04/09/18 BTC Tries to Escape Critical Level, NEO Skyrockets, Monero Deserves Some Rest

Buyers take initiative while bears rest over the weekend. The market is up, at least for now

Over the past weekend, the depressed cryptocurrency market was slightly enlivened not so much by trading volumes, which are still insufficient for a change or a solid confirmation of the trend, but by the news cycle. Although there was some surge in buyer activity, it’s still not enough for the radical change that everyone is waiting for, without actually making any effort to hasten it.

George Soros changes mind about Bitcoin

The main newsmaker was George Soros, who previously spoke of Bitcoin as a bubble that he does not want to deal with. Time goes by, people change (even at 87 years old), and the Soros fund is beginning to trade in cryptocurrency.

Ethereum’s April Fools

The second person who has been in the spotlight of the crypto community for the past few days is Vitalik Buterin. It seems that there was some truth in the April Fool’s joke about putting a hard cap on Ethereum, or at least these measures are being actively discussed by developers. Usually, deflation mechanisms that are built into assets with a hard cap increase the asset price over time. We’ll see how this innovation (if it is implemented) will affect the price of Ethereum.

By the beginning of the new week, the total market capitalization is $270 bln, which is $15 bln more than on Friday, April 06. Bitcoin dominance decreased slightly and is 44.7 percent. In the top 10, NEO is leading with a gain of 13 percent, followed by Ethereum with 6 percent, and the rest of the assets increased by an average of 2 to 3 percent during the day.

BTC/USD

Bitcoin buyers managed to bring about a small miracle at the weekend and keep the price above two important supports. However, let's not be deceived - this was possible only because the bears did not show any serious resistance. In any case, at the time of writing the price is $7,100, which is $500 more than at the end of last week.



The key resistance today is the range of $7,200 - $7,300. If the bulls manage to surmount it, a potential trend reversal will begin to take shape. Above, the price will encounter the upper boundary of the last parallel descending channel, which is a serious obstacle to growth.

Support levels that should help buyers succeed are $6,900, where the boundary of one of the parallel channels intersects with the 0.382 value of the Fibonacci grid, and $6,800, represented by the boundary of the long-term ascending channel.

The previous four-hour candle is green and filled out with good volumes, which can instill confidence in investors and lead to further purchases during the day. Whether this is enough to break the global downward trend - we will find out very soon.

ETH/USD

Revival in the camp of Ethereum developers has breathed life into the asset and we finally see a slight increase in volumes. In addition, it should be noted that the $360 - $365 zone has become a support, which is looking quite reliable for now..



A figure resembling a saucer has been formed on Ethereum’s price chart. The logic of this formation is that of reversal, however, for its activation, substantial purchases are required at the level of $415.

In this case, a local turnaround can help the asset reach the $440 zone, where it will encounter the heavy thundercloud of a strong resistance in the form of a mirror level, a strong 0.382 Fibonacci level and the boundary of one of the parallel channels.

Such bastions are not taken on the first try, so a price fallback is to be expected. How strong this fallback will be, and how buyers and sellers will respond to it, will determine the further prospects of Ethereum.

NEO/USD

What Ethereum buyers have yet to accomplish, the fans of its Chinese brother have already achieved - the NEO chart can be used as a visual aid for beginning traders on the topic of "figures of technical analysis." We see a fully activated saucer: the breaking through the neck of the figure has caused a phenomenal increase in volumes comparable to the purchases of February 6 and March 18 corrections.



The bulls will have difficulty keeping the pace that has been set - although NEO had demonstrated rapid growth in a short time earlier, for that to happen the market needs to fulfill certain prerequisites.

If the price gains a foothold above $55, where the asset is trading at the moment, we can expect lateral movement during the course of the day with an average high of $58. This will allow the bulls to draw a nice flag and move on to storm $60 - $62.

However, if the price falls back from the current values, we expect a correction with the testing of the 0.236 Fibonacci level, corresponding to $53. At the moment, NEO looks better than the rest of the market, but it’s essential to remain vigilant - Bitcoin remains undecided on the direction of its movement.

XMR/USD

The Monero chart resembles NEO again, but so far we can’t see either the exit from the figure or the volumes. It’s an alarming sign that buyers did not show activity even after the break through the parallel descending channel. Although, in the past two weeks XMR has often performed better than the market and now deserves a bit of rest.



The sellers were not able to lower the price below $160 and now it has become a support with triple confirmation. Given a stable Bitcoin, the price of Monero should not fall so low, but this level should be kept in mind.

While the asset is trading above that - there’s nothing to worry about. In case of continued ascending movement, the next bull target is $190, where a double top will be formed. In addition, the level coincides with the 0.382 Fibonacci extension, and therefore will be difficult to overcome.

The link: https://cryptocomes.com/btc-tries-to-escape-critical-level-neo-skyrockets-monero-deserves-some-rest

Past ICO Review: How Anti-Stupidity Crypto Project Has Reached its Goals by Completely Failing



A failed crypto project that raised north of $19 mln, managed to increase the average IQ of the cryptomarket by removing a significant bunch of people too stupid to opera

I grew up in a plattenbau neighborhood, in a micro-district inspired by Le Corbusier. It is fashionable to despise this architectural style, but I must admit that I secretly love factory-built assembled plattenbau projects.

