The total crypto market cap gained $1.4 billion of value for the seven-day period and now stands at $179.4. The top ten currencies saw mixed results for the same time frame as Binance Coin (BNB) managed to gain 7.3 percent while Litecoin (LTC) lost 8.5 percent. At the time of writing bitcoin (BTC) is trading at $5,261 while ether (ETH) stands at $173. XRP’s Ripple is at $0.332.
BTC/USD
Bitcoin peaked at $5,311 on April 10 reaching its highest point of the year. Bulls were already preparing for an attack of the mid-$5,000 levels when a sudden 4.7 percent price drop on April 11 erased all recent gains. The BTC/USD pair moved down to $5,059 in its worst day since February 24.
On April 12, it managed to rebound and climb back up to $5,111 after trading as low as $4,940 during the intraday session.
The most popular cryptocurrency entered the weekend of April 13 to 14 with a slight decrease to $5,100 on Saturday as bullish traders successfully defended the critical support zones. On April 14, they were able to push the price up to $5,194, but bitcoin remained flat for the seven-day period.
The new week started with a fresh 2.9 percent drop on April 15, which resulted in price correction to $5,040. It was obvious that neither bulls or bears were able to take over control and establish a trend. The BTC/USD movement on April 16 confirmed that as the pair formed a green candle to $5,238. On April 17 the pair moved to $5,259 in a low volatility session.
Christine Lagarde, head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), shared her views on blockchain and cryptocurrencies in an interview for CNBC on April 11. She pointed out that the innovative technology is without a doubt disrupting finances as we know them and is “clearly shaking the system.” On the other hand, the unregulated nature of the digital asset’s space still poses a threat to the stability of the system, she added.
A day earlier, the IMF opened a poll on its official Twitter channel asking the audience, “How do you think you will be paying for lunch in 5 years?”
Fifty-six percent of the respondents believe will be using cryptocurrencies as the main payment method.
On April 12, the fund, in collaboration with the World Bank, launched a private blockchain project and a cryptocurrency dubbed Learning Coin. As per Financial Times, the new initiative will help the two institutions better understand the underlying technology and how the distributed ledger and crypto transactions actually work in real life. The Learning Coin will be used by IMF and WB staff to publish, store and exchange educational material and will have no monetary value. It will still be possible to redeem the tokens for rewards.
Japan’s largest financial group and world’s fifth largest bank by total assets, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFJ) confirmed it will launch its own cryptocurrency later this year, Japan Times reported. According to the group’s president Kanetsugu Mike, the bank is looking to establish economic blocs by promoting the use of the coin in different industries. MUFJ will also pilot a mobile application, which is expected by the end of June and will further help create an innovative payment infrastructure.
Cryptocurrency exchange Gate.io successfully raised $64 million in prepaid trading fees to fund its native token and blockchain project.
The company, which is registered in Virginia, United States, reportedly received $2.99 billion worth of orders in digital assets during the first phase of its POINTs sale and Gate Token reward distribution. The Gate Points can be used to reduce trading fees and also grant its holders 2.5 units from the official Gate Token (GT). The latter will be available on the trading platform by the end of this month. Withdrawals, however, won’t be possible until the official launch of the Gate.io blockchain called Gatechain, scheduled for Q4 2019.
ETH/USD
The ether token was in a downtrend since it registered its year to date high at $181 on April 8. It lost 6.7 percent of its value on April 11 and moved down to $165. The next two trading days, on April 12 and April 13, resulted in two consecutive losing sessions and even though the ETH/USD pair remained relatively flat, observers saw its price touching $160 during the mentioned period.
On April 14, it climbed back up to $169 as buyers were defending the important support at the $160 mark. Ether was 3.4 percent down on the weekly charts.
Monday came with another drop to the above mentioned critical level. The 5.6 percent price decrease was in full synch with the overall market condition. On April 16, the coin recovered and managed to erase almost all losses from the previous session, closing at $167. April 17 brought more stability as ETH remained near the $167 level.
XRP/USD
The Ripple company token dropped down to $0.329 on April 11 after losing approximately 2.3 percent of its value. The whole crypto market was in red on that day, but the XRP/USD pair was hit particularly hard during the session. It moved below the 38.20 percent Fibonacci retracement level and was dangerously close to the important support at $0.32.
On April 12, the coin declined even further and formed a second straight red candle on the daily chart to $0.327. The “ripple” was trading as low as $0.318 intraday.
It remained relatively flat on the first day of the weekend, even though it was trading in the wide range between $0.323 and $0.339. The trend was confirmed on April 14 when XRP moved to $0.328 and closed the session one step higher, at $0.331. The coin was 8.3 percent down for the previous week.
The Monday session was everything but nice for bulls, as the XRP/USD pair lost 3.3 percent and moved South to the important level at $0.32. It successfully escaped the danger zone on April 16 and formed a green candle to $0.327, which was followed by a move to $0.337 on April 17.
Like BTCMANAGER? Send us a tip!
Our Bitcoin Address: 3AbQrAyRsdM5NX5BQh8qWYePEpGjCYLCy4
