Bitcoin Price Rises by 5% to $3,740 as the Cryptocurrency Market Gradually Recovers

Today, on September 23, the bitcoin price increased from $3,600 to $3,738, recording a daily increase of 4.88 percent. At today’s peak, the bitcoin price surpassed the $3,800 mark, showing signs of recovery from the largest price correction.

Bitcoin Price Rises by 5% to $3,740 as the Cryptocurrency Market Gradually Recovers

On September 20, less than three days ago, the price of bitcoin and most of the cryptocurrencies in the global market declined significantly. The bitcoin price plunged from $4,020 to $3,530, by $490, and the price of other leading cryptocurrency such as Ethereum also dropped by over 10 percent.

Bitcoin Remains Stable in $3,800 Region, Optimistic Indicators

In 2013, when the Chinese government banned bitcoin and trading activities around the cryptocurrency, the bitcoin price fell by over 40 percent and it failed to recover for more than eight months thereafter. The bitcoin price surpassed the $1,000 mark for the first time in December of 2016. However, when the Chinese government issued a nationwide ban on bitcoin, the bitcoin price was not able to surpass the $1,000 mark again until January of 2017.

In consideration of the impact the Chinese government and its ban on bitcoin had on the price of bitcoin in 2013, China’s nationwide ban on local bitcoin exchanges had significantly less impact on both the price of bitcoin and the state of the global bitcoin exchange market.

When the Chinese government requested major bitcoin exchanges and trading platforms including BTCC, OKCoin and Huobi to shut down, analysts expected the price of bitcoin to remain below the $3,000 mark for awhile, since the Chinese bitcoin exchange market was still a large market for bitcoin. But, as an increasing number of traders and investors began to realize that the Chinese market was only accountable for around 10 to 13 percent of global bitcoin traders, the international bitcoin exchange market started to demonstrate increasing demand from investors.

It is important to acknowledge that stability is most likely a far-fetched term to depict the recent performance of the bitcoin price. But, relative to previous events such as the 2013 ban on bitcoin by the Chinese government, bitcoin has done surprising well, showing resilience towards FUD and regulatory uncertainty in China.

Can Bitcoin Price Recover Beyond $4,000 In Upcoming Weeks?

Financial and bitcoin analysts including Max Keiser and Ben Verret reaffirmed that the bitcoin price is likely to increase in the upcoming days and weeks, considering that the weak hands have left the market. Earlier today, Keiser also emphasized his short-term price target of $6,000, given that the bitcoin price has been able to hold up and sustain momentum despite the uncertainty in regards to the Chinese bitcoin market and also, the country’s local bitcoin mining industry.

Since 2016, an increasing number of investors and traders have begun to seek bitcoin as a safe haven asset to avoid global markets volatility and weakening of reserve currencies. As the conflict between North Korea and the US continues to intensify, it is likely that more investors will seek out for bitcoin in the upcoming weeks.

More to that, as JP Vergne, a professor at Ivey Business School explained, developer activity around cryptocurrencies is the best indicator for price. Bitcoin development is booming with the emergence of Lightning-based applications and Segregated Witness (SegWit)-supporting wallet platforms.

Joseph Young on 23/09/2017

Posted by David Ogden
David Ogden Cryptocurrency Entrepreneur

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Ethereum, Bitcoin Prices Slide as Market Sheds $10 Billion

The crypto markets took a steep downward turn on Friday, with more than 90 of the top 100 cryptocurrencies posting single-day price declines. The bitcoin price dropped nearly $400 after challenging the $4,000 level earlier in the week, while the ethereum price slipped below $260.

Chart from CoinMarketCap

The total cryptocurrency market cap–the combined value of all cryptocurrencies–dropped more than $10 billion for the day. After beginning the day at about $133 billion, the crypto market cap quickly dropped below the $130 billion threshold, where it languished leading into Friday morning. At present, the total crypto market cap is about $122 billion.

Chart from CoinMarketCap

Bitcoin Price Dips Toward $3,500

Bitcoin was at the head of the retreat, dipping nearly $400 from its Thursday morning mark of $3,900. Market manipulation or not, the bitcoin price has tapered quite a bit since its early-week recovery. In the past day alone, it has dipped 6%, despite the fact that a prominent industry figure said a trusted source had told him that China will not extend its bitcoin crackdown to mining. At present, the bitcoin price is trading at a global average of $3,564, which translates into a $59.1 billion market cap.

