How plastic pollution ends up in the oceans

Plastic can take centuries to break down, and instead of quietly disappearing beneath the waves, it has a way of coming back to haunt us.

Almost 1 million shoes and over 370,000 toothbrushes were among more than 400 million pieces of plastic recently found washed up on a remote group of islands in the Indian Ocean.

Great chunks of plastic have been found inside the stomachs of everything from seabirds to whales, while tiny microplastics are eaten by fish and other sea creatures, ending up as part of the food chain.

That same plastic can even end up in humans. A recent study found that globally, we are swallowing an average of 5 grams of plastic every week — although that doesn’t all come from the oceans.Read: The man who fishes for plastic from a floating bicycle

The health risk from these microplastics is still relatively unknown, but it begs the question, how does all that plastic even end up in the sea, and how can we stop it from getting there in the first place?

Rivers of plastic

A 2017 study found that around 90% of all the plastic in the world’s oceans flows there through just 10 rivers. Eight of those rivers were in Asia, and two in Africa. They all run through highly populated areas, which also lack effective waste collection, meaning trash often ends up in the river.

The researchers concluded: “The more waste there is in a catchment area that is not disposed of properly, the more plastic ultimately ends up in the river and takes this route to the sea.”

But plastic is getting into rivers all over the world.

Read: It’s not just the oceans – microplastic pollution is all around us

Thames21 is a group that organizes clean-ups along the foreshore of the River Thames, in the UK, and educates people to not pollute it.

“We’re finding that we are having a real reduction in the amount of plastic bags that we found and the bottles that we found,” says Luke Damerum, who works with the group.

Its prime target now is wet wipes, which are often flushed down toilets and are discharged into the river from the sewers after heavy rainfall. They can end up lining the foreshore in a thick carpet.

“If this stuff remains on the foreshore, a lot of it will just break down into smaller and smaller pieces into … microplastics,” explains Damerum. “These microplastics will … eventually go down towards the estuary and then out into the open ocean.”

The group removed 23,000 wet wipes from one stretch of the Thames foreshore in just two hours in March — enough to fill 473 bin bags.

Clothes, car tires and cosmetics

Plastics are so ubiquitous in our lives that there are countless other sources of plastic pollution.

In the eastern United States, the Hudson River carries 300 million clothing fibers into the Atlantic Ocean every day, according to a 2017 study. About half of the fibers are plastic, many entering the water network when clothes are machine washed.

Clothes can also shed fibers into the air, as can car tires and waste plastic left in landfills — which can all end up in our rivers and seas.

Fertilizers made from sewage sludge — the by-product of sewage water treatment — are another source. The sludge can contain microfibers from clothes and other plastics washed into the sewers. As these fertilizers dry out, some of the plastics can get carried off the land by the wind, or wash directly into rivers.

Then there are the microbeads that are added to toothpaste, body scrubs, cosmetics and soaps. A 2015 study estimated that 8 trillion microbeads entered U.S. aquatic habitats daily. Since then, microbeads have been banned from some products in countries including the US the UK.The shipping and fishing industries also play a part. In 2018 researchers found that, in terms of weight, almost half of the plastic in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch — a notorious area of floating trash three times the size of France — was made up of fishing nets. On the other hand, microplastics made up 94% of the estimated 1.8 trillion tiny pieces floating in the area.

To solve a problem, you must first understand it

So what can be done to solve the problem?

Professor Richard Lampitt, of the National Oceanography Centre, in the UK, says technological advances can help, like better filters in washing machines to catch microfibers — as can industry moves to develop less damaging plastics.

Read: How our trash is destroying paradise

But while he believes that research into solutions is important, he says it’s vital that we develop a better understanding of exactly how plastic is transported into the oceans, how it degrades and what damage it is doing.

“There’s considerable uncertainty about how much plastic pollution is coming from all these different sources,” he told CNN.

“We need to have our eyes on what the nature of this problem is. How much plastic is there? How does it get there? How does it get transformed during its passage to the sea, and what harm does it do at the concentrations that it’s found?

“These are really important questions to resolve.”

