Bitcoin Trading Flat Ahead of Black Friday

Bitcoin is trading flat ahead of the ”Black Friday” event. After opening at $363.78, prices fell slightly to $361 per coin but BTC recovered soon after. In the next few hours, a high of $369.99 was reached. This is where most of the action stopped however and BTC/USD spent the rest of the day in a tight range between $364 and $370. We are currently quoted at $364.90 on BTC-E. As usual, prices are slightly higher on rival exchanges BitStamp $369 and OKCoin $370.

The total daily range today is a tiny $8.94 dollars. This compares to yesterday’s $12 dollars and the $31 dollars the day before. The ever constricting range should lead to a breakout eventually. The two possible catalysts are tomorrow’s Bitcoin Black Friday and the auction deadline on December 4th. We have already written a lot on the two events in our previous articles, to avoid repetition, take a look HERE if you’re interested to learn more.

The American Red Cross started to accept bitcoins for donations! The non-profit will be using BitPay to convert the BTC to cash. BitPay will process the donations without fees. The Red Cross will also participate in “Bitcoin Black Friday” and will be listed on the official website for the event. Jennifer Niyangoda, executive director of Corporate and Foundation Programs at American Red Cross had this to say about the BitPay partnership:

”The Red Cross is thrilled to partner with BitPay to offer a different way for generous donors to support our humanitarian mission. This gives a new generation of supporters the opportunity to help people in need.”

If you’re looking for some good discounts this Friday, the deals are now up on the Bitcoin Black Friday website. A cursory glance shows 14 exclusive Newegg deals as well as an extra 5% discount for gifts cards bought through Gyft. In the finance category, bitcoin broker BTC.sx is offering a 20% reduction in trading fees. Happy shopping!

Read More

Bitcoin Close to Reversing Auction Announcement Losses

he bullish bias cited in my roundup yesterday extended to a small rally today. The break of the $365-370 resistance lead to more gains toward $380 with prices hitting a high of $384.65 two hours ago. We are currently trading just below the highs at $381 per coin. As usual, prices are quoted slightly higher on BitStamp at $385 and OKCoin at $388.

We are now very close to reversing the losses of the November 17th auction announcement. Bitcoin was quoted around $390 per coin on BTC-E right before the news about the auction hit the market. We seem to be repeating the pattern exhibited during the first bitcoin auction back in June, an initial sell-off followed by a market rally back to pre-auction prices. So far I can’t find any news stories/speculation about auction bids. We may need to see some confirmation articles that the submitted bids are higher then the current market price to generate a sustained move up.

The first resistance area to keep an eye on will be $400-$408. A move higher may extend the rise toward the important $454 swing high. A break above here may trigger a new bitcoin rally. On the downside, a move below the $339-$350 support will likely end the current upmove and may result in more losses toward $319 per coin.

The Superintendent of New York’s Department of Financial Services, Ben Lawsky, plans to leave his position next year for a job in the private sector. Lawsky was a proponent of more regulation for the bitcoin space. Under his leadership, the NYDFS proposed a set of new regulations specifically targeted at crytocurrency firms, later dubbed ”BitLicense”. The proposal was widely critiqued as too strict by bitcoin companies and cryptocurrency experts. The departure shouldn’t affect the implementation of the ”BitLicense”. In earlier interviews, Lawsky indicated that he wants to see the new rules in place in December of this year, or January 2015 at the latest.

Read More

Bitcoin Range Continues as Auction Draws Near

Bitcoin’s range around $350 continues for another day, although the last 24 hours showed a bullish bias. After opening at $354.10 prices fell to $348.42 only to rise back above the $350 mark one hour later. The rally took BTC/USD to a daily high $360.99, just shy of yesterday’s high at $362.13. We are currently quoted at $358.65 on BTC-E, compared to $361.76 on BitStamp and $362 on OKCoin.


A break past the weak resistance level at $365-$370 may lead to some follow-through toward the $400-$408 resistance area. But this will depend largely on the results of the coming bitcoin auction. As we’ve written about previously, the initial reaction to first bitcoin auction back in June was a substantial market sell-off that lasted almost three days, followed by a complete reversal of prices back to pre-auction levels.

This time, the sell-off lasted for 4.5 days before prices stabilized around the $350 figure. Whether we will now reverse course depends largely on if the bids received at the auction will be higher then the current market price. There are some favorable signs. Tim Draper, the winner of the first bitcoin auction, told Bloomberg News that he plans to bid again:

”I am a big believer in bitcoin, and I believe it to be one of the most important technologies that have come along in our lifetime. The price is even better than the last auction.”

Barry Silbert, founder of SecondMarket and the BitcoinTrust, is again organizing a syndicate that will allow smaller buyers to participate in the auction. For interested parties, here’s a link to the participation form. The deadline for the auction of 50,000 BTC (around $18 million) is December 4th, not December 1st, apologies for my mistake in previous articles.

Read More