Bitcoin Price Chart from CoinMarketCap

Meanwhile, JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon has taken another potshot at bitcoin, claiming that it’s “worth nothing” just a week after calling it a fraud.

Ethereum Price Dips Another 6%

The ethereum price mirrored bitcoin’s decline, dipping 6% for the day. After entering the day above $270, the ethereum price struggled to hold above that mark. Ultimately, it dove through the $260 level, too, bringing it to a current price of $257. Ethereum now has a market cap of $24.4 billion.

Ethereum Price Chart from CoinMarketCap

Bitcoin Cash Posts Double-Digit Decline

The bitcoin cash price careened downward on Friday, posting the worst single-day performance of any top 15 coin. Within the past 24 hours, the bitcoin cash price has fallen by more than $50–a 10% drop. At present, bitcoin cash is trading at $407 and has a market cap of just $6.8 billion.

Bitcoin Cash Price Chart from CoinMarketCap

Altcoins Trend Down

The altcoin markets joined in the retreat, with nearly every top 100 cryptocurrency declining for the day. Fourth-ranked Ripple saw its price fall 5% to $0.17, while Dash slid 3% to $337.

Altcoin Price Chart from CoinMarketCap

The litecoin price fell 8% to just under $46. The 6th-ranked coin now sits at just 50% of the $92 record it set on September 2.

Litecoin Price Chart from CoinMarketCap

NEM–whose single-day trading volume is just $3 million–declined 6% to $0.204, while IOTA dropped 5% to $0.484. Monero, whose price approached $150 less than a month ago, is now trading at just $85 following Friday’s 7% skid. Ethereum classic rounds out the top 10 with an 8% decline that forced its market cap below $1 billion.

Author: Josiah Wilmoth on 22/09/2017

Postedby David Ogden Entrepreneur

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Prominent Bitcoin Trader – Price is Heading Towards $100,000 in 2018

Prominent Bitcoin Trader - Price is Heading Towards $100,000 in 2018

Prominent Bitcoin Trader – Price is Heading Towards $100,000 in 2018

Earlier this week, prominent bitcoin trader and investor Tone Vays provided technical analysis on bitcoin’s short-term trend, major price correction following the nationwide ban on Chinese bitcoin exchanges, bitcoin’s swift recovery, and the long-term future of bitcoin.

The analysis of Vays demonstrated the potential of bitcoin price to surpass the $100,000 mark by the end of 2018, which would provide bitcoin a multi-trillion dollar market cap. For many years, financial analysts and researchers in both the cryptocurrency and banking sectors such as RT’s Keiser Report host Max Keiser emphasized the possibility of bitcoin to surpass $1 trillion in market cap if and when it succeeds in evolving into an alternative financial network against existing banking systems and financial institutions.

Prominent Bitcoin Trader - Price is Heading Towards $100,000 in 2018

Based on the exponential growth rate of bitcoin regarding userbase, adoption, developer activity, trading volumes and market cap, a long-term price target of $100,000 is possible to achieve, especially if leading institutional and retail investors continue to endorse, embrace and adopt bitcoin. In 2017 alone, $90 billion investment bank Goldman Sachs and Fidelity Investments with $2.13 trillion worth of assets under management expressed their optimism toward bitcoin.

In August, Fidelity CEO Abigail Johnson stated:

“But I am still a believer – and it’s no accident that I’m one of the few standing before you today from a large financial services firm that hasn’t given up on digital currencies.”

Johnson also revealed that the company has been experimenting with bitcoin through mining the digital currency and by providing a bitcoin investment platform to its clients. Last month, Fidelity partnered with Coinbase to enable Fidelity clients and portfolio managers to access their bitcoin wallets and accounts directly from the main Fidelity investment platform.

Goldman Sachs analysts further emphasized in a note to its clients and investors that bitcoin and the cryptocurrency market can no longer be ignored, even by institutional investors.