David

Micro Plastics Global Hazard

Potential risk to the human population

Global quantity and weight of floating plastics, lacking data

Microplastics often cannot be seen with naked eye

Billions of people are drinking water contaminated with plastic particles

The Solution

Hazardous Waste has the potential to slowly kill humanity

Prior to 1970, all food products were either sold individually, packaged in paper or in reusable returnable glass bottles or glass jars, packed in cartons, and cans. Disposable plastic packaging was still unknown at the time and came into existence in the late 1960’s, after the Rockefeller bloodline family wanted more and alternative applications for the by-products of their oil imperium. The beginning stages of the invention of plastic does however date back to the 1930’s. Today, plastics have become universal in use for the manufacturing of everyday products and all kinds of packaging materials.

Originally, the decision was made to create plastic containers for the food processing industry after WW2, the production of which the bloodline families also had worldwide control. Almost at once plastic packaging applications were sprouting up everywhere in the early 1970s. Though it probably wasn’t the original intention to cause pollution, this enormous scale of waste isn’t by accident, but rather by design. The largest global market sector for plastic materials is for packaging designed for immediate disposal. Fortunately, some plastic waste is recycled but mainly in the west and not very much in developing countries.

Now, fifty years later, plastic pollution is globally dispersed across all oceans due to plastic’s characteristics of abundance and durability. In the meantime, a concentration of toxicants is spreading throughout the environment. This has led some researchers to claim that synthetic polymers in the oceans should be regarded as hazardous waste. Through photo degradation and other weathering processes, plastic fragments contaminate the oceans in the form of tiny particles.

Potential risk to human populations

These tiny plastic pieces are called Microplastics and Microbeads, both of which are polluting the world’s oceans in a vastly greater capacity than previously estimated, according to recently conducted research. Microplastic and Microbead contamination of the oceans is one of the world’s most pressing environmental concerns. The terrestrial component of the global microplastic accounts is not well understood because sources, stores and changes are poorly quantified, says Rachel Hurley from the University of Manchester;

“Given their pervasive and persistent nature, Microplastics have become a global environmental concern and a potential risk to human populations.”

The report also reveals that major floods flushed more than 40 billion particles of microplastics into the sea. The surge of such a vast amount of microplastics led the scientists to conclude that the current estimate for the number of particles in the ocean – five trillion – is a major underestimation.

Microplastics generally refer to plastic particles between 0.33 mm and 5 mm in size. Microplastics can originate from a variety of sources including, microbeads from personal care products; fibres from synthetic clothing; pre-production pellets and powders; and fragments degraded from larger plastic products.

Microplastics, constituting pieces of plastic smaller than 5 millimetres, enter the environment through the defragmentation of larger pieces of plastic that have been disposed of in the environment, or directly as microbeads through things like synthetic fibres from clothes or disposable outerwear.

Unfortunately, many of the world’s coastal countries currently do not have recycling policies, nor the technical capabilities to deal with this menace, so large quantities of plastic are not recycled, but are rather dumped in landfills. The durable property of plastic makes it persistent and slow to degrade in the environment, and ultimately non-recycled plastics on land and in our rivers, are left to work their way into the oceans.

Plastic waste is a global problem; as large quantities can travel far distances. Waste from one place can become an issue in a region geographically distant from the original source, due to the oceans’ powerful currents.

Plastic ocean pollution has become synonymous with microplastic pollution. Typically, less than 5 mm in size, microplastics can be eroded to particles as small as 1–100 nm particles– nanoplastics. Using modelling tools, it was estimated that a total of 15–51 trillion microplastic particles have accumulated in the oceans. Some start out as large plastic pieces, slowly being eroded by water; others start off as microplastics specifically produced for certain uses, e.g. microbeads in cosmetic products such as face wash, soaps and shower creams. Microbeads are stable and versatile particulates but after they have been washed down the drain, they have been found to evade filtration systems at water treatment plants and are discharged directly into the oceans. It seems impossible to completely eliminate the microplastic problem. Fragments have also been detected in seafood sold for human consumption, such as mussels, oysters and sea salt. It has been estimated that the average European shellfish consumer could ingest up to 11,000 microplastic particles per year, in China it is probably of a vastly greater magnitude!