The thing is, I love them on the design sketches, on maquette miniatures, I love them in the imagination of their architects, I love them on 70s postcards of an idyllic, innocent urban landscapes of heartland’s France towns social housing developments (which we know ended up eventually converting into ethnic ghettos and welfare-subsidised slums).

They say mass-production buildings and vast spaces create ghettos. They blame Le Corbusier for their misery. Nonsense. Le Corbusier and his disciples aren’t to blame. The residents are.

Beautiful, well-thought projects of well-organized, frugal, cost-effective communal life was given to the people who weren’t enlightened enough to grasp the concept. They’ve brought their ignorance and prejudice to the bright world of the hopeful future, so that future never happened. If the same kind of people were given palaces as social housing, they would turn Versailles into a ghetto.

Well, 2017’s ICO rush have something in common with plattenbau. Technology isn’t to blame for humans’ stupidity. You may blame regulations, you may blame the lawlessness, you may blame whatever external factor there is, but sometimes, an ICO like that hype acts as a great equalizer, a machine to redistribute money between the stupid and the smart.

I have no pity whatsoever for the people who invested into the thing called BitcoinGrowthFund, that is said to have raised some $19 mln in May 2017, and is among the biggest ICOs of 2017. They got what they deserve.

A website with no information on the team, with a laughable white paper, no advisors got that kind of money.

The idea offered to the investors was essentially an investment fund: “you buy our coin, and we invest money into mining of cryptocurrencies with potential.”

They’ve had a wallet on the site, which showed the increase of the investment, but many people complained that when a withdrawal was attempted, the transaction simply did not take place. “Withdrawal of your money is more important than investing as if we cannot withdraw what is the sense of investing,”  asked one poor soul on bitcointalk. Mua. Ha. Ha.

Seems legit

Legally this is not a scam at all, and it took almost no effort to fool so many people. These people were quite straightforward: “MCAP tokens are not participation in the Company and MCAP tokens hold no rights in the said company. MCAP tokens are sold as a functional good and all proceeds received by Company may be spent freely by Company absent any conditions. MCAP tokens are intended for experts in dealing with cryptographic tokens and Blockchain-based software systems.”

They were telling the truth from the very start. BitcoinGrowthFund web is not updated since November 2017.

Even if sneaky Hindus behind this gig have spent every single penny they’ve raised on coke and New Dehli’s finest escorts, it’d still a better use for the money than it was in the hands of their so-called investors.


Criminally stupid

Normally, I’d keep preaching that ICOs should start adopting regulations, better corporate governance, and so on and so forth. Not now. No regulation wouldn’t have helped here. It is like blaming plattenbau developments for ghettoization. Technology and laws aren’t to blame. People who invested in this kind of crap have to blame only themselves.

Don’t be like these people. Invest smart.

The link: https://cryptocomes.com/past-ico-review-how-anti-stupidity-crypto-project-has-reached-its-goals-by-completely-failing

04/06/18 Short Break for Investors as Bitcoin, Litecoin, Monero, NEO Prices Freeze

Bitcoin critical support still holds, but the future is uncertain. The market is frozen by indecision

All that the market could achieve by the end of the week is a continued state of uncertainty and indecision about taking the initiative, shown both by bulls and bears. Nevertheless, the data of technical analysis indicates that on Friday and over the weekend the situation can evolve more rapidly and, possibly, dramatically.

Market capitalization grew by a tiny $5 bln in the course of the day , and the assets are exhibiting multidirectional movement. Most of the growth is in altcoins: in the first 100, of special note are Tron (plus 35 percent) and Ontology (plus 30 percent) which, by the way, has been growing steadily, even against the market, since the launch of the project. In the top ten, EOS distinguishes itself once again, gaining 10 percent.

Crypto not welcome in India

Despite the success of individual coins, the general trend does not leave any room for doubt. The news about the alleged ban of cryptocurrencies in India added fuel to the fire. Later, it turned out that actually, it was not a ban, but some restrictions imposed by the Central Bank of India on individuals and legal entities that deal with cryptocurrencies. The market’s reaction was not too acute, but this news is a clear example of the new wave of FUD that we spoke about yesterday.

BTC/USD

Bitcoin spent the last 24 hours in lateral movement within a small price range from $6,600 to $6,900, and at the time of writing it’s trading exactly in the middle - at $6,750. Reduced volatility has led to the creation of an equilateral triangle which should be resolved soon. The price nearly reached the apex of the triangle, once again confirming the lack of initiative in the market - usually, such triangles are already activated at three quarters of their height.



Taking into account that BTC has not been able to break away from the boundary of the ascending channels, as well as the general downward trend, we assume that the price will exit down from the triangle. The first decline target is $6,600, then $6,000 and then - according to the scenario that we described just yesterday.

There is still a chance to push off the current values ​​and take an excursion upward, in which case the goal range will be squeezed between the 0.618 and 0.786 Fibonacci extensions and the price levels of $7,150 - $7,300. It is important to understand that slight local growth in the current situation does not negate the possibility of further decline.

