News Updates January 23 2023
1. Reasons Why Bitcoin (BTC) Price Rally Is Likely Over
Bitcoin (BTC) price rally is likely over and an upside move to $25k is unlikley under the current market conditions.
Bitcoin price witnessed a marvelous 40% rally in January as traders expect a turnaround of events. The BTC price hit a high of $23,282 last week, marking a 5-month high despite the FTX contagion that continues to impact the market sentiment.
Bitcoin price currently trades at $22,888, trading sideways in the last two days. The 24-hour low and high for Bitcoin are $22,387 and $23,056, respectively. While analysts expect Bitcoin price to hit $25k this month, the rally may not happen.
5 Reasons Why Bitcoin (BTC) Price Hitting $25K Is Unlikely
Here are the reasons why the Bitcoin rally is likely over and the BTC price may not hit $25k this month.
1. European Central Bank Monetary Tightening
The European Central Bank plans to deliver 50 bps interest rate hikes in the next two meetings in February and March. ECB President Christine Lagarde asserts the need for further tightening and revising rate hike targets to bring down inflation.
Meanwhile, the European Parliament’s Economic Affairs Committee votes on a draft law seeking banks offering crypto services to hold more capital to manage risks from crypto assets.
2. US Federal Reserve FOMC Meeting
The U.S. Federal Reserve to announce a rate hike in the next FOMC meeting on February 1. While the CPI and jobs data signal a smaller rate hike, economists expect another 50 bps rate hike. Invests may have to wait a little longer for the Fed pivot.
As per CME FedWatch Tool, the probability of a 25 bps rate hike is 97.2%. The reading has decreased from the last day as investors await the fourth-quarter GDP data due on Thursday.
Bitcoin price stabilizes below $23k ahead of the ECB and U.S. Fed rate hike decision. Thus, traders are unlikely to take any decision before these events.
3. US Dollar Index Volatility
The U.S. dollar index (DXY) will continue to show volatility ahead of the importance week. The DXY currently moves near below 102 and is likely to jump higher ahead of the rate hike decision by the U.S. Federal Reserve.
A rise in DXY will make the Bitcoin price to dive lower and bring a correction in the broader crypto market. Moreover, the recent policy decision by Japan and European Union have weakened the US dollar and the Fed will most likely thwart it.
4. The Bitcoin Fear and Greed Index Plunges
Bitcoin Fear and Greed Index is neutral at 50. The index has dropped in the last few days as traders anticipate a decline in Bitcoin price due to possibilities of profit-taking and “sell the news” strategy.
5. Bitcoin Technical Indicators Signal Strong Resistance
Bitcoin price is trading above the 200-day moving average (DMA). Analysts expect a move to 200-WMA, which is near $25k.
In the daily timeframe, Bollinger Bands breakout to subdue in the coming days and Bitcoin price can fall below $21,500. Moreover, the RSI is moving in the overbought zone and is likely to fall lower. Other indicators also signal a decline in Bitcoin price.
2. JP Morgan, Wells Fargo, BofA’s New Wallet To Offer Crypto Payments?
Big Wall Street banks JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America could in future add crypto based payments in the upcoming wallet.
Crypto Payments Wallet News: Banking giants, including Wall Street biggies Wells Fargo, Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase are preparing to launch a new payments wallet. The wallet is seen as the banks introducing a wallet that could rival Apple Pay and PayPal. Although a definite timeline is yet to be finalized, reports suggest that the product could be released towards the end of 2023. Although there is no mention of enabling crypto payments through the wallet, drawing a comparison to Apple Pay does not rule away the possibility.
Big Banks Collaborate
According to a Wall Street Journal report, the big banks are working together to allow their customers pay using the wallet which in turn is linked to the debit and credit cards. Thanks to the huge network of users between the banks, the wallet could potentially attract a massive usage. Between these banks, there is a massive network of about 150 million debit and credit cards that could integrate with the wallet once it is live.
In a recent development, JP Morgan registered for its crypto wallet trademark with the title ‘JP Morgan Wallet’. Reports suggested that the bank would offer services like crypto payments processing and virtual checking account. However, it is yet to be confirmed if the other banks are party to this projplz ect.
3. Crypto Exchange Bitzlato Converted Over $1B in Crime-Linked Assets, Europol Says
Several senior executives have been arrested in Spain, Europol announced, following founder Anatoly Legkodymov's arrest in Miami.
Bitzlato, a previously little-known crypto exchange that last week was charged by the U.S. with money laundering, exchanged around 1 billion euros ($1.08 billion) in assets linked to criminal activities, European Union police agency Europol said in a statement Monday.
"Targeting crucial crime facilitators such as crypto exchanges is becoming a key priority in the battle against cybercrime," Europol said, citing transactions in multiple crypto currencies including bitcoin (BTC), dash (DASH) and litecoin (LTC), as well as U.S. dollars and Russian rubles.
The company's CEO, financial director and market director were all arrested in Spain, as well as one additional individual in Cyprus and one in the U.S., Europol said, after the U.S. Department of Justice announced it had shut down the Hong Kong platform and taken founder Anatoly Legkodymov into custody in Miami.