Global quantity and weight of floating plastics lacking data

The volume of plastic pollution, largely originating from products such as food and drink packaging and clothing, was calculated from data taken from 24 expeditions over a six-year period from 2007 to 2013. The research, published in the journal PLOS One, is the first study to look at plastics of all sizes in the world’s oceans. Plastic pollution is omnipresent throughout the marine environment, yet estimates of the global quantity and weight of floating plastics are lacking hard data, particularly from the Southern Hemisphere and remote regions.

The scale of this issue is massive. In one study, it was estimated that of the 275 million tonnes of plastic waste generated by 192 countries in 2010, about 4.8–12.7 million tonnes probably landed up in the ocean. That’s a serious amount in just one year. The plastic, consisting of various shapes and sizes, ends up on beaches and in the oceans from various sources: large items such as discarded fishing equipment or items from shipping containers are lost into the sea directly, whereas other discarded items can get washed into the seas from rivers. Similarly, inadequately managed land-based plastic waste from countries with extensive coastlines can easily end up in the oceans.

Microplastics often cannot be seen with naked eye

Microplastics are small pieces of plastic material that is found in the marine environment and on our beaches and shorelines. Some of these particles are so small that they cannot be seen with the naked eye. Others often blend in with the sand and organic material found on beaches, making them hard to spot. For this reason, they are not picked up by water filtration and make it out into rivers and oceans.

Microplastics include broken-down plastic waste, synthetic fibres and beads found in personal hygiene products. They are known to harm marine life, which mistake them for food, and can be consumed by humans too via seafood, tap water or other foods, like honey and sugar, the assertion of which was proven due to samples taken in Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Mexico.

Dr Anne Marie Mahon at the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology, who conducted Microplastic research, said there were two principal concerns: very small plastic particles and the chemicals or pathogens that microplastics can harbour.

“If the fibres are there, it is possible that the nanoparticles are there too that we can’t measure,” she said. “Once they are in the nanometre range they can really penetrate a cell and that means they can penetrate organs, and that would be worrying.” The Orb analyses caught particles of more than 2.5 microns in size, 2,500 times bigger than a nanometre. Microplastics can attract bacteria found in sewage, Mahon said: “Some studies have shown there are more harmful pathogens on microplastics downstream of wastewater treatment plants.”

The risk to people is still not known, but there are concerns that microplastics can accumulate toxic chemicals and that the tiniest of particles could be invading the human bloodstream. Plastics are already nestling inside our body.

Billions of people globally are drinking water contaminated by plastic particles

Since microplastic contamination has been found in tap water in countries around the world, leading to calls from scientists for urgent research into the implications for health. Scores of tap water samples from more than a dozen nations were analysed by scientists. Overall, 83% of the samples were contaminated with plastic fibres. These microscopic plastic fibres were present in the water flowing from faucets from New York to New Delhi, according to Orb’s exclusive research and a researcher from the School of Public Health at the University of Minnesota. From the halls of the US Capitol to the shores of Lake Victoria in Uganda, women, children, men and babies are drinking plastic particles with every glass of water. More than 80 percent of the samples collected in five continents tested positive for the presence of plastic fibres.

Plastic is an essential raw material. In 2012, the plastics industry accounted for more than 1.4 million jobs in over 62,000 companies across the European Union. As useful and versatile as plastics are, however, their unchecked disposal on an unprecedented scale is resulting in significant global impacts on wildlife, from marine environment pollution. Microplastics are particularly problematic, and as the life cycle comes full circle, it is feared that they could have adverse impacts on human health too.

Another emerging source of marine microplastics from household wastewater is microfibres from clothing when being washed. Microfibers are 1/100th the diameter of a human hair and are used for better waterproofing, breathability and flexibility in sportswear. The most common types of microfibers are made from polyesters and polyamides, and according to researchers, the number of leaked microfibers in wastewater could be as many as 1900 fibres per garment.

The smallest particles that could be analysed in the new research were 63 microns, roughly the width of a human hair. But much smaller plastic particles exist, and as Hurley said: “It is the really small stuff we get worried about, as they can get through the membranes in the gut and into the bloodstream – that is the real fear.”