LTC/USD

Litecoin continues to loiter on the bottom, with an increasing risk of making that bottom even deeper. On Thursday, the volatility of the asset decreased significantly, as did trading volumes. Now it’s a hostage of the situation, and does not have any independency. It doesn’t look any better or worse than the market, but given previous “successes,” it’s not attractive to investors.



The range of LTC fluctuations on Thursday was only $5 - the price chart practically stretched into one long thread. Some resistance from above is given by $120, below there is $110 and the boundary of the descending channel as support. A local Bitcoin reversal could help its little brother reach up to $130, but there are no signs of that for now. In case of decline, all bear targets remain relevant: after breaking through the support, we can expect a fall to the region of $100.

NEO/USD

NEO is in a situation that is very similar to Litecoin, so let's be brief. Lateral trading can either become a good springboard for growth or a future resistance in case the price goes even lower. The activation of the global wedge (red convergent trend lines) doesn’t look realistic at this point.



The key NEO support is at the level of $42 - $43, and the intermediate support is at $45. Under the less likely growth scenario, the first target for bulls is located at the 0.5 Fibonacci expansion - exactly $50. Further, buyers will encounter resistance in the form of the boundary of the ascending channel, which can be difficult to overcome.

XMR/USD

Monero looks somewhat better than LTC and NEO, but only due to the fact that the price is not contained by the nearest descending parallel channel. The buyers deserve no credit for this, however - XMR just fell out of it, without volumes or enthusiasm.



The level of $160 seems to be a good aid for investors: the price has rebounded from it 3 times already, although the next storm in the Bitcoin Sea will have no trouble punching a few holes in this support. Now, as before, the bottom is at $150 - it’s enough to look at the chart and observe the powerful mirror level to confirm the truth of this. In case of descending to these depths, we expect a worthy response from the buyers, and encourage our readers to consider purchasing this asset.

Source: https://cryptocomes.com/short-break-for-investors-as-bitcoin-litecoin-monero-neo-prices-freeze

Past ICO Review: Why You Can’t Take Polybius To the Bank



A banking project named after a video game of death, decides to become something else after raising $32 Mln

It’s in the name. The original dark meme that have given Polybius name its fame was indeed coin-related, but not the type of coins we are now accustomed to: not cryptocoins, but pennies.

Polybius, as urban legend has it, was a secret experiment of the US government, a coin-operated arcade game with a psychoactive and addictive effect.

First published on coinop.org (sic!), the creepypasta about Polybius, told the story of an obscure arcade game machine, regularly visited by men in black, who took note of high-scorers, is scary enough.

Players allegedly suffered from a series of unpleasant side effects, including amnesia, insomnia, night terrors and hallucinations, says the Wiki article describing this dark legend. Approximately one month after its supposed release in 1981, Polybius is said to have disappeared without a trace. There’s no proof that the game ever existed. I swear that I haven’t edited it to suit the story.

Our hero today is Polybius’ namesake. Seriously, the brave pack of adventurers behind the Polybius project named it literally after a legendary video game of death that never existed.

Despite this fact, the project raised about $32 Mln in 2017 on the promise essentially to be a bank. Now, the initial whitepaper isn’t accessible from the main website.

What the team forgot to mention

Let me spell it for you: Polybius’ team have decided they will not be a bank, but rather something else. After raising the money on the promise to be a bank, and not something else. Citing a EU directive that was adopted by the EU Parliament two years before their ICO as a new circumstance.

Delovõje Vedomosti, a respected business news publication from Estonia, where Polybius is incorporated, interviewed Polybius CEO a couple of weeks ago. The interview is a pure gem. Let me quote some, ehm, quotes.

Nobody expects the Spanish inquisition


Polybius CEO meant XS2A (Access to Account) set of requirements, a part of PSD2 directive. Of course it's adoption timeline  was known to be arcane and ever-changing, and still is. But, it was clear to anyone in the industry that PSD2 was going to become a law across the EU in the short-to-medium perspective.

Polybius token sale started on May, 31, 2017, and closed on July 5, 2017. PSD2 has been approved by the European Parliament in 2015. XS2A was being discussed in the banking and industry way before Polybius project was being “gestated”. It was a major point of interest way before Polybius  was even concieved. On June 5, 2017 it was even in the “Forbes” (US, not even European edition!) for God’s sake.

And Polibius CEO has a nerve to say that PSD2 have somehow changed the rules of the game for them. It was on the table all the time - not always clear, changing sometimes, but it was there.

Unidentified Fintech Object

Now, let’s see what is the team is up to. The interview continues: “Plainly speaking, with a window that big, we don’t need a door anymore, so we can concentrate on what’s important - on aggregation of payment and financial instruments”.

Basically, Polybius now is not a bank, but rather a service that allows their users to aggregate their financial products across various banks, using banking API prescribed by PSD2, - a single banking app for all accounts and services that person uses. This app will analise user’s spending habits, and offer them tips on how to acheive their financial goals. Essentially, a sort of meta-banking app comes to mind. Good, but does it worth $32M?

“How will you earn money?”, DV’s reporter asks. “Some services will be free, some  premium”, - reponds Mr. Turygin, before dropping a bomb that will surely send ice waves up their tokenholders’ spines. “Also, people’s financial information is a very powerful profiling source, that can be monetized by means of ad traffic.”

