocurrency marketplace, Circle, agreed to acquire crowdfunding firm SeedInvest to help startups issue digital tokens and allow its customers to trade a wider variety of coins. SeedInvest helps private companies raise money from individuals on the internet and Circle plans to use it to do the same with crypto assets.

The new week started with Binance, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges concerning volume, announcing it will donate 100 percent of its listing fees to charity. According to the press release, the project teams will still propose the number they would like to provide for a “listing fee,” and Binance will not dictate a number, nor will there be a minimum required listing fee.

The infamous Bitfinex responded to the latest claims it is insolvent and ultimately denied the rumors in an official blog post published October 7. The company ensured both crypto and fiat funds are guaranteed, and withdrawals are functioning normally.

As a confirmation for its financial stability, Bitfinex formed a partnership with the UK banking giant HSBC and is now banking with them through a private account of Global Trading Solutions. This piece of information was initially shared by Larry Cermak, a Diar ex-editor and chief analyst at The Block, and is yet to be confirmed. If true, the move is expected to bring a level of stability to the operations of Bitfinex in the wake of the allegations as mentioned above.

On October 8, observers saw bitcoin moving north once again. The BTC-USD trading pair added more than one percent in value and closed the day at $6,670. The pair made a sharp move from $6,580 to $6,675 in the timeframe between 11:30 CET and 14:35 CET and remained stable throughout the rest of the day. On October 9, we saw bears pushing price towards the $6,600 level once again. The attempt was not successful, and BTC closed the day at $6,662.

Bitcoin dropped from $6,660 to $6,500 in the early morning on October 10 before regaining its territory in the evening. Between 23:00 CET on October 10 and 01:00 CET on October 11, however, observers saw the sharpest one-day drop since September 5 with BTC erasing $380 of its value to stop at $6,251

In the current circumstances, the next target will be to defend the low end of the mid $6,000s ($6,200) and try to retake $6,400 and $6,600. Bears will see an opportunity and try to push the price below $6,200 and $6,000.



ETH-USD

Ethereum successfully defended the $220 support line and moved to $222 on October 4 and to $228 on October 5. Once again, bulls were not able to push the price above $230 resistance, and this level turned out to be the primary target for bulls in the short-term.

Ethereum co-founder, Vitalik Buterin made yet another controversial Twitter comment on October 5 saying that the process of “detaching” himself from the Ethereum project had already started, adding that “[Ethereum] can absolutely survive me spontaneously combusting tomorrow at this point.”

On the next day, however, he corrected himself mentioning he does not have plans to disappear any time soon.

The Twitter discussion did not have any significant impact on ETH price, and it remained in the $230 to $220 corridor during the weekend of October 6 to 7. The most popular altcoin touched the low-end level of that zone on October 7, then climbed back up to $230 on the next day, October 8.

Its price stayed in the even narrower corridor between $230 to $225 for the whole period between October 6 to 9, suggesting lack of market movers to push the price in either direction.

The ETH-USD pair stayed in the same diapazon during most of the day on October 10, but it took a hard hit in the early morning hours on October 11 when the whole crypto space was painted in red during the Asia session. Ether price dropped from $227 to $200 in just two hours in what seems to be its biggest one day drop since September 17.

Next target will be to hold the $200 line and regain control over the $220 to $230 zone. Bears, on the other hand, will try to push the price below $200 and even $190.



XRP-USD

The Ripple company currency closed the trading day at $0.5284 on October 4 and initiated a correction on the next day, October 5, dropping below $0.50 to $0.4888 on October 6. The price of XRP remained stable in the $0.49 to $0.483 zone for the next three days (October 7 to October 9), and it was steadily ranging below $0.50.

Correction to September 25 low at $0.45 was expected in the light of the recent gains, but on October 11 XRP-USD dropped back to $0.409, the price level last seen on September 20.

Worst case scenario we can see “the Ripple” at $0.341, which has proven to be an important level during the last two months. Bulls will need to push the price back above $0.45 and $0.50 to reverse the trend.