The statement from Europol, the EU agency that coordinates activities among national law-enforcement authorities within the bloc, details house searches in Spain, Cyprus and Portugal; the takedown of digital infrastructure in France; and seizures of 18 million euros ($19.5 million) in cryptocurrency, vehicles and electronics, plus the freezing of 50 million euros ($54.3 million) of crypto at other exchanges.
Last Wednesday, the U.S. Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network formally labeled the company a “primary money-laundering concern,” a designation that usually cuts off a business off from the global financial system.
The crime-linked assets represented about 46% of the 2.1 billion euros ($2.3 billion) received by the platform, Europol said.
4. FBI Seizes Bitcoin From Overseas Scammers Who Posed as US Law Enforcement Officials.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) says it has seized bitcoin worth millions of dollars from overseas scammers targeting the elderly. The scammers posed as members of U.S. law enforcement agencies and tricked the victims into transferring money to them for “safekeeping.”
FBI Says It Has Seized Bitcoin From Scammers Overseas
The U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut and the Acting Special Agent in Charge of the New Haven Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced Friday that bitcoin and other digital assets have been seized in connection with a fraudulent scheme targeting the elderly. They detailed:
An investigation of a fraud scheme targeting vulnerable victims has resulted in the forfeiture of approximately 151 bitcoins, as well as other digital assets.
The case is being investigated by the FBI, the U.S. Secret Service, and the U.S. Marshals Service. At the time of writing, the value of the allegedly seized bitcoin totaled approximately $3.5 million.
The fraud, which occurred in approximately October 2020, involved overseas individuals pretending to be members of U.S. law enforcement agencies. They targeted “vulnerable victims, including first-generation U.S. citizens and elderly persons,” the authorities said. Through phone calls, they told the victims that their identity had been compromised. After gaining the victims’ trust, the scammers requested transfers of money for “safekeeping” with the promise of returning the funds plus interest. The announcement details:
Once the overseas individuals had access to the victims’ money, they moved the money through multiple bank accounts and converted the money to digital currency in the form of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
Law enforcement investigators traced the victims’ money through the various accounts and identified a digital wallet holding bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies that had been purchased with the victims’ money,” the announcement adds. The authorities noted that the overseas scammers remain at large.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office has been granted “a civil asset forfeiture seizure warrant for the digital wallet,” the announcement clarifies, elaborating:
The U.S. Attorney’s Office used the civil asset forfeiture procedure because the digital assets constituted the proceeds of wire fraud.
5. Philippine Authorities Rescue Alleged Victims of 'Crypto Trafficking Ring'.
Philippine authorities say that they have rescued alleged victims of a “crypto trafficking ring” who were recruited to work in a call center in Cambodia and scam people out of their cryptocurrencies. The authorities are also investigating government employees who may have assisted crypto trafficking syndicates.
Alleged Victims of ‘Crypto Trafficking Ring’ Rescued
The Philippine Bureau of Immigration (BI)’s travel control and enforcement unit (TCEU) announced Friday that it has rescued six alleged victims of a “cryptocurrency trafficking ring,” the Philippine government-owned news agency reported.
Bureau of Immigration Commissioner Norman Garcera Tansingco explained that BI officers intercepted the alleged victims as they were about to board a plane to Phnom Penh on Jan. 15. Noting that these passengers had fake return tickets, the commissioner said they gave “inconsistent answers” to questions asked by BI officers, “which raised suspicions that they were merely disguised as tourists but their purpose is to work abroad.”
Ann Camille Mina, TCEU’s acting head, commented:
Eventually, they admitted that they will be working in a call center in Cambodia and were recruited through Facebook.
Authorities Probe Government Officials
Tansingco pledged to take action against any BI employees involved with crypto trafficking syndicates. He noted that the immigration officer who cleared the passengers for departure has been relieved from her duties pending the outcome of an investigation. The commissioner opined:
We want to also help locate and arrest those illegal recruiters that entice employees to take part in their illegal scheme … They are the root of this societal problem and they must also be arrested for this crime.
The Bureau of Immigration is currently investigating at least three persons of interest in the case, said BI spokesperson Dana Sandoval. Regarding whether this crypto trafficking case is related to human trafficking syndicates in Cambodia and Myanmar, she admitted: “That’s what worries us. It seems to be related.”
Crypto crime syndicates have been recruiting unsuspecting victims to work in call centers, particularly in Asian countries, and scam people on social media and dating apps. One of the most common tasks for trafficked victims is “pig butchering,” a type of crypto scam. According to a report by Propublica:
Tens of thousands of people from across Asia have been coerced into defrauding people in America and around the world out of millions of dollars. Those who resist face beatings, food deprivation or worse.
U.S. authorities have repeatedly warned that the pig butchering crypto scam is becoming alarmingly popular. In November last year, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) seized seven domain names used in pig butchering schemes. “Be very careful when you go on social media and dating apps and somebody starts developing a relationship with you, and wants you to start investing … Don’t get butchered,” an FBI official has warned.
