The past several months have been exhilarating for crypto enthusiasts and investors. As you saw on monfex.com, the price of BTC picked itself up from the floor back in April to almost hit the $10,000 mark by the start of May. This represented a remarkable improvement in price and a decent profit for all those that were holding the world’s most valuable cryptocurrency.
The past few days have been quite different though. If you have been actively trading on the monfex site, you have noticed that the price of BTC has been steadily declining with various altcoins such as Litecoin (LTC), and Ripple (XRP) also taking hits. The price of BTC has recently slipped down to go under the $9,000 mark. The price crashed further to break the $8,500, $8,300, and $8,200 support levels. This poor run has led to some commentators raising an alarm about a possible bear market.
A bird’s eye view of the markets though tells a different story. Though there are those who are quick to sound out the possible start of bear cycles, the market is still at the formative stages of a bull cycle. The current BTC sell off is increasingly looking like a correction of the BTC price to a lot of monfex traders. This correction according to a good number of monfex traders will take BTC back to a fair value after what has been an aggressive start to the Bull cycle since April. It is quite difficult to sell the bigger picture to day- traders and conservative traders as well since the price patterns are looking grim.
A good look at the chart below will tell you that BTC prices are looking down and down. BTC is currently trading below the $8,000 level and the 100 hourly SMA. The price looks set to drop even further to about $7,750 or even further down to $7,650.
When things are looking dire for Bitcoin bulls on the charts, the natural thing is to start looking for positives and things to cling on. Thankfully, there is no shortage of positives as far as Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, in general, are concerned. The biggest crypto cynics such as Nouriel Roubini are getting shut down with every news article about a crypto adoption case. Stablecoins are now on everyone’s lips which have come to solve the long talked about price volatility problem.
The Rise of the Libra currency
Facebook’s Libra is the most talked about stablecoin right now. Though, it has the potential to solve a lot of liquidity and money transfer issues, it has faced attacks and criticism from politicians, commentators, and even regulators. The latest hit to Facebook’s Libra, is PayPal’s withdrawal as a Libra backer. Libra’s troubles may look bad for crypto, but there are some actual positives in the grand scheme of things.
The proposed Libra digital currency has ignited debate all over from the U.S, UK, to China. This means that cryptocurrencies are getting that mainstream attention that the industry has craved since inception. Cryptocurrencies and stablecoins are no longer being whispered and murmured about; they are beginning to feature in daily conversations, which is nothing but a positive. It is also important to remember that Facebook’s Libra is not the only digital currency that has faced mudslinging.
Bitcoin gaining favor despite cynics
Bitcoin has had tons of doubters as well since it came onto the scene a decade ago. Cynics such as popular Billionaire investor Warren Buffett have called it “rat poison”. Billionaire investor Mark Cuban also famously said that he would rather “have bananas” than Bitcoins. Despite the cynicism though, Bitcoin has endured and survived. A lot of Bitcoin millionaires exist and a lot of use cases are popping up every day. A crypto advocacy lunch set up by Tron founder Justin Sun, who will be accompanied by Litecoin founder Charles Lee, could change the minds of cynics such as Warren Buffett. If the planned crypto lunch doesn’t do it though, maybe the strong affinity for BTC in other countries might do it.
Bitcoin is becoming a big deal even in far off places like West Africa. Young Nigerians are taking to BTC very swiftly. Bitcoin’s popularity among young Nigerians is largely due to recent banking policies that have seen interest rates for bank transactions increase. There is also a growing disapproval of the country’s fiat currency, the Naira. Young unemployed youth who are into freelance writing prefer to be paid in Bitcoins, while Nigerians living in places like the UK are beginning to send money back home in BTC over fiat currency.
Bitcoin’s popularity is also quite high in places like Venezuela as they try to navigate through crippling trade sanctions. The country has been through a lot with rebels trying to topple president Maduro’s regime. This has seen Venezuelan citizens bin the local bolivar, in favor of Bitcoin. Asia is also seeing a lot of Bitcoin demand as well.
Latest reports coming out of Hong Kong indicate a surge in BTC demand. Reports have it that ATMs in Hong Kong have run out of money with people queuing up to withdraw money. This has seen a lot of people look to BTC as an option with Bitcoin trading volumes rising to their highest levels on LocalBitcoins. There is a lot of uncertainty surrounding Hong Kong’s banking system with the recent mass protests that have been witnessed. This has led to a lot of Hong Kong citizens taking to cryptocurrencies in large numbers. A shocking $12 million Hong Kong Dollars were traded on LocalBitcoins just last week, a number that beats trading volumes that were seen even in the 2017 crypto bull cycle.
The moves towards BTC around the world may be driven by a lot of negativity but the positive is there is a lot of demand for Bitcoin. The rising demand for BTC could just spark a BTC market revival that sees BTC prices hit 2017 peak highs of $20,000. Time will tell.
