Bitcoin Forum

Off the Leash? Bitcoin Looks North After Breaking $16K

https://media.coindesk.com/uploads/2018/01/dog-race-860x430.jpg

Bitcoin is gaining altitude today, amid a sharp drop in prices of some alternative currencies.

Prices on CoinDesk's Bitcoin Price Index jumped 7 percent to an intraday high of $16,181 in the last two hours. The cryptocurrency has appreciated by 10 percent in the last 24 hours, according to data source CoinMarketCap.

Meanwhile, Ripple's XRP token has depreciated by 9 percent in the last 24 hours, having soared to new heights on Jan. 3.

Other alternative currencies like NEM (XEM), Cardano (ADA) and Stellar (STR) are down at least 12 percent each. More importantly, the XRP/BTC (ripple-bitcoin) pair has taken a beating in the last couple of hours. XEM/BTC, ADA/BTC, ETH/BTC (ethereum-bitcoin) and LTC/BTC (litecoin-bitcoin) are also losing altitude.

So, bitcoin (BTC) seems to have caught a bid wave at $14,848.10 (07:29 UTC), tracking the weakness in the cross cryptocurrency pairs (ETH/BTC, LTC/BTC, XRP/BTC) – that is, money made from the altcoin rally is likely being channeled back into BTC.

Price chart analysis also suggests BTC could extend the rally to $18,000-$18,600 in the short-run.


4-hour chart

https://media.coindesk.com/uploads/2018/01/download-4.png

The above chart (prices as per Coinbase) shows:

   - An inverse head and shoulder breakout. As of writing, BTC is trading well above the neckline hurdle of $15,550, so the bullish breakout is pretty much a done deal. Prices could rise to $18,600 (target as per the measured height method) over the weekend.
   - Other factors – including a breach of the falling trendline, a bullish break of the falling wedge, higher lows as represented by the rising trendline – also favor further upside in BTC.
   - The relative strength index (RSI) is above 50.00 (in the bullish territory) and rising, indicating scope for a rally in prices.

View

   - BTC could cut through resistance at $16,490 and move towards $18,000–18,600 mark over the weekend.
   - Bearish scenario: A failure to hold above the neckline support (former resistance) of $15,500 followed by a break below $14,230 today would open the doors for a drop to sub-$12,500 levels.


Source: https://www.coindesk.com/off-the-leash-bitcoin-looks-north-after-breaking-16k/

The western market looks like an utter joke compared to how South Korea is pumping forwards. It's a freaking $6000 difference in price! This $6000 difference is 6 times the price of Bitcoin on January 1st of 2017!

It surely wouldn't be an easy thing for western traders, but it definitely is a fantastic money making opportunity for those who are in a position to take advantage of the massive difference in price.

I must however point out that altcoins aren't that affected yet by the recent up movement of Bitcoin. According to my unbiased view, the majority of the altcoins are still way overvalued, which means that there is enough room for deflation.

I remember when Bitcoin crashed to $12-13k a few weeks ago people around here and on reddit were panicking like Bitcoin is dying or something, people were posting (probably fake) stories how they've lost everything and are now broke because they bought at 20k. And when experienced bitcoiners told them to shut up and HODL noobs and trolls were claiming that Bitcoin is ponzi scheme because it relies on "bagholders", but current price rebound only proves that HODL is indeed the easiest and the safest strategy.