Although it is relatively easy to develop policies and bans for microbeads and microfibers, these sources are just a drop in the ocean in terms of tonnage.

Instead, poor land-based waste management practices are seen by the United Nations as the major source of marine microplastics pollution and given the nature of the oceans’ geography, the issue is a global and multifaceted problem. Tests with 83% of samples found to be polluted, show billions of people globally are drinking water contaminated by plastic particles.

The Solution

Because, the facts are so obviously harmful to humanity and are for everyone easily to understand. Just keep in mind; together we the people are producing a lot of unnecessary plastic that is ending up in our ecosystems, and rapidly destroying our environment.

The solution is simple and adequate; boycott all products packed in a single-use plastic enclosing. The next step in this process urgently to be undertaken is the removal of almost all single-use plastic packaging, by only supporting companies that are removing plastic containers.

Take immediately personally the first step by sharing this article with everyone you know. The next best thing to do is to subscribing free of charge to this blog, as on a weekly basis more will be follow.

David

Bitcoin Teeters on $10K, But Can It Fend Off Another Bear?

Bitcoin’s recent market movements have thrown into contention consensus about its short-term price direction, with traders asking openly if demand is strong enough to fend off another bear market.

Such a question has emerged in the wake of the world’s largest cryptocurrency’s inability to set new highs above those seen in June and July, when optimism about a Facebook cryptocurrency launch pushed the price of bitcoin to $13,880 and $13,200 on June 26 and July 10, respectively.

Since then, bitcoin has largely failed to test these highs again, prompting speculation traders may be willing to push the market into a lower range, one that could be deepened by available futures options.

However, investors and analysts remain bullish based on the assumption that demand will continue its current course, helping to sustain prices around $10,000 until next year’s May halving takes effect. Then, investors will see the amount of new bitcoin introduced to the market daily cut in half, with each new block in the blockchain producing 6.25 BTC, down from 12.5 BTC.

As can be seen by the recent litecoin halving, events that increase the perceived scarcity of cryptocurrencies have proven to catalyze buying interest.

Further, Jeff Dorman, chief investment officer at Arca, an investment management firm focused on the asset class, argues that with the likes of Bakkt and Fidelity opening their doors to new money amid current global economic tensions, bitcoin looks attractive to large hedge fund managers seeking to offset risk in traditional markets.

Dorman told CoinDesk:

“Most macro hedge funds are contemplating using BTC as a better way to offset the systemic risks that are building globally. There seems to be too much interest and too much money on the sidelines for the market to really go lower in any meaningful way.”

Factoring Miner Demand

Analyzing the cryptocurrency markets remains an evolving science, but new metrics suggest that bitcoin may currently be priced favorably ahead of the halving event.

The Diffiulty Ribbon, created by influential market analyst Willy Woo, for example, was recently released. It helps illustrate how leading analysts believe miner selling pressure affects the price of bitcoin.

(As miners are believed to sell the BTC they receive from winning block rewards – to pay employees, electrical bills and other real-world costs – they are believed to influence market direction.)

The above chart shows bitcoin’s “network difficulty,” a function of how hard the software makes it to discover a new block and thus claim the new cryptocurrency it releases to the market.

When the rate of network difficulty increases slows, analysts believe this is a sign miners are shutting off their hardware (leaving only the strong miners who proportionally need to sell fewer coins to remain operational). It’s believed this leads to reduced sell pressure and more room for price increases.

The ribbon consists of simple moving averages of BTC network difficulty so the rate of change of difficulty can be easily seen. According to Woo, the best times to buy BTC are zones where the ribbon compresses.

He said:

“The timing of the last difficulty ribbon compression is very bullish, especially given we expect another compression at the halving, I don’t think we have time to come into a bear season before then.”

Holding $10K

That said, less sophisticated investors may be using simple price charts to gauge entries.

The last two months have produced a series of lower highs putting a clamp to further growth. This can be observed in the amount of sell pressure bitcoin has seen when approaching upper resistances $10,800-$13,200.

Still, prices have held above $10,000 by the end of each daily closing period for nearly 30 days, suggesting that demand for bitcoin below that mark remains strong. As a result, some analysts believe BTC’s outlook would only change bias from bullish-to-bearish long-term should a firm close below $7,333 (200-day moving average) occur.

