(Photo Illustration by Avishek Das/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

After hitting nearly $14,000 in late June, Bitcoin has disappointed investors by falling 50%. Bitcoins price action over the past five months appears to be forming a channel pattern as the cryptocurrency bounces between its downward-sloping support and resistance lines. A decisive, high-volume break above this channel would signal that further gains are likely ahead, while a break below this channel would increase the probability of further downside action. It is also important to keep an eye on the $6,000 support level that has played an important role in the past two years.

Bitcoin Daily Chart

The weekly Bitcoin chart puts the $6,000 support level and the price channel of the past five months into better perspective. If Bitcoin is going to launch another bullish move, the $6,000 support would be an important base to do it from. If Bitcoin breaks below both its price channel and the $6,000 support level, it would increase the probability of further bearish action as the 2019 rally continues to unravel.

Bitcoin Weekly Chart

For now, investors and traders should keep an eye on how Bitcoin acts within its channel and at its critical $6,000 support level.

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Here Are The Key Bitcoin Levels To Watch - Forbes

Two years ago, Bitcoin was approaching its all-time high following a colossal bull market throughout 2017.

Just one year later, Bitcoin slumped all the way down to $3,150 at the peak of a gruelling bear market.

This year is poised to be different again, with Bitcoin hovering between critical levels of support and resistance in a phase of the market that is neither bear nor bull.

From a short-term perspective, the recent drop in price from $10,350 to $7,300 over the past five weeks is clearly not ideal for Bitcoin bulls, but this is nothing new.

Bitcoin has been through a jaw-dropping amount of booms and busts over the past few years, and a 30% move is nowhere near as volatile as it used to be.

One technical factor that will undeniably put pressure on price is the exponential moving average death cross on the daily chart, which has happened just three times since 2014.

On the two previous occasions, Bitcoin slumped by more than 60%, but the market is far different now compared to previous years, with mainstream companies now taking cryptocurrency seriously as shown by Facebooks planned launch of Libra in 2020.

If Bitcoin can rally to the upside and negate the current death cross, the market would enter an extremely bullish phase, although a surge of retail interest is still needed in order for Bitcoin to reach the dizzying heights of 2017.

Data from Google Trends indicates that interest in Bitcoin is 87% down since 2017, with the hype and mania failing to reemerge from the previous bull market.

The only feasible way to see retail investors buy back into the market would be if Bitcoin can break its all-time high of $20,000. This would suggest that another meteoric rally is on its way, but it would still need to trigger a reversal from a technical perspective.

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The post Can Bitcoin surge back to $14,000 before the new year? appeared first on Coin Rivet.

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Can Bitcoin surge back to $14,000 before the new year? - Yahoo Finance

For those standing very close to the crypto charts, it might be easy to get discouraged by the gloomy nature of recent markets. However, new comparisons of the current halving cycle to those in the past have emerged and might put some wind back into the sails of traders, hodlers, and cryptocurrency enthusiasts in general.

Also Read: As Halving Interest Grows, Spectators Discuss Miner Hoards and Capitulation

Though crypto prices took a big dip in November, with BTC falling 30% from a high of $9,486 to a bottom of around $6,575, hash rates on both the BTC and BCH chains have held relatively steady as the next block reward halving approaches. Data also points to miners hoarding coins in view of the upcoming subsidy reduction, as the event is generally viewed as price favorable. In combination with these factors, new analysis has emerged which might suggest that in spite of the recent bearish climate, things might be more on track than previously supposed.

The image above aligns the block reward halving points of three cycles (the latter half of pre-halving and the first half of post-halving), with the three cycles anchored at a common line of 100% of the cycle low. The first two cycles which are completed, and the pre-halving phase of the current cycle are displayed. Interestingly, the movements in the latter half cycles appear to follow a similar trend. As creator of the graphic, @Chartsbtc, states on their Twitter post:

Each cycle is 210,000 blocks (~4 years). This chart starts half way through the cycle and goes half way into the next cycle. This is my attempt to show the lows prior to halving and the peaks post halving but keep everything centered around the halving.

