The bitcoin price has dropped by up to 5.80 percent from its recent peak of $8,947. But the cryptocurrency’s least-awaited downtrend has still not begun, according to Josh Rager.

The prominent cryptocurrency analyst said on Tuesday that bitcoin’s next downside correction is still a couple of months away owing to its past behaviors. Rager noted that bitcoin takes an average of 98 days to initiate big pullbacks in an uptrend. The cryptocurrency’s last significant price correction took place on May 17, which means it has at least three months to continue its bullish action.

  “While we can’t base everything on one historical uptrend, we do know that pullbacks will come. But, with institutions in the market
  now & battling for position, we may not see a major pullback (30%) for a while (July or August),” said Rager.


       Josh Rager 📈
       @Josh_Rager
   1/ $BTC: Still waiting on that 30%+ pullback?

   Bitcoin had eight 30%+ pullbacks last market uptrend but the average time between each pullback was 98 days

   BTC had a serious 26.3% pullback on May 17th, which means the next major retrace could be a couple months away
   9:55 PM - May 28, 2019

Mid-$9,000 for Next Bitcoin Pullback
The open-ended bitcoin price boom took encouragements from a chain of recent headlines showing greater interest in the cryptocurrency industry. At first, Fidelity Investments and TD Ameritrade in April expressed their plans to offer bitcoin trading services to their clients in separate announcements. Later, AT&T, a US-based telecommunication firm, stated that it would permit customers to pay their phone bills in bitcoin.

Peter Brandt, a well-recognized trader, said investors are purchasing bitcoin out of FOMO, a backronym for fear-of-missing-out. The analyst believed the cryptocurrency would extend its price rally before “the majority of sold-out crypto bulls capitulate.”

Rager developed the theory into a level that could attract maximum capitulation in the near-term. He referred to a so-called “meme triangle” pattern — symmetrical triangle — which earlier hosted bitcoin’s previous breakout action. The height of the triangle was just shy of $1,5o0 which, according to textbook descriptions, settled bitcoin’s upside target $1,500 higher from the point of breakout ($8,150 on Coinbase exchange).


       Josh Rager 📈
      @Josh_Rager
   $BTC: Goodbye meme triangle, hello $9k+ targets

   Some people were screaming triple top when the more obvious conclusion is retest after restest of resistance will finally lead to a
   break to the upside

   Bitcoin could cool off, run sideways but IMO will continue to move up over $9k
   4:12 AM - May 27, 2019

  “I’ll continue to be bullish on BTC until we hit between the $9400 to $9700 area (even if BTC retraces to $8400),” said Rager.

Alex Krüger, a global market analyst, also noted that bitcoin has little resistance over $8,500, which could make its course towards the price target of $9,000-price target — or even $10,000 — much easier.
       Alex Krüger
       @krugermacro
   $BTC levels

   Support: 7600, 7200, 6800, 6400, 6200, 6000, 5750-5500, 5000.

   Resistance: 8400-8500, 10000, 11500-11750, 13000, 15000, 17400, 20000,  moon.
   4:54 AM - May 22, 2019

Bearish Outlook
Rager admitted the possibility of a bitcoin pullback ahead of testing $9,400, citing the area below is “the most expected place” for an interim capitulation.

  “One could also suspect a BTC pullback [before] the $9400 to $9700 level because this is the most expected place. Being that level is
  so obvious, it wouldn’t be the crypto market without a few surprises as price action rarely goes as expected,” he said.

Willy Woo, another famous cryptocurrency analyst, said the divergence between the bitcoin price and bitcoin’ network value-to-transaction ratio was growing higher, which typically means that dump is overdue.