Still, the pressure is now mounting on the bulls to produce something significant in the short-term or else risk exposing lower supports at $9,600.

Whether or not short-term price action remains bearish, analysts agree that BTC is still bullishly bid based on its position above the aforementioned 200-daily moving average and current mining activity.

However, Dorman argues simple psychology may be the overriding factor so long as $10,000 remains a strong support and belief in the halving as a price catalyst remains strong.

He concluded:

“In general, across any asset class, when consensus is to buy lower… you rarely get that chance.”

Sebastian Sinclair

Aug 28, 2019 at 04:00 UTC

David

Winklevoss Twins – Bitcoin is Going in the Right Direction

The story of Bitcoin has been nothing short of a rollercoaster. The asset had to ensure several years of relative obscurity before finding fame in a 2017 boom and crashing right back down in 2018. However, the world’s most popular asset is back, and Bitcoin trading is now pegged at over $10,000 a token. With a healthy 200 plus percent climb in 2019 alone and all of the momentum in the world, several investors have continued to tout the asset as the best thing to challenge the establishment.

Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss are two of the most vocal proponents of Bitcoin in the world. However, unlike many fans who profess their admiration for the asset, both men have drawn up considerable resources and backed up their bet, opening up the Gemini cryptocurrency exchange and embarking on several cryptocurrency endeavors as well.

Continuing in their massive evangelism for Bitcoin, the Winklevoss twins appeared in an interview with news medium CNN, where they touched on a wide array of issues concerning it.

Amongst other things, the brothers compared the crypto revolution to the Internet boom that took the financial world by storm decades ago, adding that unlike then, it is possible (easy, in fact) for everyone to be a part of this trend. “Unlike the Internet which you couldn’t buy a piece of, you can actually buy a piece of this digital money,” said Tyler, before adding that Wall Street has been “asleep at the wheel.”

As regards the safety of the investment vehicle (especially when compared to treasury bills and other securities that operate in the regulated market), Cameron stated that investing in Bitcoin is a lot like putting your money in the conventional gold. He said, “It’s more of an investment in gold, but this is a new asset class. It’s the future, it’s volatile, and while there has been a few ups and downs, we feel like it is going in the right direction.”

The brothers also spoke on the issue of safety as regards cryptocurrencies, especially with several notable government figures (including Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin) pointing out that Bitcoin and Libra (the stablecoin from social media giant Facebook) poses various threats for user protection.

On the issue, Cameron highlighted that their concern for user safety has always been a priority, so much so that it has been ingrained in the culture and identity of Gemini. Tyler chimed in, adding that while these concerns are valid, they aren’t generic to crypto assets. He pointed out that while Bitcoin has been used by drug dealers and terrorists in the past, developments in blockchain forensics have made the asset far more traceable.

Concluding, he said, “I don’t think it’s a unique problem to Bitcoin or crypto… Again, I’ll go back to the dollar and point out that more criminals have used the dollar than anything else.”

While both men are avid Bitcoin fans, their defense of Libra is particularly impressive. Gemini has been rumored to be joining the Libra Association (Libra’s governing body) for a while now, and given how they defended the asset on CNN, it would seem that they could indeed be ready to put their differences with Facebook and its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, aside and join forces with the social media company.

By Jimmy Aki

David

Bitcoin {BTC} breaches the 10.5k mark – Switzerland and U.S. politicians meet following release of LIBRA

After bears had brought BTC all the way down to $10,000 a trend reversal occurred. This had helped Bitcoin rally along with the majority of the altcoins. Once again, Bitcoin proved its worth over Gold [in spite of the latter facing much less volatility], which indicates that Peter Schiff along with the rest of the “Gold Barons” is wrong.

However, BTC has a long way to go, as the market capitalization is nowhere near that of the precious metal. Although, the latter has generally reacted to events transpiring around the world in a gradual manner.

The lawmakers hailing from the United States had conducted an interactive session with authorities in Switzerland. It seems that the Trump administration is still unsure with regards to the LIBRA project of Facebook.