The graphic is compelling, and has many hoping for great moves price-wise in 2020 and beyond. Discussing the methodology of creating the graphic further, @Chartsbtc explains why the green price action line does not touch the 100% cycle low level: The low was a intraday price and the chart only plots the closing prices to the nearest 105th block. I wish I actually had prices per block. They further note that viewers should Keep in mind that each cycle peak will likely be lower than the prior one. Even so, should the trend repeat BTC could see a post-halving peak around $80,000. Still, this is all speculation, and other factors must be kept in mind.

With the Bitcoin Core halving estimated to be taking place in mid-May, 2020, and the Bitcoin Cash halving to likely occur a month earlier, speculation of course abounds. Other factors playing into market perception and possibly price, such as proliferating development surrounding the BCH chain, and a trend of businesses dropping BTC as a payment method due to fees and congestion (not to mention an overall shift in attitude in the BTC community from user to mere hodler), could also have unexpected affects. If the projections of the above halving data are correct, however, everyone may be in for an interesting ride in 2020.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not an offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or as a recommendation, endorsement, or sponsorship of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock, fair use.

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Graham Smith is an American expat living in Japan, and the founder of Voluntary Japanan initiative dedicated to spreading the philosophies of unschooling, individual self-ownership, and economic freedom in the land of the rising sun.

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How the Upcoming Bitcoin Halving Compares to Previous Cycles - Bitcoin News

Black Fridays history is complicated. The U.S. tradition of shopping on the day after Thanksgiving dates back to the early 20th century, though the term wasnt coined until the 1960s. Since then, the event has unravelled into a multiday scramble for door-busting deals; for some, it now begins on the day of Thanksgiving itself and has extended its influence into such offshoot events like Cyber Monday, a day of digital shopping discounts.

It has also given rise to Giving Tuesday. As its name implies, Giving Tuesday is meant to encourage philanthropy and charity in response to the consumerism that has come to define the days after Thanksgiving.

And as sats-back programs like Fold and Lolli embrace the post-Thanksgiving traditions with their own deals for Black Friday and Cyber Monday, one organization wants to put Bitcoin at the forefront of Giving Tuesday.

The Giving Block, a nonprofit that provides bitcoin payment-processing solutions for charities and other nonprofits, is launching perhaps the widest-reaching bitcoin charity campaign for this years Giving Tuesday.

Bitcoin Tuesday, as its called, is calling all hodlers to fork over some of their sats in the name of goodwill and philanthropy.

We have two #BitcoinTuesday goals one donation goal, one adoption goal, The Giving Block co-founder Patrick Duffy told Bitcoin Magazine. The donation goal raise $1,000,000 in cryptocurrency for nonprofits. The adoption goal get 1,000,000 people to see positive Bitcoin content. Imagine if campaigns like this happened every day. Think about how much easier it would be to talk about Bitcoin at the dinner table. That's why we're doing this.

The Giving Block team believes that bitcoin donations have not gained as much traction for Giving Tuesday as one might expect (according to a 2019 report by Tech for Good, only 2 percent of global nongovernmental organizations and nonprofits accept bitcoin as a donation option, up by 1 percent from 2018).

This may be in part because of the learning curve that comes with using bitcoin. Thats why The Giving Blocks first hire was tasked with going from nonprofit to nonprofit to glean where the pain points were in accepting BTC donations and how it could convince board members to adopt a crypto-based donations solution.

For an oft-malign digital currency sometimes associated in pop culture with the dark underpinnings of the web, bitcoin actually has a rich history of philanthropy. Examples include the $85 million Pineapple Fund, which Duffy said [changed his life] and [inspired] the creation of the company, and projects like BitGive and Helperbit.

Duffy finds that bitcoin donations should be a no-brainer given that, like stocks, these donations are exempt from capital gains tax. This could be enough to incentivize donations, he believes, along with what he calls the high-five effect: where bitcoiners still see nonprofits accepting bitcoin as abnormal. So they'll send some crypto as a 'high five' for joining the crypto community.

The Giving Block features roughly 100 different nonprofits for donating, including The Human Rights Foundation, the Mona Foundation, No Kid Hungry, Save the Children and the Tor Foundation. When you donate through the platform, the organization converts your bitcoin donation into cash for the recipient and provides you with a tax receipt. In addition to bitcoin, it also takes ether, litecoin and zcash, among other altcoins.

In hopes of boosting donations, The Giving Block wants to make sats-powered philanthropy go viral with the #GivingBitcoin hashtag. Its already off to a good start; Rainn Wilson (best known for his role as Dwight in The Office) recently tweeted his support for the effort.