       Willy Woo
       @woonomic
   If you want to see just how high the price exceeded what's normal for on chain capital flows, NVT Caps paints a very clear picture.
   The short squeeze pushed price mismatch to late bull market "mania" levels before the blow off today, we are still well above organic
   levels.
   7:20 PM - May 17, 2019

  “If you want to see just how high the price exceeded what’s normal for on-chain capital flows, NVT Caps paints [an obvious] picture,
  Woo said. “The short squeeze pushed price mismatch to late bull market “mania” levels before the blowoff today, we are still well
  above organic levels.”

source:  https://www.newsbtc.com/2019/05/29/a-huge-bitcoin-price-correction-is-still-a-couple-of-months-away-analyst/

2019 Ethereum Prediction
A recent analysis of the charts indicate that the price of Ethereum (ETH) has continued to drop sharply. In fact, the rate at which the digital asset is falling is much higher compared to other assets among the top tokens. This continued downward spiral has surprised investors and is causing concerns among many regarding were the digital asset is heading.

It appears that no bottom is OK for Ethereum (ETH) as it continues to drop. Currently, Ethereum (ETH) is trading around $103. This shows that the digital asset has fallen from approximately $1200 since the start of the year. Thus, the token has lost over 90% of its original value due to the highly volatile market.

Ethereum (ETH) at Risk of Drowning into the Double Digits
Ether is at risk of going into double digits because the next support area for the cryptocurrency is at the $100 position. There’s a psychological and technical support. Which is why the support line is very important. The last time ETH saw these levels was May 2017. At the time, the digital asset had formed a support of $91.

This clearly indicates that if the price of the digital asset breaks the psychological and technical support area of $100; it can drop to $91. This is the primary reason why it is crucial for the digital asset to retain the $100 support of area. The issue is that the downside momentum is ferocious to the point that it might break $100 as well.

Double digits for ETH is now becoming more of a possibility rather than an imagination. Hence, the reason why investors remain sceptical about Ethereum (ETH) considering the significant amount of value it has lost.

Ethereum (ETH) Has Lost a Significant Portion of its Value Compared to the Other Top Assets
As mentioned above Ether has lost a huge portion of its value. The figure stands at 90% as of press time. Among the top three virtual currencies, none of have lost such a huge amount of value. Ethereum’s value erosion is nothing short of enormous. And with the Initial Coin Offering market now in trouble, it appears the issues Ethereum (ETH) is facing isn’t about to end anytime soon. Authorities around the world have started tightening the regulation of ICOs. This is why the fundamentals are not positive.

A Fall Below the $100 Area Appears Likely
The current price movement of Ether means that a fall below $100 is imminent. Yes, things are not actually looking good for Ether. Additionally, with the competition within the Blockchain increasing from the other virtual currencies, the use of the Ethereum blockchain isn’t increasing by any means at a faster pace when compared to what it was earlier.

Whether we will see a turn around in the fate of the digital asset remains to be seen. We can’t say if it will hit the heights it attained when things were better. That is another matter altogether. For now, however, it appears that there is no bottom deep enough for the Ether token price.

Ethereum Blockchain Is One of the Most Useful
The blockchain of Ethereum (ETH) is one of the most useful in the blockchain space. Nevertheless, the blockchain project is paying a big price for the abundant fake projects in the crypto industry. A lot of Initial Coin Offerings used the protocol of Ethereum in 2017 and 2018. Ethereum is now the one paying for the sham motives of most of these projects.

The massive decline in the value of Ethereum is basically as a result of the low rate of new Initial Coin Offerings coming in the market. Investors are now smarter, they now have a better understanding of the landscape. A lot of existing projects are now selling-off their Ether as a result of the crash in the value of the digital currency.

However, the founder of ConsenSys and the co-creator of Ethereum – Joseph Lubin – believes that the adoption process and use cases of Ethereum’s protocol is growing rapidly.

Nerayoff talked about Ethereum
“You’re seeing a tremendous amount of growth across a wide variety of industries. Fintech is actually the natural area, but now you’re seeing it becoming increasingly more creative — you find projects in the oil and gas industry, you’re finding government using it in their applications, you’re seeing it in gaming, all kinds of different areas,” Nerayoff said.