“The debate has shifted from the legitimacy of the ‘fiat of the Internet’ to how fast new entrants are raising funds,”

said Goldman Sachs. More to that, Goldman Sachs chief technician Sheba Jafari also offered technical analysis on bitcoin’s mid-term price trend, stating that he strongly believes bitcoin will surpass the $4,800 mark before the end of 2017.

Already, two of the US market’s largest exchanges and bitcoin service providers Coinbase and Gemini have started to develop trading platforms for large-scale institutional investors, focusing on building a more robust and efficient investment channel which can provide sufficient liquidity for retail investors. Gemini entered into a strategic partnership with the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), the largest options exchange in the US, to serve instituitonal investors.

Gemini CEO Tyler Winklevoss stated:

“Gemini’s key concerns in the cryptocurrency ecosystem have always been security, compliance and regulatory oversight. By working with the team at CBOE, we are helping to make Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies increasingly accessible to both retail and institutional investors.”

Upon securing a $100 million funding round at a valuation of $1.6 billion, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong also promised its users and investors to provide a platform for institutoinal investors in the US and overseas markets.

With an increasing number of instituitonal and retail investors showing interest in bitcoin and global mainstream adoption of bitcoin increasing generally, $100,000 is an achievable long-term target for bitcoin.

Author Joseph Young on 21/09/2017

Posted by David Ogden Entrepreneur
david ogden Cryptocurrency Entrepreneur

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Wall Street Journal Argues Bitcoin Is âProbably worth Zeroâ, Joins Obituary List

Wall Street Journal Argues Bitcoin Is “Probably worth Zero”, Joins Obituary List

One of the Wall Street Journal’s most read articles of the day implies that bitcoin’s volatility reveals that the cryptocurrency is “probably worth zero.” The author of the piece starts by stating that a borderless digital currency out of the government’s reach that allows for semi-anonymous transactions sounds good, but that he’s not really a bitcoin fan because of the small number of transactions it can handle, and the amount of power necessary to maintain the network.

Bitcoin is scalable and can eventually reach and surpass VISA’s volume of, on average, about 2,000 transactions per second (tps). As CCN previously reported, SegWit’s activation on both the litecoin and bitcoin networks enables cross-network transaction swaps between the two cryptocurrencies, facilitating a host of other innovations, making it clear that, in the future, the problems that currently haunt the cryptocurrency won’t be there anymore.

The author then uses Gresham’s law, the principle that “bad money drives out good money” to argue against bitcoin. The article reads:

“Given the choice of spending inflationary government-issued money or something which holds its value, everyone would spend the bad paper stuff and hoard the bitcoin.”

In his argument, he says that no one wants to be the person that once bought two pizzas for 10,000 bitcoins, when the cryptocurrency was nearly worthless. The point being that if no one spends the currency while waiting for it to gain value, it will never really get established as a currency. Then again, no one in Venezuela wanted to see their currency’s value decrease, but the people didn’t have much of a say in that and, as such, were forced to use bitcoin to survive.

Then, unpacking the idea of bitcoin being based on illegal transactions, the author uses math done by Dan Davies, a bank analyst at Frontline Analysts in London, to assume that all drug dealing moves online, so as to get to $571 per bitcoin. The argument adds that drug dealers might put up with bitcoin’s current problems – which I addressed above – as laundering dollars is harder and more expensive than transacting in bitcoin.

Given that various studies already clarified that criminals aren’t using bitcoin that much, the value would be much lower, according to WSJ’s article. As such, the author concludes that bitcoin’s current price, of nearly $4,000, is mostly speculation and that JP Morgan’s Jamie Dimon was right to compare it to the 17th-century Dutch tulip bubble.

Basing the cryptocurrency on illegal activity neglects that hundreds, if not thousands, of legitimate businesses already accept bitcoin, so much so that it’s possible to live on bitcoin. Plus, the cryptocurrency is mostly used for legitimate purposes by those who simply want to be in charge of their own money, not those who have something to hide.

Bitcoin as Digital Gold

WSJ’s article goes on to imply that bitcoin’s true believers cling to the idea of it being digital gold that will maintain its value if a government currency collapses, and that this idea is supported by history’s examples of it happening.

