Markets Update: Crypto Prices Take a Weekend Beating

Cryptocurrency markets are suffering from deep losses today, on June 10, 2018, as most digital assets are seeing 24-hour declines between 9 and 25 percent. The number one position, held by Bitcoin Core (BTC), dropped more than a $1,000 just a few hours ago, from $7,600 to $6,600, but prices have rebounded back to $6,787 per BTC. The fourth highest valued market, held by Bitcoin Cash (BCH), dropped around $225 in value after hovering around $1,150 for a while. The currency is now averaging $933 per BCH. It’s safe to say market participants are shaken and many are curious about why the market keeps sliding.

Also Read: CFTC Subpoenas Leading Exchanges for Trading Data

Crypto Markets Take a Jab to the Gut This Weekend

A dump took place today that hit markets below the belt, as most cryptocurrencies lost significant values. Last week, towards the beginning of the weekend, markets were pretty stable and consolidating tightly into a triangular formation. Then, on Saturday, the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the U.S. Justice Department revealed they had subpoenaed four major exchanges while looking into their cryptocurrency price manipulation investigation. Just before that moment on June 9, just like last time when U.S. regulators initially announced the manipulation probe, markets slid about 1-hour before the announcement. Today’s drop was harder to put the blame on as it could have been an after effect from yesterday’s announcement, the fact that market volumes are extremely thin, or some blamed it on the small exchange from South Korea Coinrail being hacked this weekend for $40Mn worth of ICO tokens.

BTC Market Action

On Sunday, June 10, Bitcoin Core (BTC) markets are down 9.8 percent and over the past seven days, BTC markets are under by 11 percent. This means most of the losses have taken place this weekend as BTC volatility was fairly nonexistent at the beginning of the week. Right now BTC’s overall market capitalization is around $115Bn with a dominance level of around 38 percent. Trade volume is super weak and this is why a lot of traders are skeptical these days because 24-hour volumes today were around $4Bn, but since the last drop volumes jumped to $5.5Bn over the past hour. The top exchanges today swapping the most BTC are Bitfinex, Binance, Okex, Huobi, and GDAX. The Japanese yen is dominating BTC currency pairs big time commanding more than 60 percent of BTC trades at the time of publication. This is followed by the USD (19.2%) tether (USDT 13.5%), EUR (2.7%), and the KRW (2.2%). Of course, there was a significant drop in South Korean won-BTC pair action today.

BTC /USD Technical Indicators

Looking at the charts shows BTC bulls had mustered up some strength to push above the $6800 zone but the fight was a real struggle. 4-hour charts show the two Simple Moving Averages (SMA) have a good sized gap between them with the 200 SMA well above the 100 SMA trendline. This means bearish sentiment may continue during the short term and markets are very close to a triple bottom. After the last push the MACd is heading downwards and RSI levels are very low too (15.78) indicating oversold conditions. Daily Bollinger Bands (B-bands) are seeing a significant coil and buyers below the current vantage point are itching for lower prices. Looking at order books shows bears will see pit stops around $6,400 and the triple bottom $5,900 region. If bulls can heal right now, after that intense beating, then they need to overcome big walls around $7,300 and 7,800 to at least catch some fresh air from the onslaught.

BCH Market Action

After a few solid weeks of BTC being the dominant pair with Bitcoin Cash (BCH), today tether USDT has taken the lead at 31.77 percent. This is followed by BTC (31.5%), USD (21.9%), KRW (9.1%), and the EUR (1.9%). Bitcoin Cash has lost around 16.4 percent over the last 24-hours and 19 percent over the last seven days. This Sunday, the total market capitalization for BCH is around $15.9Bn with about $693Mn in 24-hour trade volume. The top trading platforms exchanging the most Bitcoin Cash today include Okex, Binance, Huobi, Bitfinex, and Lbank. The losses in BCH values have been very much correlated with BTC market tumbles but prices have still remained around 0.14 BTC per BCH.

BCH /USD Technical Indicators

Looking at BCH charts on Bitfinex shows similar indicators, as the two Simple Moving Averages have a decent gap like BTC with the 100 SMA below the long-term 200 SMA. Again, this indicates the path of least resistance will be towards the downside. RSI levels show oversold conditions (30) and the MACd is sliding southbound as well at the time of writing. Daily B-bands are also extremely tight, showing a massive consolidation period taking place. Looking at order books indicates that bears will have a hard fight until 910 and then another pit stop at $860. If things go lower than that, markets are going to look ugly all around. BCH bulls need to recharge and bust past $985 but buyers will also be deterred around $1,020, as sell orders are piling up around that region.

The Top Cryptocurrency Markets

Overall, the top cryptocurrencies are down, except for ‘stablecoins’ like tether and the various others allegedly pegged to the USD. The second largest market valuation today belongs to Ethereum (ETH) but its markets are down 13.9 percent. One ETH is trading for $517 and the currency is the most swapped coin on Shapeshift today, but traded for BTC. The third largest market, Ripple (XRP), is down 13.8 percent and one XRP is trading for $0.57 cents per token. Lastly, the fifth highest valued market commanded by EOS is down significantly at 21 percent this Sunday. At the moment, EOS is trading around $11.25 per coin and holds the fourth largest trade volume over the last 24-hours.

The Verdict: Skepticism and the Search for That Confounded Bottom

You can probably guess what our market verdict is today without reading the sub-title above, as things are looking bearish and everyone knows this fact. Because markets keep sliding, then recovering, then sliding downwards, even more, has caused enthusiasts and traders to be skeptical of any bullish signals. Most traders are looking curiously for ‘the bottom’ and when that time will be, so right now many are just playing musical chairs looking for the right positions.

Where do you see the price of BCH, BTC, and other coins headed from here? Let us know in the comments below.

Disclaimer: Price articles and markets updates are intended for informational purposes only and should not to be considered as trading advice. Neither Bitcoin.com nor the author is responsible for any losses or gains, as the ultimate decision to conduct a trade is made by the reader. Always remember that only those in possession of the private keys are in control of the “money.”

Images via Shutterstock, Trading View, and Satoshi Pulse.

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