Beyond project building, Nerayoff said usage is increasing because ethereum can process transactions more quickly and cheaply than its rival. “People are actually using it for currency, as well,” he said. “Lower transactional costs are increasing usage of the entire network, and that’s increasing the network effects of it. There are more users, more projects being built on there and more programmers,” he said. Despite his confidence, Nerayoff isn’t discounting bitcoin and the interest in cryptocurrency it inspired in 2017. “The entire space is increasing. There is huge interest by the public and there are more areas in which the public can invest, even in bitcoin, so you could just see an expansion in the entire space,” he said.

Ethereum price prediction:  2019, 2020
Ethereum is fast emerging as a major cryptocurrency. In the last few days, it has scaled new heights quite consistently. This is one of the main reasons why most of the investors are also looking at Ethereum as a long-term investment bet.

This brings us to the important question what can be the Ethereum price in the future. You need to understand that you have to look into the usability as well as the application of the cryptocurrency. When you are able to look at the usability and application of cryptocurrency, thereafter only it would become easier for you to understand how its value can appreciate. When you’re looking at Ethereum, you would realize that it is underlying capability that is it provides decentralized processing power as well as bandwidth. Owing to this very reason, Ethereum is much different as compared to the other tokens which are just a token for investment. This also means that the value of Ethereum would increase in the future.

By the end of 2019, it is expected that Ethereum would be somewhere around $ 500. Similarly, by the end of the year 2020, it is assumed that Ethereum would be around $ 2,000.

Thus, when you look at the kind of returns which are expected from Ethereum, you would realize that it has a long way to go still.

Reasons why Ethereum can appreciate by a significant amount:

some of the reasons include:

    - Increasing application uses
    - more companies adopting decentralized cloud-based applications
    - increased usage of smart contracts

These are the 3 reasons why Ethereum is being more widely used. You need to keep in mind that when it comes to Ethereum, the more the platform is used, the higher would be the price of the token. Owing to this very reason, you can be sure that the value of Ethereum would increase in the future as well.

Also, it is expected to become the 2nd most valuable cryptocurrency according to the market cap. This is one of the main reasons why it would consistently appreciate as well over the years.

So, whenever you’re looking to invest in any cryptocurrency, it is a much better idea to look at the option of Ethereum. When you look at the option of Ethereum, you would realize that not only it has a strong application but also significant potential for appreciation.

source:  https://smartereum.com/2279/ethereum-price-predictions-2019-cryptocurrencys-value-could-triple-how-high-can-the-price-of-ethereum-go-in-2019-ethereum-news-tue-may-28/

Bitcoin’s (BTC) rapid surge to $8,000 could be attributed to many things: several positive developments have happened in a short span of time, including Bakkt, which is expected to launch in July, releasing details on its Bitcoin physical futures.



It’s not all great news, however, as the United States Securities and Exchange Commision (SEC) has yet again delayed a decision on a Bitcoin ETF, this time a BitWise ETF proposal. This is the third such delay for this proposal. The next deadline has been schedule for August 14.

 
  Jake Chervinsky
  @jchervinsky
    · May 14, 2019
      Reminder that the SEC has deadlines this Thursday & next Tuesday to approve, deny, or delay its decisions on the Bitwise & VanEck
      bitcoin ETF proposals. My best guess at the probabilities:

      - Delay, 90%
      - Denial, 9%
      - Approval, 1%

      Delay means new deadlines on August 14 & 19.

  Jake Chervinsky
  @jchervinsky
      As expected, the SEC has delayed its decision on the Bitwise ETF. The new deadline is August 14. The SEC can delay one more time
      to a final deadline of October 13.

