News Updates October 17, 2022
1. 5 altcoins that could be ripe for a short-term rally if Bitcoin price holds $19K
Bitcoin price continues to trade within a tight range, setting up possible short-term breakout for MATIC, HT, QNT and OKB.
The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite fell to a new year-to-date low last week and closed the week with a loss of 1.55% and 3.11%, respectively.
The scenario changed drastically on Oct. 17. After earnings, the season ramped up and a sharp policy reversal from U.K. Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt added detail to the government's plan to fix his predecessor's (Kwasi Kwarteng's) fiscal package, which had triggered a record fall in the value of the GBP and a near liquidation of pension plans in the United Kingdom.
At the time of writing, the Dow is up 1.78%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq present 2.57% and 3.26% respective gains. Meanwhile, Bitcoin (BTC $19,532) has managed to stay well above its year-to-date low showing short-term outperformance.
Some analysts expect that Bitcoin could be closer to a bottom. Twitter trader Alan said that the stochastic indicator on Bitcoin’s monthly chart has reached levels similar to those seen during the 2014 and 2018 bear markets, indicating a likely macro bottom.
Similarly, LookIntoBitcoin creator Philip Swift said in an interview with Cointelegraph that Bitcoin could be close to major cycle lows. Citing various metrics, Swift said that Bitcoin may face another two to three months of pain but should start its outperformance in 2023.
As Bitcoin sustains above its June low, select altcoins are attracting buyers. Let’s look at charts of five cryptocurrencies that look interesting in the near term.
2. Bitcoin Price Analysis: Lower Peaks Bearish - 18 October 2022.
Bitcoin (BTC/USD) continued to orbit key technical levels early in the Asian session as the pair approached the 19232.88 area, representing the 23.6% retracement of the recent depreciating range from 22800 to 18131. Additional upside retracement levels in this depreciating range include the 19914, 20465, 21016, 21698, and 21800 areas. Another important depreciating range includes the move lower from 20455.79 to 18131. The recent series of lower peaks has intensified BTC/USD’s downside risks with larger Stops accumulating below the 17803, 17701, 16966, and 16503 areas, significant technical levels related to historical upside pressure around the 3858 and 9819 levels. Additional significant technical areas on the downside include the 16990.14, 14500.15, and 10432.73 areas.
Following the ongoing depreciation, the 20433 area has emerged as an area of consistent technical resistance that is technically related to selling pressure that commenced around the all-time high of 69000. Additional upside price objectives and areas of potential selling pressure include the 21574, 22433, 23496, 24577, and 25214 areas. Traders are observing that the 50-bar MA (4-hourly) is bearishly indicating below the 100-bar MA (4-hourly) and below the 200-bar MA (4-hourly). Also, the 50-bar MA (hourly) is bullishly indicating above the 100-bar MA (hourly) and above the 200-bar MA (hourly).
Price activity is nearest the 50-bar MA (4-hourly) at 19258.42 and the 200-bar MA (Hourly) at 19257.60.
3. Bitcoin's Recent U-Turn Should Give Bulls Glimmer of Hope.
Bitcoin's abnormal price action that occurred last Thursday suggests that the largest cryptocurrency could be on the cusp of another major price spike, according to a Monday report by Bloomberg
As reported by U.Today, the largest cryptocurrency came dangerously close to falling below the $18,000 level last Wednesday due to underwhelming inflation data. However, it managed to make a rapid U-turn together with the stock market, erasing all losses and ending the day in the green. Some traders did not read too much into that massive intraday swing since Bitcoin remains highly correlated with the U.S. equities market. At the same time, Bitcoin's historical price action suggests that such a wild move could come on the cusp of a significant rally.
4. Macau Discusses Using CBDC As Official Currency.
As a special administrative region of China, Macau has its own currency, the Macau pataca. According to reports from Chinanews, the city-state's legislature passed an initial decree declaring the CBDC the country's official currency. In order for the law to come into force, it must first go through other instances of legislation, the report says. Thus, it would be possible to introduce a digital pataca.