Maxine Waters, a representative of America, expressed her dismay at a “privately controlled” global currency. Well, the Dollar is manipulated by powerful entities associated with numerous financial bodies in the U.S.A. So her point on the centralization of LIBRA is moot. Because banks have been responsible for economic dilemmas for ages.

While the mainstream community of crypto-enthusiasts is yet to be optimistic about the latest venture of Facebook, David Marcus of Calibra [previously PayPal] has said that LIBRA intends to abide by all regulations in place. Let’s hope that we don’t come across a “Cambridge Analytica data scandal” type of situation this time.

Bitcoin is the top-ranked digital currency in the market. The eleven-year-old king coin rose at a rate of 2.82% in the course of the past 24-hours. The trading volume recorded is $17.132 billion, while the supply has 17,897,337 BTC coins in play. At present, the total market cap of Bitcoin is $186.279 billion. As of this moment, BTC is priced at $10,408.22

BY ADITYA CHATTERJEE ON AUGUST 26, 2019

David

Would bullish divergence keep Bitcoin price above $10000?

Another week comes to pass as Bitcoin price hovers at the ten thousand dollars ($10,000) mark and past twenty-four hours (24hrs) have been no different than the price action across the week. Bitcoin (BTC) price plunged down to the low point of nine thousand seven hundred and sixty-eight dollars ($9768.06) mark at one point while the highest point was recorded at the ten thousand four hundred dollars ($10400) mark. Whereas the weekly high is recorded at the ten thousand nine hundred and twenty-nine ($10929) dollars on the 20th of August but the price has not been near that point since. Bitcoin is trading at ten thousand one hundred and three dollars ($10103.25) at the time of writing.

Bitcoin price – Bearish divergence Cryptocurrency analyst and trading expert BitFink revealed that a bearish divergence can be seen on the Bitcoin cryptocurrency charts. The idea is simple and so far it has been keeping the BTC price afloat above the ten thousand dollars ($10,000) mark.

BitFink is of the view that short bearish divergences in the BTC price action are what keep the Bitcoin price above the psychological limit of ten thousand dollars ($10,000). However, as evident in the chart above, if the Bitcoin price action falls into a corrective action the price is ready to fall down to the nine-thousand seven hundred and fifty-nine dollars ($9759) mark.

Below that point is the twenty (20) day low standing at the nine thousand four hundred and seventy dollars ($9470) mark. On the other hand, twenty (20) day exponential moving average (EMA) stands at the ten thousand and thirty-three dollars ($10,033) mark. This is the point where the BTC price has been finding support over the weekend. The weekend is still young and the BTC price can sway in any direction. Let’s see where the dust settles as the weekend comes to an end

By Saad B. MurtazaAUG 25, 2019

David

Bitcoin (BTC) Price Testing Last Line Of Defense With Positive Bias

Bitcoin price is showing positive signs and settled above $10,000 against the US Dollar.

The price is now trading near the key $10,400 resistance area, which is preventing gains.

Yesterday’s highlighted important bearish trend line is acting as a solid resistance near $10,420 on the hourly chart of the BTC/USD pair (data feed from Kraken).

The price is likely setting up for the next key break either above $10,500 or below $10,250.

Bitcoin price is trading with a positive bias above $10,200 against the US Dollar. However, BTC must surge above $10,400 and $10,500 to move into an uptrend.

Bitcoin Price Analysis

In the past few sessions, there was a steady recovery in BTC above $10,000 against the US Dollar. The price even traded above the $10,200 and $10,250 resistance levels. Moreover, there was a close above the $10,200 level and the 100 hourly simple moving average. As a result, there was a decent recovery in many altcoins as well, including Ethereum, ripple, ETC, bitcoin cash and EOS.

Bitcoin price gained pace above the 23.6% Fib retracement level of the key decline from the $10,975 swing high to $9,757 low. The recent wave was such that the price even spiked above the $10,400 level. Moreover, there was a break above the 50% Fib retracement level of the key decline from the $10,975 swing high to $9,757 low. However, the bulls faced a strong resistance just below the $10,500 level.

Additionally, yesterday’s highlighted important bearish trend line is acting as a solid resistance near $10,420 on the hourly chart of the BTC/USD pair. The pair is now consolidating below the trend line and the $10,500 resistance. Moreover, the 61.8% Fib retracement level of the key decline from the $10,975 swing high to $9,757 low is at $10,510.