      Curiously, the SEC hasn't made a decision on VanEck yet, but it will likely be delayed too [https://www.coindesk.com/sec-again-
      delays-decision-on-bitwise-bitcoin-etf-approval]
      4:18 AM - May 15, 2019
     


The SEC has already received 25 comments on the proposal and is seeking more. The official report reads,
   The Commission is publishing this notice and order to solicit comments on the proposed rule change, as modified by Amendment
   No. 1, from interested persons and to institute proceedings pursuant to Section 19(b)(2)(B) of the Act8 to determine whether to
   approve or disapprove the proposed rule change, as modified by Amendment No. 1.   

While the news will be disappointing for market enthusiasts, there is a growing belief that if the SEC does not open up to the cryptocurrency market, the US stands to lose a lot from the growing digital assets market.   

source:  https://www.investinblockchain.com/bitcoin-stopped-caring-about-etf-delays-proceeds-to-scratch-8000-again/

Even for something as notoriously volatile as bitcoin, the cryptocurrency's recent price fluctuations have been extraordinary.

Its value surged from $4,000 at the start of April to $8,000 by mid May, before yoyo-ing between $7,000 and $8,000 over the last few days.

Cryptocurrency experts have attempted to explain the rollercoaster market, citing a combination of recent good news in the crypto space and short term traders attempting to capitalise on uncertainty.

But a recent crash that wiped $1,000 off bitcoin's value in less than an hour can seemingly be explained by a single trade.

On the morning of Friday, 17 May, the sale of 5,000 bitcoin on the Bitstamp exchange – worth around $40 million at the time of the trade – resulted in a flash crash that wiped more than $10 billion bitcoin's market capitalisation in just 20 minutes.

Analysts say the huge impact of this trade illustrates the fundamental issues that still exist for the nascent commodity.

"The bitcoin price is a game for 'whales' – the largest traders – to wreck the smaller players," cryptocurrency author David Gerard wrote in a blogpost analysing the market dip.

"This was a huge dump... This keeps happening, and has done for the past few years – a pile of short or long positions on the price will be blown by someone manipulating the price.

Mr Gerard claims the cryptocurrency market is "rife with insider trading" and that a number of so-called whales "have colluded for years".

The borderless and semi-anonymous nature of bitcoin means it is difficult to police such instances of market manipulation, while the lack of regulation compared to other commodity markets mean a handful of bad actors are able to exploit it for financial gain.



The Bitstamp exchange launched an investigation into the trade within hours of the crash taking place, though few details were given.

"Our system behaved as designed, processing and fulfilling the client's order as it was received," the exchange tweeted.

"We closely examine every event that causes large-scale movement in our order book and have started an immediate case investigation."

Other cryptocurrency experts claim such market fluctuations should not detract from the underlying value of bitcoin as both an investment asset and a currency.

Ana Bencic, foudner of cryptocurrency firm NextHash, believes the price of bitcoin will continue to rise in the long-term, despite the recent crash.

"Bitcoin has been enjoying firmly positive market sentiment recently, so I am sure that the price will soon recover," she told The Independent.

"The ease of use, transparency and potential for rapid returns make cryptocurrency investment very attractive."



But according to Mr Gerard, it is only a matter of time before similar market manipulation takes place again.

"The market's structure is terrible, trading on the exchanges is thin, and all the incentives are still there," he wrote.

"Anyone who claims the bitcoin price is in any way organic, or follows real-world events, is simply talking nonsense. We've seen how it works, live in action, in front of us."

source:  https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/bitcoin-price-explained-usd-latest-value-market-today-a8921806.html

 - On the upside, a bullish break will hit the $8.0 resistance level and the price will rally above the $10 price level.
 - Since the price was fluctuating between the upper and lower price level; it is most likely to revisit the lower price level.

ETC/USD Long-term Trend: Ranging
 - Resistance levels: $8, $8.5, $9
 - Support levels: $7.0, $6.5, $6.