The Chinese state as a whole has already introduced its own CBDC. As an example of excessive government control, the digital yuan is currently the best-known central bank digital currency. However, it is unclear whether Macau will develop a fully independent CBDC. Part of the new law is the obligation to adopt.
As in many other countries, the status of the official currency in Macau is inextricably linked with the obligation to accept it. Every resident is required to accept payments using the CBDC. People who refuse to accept it face fines ranging from 120 to 1200 Swiss francs. In this way, Macau could surpass the status of mainland China. In China, the digital yuan is only at the testing stage.
5. France to Explore Crypto Tax Treatment Next Year
The self-styled crypto hub won’t just copy and paste traditional finance norms, but Bruno Le Maire is also worried about energy consumption.
Bruno Le Maire wants France to be a crypto hub (Thierry Monasse/Getty Images)
France will review its crypto tax rules next year as it seeks to become the world’s leading blockchain hub – and won’t seek to simply replicate existing norms for stocks, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told local media in an interview published Monday.
Le Maire told BFM TV he was concerned about crypto’s energy consumption, and about the potential of blockchain technology to usurp the role of France’s fiat currency, the euro.
“We want to make the European Union the world’s leading economic zone for structuring and organizing the crypto market,” said Le Maire. “We want France to be the European hub of the crypto asset ecosystem.”
6. What new EU sanctions mean for crypto exchanges and their Russian clients
Despite many popular exchanges curtailing their operations within Russia, several platforms continue to service the region as usual.
Nine months into the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, sanctions against the latter have continued to grow at an aggressive pace. This time around, legislators for the European Union announced that they are introducing a complete ban on all cross-border crypto payments between Russia and its citizens.
To elaborate, a prohibition of all “crypto-asset wallets, accounts, or custody services, irrespective of the amount of the wallet,” has now been initiated by the EU in response to Russia’s continued annexation of Ukrainian land, repeated mobilization of troops within the country and threats of nuclear escalation.
It is worth noting that previous sanctions had limited cryptocurrency payments between Russian to EU wallets to 10,000 euros ($9,700). The new ban seeks to deprive the Kremlin’s military power while curtailing critical components of its industrial complex.
Russian crypto users under fire from all corners
In light of the EU’s aforementioned sanctions, a whole host of cryptocurrency exchanges popular in the region — including LocalBitcoins, Crypto.com and Blockchain.com — issued emails to their customers telling them to withdraw their funds as soon as possible since they would be unable to make use of their services henceforth.
It is worth considering that as of September 2022, LocalBitcoins accounted for a whopping 8% of Russia’s crypto trade volume, the exchange’s largest client base by far. Moreover, before the ban, Russian users were responsible for facilitating just under 20% of all total BTC trading volumes on the exchange.
7. Brazilian City of Curitiba Mulls Crypto Acceptance for Tax Payments.
The city of Curitiba, in Brazil, is now studying the possibility of accepting cryptocurrency payments for taxes. Noemia Rocha, a city councilor for Curitiba, presented this project to the executive to study the method by which the municipality could accept cryptocurrencies for these payments using third-party payment processors.
Curitiba Might Accept Crypto for Paying Taxes
More and more municipalities are including crypto as part of their development and tax-collecting plans. This time is Curitiba, the capital of the state of Parana in Brazil, which is considering accepting payments in cryptocurrency for municipal taxes. The architect of this project is city councilor Noemia Rocha, who suggested the city should consider how this might be achieved with the help of third-party payment companies.
The proposal recognizes the acceptance of crypto in Brazil and pushes Curitiba, which is considered a tech hub in the country, to explore this possibility for its traits. About this view of the functionality of the proposal, Rocha stated:
Cryptocurrencies have become financial assets of immense popularity in the world economy and are already alternative forms to the ‘nationalization of currency’, as can be seen in the numerous operations carried out through the virtual environment.
Binance, one of the world’s largest crypto exchanges, is also working toward implementing the new restrictions. However, a representative for the firm told Cointelegraph that these changes may take some time to go live, with there being no set date for the same. Similarly, Bitfinex, an exchange that had previously spoken out against the growing sanctions being levied against Russian nationals, recently changed its tune, claiming that it may have to amend its policies if “directed by the regulatory authorities” by which they are governed.