The article points out that gold has had thousands of years and a history of being used to back fiat money to support its current position. Bitcoin has had less than a decade to prove its worth and most people just only heard of it. A recent study by YouGov revealed that 34% of Americans never even heard of bitcoin, and that 29% thought the cryptocurrency was just used to purchase illegal goods or services.

Still, bitcoin’s potential to replace gold led to a $5,500 price per coin, switching Thomson Reuters GFMS’ estimate of 2,155 metric tons of gold held in exchange-traded funds to the cryptocurrency. If bitcoin was to completely replace gold coins and bars, given GFMS’ supply estimate of 24,000 metric tons bought for investment in the past half-century, we would get $61,000 per coin.

Finally, the author states that bitcoin’s volatility can somewhat be explained by it either succeeding or failing in completely displacing gold, implying that the cryptocurrency is either extremely precious, or worthless. The article reads:

“Based on the simple choice between total success and failure, we can very roughly say that bitcoin at 70% of the gold ETF-derived price suggests a 70% of displacing so-called paper gold as society’s chosen emergency store of value, and a 6% chance of displacing physical gold. Even digital dreams should accept that is far too high.”

At the end of the day, bitcoin’s value, just like the value of other cryptocurrencies, depends on its users as it is the first free market backed currency, and its growth is consistent with its userbase increase. A quick look at Google Trends shows us that interested in the cryptocurrency is still surging.

At the end of the day WSJ’s article is just one more to add to the bitcoin obituary list.

Author: Francisco Memoria on 20/09/2017

Posted By David Ogden Entrepreneur
David Ogden Cryptocurrency Entrepreneur

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Bitcoin Price Technical Analysis for 19th September â Can Bulls Keep It Up

Bitcoin Price Technical Analysis for 09/19/2017 â Can Bulls Keep It Up

Bitcoin Price Technical Analysis for 09/19/2017 – Can Bulls Keep It Up

Bitcoin price seems to have completed a large correction and is ready to resume its long-term uptrend.

Bitcoin Price Key Highlights

Bitcoin price has bounced off a long-term area of interest after its recent sharp drop, signaling that the uptrend could still resume.
Applying the Fib extension tool on this major correction could indicate how high bulls could take bitcoin from here.
Technical indicators on the daily time frame also suggest that the long-term climb could carry on.

Bitcoin price seems to have completed a large correction and is ready to resume its long-term uptrend.

Technical Indicators Signals

The 100 SMA is above the longer-term 200 SMA on the daily chart, signaling that the path of least resistance is to the upside. The gap is also gradually widening to reflect strengthening bullish momentum. Also, the 100 SMA has recently held as dynamic support as it lined up with the rising trend line connecting the lows since April.

Stochastic has pulled up from the oversold region to show that buyers are regaining control of bitcoin price action. RSI is also turning higher and appears to be heading north so bitcoin could follow suit.

The next potential resistance is at the 38.2% extension just past the $4000 major psychological barrier. The 50% extension is at $4637, the 61.8% extension at the $5000 handle close to the record highs, and the 76.4% extension at $5464. The full extension is around the $6200 level.

Bitcoin 19th September

Market Factors

Chinese regulators have confirmed that they are stepping up their efforts to crack down on the cryptocurrency, following rumors that authorities are already shutting down exchanges in the country. However, investors seem to have moved on from this news as other markets like Japan and South Korea are taking majority of the market share and activity.

Meanwhile, the US dollar is giving up some ground to bitcoin price ahead of the FOMC decision, during which the central bank would likely keep rates on hold and downgrade growth forecasts on account of the recent hurricanes. A press conference will also follow and Yellen’s responses will be scrutinized as traders hunt for clues on December tightening.

Author Sarah Jenn on 4:23 am September 19, 2017

Time to ride the tiger

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Bitcoin Price Technical Analysis for 09/18/2017 â Chance to Short?

Bitcoin Price Technical Analysis for 09/18/2017 – Chance to Short?

Bitcoin price is making a correction from its recent selloff, but it might be ready to resume the drop soon.