But the final chill is still to come.

“What kind of marketing needs tens of millions?”

”How will you spend thirty two million dollars?”, - asks the reporter. “On the team, IT support and development. But the larger part will be spent on marketing”. He said that. He said that. HE SAID THAT.

“What kind of marketing needs tens of millions?”, - the reporter is seemed to be clearly  stunned.

“The quality one. Conferences, television, Google, social networks. To run a successful ICO, hundreds of thousand dollars are needed. Funds are needed to develop the project, and make the world know about it, loudly. A successful fintech product launch, requires an enourmous expense, so millions are required to make a true quality product”.

I could rest my case here, ladies and gentlemen, but there’s the last one. Polybius website states that they are hiring the “Chief Legal Counsel”. Maybe, just maybe, if this was done 2 years before, things would be different now?

Looking into the crystal ball

What kind of future expects Polybius and the money of their investors? If we were in the year 2000, I’d look for Aeron chairs purchase for their offices - seeing that, I’d be sure the project was doomed.

I don’t know what’s the equivalent for Aeron these days, but if we somehow learn about lavish spending on office furniture, or even worse, the excited interviews in interior design magazines about how great and nice and easy and comfortable Polybius’ offices in Brussels (they have moved to Brussels, hell yeah) are, I’d be sure these people are done with.

Lessons learned

This market cries for regulation. What happened here? The team have changed the idea which they have more than successfully sold to crowd investors, after raising the funds. The effect of this change on the revenue is unclear. Token holders had no control over this decision.

ICOs: start regulate yourself before the government does. Make it a rule to have an independent director or two on your board with a veto power, to represent token holders. Voluntarily enforce corporate governance principles. Or daring expirementators and intrepid pioneers like Polybius will freaking drag us all to the bottom.

The link: https://cryptocomes.com/past-ico-review-why-you-cant-take-polybius-to-the-bank

This thread is about past ICO.
We are reviewing blockchain projects that have already finished their coin offerings.
What were the great mission and purposes at the beginning and how the things are going on now?

Here you can find all our investigation reports

What is Trading and Cryptocurrency Trading, Their Main Features



Crypto trading and its features, the difference between trading and investing, trading tips

Trading is an operation where one party buys something from the other party in exchange of money. We do trading in our everyday life when we purchase foodstuff, clothes or even services.

This concept is also used for the financial markets where traders and investors buy and sell several types of assets and derivatives. Market participants purchase stocks i.e. for lower price and wait until their cost rises to sell them. The more the price rises from the purchase level, the more profit you can get.

This is how it works in general. Nowadays almost everybody can open an account with a special company, named broker (or find a cryptocurrency exchange) and start trading. Blockchain innovations allowed users to start speculations on their own (without any intermediate) as traders are able to enter special exchanges and to place orders to gain money on the price difference.

We are going to cover such subjects as history, basics, principles, examples, pros and cons of trading in this introducing article.

History of trading

First exchanges were established in Europe in XVI century. Their main goal was to provide merchants with marketplaces and the governments with the opportunity to place bonds. Trading with stocks and shares developed later as the response to growing commercial needs and companies’ expansion.

Such notion as “trader” appeared first with the establishment of London Stock Exchange in the end of the XVII century.

Meanwhile, stock trading appeared in Asia one century later. Rice exchange in Japan started to operate in XVII century. This period and geographical location are both interesting for traders as Japan is the home country for Munehisa Homma, who developed his famous Japanese candlestick method, allowing speculators to both read the price properly and to forecast future fluctuations.

Currency markets are younger. Forex appeared after the fall of the Bretton Woods system as European countries refused to support gold standard (a system, where currencies were linked directly to gold). Cryptocurrency trading emerged in early 2010s when first exchanges started their activities.

Small retail traders and investors were enabled to start trading in the end of 1980s with the appearance of margin trading. In the early 1980s some British dealing companies began to offer services to those individuals who had lower capitals. In 1986, most central banks accepted this trading mechanism and allowed almost unlimited opportunities for people to speculate and to invest in different types of financial assets.

What is the difference between trading and investing?

There is a big difference between those two notions. The main task of investors is to gain profits gradually, by purchasing and holding assets until their price growths. They also buy stock to get dividends.

Trading, on the other hand, involves more frequent buying and selling of assets as speculators aim to generate returns from the price difference.

There is one more thing to pay attention to. Investors have less performance than traders. The first group may be content with 10 percent of annual profit when the second group may have about 10 percent monthly.

Nowadays this line between traders and investors is almost invisible especially within the cryptocurrency industry. Investors there are long-term (or position) traders while traders are speculators holding their positions for hours or days.

Find more on topic https://cryptocomes.com/what-is-trading-and-cryptocurrency-trading-their-main-features

04/04/18 Litecoin Outperforms Bitcoin, Monero and NEO on Standby

A local uptrend, but no reversal yet. Market is green for the third day running, while balance of forces remains fragile

By the middle of the week, most crypto assets remain green just like the day before, showing growth that in some cases reached double digits. Communities are actively supporting their favorite projects, chasing up the price of individual coins by 20 (Verge, Lisk), 30 (Dragonchain), and 40 (Ardor) percent. A wave of light euphoria has swept the market, but while there are some occasions for joy, losing one's head at this moment is very dangerous.

