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Regulators Will “Undoubtedly Burst Bitcoin, Crypto’s Balloon”
After a multi-day bout of non-action, which followed Bitcoin (BTC)’s unexpected foray under $5,800 to establish a new year-to-date low, BTC and its altcoin brethren continued to sell-off into Monday. In a matter of hours, trading volume ramped up (yet again), with crypto investors rushing en-masse to liquidate their holdings.
This, as you are likely aware of, catalyzed a further move lower, sending BTC under $5,000 in a frenzied move lower, even though short-term trend indicators pointed to the fact that the asset was drastically oversold. As it stands, bitcoin currently goes for $4,930 a pop, resulting in a market capitalization of $85 billion, a far cry from December 2017’s peak.
Since the asset’s most recent collapse on Monday morning, the market has slowed, with BTC finding a home around a tad above $4,800, one of the crypto market’s strongest levels of support in the eyes of optimists.
Stephen Innes, head of Asia Pacific trading at Oanda, told MarketWatch:
The digital token fell as much as 6.3% to $5,202, having plunged through a critical resistance level Wednesday after a period of relative tranquility.
Although some pointed to Bitcoin Cash’s hard fork and the controversy surrounding this contentious event as the sell-offs’ sole catalyst, not-so convinced investors chalked up Bitcoin’s collapse to a number of other factors — an institutional liquidation, the collapse of ICOs, and a simple breakout after week’s of “stablecoin zone.”
However, while all these purported catalysts have their merits, some begged to differ, including Innes, the aforementioned Oanda trader. Discussing the matter with MarketWatch’s Aaron Hankin, the capital market trader noted that he “remains incredibly bearish on BTC,” explaining that the $1,000 price level is a possibility, a mere 50% off of BitMEX CEO’s $2,000 call.
Acknowledging his bias slightly, Innes went on to explain that he is coming from a longstanding and “unwavering” view that regulators, centralized authorities, and traditionalist bankers will undoubtedly want to push back against digital assets.
But, the fact of the matter is that centralized entities are scared, simply put. They’re scared of the power that cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies bestow on consumers, and they’re worried about the rise of decentralized money.
Still, failing to recognize this, the Oanda trader then noted that regulation will “undoubtedly burst crypto’s balloon, as the $5,000 cliff edge is approaching, [and] fast.”
Speaking with Bloomberg, Justin Litchfield, chief technology officer of ProChain Capital, echoed this sentiment surrounding crypto-related regulation and push-back. Litchfield, commenting in the context of crypto’s most recent drawdown, explained:
The sell-off is related to enforcement, which is almost certainly underway, Projects are being made to return investor money, which, after having spent a ton of money marketing their $100 million ICO on a lavish party-filled road-show that was the norm for this vintage of ICOs, will be tough.
The industry insider is presumably touching on the SEC’s involvement with Aircoin (Airfox) and Paragon, which, as reported by Ethereum World News, turned out badly for the two crypto startups. More specifically, the two firms were required to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of fines, before agreeing to compensate investors affected by their illegal token sales (ICOs).
Although the SEC’s move against two startups is far from an industry-wide crackdown, many fear that this is just the beginning of the end for ICOs, which arguably catalyzed a majority of 2017’s crypto boom.
Title Image Courtesy of Marco Verch Via Flickr
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