Bitcoin Price Key Highlights

Bitcoin price has been selling off in the past few days on reports that China has officially confirmed it would be shutting down exchanges.
A bearish channel can be seen on the 1-hour time frame and it’s currently showing a pullback opportunity.
Price is stalling at the top of the channel resistance but a higher pullback to the $4000 area of interest might be possible.
Bitcoin price is making a correction from its recent selloff, but it might be ready to resume the drop soon.

Technical Indicators Signals

The 100 SMA is below the longer-term 200 SMA on this time frame, so the path of least resistance is to the downside. The 200 SMA dynamic resistance lines up with the channel resistance around $3850 and the 61.8% Fibonacci retracement level, adding to its strength as a ceiling.

However, there’s also another area of interest located at the $4000 psychological level, which held as support in the past. This could serve as the line in the sand for this correction and a break past the level could indicate that buying pressure is back in the game.

Stochastic is still pointing up so there’s some bullish momentum left. RSI is also heading north so bitcoin price might follow suit. If the selloff resumes, bitcoin could drop to the swing low near $3000 or form new ones closer to the channel support at $2800.

Bitcoin Price Technical Analysis for 09/18/2017 â Chance to Short?

Market Factors

News that BTC China would be halting trading for its clients by the end of the month pretty much sealed the deal for speculations that the world’s largest bitcoin market would see a large drop in activity. Liquidation has been taking place for the most part of the previous week and this would likely carry on in the coming days.

As for the dollar, the focus has been on tax reform, which has been bullish for the fiat currency. Easing fears of a North Korea missile strike have also weighed on bitcoin price as this is often treated as digital gold during risk-off days. Meanwhile, the upcoming FOMC decision could still be a risk factor for BTCUSD as downbeat remarks could lead to a selloff for the dollar.

4:26 am September 18, 2017

Author Sarah Jenn

Posted by David Ogden Entrepreneur

David Ogden Cryptocurrency Entrepreneur

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$11 Billion – 24-Hour Cryptocurrency Trading Volume Hits New Record

$11 Billion - 24-Hour Cryptocurrency Trading Volume Hits New Record

$11 Billion – 24-Hour Cryptocurrency Trading Volume Hits New Record

Cryptocurrency trading volume reached a new milestone on Friday, crossing $11 billion for the first time amid regulatory uncertainty in China.

Crypto Markets Post Record Volume

According to data obtained from CoinMarketCap, the combined 24-hour trading volume of all cryptocurrencies rose to $11.5 billion shortly after 16:00 UTC. The only other time daily trading volume has surpassed $10 billion was on August 19, when it briefly spiked to $10.5 billion

Cryptocurrency Trading Volume & Market Cap Chart from CoinMarketCap

Bitcoin topped the charts with $4.2 billion in volume, while ethereum and litecoin posted $1.9 billion and $1.5 billion, respectively. In all, 10 different currencies posted volume greater than $100 million.

$11 Billion - 24-Hour Cryptocurrency Trading Volume Hits New Record
Chart from CoinMarketCap

Bithumb and Bitfinex each handled about $1.5 billion in trades while Chinese bitcoin exchange OKCoin accounted for $750 million. Altogether, at least seven exchanges, including GDAX, Bittrex, Poloniex, and Huobi surpassed the $500 million mark (Volume had tapered off a bit by the time of writing, so it is possible Kraken and Coinone crossed $500 million earlier in the day).

Friday’s trading volume surge was caused by market volatility stemming from China’s crackdown on bitcoin exchanges. Yesterday, the markets crashed following reports that a bitcoin exchange ban was “certain” and BTCC’s subsequent announcement that it would shut down all trading services at the end of September. The markets continued to plunge Friday morning as Huobi and OKCoin were rumored to be meeting with regulators and two smaller exchanges–Yunbi and ViaBTC–also announced September closures.

However, later in the day OKCoin and Huobi issued concurrent statements that suggested they might continue providing cryptocurrency-to-cryptocurrency trading services. Both exchanges announced that they would close CNY trading pairs on October 31, but–unlike BTCC, Yunbi, and ViaBTC–they did not announce the suspension of “all trading.” Moreover, they indicated that they “expect to continue to provide Chinese users with [compliant] digital asset services.”

These announcements led to an immediate rally, and trading volume soared to a record level as the markets climbed back to $120 billion after dipping below $100 billion earlier in the day.

