Bitcoin failed to stay above the $9,500 support and declined more than 5% against the US Dollar. BTC price is now trading in a negative territory and it could slide below $9,000.

Yesterday, we discussed high chances of a big downside correction in bitcoin below $9,500 against the US Dollar. BTC did break the $9,500 support area and extended its decline.

Moreover, there was a close below the $9,350 level and the 100 hourly simple moving average. During the decline, there was a break below a bearish continuation pattern with support at $9,225.

It opened the doors for more losses below $9,200. Finally, the price traded below $9,100 and formed a new weekly low at $9,087. It is currently consolidating losses, with an immediate resistance near the 23.6% Fib retracement level of the recent decline from the $9,679 high to $9,087 low.

On the upside, there are many resistances forming near the $9,350 and $9,400 levels. Additionally, there is a major bearish trend line forming with resistance near $9,420 on the hourly chart of the BTC/USD pair.

Bitcoin Price

The 50% Fib retracement level of the recent decline from the $9,679 high to $9,087 low is also near the $9,380 level to act as hurdle for bitcoin bulls.

Therefore, the price must climb above the $9,380 and $9,400 levels to start a fresh increase. Still, the main resistance is near $9,500, above which the bulls are likely to take over.

On the downside, there are a couple of key supports near the $9,000 area. If bitcoin fails to stay above the $9,000 handle, there is a risk of another 5% decline.

In the mentioned case, the price is likely to test the $8,500 support area in the coming sessions. Overall, there are many bearish signs emerging and the price could dive further below $9,000.

Technical indicators:

Hourly MACD The MACD is now gaining strength in the bullish zone.

Hourly RSI (Relative Strength Index) The RSI for BTC/USD is currently near the oversold levels.

Major Support Levels $9,000 followed by $8,500.

Major Resistance Levels $9,280, $9,380 and $9,400.

See more here:
Bitcoin Just Saw A Key Technical Breakdown: Here's Why BTC Could Dive Below $9K - newsBTC

As the third Bitcoin halvening approaches, a handful of OGs will wistfully recall the first such event, which occurred in November 2012. Back then, following the completion of block 210,000, the mining reward halved from 50 to 25 BTC. To commemorate the milestone, early adopters threw parties throughout the world, from Tel Aviv and Macau to Munich and Helsinki.

Also read: Get Ready for the Bitcoin Halving Here Are 9 Countdown Clocks You Can Monitor

The first Bitcoin halving was a big deal, eagerly talked about for months in advance. Discussions and debates centered around the economic consequences of the halving, the future stability of the network and the effect on mining operations. Was Satoshis monetary policy of reducing block rewards by 50% every 210,000 blocks really the best way to keep inflation under control or would it signal the beginning of the end for Bitcoin?

Although bitcoin was only worth about $11 at the time of the first halving, community members appreciated the momentousness of the occasion and, in honor of the big day, hosted parties which, one can extrapolate, were attended by a mixture of those who were deeply invested in the community and hangers on who may have had little idea what the hell Bitcoin was. As for those who couldnt meet up in person, they congregated in chatrooms to trade ideas and raise a metaphorical toast to Satoshi.

According to the original thread in the Meetups section of the Bitcointalk forum, unofficial parties were thrown in Las Vegas, Tel Aviv, New Hampshire, Vienna, Macau, Brazil, Munich, Berlin, Bratislava, Switzerland, London, Ukraine and Helsinki. Some were advertised on Facebook while others had their own dedicated thread on the forum, with those wishing to attend communicating with organizers and posting pics from the shindig.

As The Verge reported at the time, Bitcoin miners, geeks who configure their own computers to mint the cultish digital currency, have been waiting for this moment for a long time about four years, which is how long Bitcoins have been in circulation.

Interestingly, after the final post on November 29, 2012, the halvening thread was resurrected four years later to announce the second-ever halving party in Campinas, Brazil. The resurrection of the thread also led to announcements about parties in Israel and Australia. (Although commonly known as the halvening these days, in 2012 it was simply the halving until Dogecoin colloquialized the phrase two years later with its own block reward reduction.)

