Bitcoin Today: 6300 collapsed; WEX shenanigans

12 ביולי 2018

Price
After a short lateral correction, BTCUSD continued its bearish movement and broke below the main support of this week – 6300. Now the price is at the 6150.0 level, calling into question soon return to the 7000 level and the formation of the bottom pattern in July. The next supportive zone on the way down is the 5750 – 6000 zone; 6000 as a psychological support and 5750 is the bottom of July. A return above 6400 could be considered as a positive sign, but still, in such high uncertainty level, we need to see Bitcoin above the 7000 mark to consider any bullish development.

Today forecast
Trading in the 6000.0 – 6400.0 zone. A breakthrough below 5750.0 – bearish signal.

Latest news

• Bitcoin Price Spikes to $9000 on WEX. Strange price manipulation on bad-reputation exchange WEX.
  The price spike happened within a two-hour period from 16:00 UTC to 18:00 UTC. Within that period, the price of BTC jumped from $7,800 to $8,999 on the platform.
  Before the spike, BTC traded on the platform at $7,800 — which was 22 % higher than the global average’s BTC price at the time.
  WEX isn’t exactly one of the more popular exchanges in the market. Its daily trading volume is about $39 million, according to CoinMarketCap.com. This figure is several orders of magnitude less than the likes of Binance, OKEx, Huobi, Coinbase, etc.
  The emergence of such a significant variance in a short space of time has led some to suggest that there might be some underground shenanigans at play. The likely explanations are that the platform is insolvent or that the WEX team is looking to pull off an exit scam.
  For now, WEX has yet to issue any statement on the Bitcoin price spike. According to a Twitter post, the platform plans to undergo a scheduled maintenance today. All account functions are expected to be suspended during the exercise. The price of BTC on the platform is currently $7,800.
  WEX is no stranger to controversy. A year ago, Alexander Vinnik, an employee of the platform at the time, was arrested in Greece. Vinnik was accused of using BTC-e as a front for laundering money for suspected hackers and drug traffickers.
  Since his arrest, Vinnik has survived a failed assassination attempt while being the subject of an extradition tug-of-war between Russia, the United States, and France. In the aftermath of the Vinnik saga, BTC-e rebranded itself as WEX.
  
• Donald Trump signed an executive order to develop guidance for ‘cryptocurrency fraud investigations’.
  On Wednesday, 11th July, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order creating a task force that will work to develop guidance for ‘cryptocurrency fraud investigations’.
  According to the executive order, the “Task Force on Market Integrity and Consumer Fraud ” will be focusing on consumer fraud. Digital currency fraud is now added to the list of areas that the task force will be providing guidance to. This list will involve investigation and prosecuting the said cases.
  How the task force will implement this has not been specified as yet, but there will most likely be some sort of report that is sent to the Trump administration.
  Earlier this year, the U.S. government stated that it is looking to work towards a “comprehensive” strategy in dealing with cryptocurrencies, laying primary focus on market fraud. In February, a cybersecurity task force was implemented by the U.S. Department of Justice. Its mandate includes cryptocurrencies.