Author: Josiah Wilmoth on 15/09/2017

Posted by David Ogden Entrepreneur
David Ogden Cryptocurrency Entrepreneur

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Bitcoin Finds Bottom at $4,000 as Price Awaits Post-China Breakou

Bitcoin Finds Bottom at $4,000 as Price Awaits Post-China Breakout

The bitcoin-US dollar exchange rate (BTC/USD) may have climbed back above $4,000, but it might be ready to push higher even though China uncertainty reigns supreme.

Following reports the country's regulators may be seeking to shut down domestic bitcoin exchanges, the bitcoin price fell to a low of $3,977 on the CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index (BPI) this weekend. The rumor comes a week after the People's Bank of China (PBOC) banned initial coin offerings (ICO), suddenly outlawing the practice of creating and selling cryptocurrency to investors to finance startup projects.

The confusion about what might lie ahead cut short bitcoin's ascent on Friday following a repeated technical failure around $4,650 levels, and the subsequent sell-off was exacerbated by the bearish news out of China.

So far, Bloomberg and the Wall street Journal are out with the reports today, suggesting the ban will be limited to exchange-based trading and will not affect over-the-counter transactions.

Further, wires are reporting that the price of bitcoin could drop below $4,000 if China bans trading on continuous order books of the larger exchanges. China's biggest exchanges and traders across the globe are still waiting for official confirmation.

Investors aren't buying it

All in all, it's no wonder the trading is subdued this Monday morning.

However, bitcoin has been successful in defending the psychological support of $4,000 – meaning price action indicates investors do not think China would shut down bitcoin exchanges, or that if they did, it would only have a limited impact.

Furthermore, it appears any ban on exchange-based cryptocurrency trades will not extend to over-the-counter (OTC) transactions, meaning markets could still move.

As per Wall Street Journal, "A ban on crypto exchanges won't mean the end of trading in digital currencies."

No news is good news

It's been 72 hours since the news of a China exchange ban broke out, and we are yet to hear official confirmation or denial. The broader market sentiment remains positive, hence, no news (official confirmation or denial) will be taken as good news.

Thus, investors may start snapping up bitcoins at current levels, although in such a case the digital currency would take a big hit if China, following a prolonged silence, suddenly confirms the ban.

Daily chart

Bears may be salivating at the idea of a big sell-off following the breach of the rising trend line, although, what we have now is a symmetrical triangle pattern.

The symmetrical triangle, which can also be referred to as a coil, usually forms during a trend as a continuation pattern. The pattern contains at least two lower highs and two higher lows. Prices typically breakout in the direction of the prior trend, i.e. in BTC's case, an upside breakout will signal resumption of the rally from the June 16 low of $1,826.

One may feel tempted to bet on the direction of the breakout, however, it may be advisable to stay on the sidelines and only trade the breakout.

One reason is that the 5-day moving average and the 10-DMA moving average are now capping the upside in bitcoin. The 14-day RSI is dangerously close to being bearish.

A downside break [an end of the day close below the symmetrical triangle floor] would mean bitcoin has made a near-term top at $5,000. The subsequent move lower could be extended to $3,164 (200-day moving average).
A bullish move is seen gathering pace following a break above $4,500. The level marks the confluence of the rising trend line resistance and symmetrical triangle resistance. Fresh record highs could be seen if prices break above $4,500.

Author: Sep 11, 2017 at 16:00 UTC by Omkar Godbole

Posted By David Ogden Entrepreneur
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China Is Said to Ban Bitcoin Exchanges While Allowing OTC Trades

Order comes amid a broader clampdown on financial risk
China is home to nearly a quarter of world’s bitcoin trades

China plans to ban trading of bitcoin and other virtual currencies on domestic exchanges, dealing another blow to the $150 billion cryptocurrency market after the country outlawed initial coin offerings last week.

The ban will only apply to trading of cryptocurrencies on exchanges, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named because the information is private. Authorities don’t have plans to stop over-the-counter trading of virtual currencies, the people said. China’s central bank said it couldn’t immediately comment.