Unreasonable euphoria can play a cruel joke on investors

For the second day in a row, the bulls are enjoying continued success, but let’s first look at the chart (Bitcoin’s, for example) and then look truth in the eye- bears have not yet mounted an active resistance. This is not because the market ran out of sellers, they are just waiting for the right moment to open short positions.

Over 24 hours, the total capitalization increased by $15 bln, to $275 bln. Bitcoin dominance, on the contrary, fell by five tenths and is now 45 percent, which indicates that funds are starting to be transferred from the main asset to the altcoins.

The top 10 coins are led by the struggling Litecoin, which gained nine percent, followed by Ripple with an increase of eight percent. We analyzed the situation with Ripple in yesterday's review, given the extent of the dip, this growth leaves us somewhat cold. The remaining assets gained an average of two to three percent, including Bitcoin.

BTC/USD

During the previous day's trading, Bitcoin price rose to $7,500, with a subsequent relatively slight fallback to the level of $7,250. Once again, we want to emphasize that growth remains quite organic for now, which means that big players have not influenced the price yet. This theory finds confirmation in trade volumes, which continue to decline.



Today, first and foremost buyers need to maintain achieved positions, namely, not to let prices drop below $7,240. This is the point of intersection for the most significant mirror level in the past three weeks and the 0.786 Fibonacci retracement.

If the buyers’ battle mission is not completed, then it is highly likely that Bitcoin, and the rest of the market with it, will resume its decline...

For continued growth, first the bulls need to overcome the boundary of the nearest descending channel. The key point on the chart is the intersection of the last boundary of the global descending channel, the ascending channel and the strong mirror level. It would seem that this arrangement is lacking some Fibonacci harmony value, but it is there- 0.5 of the leverage from March 21 to April 1.

The price expression of this point is $7,840, and the bulls need to be there by April 6. In case of an upward break, we will be able to confirm the formation of a new growth trend, but until then the markup speaks for itself, Bitcoin is still in a state of decline.

XMR/USD

Yesterday, Monero made an elegant enough exit from another descending channel, the break occurred in the context of good volumes, which once again confirms buyer interest. Now the boundary of the channel acts as support, and due to its gentle slope, the bulls have a better chance of not losing the initiative.



Thanks to the positive mood in the market, XMR reached $190 (we wrote about this goal earlier), then came up against the 0.786 Fibonacci retracement. In case of continued growth, the next target is still $200- it receives double confirmation. In a negative scenario, in addition to the support mentioned above, there is the level of $175 which coincides with the minimum from March 18. With a high degree of probability, buyers will make an effort to protect the level.

NEO/USD

The past two days brought temporary relief to NEO investors. The main achievement of buyers is returning the price to the global growth trend. However, given the precariousness of the situation and the proximity of the trend boundary, the price can tumble down at any moment.

In this case, the nearest more or less reliable support is at $45. The last line of defense for the bulls is the mirror support-resistance level formed in the middle of December 2017.



NEO has fewer prerequisites for growth than for decline, but if the celebration in the market continues, the bulls’ first target will be the range of $58-$60, which could coincide with the upper boundary of the downward channel acting as resistance. Given the uncertainty in the market, we still recommend that readers refrain from buying this asset.

LTC/USD

Our markup on Litecoin remains relevant, and the applied levels are executed with high accuracy.

Despite all the misadventures, yesterday Litecoin buyers found the strength to support the asset, resulting in the price reaching $136. However, due to the lack of confirmation of the global reversal, this height could not be maintained.



At the time of writing, the correction continues and the sellers are clearly going for $125. We described the further goals for the bears yesterday- they are $110 and $100 in case Bitcoin moves toward $6,000. A temporary stop will be made at $120. No matter how hard the Litecoin community is trying, the asset does not look like an attractive investment yet.

Source: https://cryptocomes.com/litecoin-outperforms-bitcoin-monero-and-neo-on-standby

04/03/18 BTC Price Leaves Danger Zone, LTC Still Kicking, XRP Abandoned by Investors

Don’t be fooled: early signs of market reversal could be just another bears’ trap

By the beginning of Tuesday, the situation on the cryptocurrency market remains uncertain. Despite the fact that Bitcoin - the indicator of investor sentiment - is hovering near a key level with murky prospects, no tension or panic is evident in the media or on the charts. It seems that market participants have learned to accept the things they cannot change, and are now patiently waiting for a sign to either buy or sell, without showing any initiative.

Market indicators are stable, no sign of rapid change

Most positions show a slight increase in price, but after updating their lows over the weekend - this is no more than preparation for possible growth. We also find confirmation in key market indicators: the total capitalization grew just by $5 bln to $365 bln, Bitcoin dominance is consistently over 45.5 percent.

Top 10 altcoins remain calm, while Verge shows surprising growth

The top altcoins followed the main asset’s growth, increasing 1 to 3 percent. Stellar and Cardano are ahead of the market with increases of 8 and 5 percent, respectively. Beyond the top 10, there is more activity: VeChain grew an impressive 25 percent, NEM and BNB - by 10 percent. Yesterday’s leader Verge not only maintained its position, but also capitalized on its achievements, adding another 13 percent.