Therefore, the price could rally if it breaks the trend line and the $10,500 resistance area. The next stop for the bulls could be near the $11,000 resistance area in the near term. On the other hand, an immediate key support is near the $10,250 level. If there is a downside break below the $10,250 support, the price could start a fresh decline in the coming sessions.

Bitcoin Price Analysis BTC Chart

Looking at the chart, bitcoin price is clearly setting up for the next key break either above $10,500 or below $10,250. There are high chances of a fresh bearish wave as long as the price is below the $10,500 pivot area.

Technical indicators:

Hourly MACD – The MACD is slowly losing momentum in the bullish zone.

Hourly RSI (Relative Strength Index) – The RSI for BTC/USD is currently above the 50 level.

Major Support Levels – $10,250 followed by $10,000.

Major Resistance Levels – $10,420, $10,500 and $10,680.

Aayush Jindal

1 min ago

David

Crypto Market And Bitcoin Approaching Resistance – ETC, BCH, EOS, TRX Analysis

The total crypto market cap is currently correcting higher towards the $268.0-$270.0B resistance.
Bitcoin price is also approaching towards a major resistance near the $10,200 and $10,250 levels.
EOS price recovered more than 5% and it is now trading near the $3.650 resistance.
Ethereum Classic price rallied close to 20% and broke the $7.00 resistance area.
BCH price is back above $305, but it is facing many hurdles on the upside near $320.
Tron (TRX) price is up around 8% and is approaching the $0.0185 resistance area.
Bitcoin (BTC) and the crypto market cap is correcting losses. Ethereum classic (ETC), ICX, tron and IOTA are surging, while BNB, Ethereum, BCH, ripple, litecoin and EOS are facing hurdles.

Bitcoin Cash Price Analysis

After a downside break below the $300 support, BCH price tested the $290 level against the US Dollar. The BCH/USD pair found support and recently started an upside correction. The pair is now trading nicely above the $300 and $305 levels. However, there are many key resistances on the upside near the $315 and $320 levels.

On the downside, the $300 level might act as a short term support, below which the price is likely to resume its decline in the near term.

Ethereum Classic, EOS, Tron (TRX) Price Analysis

There was a sharp increase in Ethereum classic price in the past few sessions from the $5.00 support area. ETC price rallied close to 20% and it broke many important resistances near the $6.50 and $7.00 levels. If there is a downside correction, the same resistances near $7.00 and $6.50 may now act as supports.

Tron price is currently recovering after setting a new monthly low near $0.0165. TRX price is up more than 8% and it is now trading near the $0.0180 level. However, there are many important resistances on the upside near the $0.0185 and $0.0192 levels.

EOS price remained well bid above the $3.350 level and it recently started a decent recovery. The price gained around 5% and it is now trading near the $3.650 resistance. If there are more gains, the price could test the $3.800 resistance in the near term. On the downside, the main supports are $3.500 and $3.350.

Looking at the total cryptocurrency market cap 4-hours chart, there was an upside correction initiated from the $250.0B swing low. The market cap recovered above the $260.0B level, but there is a strong resistance waiting on the upside near the $268.0B and $270.0B levels. There is also a crucial bearish trend line forming near $268.0B on the same chart. Therefore, upsides are likely to remain capped in bitcoin, Ethereum, TRX, LTC, EOS, ripple, ADA, XLM, WTC, BCH, and IOTA in the near term.

Aayush Jindal

David

China Plans to Introduce New Crypto to Rival Bitcoin, Say’s Analyst

An influential officer of the PBoC at the meeting of China finance 40 groups had declared China’s intention to introduce a sovereign crypto asset. The declaration of this proposed introduction is unexpected at this time due to the ongoing currency war and trade dispute with the U.S.

China’s Progressive Crypto Route

Mu Changchun, the deputy director in the payment and settlement division at the PBoC had declared during the meeting with bankers that the prototype for the unspecified project is ready to be adopted. This declaration was reported by the local news media of Shangai securities during the weekend. The deputy director further discussed the digital asset intricacies. He added that blockchain features are noticeable in its product but not developed around decentralized ledgers because the retailers and banks use high-bandwidth and speed in China. As it is, the use of a reserve model by the PBoC similar to Circles USDC or a digital fiat model is not certain.