With a celebrity like Wilson behind the movement and a history of bitcoin-bolstered altruism, Duffy hopes that campaigns like this will turn hodlers into donors and spread adoption across the globe.

It will be nonprofits that bring Bitcoin mainstream, he said. Their incentives all align with Bitcoin's unique properties. Transparency/traceability, cross border payments, micropayments/donations, stabilizing communities under unstable regimes issuing unstable fiat. Nonprofits are about to send Bitcoin adoption parabolic.

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The Nonprofit Push to Make Giving Tuesday About #GivingBitcoin - Bitcoin Magazine

The price of a Bitcoin has been sinking since peaking just above $12,000 in June. But there was a particularly stomach-churning drop of more than 10% just over a week ago when the Chinese authorities launched a salvo of words attacking cryptocurrencies, according to Reuters and other reporters.

At one point, Bitcoin found itself below $7,000 again. So, what did China say? The situation before its recent comments is that although crypto trading hadnt been banned, the country ordered its banks to stop working with Bitcoin exchanges in 2017. But the Rhetoric ratcheted up a few days ago with the Peoples Bank of China warning it will crack down hard on Bitcoin and cryptocurrency trading in the country.

The Shanghai-based central bank also warned people not to muddle up the countrys enthusiasm for blockchain technology with Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. Indeed, last month, Chinas president, Xi Jinping, reportedly said that the country should seize the opportunity of blockchain technology. And it seems that many traders in the country took that as an endorsement for cryptocurrency, which it wasnt. Blockchain is good for other stuff too.

I think this is big news because China has a population north of 1.4bn and by many accounts a culture that embraces gambling. My guess is that participation in cryptocurrency speculation has been rife in China and if that market cools off, we could see further plunges in the price of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in the months ahead.

So, with 10k to invest, Id steer clear of Bitcoin right now. Instead, Id aim to make a million by investing in shares listed on the stock market. And 10k is a great amount to start with if you are new to investing. Its enough cash with which to make a big difference over an investing lifetime if you can latch on to a strategy that gets the process of compounding really motoring. And its a small enough amount that you would be able to recover from its loss if things did not go so well!

But I reckon the number one priority for investing any amount of money is that you focus on minimising losses. And one of the best ways of doing that is to avoid highly speculative investments altogether. Bitcoin is an obvious example of one to avoid, but there are many speculative stocks listed on the markets as well. They tend to have an enticing story that makes you think riches will be around the corner when your shares shoot up. But look closely and such firms rarely have meaningful profits now.

Sadly, in many cases, youre more likely to lose all your investment when you put it in a speculative share because, instead of multiplying by 10, 20 or 50 times as you would hope, it will often sink by 50%, 95% or go to zero.

I reckon the best strategy for aiming for a million with stocks is to focus on shares with high-quality underlying businesses.

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Kevin Godbold has no position in any share mentioned. The Motley Fool UK has no position in any of the shares mentioned. Views expressed on the companies mentioned in this article are those of the writer and therefore may differ from the official recommendations we make in our subscription services such as Share Advisor, Hidden Winners and Pro. Here at The Motley Fool we believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors.

Motley Fool UK 2019

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Forget the Bitcoin price! Id invest 10k to make a million like this - Yahoo Finance UK

The CEO of popular Chinese cryptocurrency exchange IDAX, Lei Guorong, has disappeared, according to a statement made by the exchange today. The statement strongly suggests that Guorong escaped with the majority of the exchange's money on the same day it announced its withdrawal from China, following a recent crackdown on crypto exchanges in the country.

According to the statement, the rest of the exchange's team cannot access its cold storage walletan offline, more secure way of storing cryptocurrencieswhich stores almost all of its funds because of the CEO's disappearance. This suggests that Guorong is the only person with access to all the funds.

As a result, the exchange has shut down deposits and withdrawals.

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The statement said the exchange has been out of contact with its CEO since November 24. This was the same day that China announced it had shut down 173 crypto exchanges in the country. The exchange was unable to provide a reason for the CEO's unexpected departure.

Today's statement confirms suspicions surrounding IDAX, which had been floating around on social media since November 26, after a story posted on Weibo accused the CEO with running off with user funds.