BTC/USD

Bulls managed to fulfill the task that we set before them yesterday - not just to keep the price at $7,000, but to make an attempt at $7,200. There’s more good news - almost all of Monday, Bitcoin price lazily dragged along the boundary of the descending channel, but was finally able to overcome it at the end of the day. Now, the main resistance for buyers remains the range of $7,200 - $7,300.



As is often the case, good news is followed by bad news, and we do have some. The main issue of concern is growth without volume. The amount and size of transactions is incomparable to what we saw over the weekend. Since April 1, the bears have not shown their influence. Because of this, we are under the impression that big players let go of the price for a while, letting the little guys enjoy the market game.

If buyers manage to hold the price above $7,200 today, with or without significant volumes, and if we see some real action at this level, then we can start discussing a possible trend change. In this case, the next target for bulls will be the range of $7,500 - $7,700. Until then, the downtrend scenario remains relevant, $ 6,000 is still calling the bears, although their task is becoming much more difficult.

LTC/USD

Despite Litecoin creator’s cruel treatment of his offspring, there is still life in the asset. At press time, LTC price is $120, while the day’s minimum value was $110. On the chart, we see the realized "double bottom" figure, which allowed buyers to confidently push off the support line.



Further lateral movement led to a timid break of the boundary of the nearest descending channel. If Bitcoin goes up, the first buyer target will be the level of $130, which gets a double confirmation in the form of the 0.382 Fibonacci extension and the mirror resistance.

But if the main asset continues on the path to $6,000, Litecoin price is likely to form a “triple bottom” at the level of $110 and then, if there is no rebound, sellers will move on to the psychological target of $100.

XRP/USD

During the weekend, the price of Ripple fell to $0.45 - this is the minimum value since mid-December 2017. The problem with volumes is even more crucial for XRP than for Bitcoin. The last surge in buyer activity was in the beginning of February 2018, and since then investor interest has been falling steadily.

This is indicated by the volume profile: for several weeks, the price has been below the last level with a significant amount of transactions - $0.62, and buyers have not made any attempts at an upward break.



In case of reversal, the first major target for buyers is the range $0.59 - $0.62, which is located between the 0.5 and 0.618 values of the Fibonacci expansion and coincides with several mirror levels. With a high degree of probability, the bulls will not be able to get any further on the first attempt.

With negative developments, the rate is unlikely to drop significantly, because XRP has suffered more than most other assets. If buyers are unable to form a “double bottom” from the level of $0.45, we believe the pain limit of investors to be at $0.4.

Source: https://cryptocomes.com/btc-price-leaves-danger-zone-ltc-still-kicking-xrp-abandoned-by-investors

it makes sense. Let's wait a bit

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04/02/18 Reversal is Delayed: BTC and ETH Update Lows, XMR Fights Against Trend

No fun on April Fools Day. Bitcoin updates local price minimum, accompanied by the other assets

The beginning of another spring month did not precipitate a full-fledged arrival of spring to the crypto-currency market.

The agonizing yearning for warmth must go on, the sky is still covered with clouds, and Bitcoin price continues to update local lows, encountering no significant resistance on the way.

Even some of the altcoins which were blooming like early spring flowers last week do not show any attempts to go against the market (with one exception).

BTC dominance sets new records as altcoins fall faster

The total capitalization of cryptocurrencies fell to $260 bln, which corresponds to the values ​​of mid-November 2017 - the time before BTC and altcoins went on their crazy rollercoaster ride.  In the top 10 assets, nothing interesting is going on - for most positions, prices went down an average of 5 percent. During the weekend, Bitcoin had reached a minimum of $6,430, and at the time of writing, it is fluctuating around $6,900. Its dominance continues to set yearly records and by Monday increased by another two tenths, to 45.7 percent.

Verge is the only asset to beat the market

The exception that we mentioned above is Verge. In 24 hours, the price of the asset grew by 20 percent, which is an absolute record among all cryptoassets.

The interest of buyers is being encouraged by the CEO’s announcement of a mysterious partnership, the details of which will be disclosed on April 17. Will developers be able to meet community expectations? We will find out in 2 weeks.

BTC/USD

Before proceeding to a detailed analysis, we would like to examine the enlarged Bitcoin graph on the daily price chart.  Three important facts emerge: BTC is in a long-term downtrend since December 2017, the uptrend line constructed on the September 2017 and February 2018 lows was broken, and the trend which was formed back in July 2017 is being tested right now.



On the four-hour chart, we see that the price is squeezed between two uptrends, but Bitcoin has no reliable support anymore.

Just to maintain the current levels, buyers must keep prices above $7,000 today, and to transition go growth, they will have to storm $7,200.



So far, nothing is indicating that the bulls have enough strength for the push. The situation is exacerbated by the proximity of the boundary of the downtrend, which is acting as a resistance.