As for the cryptocurrency, it is intended to function in two ways. The upper layer will be operated by PBoC and the lower level will be operated by the retail banks. Changchun had explained that the operational splitting into two segments is to make the project function positively in a complex and massive economy in China.

How this will function was not explained, however, the assumption is that the split structure will function similar to the present double segment structure like that of the present division among Central banks and banks. To further make clear, the PBoC releases the currency and manages high-level payments while the retail banks operate on the adoption and utilization of the cryptos.

As of now, the deputy director Changchun asserts that the crypto is best utilized for “smaller-unit retail high-frequency trade dealings”.

China Crypto May Pose a Challenge to Bitcoin

As a result of the introduction of Central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) coming into the space of international finance, discussions centered on the scenario mostly from analysts and economists are dominating the news in the crypto sphere.

A new york University Professor and economist knew for his negative bias towards Bitcoin recently declared in his publication late last year, titled Column for Project Syndicate that the introduction of CBDC’s to the digital sphere will “shut the avenue for Crypto-scammers”.

Probably, most digital payments systems may be changed by the “CBDCs”. Roubini stated by making clear that different to traditional retail banks and websites like Paypal, having high transaction fees, failed transactions and high resistance to free use, the Central banks offer a cost-effective and efficient approach at intermediating and lending money.

Roubini explained that giving access to any person to make payments using the central bank’s platforms, “CBDCs process will automate the structure, easing the requests for money, default banking accounts, and also a digital form of money services”.

In this scenario, the conclusion reached by the economist was declared as having CBDCs replace cryptocurrencies, with Bitcoin included, as offering an alternative to low-cost security and decentralized coins by the simplicity of central banking application.

David

EU Antitrust Regulators Scrutinise Facebook’s âCryptocurrencyâ Project

EU Antitrust Regulators Scrutinise Facebook’s “Cryptocurrency” Project

Facebook’s Libra project has been questioned by European Union anti-trust regulators. They are concerned about the project, popularly referred to as a cryptocurrency, restricting competition.

Libra has been subject to immense scrutiny already from global policy and law makers. In fact, the company recently admitted that the regulatory pressure might force it to postpone or even cancel the project altogether.

Facebook’s “Cryptocurrency” Ambitions Draw Yet More Regulatory Attention

Almost as soon as the social networking giant Facebook announced its plans to move into the cryptocurrency space with Libra, the idea was met with hostility from global regulators.

Policy makers from France, the EU, the US, and elsewhere cited a hefty list of concerns about the cryptocurrency-like project. Even United States President Donald Trump weighed in on the subject, stating that the company would have to apply for licences if it wanted to offer banking services, just like any other financial institution does. He also stated that Libra would never pose a challenge to the might of the US dollar:

According to a report today in Bloomberg Law, the list of regulators with doubts about the firm’s cryptocurrency ambitions continues to grow. It states that antitrust regulators in the EU are concerned that the digital currency may stifle competition. The report cites a “document seen by Bloomberg” as evidence.

The document appears to be a questionnaire that has been sent to groups associated with Libra at this early stage of its development. Such a document is a standard part of enquiries made by the European Commission.

The questionnaire seeks to measure how the Libra cryptocurrency-like system may shutout rivals. The European Commission antitrust regulators believe that the integration of the digital currency with applications such as WhatsApp and Messenger could make it all but impossible for competing systems to find traction in the market.

The ever-growing list of regulatory concerns against Libra could well jeopardise the project’s proposed 2020 launch date. In fact, in a document submitted to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the company admitted that the scrutiny might force the California-based social media company to discard the cryptocurrency-like project altogether.

Despite the fact that Libra is being touted as a cryptocurrency, most Bitcoin proponents do not see it as competition. Libra will not be priced by market forces like Bitcoin is. Rather, it will be backed by a basket of national currencies. It therefore does not represent the same robust monetary policy that has made BTC a favourite of economists from the Austrian school of thought.

Rick D.

David