Since on April 7, the ETC/USD pair had been facing resistance at the $8 price level. The crypto’s price was trading between the levels of $5.50 and $8.0. In April, the market fell to the support of the $5.41 price level and commenced a sideways trend. The 12-day EMA and the 26-day EMA were trending horizontally indicating that price was in a sideways trend. On May 16, the bulls tested the $8 resistance level and were resisted. Since the price was fluctuating between the upper and lower price level; it is most likely to revisit the lower price level.



On the upside, a bullish break will hit the $8.0 resistance level and the price will rally above the $10 price level. The stochastic is at the overbought region but below the 80% range which indicates that the ETC price is in a bearish momentum and a sell signal.

source:  https://bitcoinexchangeguide.com/ethereum-classic-price-prediction-long-term-etc-value-forecast-may-18/

Facebook has been highly secretive about its recent endeavor with cryptocurrency and blockchain. A more transparent approach could raise speculations in the market. Moreover, the regulations around cryptocurrency and payments have been unclear as well. Recently, the U.S. Senate Banking Committee sent an open letter to Founder Mark Zuckerberg, demanding the details about its cryptocurrency project: Libra.

Furthermore, according to the press release by Reuters, the chief executives of Facebook’s subsidiaries WhatsApp, Instagram and Messengers have been under regulatory scrutiny over privacy issues.

Reportedly, Facebook has registered the of ‘Libra Networks’ in Geneva, Switzerland. Facebook is the stakeholder of the company which aims to provide financial and technology services and develop related hardware and software, according to Reuters findings. The registration was made on 2nd May 2019 in Geneva. According to the fillings,
   “investing, payments, financing, identity management, analytics, big data, blockchain and other technologies.”

Facebook has acquired trademark rights to Libra reportedly and is recruiting dozens of financial firms and online merchants.

Facebook has also been on a hiring spree for its new blockchain team that has more than 40 members from the FinTech industry. It also took a lenient stance on the advertising of cryptocurrency and blockchain projects on its giant social media platform.

source:  https://coingape.com/facebooks-cryptocurrency-project-libra-networks-switzerland/

But we don't know when it will happen

Despite the lackluster launch of the latest Samsung Galaxy S10’s cryptocurrency and blockchain features, the Korean tech giant is reportedly looking to trickle the technology down to its budget smartphones.

In an announcement yesterday, senior managing director of Product Strategy at Samsung’s Wireless division, Chae Won-cheol, said “We will lower barriers to new experiences by gradually expanding the number of Galaxy models that support blockchain functions,” Business Korea reports.

It’s also reported that Samsung will expand the availability of its blockchain services after Korea, the United States, and Canada.

Don’t hold your breath
Rumors that Samsung was working on cryptocurrency and blockchain features for its flagship smartphone surfaced earlier this year. Naturally, enthusiasts were excited, but it all fell a bit flat when the S10 launched and the cryptocurrency wallet was nowhere to be found for those outside the US, Germany, and Korea.

The real kicker though was that when it did launch, it only appeared to support some altcoins, tokens, and crypto-collectibles. Users are still waiting for the S10 to natively store Bitcoin private keys.

On this occasion, Samsung is still yet to say when and which of its budget phones will receive the additional blockchain features. It also didn’t allude as to when it would expand global support for its cryptocurrency wallet.

Indeed, even if it might take a while, Samsung is certainly trying to carve itself a space in the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry.

As previously reported by Hard Fork last year, Samsung published a blog post suggesting its smartphones had the best security for blockchain and cryptocurrency.

At the time, Hard Fork spoke to several security experts to discern Samsung’s claims. The consensus was that although smartphones could be a potential good short-term storage solution, they carry many associated risks when it comes to storing users’ cryptocurrency funds.

So if your next Samsung phone offers this feature, you’ll want to fully educate yourself about how well it works before trusting it with your entire cryptocurrency fortune.

source:  https://thenextweb.com/hardfork/2019/05/14/samsung-blockchain-budget-phones/

[ i have to get one of this ... i'm just saying ]