In the course of the day, Bitcoin is likely to trade in the range of $7,000 - $6,600, but the repeated breaking of the boundary of the lower uptrend will confirm the bulls’ weakness and allow the bears to begin moving toward $6,000. The Fibonacci grid, indicating a value of 1.618 at $6,110, is just one of the possible constructions based on local triggers, and all of them will point to the zone of the previous February low, so the goal of the sellers remains obvious.

ETH/USD

Ethereum continues to outpace the market in the rate of decline - last Sunday the price dropped to $360. The rebound amounted to just 5 percent, and by press time the asset is trading at $380.

Confirming its love for triangles, ETH is once again forming a figure of technical analysis, the full activation of which will lead the bears to $315.



This level coincides with the mirror resistance formed at the time when ICOs were in their heyday, and Ethereum was relatively young and promising. Despite numerous attempts (5 of them), bulls could not break the boundary of the descending channel, which indicates their extreme weakness. On the way to $315, the price will encounter a few more supports, the main one being at the level of $330.

In order to stay afloat, buyers have to keep the price above $390, and then gain a foothold at $415. For now, this seems practically unattainable.

XMR/USD

Monero buyers do not cease to impress us with their perseverance and ability to find resources to support the asset at a crucial moment.

While most of the coins have updated local lows of the end of last week, the price of XMR went right instead of down - not a bad result in a falling market.



In the event of a reversal, the laterally traded range of $160 - $180 can be a great starting point for price growth to $200. However, since the market is showing no signs of reversal, we continue to view this zone as support. In the context of further decline, the target remains the same - $150, coinciding with the minimum of the February correction.

NEO/USD

The indications that we used in the March 30 review not only remain relevant, but confirm our previous conclusions. The downtrend line, for lack of any better application, became the support for the price of NEO. It was from this line that NEO rebounded on Sunday when Bitcoin reached its minimum value. We believe that buyers can count on this support going forward.



The mirror level of $42, on the contrary, lost some of its strength, and the closer the downtrend line approaches it, the less value it will have for supporting the price. Therefore, the next target after breaking through the trend could be $40.

Hypothetically, in case of growth, the main resistance still the level of $50. We cannot change our opinion about the attractiveness of NEO for medium-term investments until the price gains a hold above the boundary of the previous upward trend (green line).

Source: https://cryptocomes.com/reversal-is-delayed-btc-and-eth-update-lows-xmr-fights-against-trend

03/30/18 Bears Take Market Down; BTC and XMR Struggle, ETH and NEO Share Unlucky Fate

Market is red, investors are blue. Bitcoin is down and altcoins are too

We begin our end-of-week market review with a heavy heart. In the last few days, falling prices did not find support from the bulls at key levels, resulting in many assets updating lows of not just the March, but also the February correction. As is often the case in such situations, the activation of protective stop-losses placed by investors at purchase price levels accelerated the fall even more.

Bitcoin dominance rises again as situation remains critical

Despite the fact that recently the correlation between the main asset and some promising altcoins has been decreasing, in a critical situation Bitcoin continues to set the pace for the entire market. During Thursday’s trading, the minimum price of BTC was A$6,660, which is 13 percent less than the previous day. Predictably, dominance grew - to 45.5 percent, which is a new record for 2018.

Bitcoin Cash hurt by OKEX closure

The rate of decline in the price of altcoins is largely in line with Bitcoin. In the top 10, average losses were in the same 12 - 15 percent range. Ethereum and Litecoin are the worst off, decreasing by 15 percent each and confirming our theory about their loss of investment potential. Bitcoin Cash lost 17 percent, affected by the closing of all trading pairs in BCH market on the OKEX exchange. EOS is still doing better than the rest, its price falling just by 6 percent.

BTC/USD

Given the scale of the fall, as well as the proximity to the minimums of the previous correction, we are compelled to switch to the daily price chart. The main cause for concern is the breaking of the long-term uptrend, formed back in July 2017. Bitcoin buyers showed some activity near this important level of support, but it was not enough to initiate a reversal yet.



In the end, the fall was stopped only by the mirror level from Feb. 5 - the day preceding the culmination of the global correction. Today, bulls have a chance to form a reversal candle “hammer” trend. The ideal scenario in this case - a foothold above the boundary of the ascending channel and testing the level of $7,650, which coincides with the 0.786 Fibonacci retracement. However, so far we do not see a surge in buyer activity, so we can not view this scenario as the default one.

In case of continued decline of the fall, the target for bulls today is $5,900- $6,000, coinciding not only with the strong mirror level, but also with the 1.618 Fibonacci retracement. In any case, until there is confirmation of the turnaround, we strongly recommended that readers  refrain from trading.

ETH/USD

A month ago, it was hard to imagine the asset with the second largest capitalization falling even to $500, and today it is trading at $380. It seems that if there is no global market reversal in the very near future, we will see Ethereum at $300 - fair price during the second half of 2017.



At the time of writing, the price almost broke the long-term uptrend, which is a very dangerous sign for investors. Given further development of the negative tendency, in free fall ETH will easily reach the nearest significant mirror level $350.

A positive scenario would involve gaining a foothold above the boundary of the ascending channel, with subsequent testing of the $450 level. Medium-term investors should start thinking about increasing long positions no earlier than the price reaches this value.