Although the platform technically has several CEOs (one for each of its international branches) and the statement did not name the CEO, it is widely suspected that the announcement refers to Guorong, who founded the exchange.

IDAX Global is doing its best to try to grasp variety of news and current situation exactly including rumor on internet community," said the exchange.

The exchange recommended that users refrain from using its services, at least until an alternative or backup withdrawal service is established. Despite this, the exchange still appears to have significant trade activity, with more than $700 million traded in the last 24 hours.

Meanwhile, the IDAX overseas Telegram group remains inaccessible to new users, after being blocked by Telegram's automatic porn filter, whereas the Chinese Telegram community has been deleted. Nonetheless, frustrated users have turned their attention to the IDAX Twitter account, with dozens of comments hoping that this isn't an exit scam.

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Nobody knows what happened to this bitcoin exchange CEO - Decrypt

The former Bitcoin Jesus Roger Ver tweeted to supportthe Ethereum research team member Virgil Griffith. He has beenarrested for travelling to North Korea in April this year to partake in the local blockchain and cryptocurrency conference wherehe reportedlyshowed the audience how the Ethereum blockchain could be used for averting the impact of the US sanctions.

Roger Ver tweeted:

People opposing sanctions are opposing war.

In the comment thread, the venture investor Calvin Ayre who is a major supporter of the Bitcoin SV chain and the self-proclaimed Satoshi Craig Wright wrote that Roger Ver is going against his own government and that is normally considered treason. With capital punishment to follow, he adds.

Calvin Ayre and Roger Ver are on the opposites sides of the war field, since back in November 2018, Ayre supported Craig Wright in conductingthe Bitcoin Cash hard fork and the Bitcoin SV creation. That event made the Bitcoin price plunge and caused a long lasting bloodbath in the crypto market.

Virgil Griffith was arrested by FBI for providing data to North Korea on how to evade the US sanctions.

The press release from the US authorities states:

As alleged, Virgil Griffith provided highly technical information to North Korea, knowing that this information could be used to help North Korea launder money and evade sanctions. In allegedly doing so, Griffith jeopardized the sanctions that both Congress and the president have enacted to place maximum pressure on North Koreas dangerous regime.

Earlier this year, when Griffith announced his intention to go to the conference in North Korea and asked whether anyone wanted to join him, Vitalik Buterin replied to him: Enjoy.

A prominent Tron supporter and the CCO of BeatzCoin, Misha Lederman, assumes that the current situation may do serious harm to the reputation of Ethereum which will be hard to correct.

Originally posted here:

'Bitcoin Jesus' Roger Ver Supports Arrested Ethereum Dev, Calvin Ayre Accuses Him of Treason - U.Today

Bitcoin bears and bulls are once again playing tug-of-war as BTC faces a pivotal move that could define its price actions in the coming weeks or months.

Crypto trader "Nebraskan Gooner" says that the fractal that he's been watching for the last couple of months shows that a price reversal to $7,900 or higher could be on the cards. Otherwise, theBTC price could possibly drop to $6,200, its lowest point since early May.

At the time of writing, BTC is trading at$7,456 after failing to hold above the $7,600 level, CoinStats data shows.

Fractals represent the same Bitcoin chart patterns on different scales. The top coin's price action has atendency to repeat itself on daily, weekly charts in different years.

If the BTC price were to follow the fractal of its December 2018 bottom, it could soon experience another major rally similar to the one that took place in Q2.

However, it should be noted that there is nothing certain about trading cryptocurrencies, and fractals tend to repeat only when there are no interfering factors involved.This type of analysis is not quite popular, but fractals do tend to be fairly accurate from time to time, which is why some traders keep a close eye on them.

The leading cryptocurrency can be also compared to charts from other markets (based on your preferred narrative). For example, the Nikkei index has so far failed to reach a new peak since the bubble popped in 1989. On the other hand, there is Amazon that came stronger than came back stronger than ever after the dot-com crash in the late 90s.

As reported by U.Today, CNBC's Joe Kernen compared Bitcoin to Amazon, which became the most valuable public company in the world back in January 2019.

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Bitcoin Price Now Faces Its Do-or-Die Moment. Will It Drop to $6,200? - U.Today

Cover image via http://www.tradingview.com

Disclaimer: The opinion expressed here is not investment advice it is provided for informational purposes only. It does not necessarily reflect the opinion of U.Today. Every investment and all trading involves risk, so you should always perform your own research prior to making decisions. We do not recommend investing money you cannot afford to lose.