Bitcoin slumped on Friday after Caixin magazine reported China’s plans, capping the virtual currency’s biggest weekly retreat in nearly two months. The country accounts for about 23 percent of bitcoin trades and is also home to many of the world’s biggest bitcoin miners, who confirm transactions in the digital currency.

“Trading volume would definitely shrink,” said Zhou Shuoji, Beijing-based founding partner at FBG Capital, which invests in cryptocurrencies. “Old users will definitely still trade, but the entry threshold for new users is now very high. This will definitely slow the development of cryptocurrencies in China.”

While Beijing’s motivation for the exchange ban is unclear, it comes amid a clampdown on financial risk in the run-up to a key Communist Party leadership reshuffle next month. Bitcoin has jumped about 600 percent in dollar terms over the past year, part of a broad surge in virtual currencies that has fueled concerns of a bubble. The People’s Bank of China has done trial runs of its own prototype cryptocurrency, taking it a step closer to being the first major central bank to issue digital money.

“There has been a general tightening of the screw on regulating financial and monetary conditions,” said Mark McFarland, chief economist at Union Bancaire Privee SA HK in Hong Kong. “All of these things suggest a longer term process of tightening scrutiny of activities that aren’t in the normal sort of monetary realm.”

China Is Said to Ban Bitcoin Exchanges While Allowing OTC Trades

OKCoin, BTC China and Huobi, the country’s three biggest bitcoin exchanges, said on Monday that they hadn’t received any regulatory notices concerning bans on cryptocurrency trading. All three venues reported transactions on Monday, with bitcoin rising 6.3 percent on OKCoin as of 11:56 a.m. local time.

While bitcoin users will still be able to trade cryptocurrencies in China without exchanges, the process is likely to be slower and come with increased credit risk, analysts said.

The exchange ban is unlikely to have a major impact on the prices of cryptocurrencies because venues outside China will continue trading, according to FBG Capital’s Zhou. The country’s role in the bitcoin market had already started shrinking in recent months as authorities tightened regulation. At one point, exchanges in the country accounted for more than 90 percent of the world’s bitcoin transactions.

The bigger risk for global bitcoin traders may be the massive rally in prices, according to McFarland.

“Whenever you start to hear about Hong Kong taxi drivers becoming millionaires from buying bitcoin, you start to think this is not necessarily driven by fundamentals,” he said. “So you will get quite substantial pullbacks at some point.”

Bloomberg News
11 September 2017, 05:36 BST
— With assistance by Steven Yang, Gary Gao, Yinan Zhao, Yuji Nakamura, Lulu Yilun Chen, Justina Lee, and Eric Lam

Posted by David Ogden Entrepreneur

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Bitcoin Price Sinks Below $4,200 on China Uncertainty

Markets for bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have fallen over the course of the day, following contested reports that regulators in China are looking to shut down the country's exchange ecosystem.

CoinDesk's Bitcoin Price Index (BPI) is currently at about $4,184, representing a nearly 10 percent decline since the start of the day's trading. Markets peaked today at $4,698.73, per the BPI, though prices began to tumble around 13:20 UTC.

Additional data from CoinMarketCap reveals that – perhaps unsurprisingly – China's top bitcoin exchanges are reporting some of the steepest price declines. The BTC/CNY market on OKCoin is at $3,650.71, while Huobi and BTCC are reporting prices of $3,657.84 and $3,656.57, respectively, at press time.

Other major bitcoin exchanges, including Bitfinex and Bistamp, are reporting current prices above the $4,100 level, according to data from BitcoinWisdom.

As reported earlier today, Chinese news source Caixin, citing unnamed sources, said that regulators are looking to shut down the exchanges. That decision, the newspaper claimed, has already been made and disseminated to other sources. Yet in the wake of that story, exchanges in China said they haven't receive any notices from the Chinese government, casting doubt on the veracity of the Caixin report.

Amidst the uncertainty, other cryptocurrency markets have seen notable declines as well. Ether prices are down more than 10 percent today, trading at around $295.93. Broad market declines have pushed the collective cryptocurrency market capitalization below $150 billion, after spending several days above the $160 billion level.

Sep 8, 2017 at 22:58 UTC by Stan Higgins

Posted By David Ogden Entrepreneur

David Ogden Cryptocurrency Entrepreneur

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