XMR/USD

Very often, assets that hold up better than the market during a global decline, there comes a critical moment when fear prevails and investors begin to actively record losses before they get too big. But Monero’s situation does not look like panic sales. The coin is trading at a price of $163 near the mirror level and the 0.786 Fibonacci retracement.



The key support for XMR today is $150 - the price has rebounded from this level six times already. With a high degree of probability, buyers will meet the asset at this level. In case of a market reversal, the growth targets will be $175 and $190, respectively.

NEO/USD

NEO is not doing well. At press time, the coin is trading at $49, which is already slightly lower than the previous minimum, and significantly lower than the minimum of the February correction. It seems that due to decreased interest in ICOs, the asset is suffering a fate similar to its older brother Ethereum.



If there is no quick rebound, then the price will break the long-term ascending channel. In this case, the decline targets are $42 and $36, with the possibility of a brief stop at the boundary of the mirror level, marked in red. There is no sense calculating growth scenarios for NEO at the moment, but the key level for bulls is now $60.

The link: https://cryptocomes.com/bears-take-market-down-btc-and-xmr-struggle-eth-and-neo-share-unlucky-fate

We try to do our best, the next review is coming

03/29/18 No Reversal for BTC, No Love for LTC and XRP, but XMR is Looking Good

The middle of the week has passed, but the market is still undecided on the direction of further movement. Once again, we see a tendency of declining trading volumes, although some assets are behaving abnormally, as we will discuss below. It seems that the players are expecting some kind of call to action, but it won’t appear out of nowhere — either bull or bears will have to take the initiative.

Market cap is stable despite varied altcoin activity

For the third day in a row, the total capitalization of all crypto assets is fluctuating around $300 bln. Some altcoins continue growing — just in the first hundred coins, there are five that have gained more than 20 percent in 24 hours.

Overall, about half of the top 100 assets are green by the end of Wednesday. Bitcoin dominance is still 45 percent, supported by a slow but steady squeezing of juices from assets with the highest capitalization.

BTC/USD

Our indications for Bitcoin remain relevant, but several new elements have emerged. First, at the beginning of Wednesday, the price finished forming a bullish wedge. The price’s exit upward from the figure was accompanied by a significant increase in trading volumes. As a result, the price reached $8,100, and the bulls were already reaching for champagne - but the maneuver turned out to be false, once again.



After some fluctuation, everything returned to normal, namely - the level of $7,850, a sort of magnet for the last few days. Yes, we see long shadows on hourly candles, and yes, price lows are in no hurry to be updated, but the fact remains - there are no clear signs for reversal yet.

The key support for BTC remains the same - it’s the level of $7,600 - $7,660. Our recommendation to buy the asset at these prices with a short stop-loss remains in force.

LTC/USD

Litecoin just can’t please investors, and no reasons for joy are foreseeable in the future. At the time of writing the asset is traded at $130, huddling near the support line and clearly trying to fall one level lower. The level of $125, which we wrote about yesterday, received another confirmation - if the rate of decline remains the same, it will coincide with the boundary of the mirror level, to which the price was sensitive as early as December 2017 (marked by an orange line).



In the case the "support" is broken, the bears’ goal of $115 is still relevant. Of course, such a decrease is possible only in case of negative Bitcoin influence, since the news of LitePay failure has already played out and no longer puts pressure on the asset. We will periodically return to the analysis Litecoin price, but more out of respect for one of the oldest altcoins.

XMR/USD

Monero is still clearly following along the parabolic trajectory that we indicated yesterday. There are almost no long red candles, while buyers showed themselves in full force yesterday. We see a huge purchase volume, confirming the interest of investors and, perhaps, the entrance of smart money into the position. We observed something like this on the NEO chart earlier.



This pleasant picture of growth can be spoiled by the fall of Bitcoin, which is more than likely. Meanwhile, the level of $195, from where a large number of long positions was acquired, is a key one, but not the most reliable. Much more solid support is offered by $188, coinciding with the 0.786 Fibonacci retracement.

If there is a top altcoin which is an attractive investment now from the point of view of technical analysis - that coin is Monero. In the event that these decline targets are achieved, we recommend buying, with a stop-loss of course (in the current market situation, there is no other way).

XRP/USD

In the past few days, Ripple has not stood out in any way - the price didn’t make any sudden leaps, trading volumes remain consistently low, the lateral support level is almost broken through. We expect a further price decrease to the level of $0.55.



There is no talk of growth at this point. XRP has been in a downtrend for a long time and there have been no signs of reversal. Most likely, even after the beginning of global growth (which is sure to happen, one just needs to be patient), Ripple will be one of the coins trailing behind. We recommend that readers refrain from trading.

The link: https://cryptocomes.com/no-reversal-for-btc-no-love-for-ltc-and-xrp-but-xmr-is-looking-good

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There has been a warning put out by the Australia Tax Office that scammers are out there impersonating their officers, demanding Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as payment for tax debts.

It is a scam that piggybacks off a real issue across the globe; the actual tax debts that have accrued thanks to cryptocurrency earnings and gains. Australia’s tax office has cracked down more severely on cryptocurrency gains in their latest anti-money laundering legislation.

The full article: https://cryptocomes.com/scammers-impersonating-tax-officers-australia-are-demanding-bitcoin