On the last day of November, the cryptocurrency market is in a relatively neutral mood. The rates for the top 10 coins have not increased or decreased by more than 2%. Bitcoin (BTC) currently has the biggest gain, as its price has gone up by almost 2% since yesterday.

Below is the relevant data for BTC at press time:

Name: Bitcoin

Ticker: BTC

Market Cap: $139,186,224,885

Price: $7,700.32

Volume (24H): $18,498,079,462

Change (24H): 1.99%

November was extremely bearish for the world's largest digital asset, as BTC registered a six-month low. However, signs of recovery appeared after the November 22nd and 25th fall.

Looking at the 4H chart, the bulls are losing ground and the last price before the bears seize the initiative again. This might be at the $8,000 mark. The upcoming sellers dominance is confirmed by the fact that the relative strength index (RSI) is getting closer to the overbought area.

The bigger time frame shows the declining interest of buyers based on the trading volume index. BTC has not moved out of the descending channel, which suggests continuing pressure by the bears.

To sum it up, if BTC cannot fix above the $8,000 mark, then the price will continue to drop to $7,500 and possibly below.

At press time, BTC is trading at $7,692.

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Bitcoin Instead of Apartments: Director of Failed Property Developer Bought Crypto with Customers' D - U.Today

From a dire forecast for both Bitcoin and XRP to the Ethereum-EOS-Tron battle for crown of decentralized apps, heres a look at some of the stories breaking in the world of crypto.

Bitcoin and XRP

A crypto analysts grave warnings about Bitcoin and XRP are spreading throughout crypto circles and across media outlets like wildfire.

The trader, known in the industry as Magic, tells his 30,600 followers on Twitter that Bitcoin may trend higher in a short-lived relief rally.

But after the upswing, Magic believes the confirmation of a head and shoulders pattern, which is used to predict trend reversals, will mark the start of a dramatic reversal.

I think BTC is going to the 1000 range. It will probably take a while to get there, but based on everything I see right now, I think that is the most likely target. That would be great for crypto too. It would destroy investors and projects, and that's exactly what we need.

MAGIC (@MagicPoopCannon) November 28, 2019

Magic says the fallout would create a tidal wave of red throughout the crypto markets and hammer XRP.

While I love XRP (and I do believe that it is superior to all other cryptocurrencies) if BTC falls to the 1000 range as Im currently anticipating, I think XRP could simultaneously fall to 0.03. I hate to report that, but thats what the charts suggest, if BTC falls to 1000.

Magic also questions Ripples business model, saying the company would do a better job of boosting XRP if it required customers to use the digital asset for payments.

On the topic of XRP, it bothers me that Ripple built a business model that can thrive without XRP. They could have forced clients to use ODL for cross-border payments, but clients can benefit from Ripples cross-border solutions without XRP. Common knowledge. I just dont like it.

Other than that, I am a big fan of Ripple and XRP, and I think they have one of the best projects in the space.

Meanwhile, new analysis from Bloomberg predicts Bitcoin will reach $8,000 in the short term.

The analysis is based on the GTI VERA Convergence Divergence indicator, which utilizes typical moving average convergence divergence (MACD) and attempts to identify increased volatility and delete excess noise.

Ethereum, EOS, Tron

The dollar value of cryptocurrency flowing through EOS-based decentralized apps (DApps) is ahead of both Ethereum and Tron.

According to DappReview, $10.9 million worth of EOS moved through DApps on the network in the last 24 hours, compared to $3.1 million worth of TRX and $3 million worth of ETH on their respective networks.

#DApp Daily Report:

Volume#EOS 10.9M (4.1M EOS)#ETH 2.6M (16.9K ETH)#TRON 3.1M (191.7M #TRX)

UserTRON 32.1KEOS 16.3KETH 14.9K

Top 3 DApps by volume@WhaleExchange (EOS)@WINkorg (TRON)@eosbiggame (EOS) pic.twitter.com/0gI0sBXt2Y

DappReview (@dapp_review) November 29, 2019

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Crypto Analysts Dire Bitcoin and XRP Forecast Goes Viral BTC, Ethereum, EOS, Tron Newsflash - The Daily Hodl