A joint statement from 5 of China’s top regulators and consumer watchdogs condemns illegal fund-raising by schemes associated with or claiming to be cryptocurrency or blockchain technology. The announcement is no surprise and may lead to a full ban on cryptocurrency in China.
The statement comes from the Peoples Bank of China, the Ministry of Public Safety, the Banking Regulatory Commission, the General Administration of Market Supervision and the Central Network Information Office and warns against “lawless elements” soliciting funds through ICO or other cryptocurrency related means. The statement makes note that most of these schemes are located outside of China where they are hard to track.
The warnings come just a week after Chinese officials banned all cryptocurrency related events. The move raised speculation China was going to tighten its control of the cryptocurrency market. China first tightened its grip on crypto and BTC trading last year with a ban of all domestic exchanges but that move has so far had little effect on Chinese activity; locals are still able to access BTC exchanges located outside of China. The next move is likely to be a ban on 120 offshore exchanges still doing business in China.
Bitcoin prices hold steady
Bitcoin prices held steady despite the implication China could place a full ban on cryptocurrency trading, and the fact the SEC just denied a handful of BTC related ETF requests submitted by three prominent ETF managers. The key take-away here is that none of the 9 ETFs denied are the VanEck Bitcoin ETF which is expected to be ruled upon towards the end of next month.
The market still believes a BTC ETF will eventually be approved by the SEC but, according to one market analyst, it probably won’t happen until early 2019. Brian Kelly, crytpoanalyst contributor with CNBC, believes the market must mature enough for the SEC to put their trust into it. Before then they (the SEC) will need to do a full market survey to identify potential dangers and mitigate them.
The world’s reserve cryptocurrency is now trading near $6,500 and above support targets.
The caveat is that the token is still below the long-term down trend line and the short-term moving average which have both kept prices locked down over the past few months. In regard to support and resistance they are converging very quickly and leave BTC very little room to maneuver.
Trade Crypto Here