These crypto parties, which have echoes of the key signing parties popularized by the cypherpunks, presented an opportunity for bitcoin acolytes to meet in real life and discuss such topics as privacy, technology and Bitcoins architecture. Prior to the first block halving, there were few occasions for bitcoiners to interact in meatspace; in 2012, crypto conferences werent really a thing.

Needless to say, bitcoiners will be hoping the price rises in the wake of the third halving, just as it did after the first, when BTC surged from $11 to $1,100 within 12 months, reaching parity with an ounce of gold and prompting renewed toasts to Bitcoin and its departed creator.

Of course, the crypto landscape has changed immensely since 2012: the 2020 block reward halving will encompass not only Bitcoin Core, but also Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin SV, both of which emerged from hard forks of the original Bitcoin protocol. Eight years on from the first halving, whos up for another party?

Bitcoin History is a multipart series from news.Bitcoin.com charting pivotal moments in the evolution of the worlds first cryptocurrency. Read part 23 here.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock.

Did you know you can verify any unconfirmed Bitcoin transaction with our Bitcoin Block Explorer tool? Simply complete a Bitcoin address search to view it on the blockchain. Plus, visit our Bitcoin Charts to see whats happening in the industry.

Kai's been manipulating words for a living since 2009 and bought his first bitcoin at $12. It's long gone. He specializes in writing about darknet markets, onchain privacy, and counter-surveillance in the digital age.

Originally posted here:
Bitcoin History Part 24: Celebrating the First Halving in 2012 - Bitcoin News

Bitcoin price (BTC) dropped another 3.07% on Feb. 25, marking the second day of losses as global equities markets sharply corrected on fears of the Coronavirus spreading to more countries.

Crypto market daily price chart. Source: Coin360

The price dropped below what analysts have labeled as crucial support at $9,450-$9,400 to a new 3-week low at $9,281. Similar to the Feb. 18-19 drop from $10,250 to $9,478, todays pullback was also preceded by a tweezer top candlestick pattern on the daily timeframe.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin price is finding support near the 50-day moving average and the volume profile visible range (VPVR) high volume node at $9,430-$9,319.

BTC USDT daily chart. Source: TradingView

If the price fails to hold this level then a new lower low below the Feb.4 price of $9,089 is possible. Below $9,089, the next level of support can be found at the 200-day moving average that is also aligned with a high volume VPVR node at $8,800.

Such a move would erase approximately 16% of the 21% gain Bitcoin has made since rising from $8,327 to reach a local high at $10,500 on Feb. 13.

BTC USDT 6-hour chart. Source: TradingView

In the shorter time frame, traders will note that the relative strength index (RSI) has nearly dropped to oversold territory and appears to be reversing upward at 35.5. This would suggest that $9,335 could be a point of reversal and the price previously held at the high volume VPVR node at the $9,350-$9,277 zones.

The price of Bitcoin also revisited this zone with 2 previous bounces at $9,335 on Feb. 25 and Feb. 19. Below $8,800, the situation becomes a bit trickier but the price appears to be supported at $8,200 and $8,000.

Despite the 7.25% pullback of the last two days, it is yet to be determined whether the downside move is technical or primarily driven by the correction in traditional markets which is fueled by Coronavirus fears.

While a few analysts from crypto-Twitter have run for the hills and shouted that a sharp bearish reversal that will break the current uptrend is bound to happen any day now, other analysts like Cointelegraph contributor Micheal Van De Poppe believe that Bitcoin and altcoins had become overbought after the recent multi-week rally which saw Bitcoin price move from $6,400 to $10,500.

Van De Poppe has long believed that a 10% or larger pullback was needed in order for cryptocurrencies to retest their underlying supports as traders book profits then prepare for the next leg up.

Thus, it is his view that the current uptrend remains intact despite the short-term bearish conditions, which previous reports by Cointelegraph suggest is the result of crypto whales capitalizing on the high number of leveraged longs and overbought conditions within the market.

During a recent conversation with Delphi Digital CFA Kevin Kelly, the analyst explained that:

This market is still highly speculative and conditions can turn on a dime, but taking a step back we are beginning to see some maturation as the level of sophistication across investors and traders increases.

Notable Crypto Asset YTD Returns (USD). Source: Delphi Digital

Kelly referred to the chart above which shows the wide distribution of gains amongst crypto assets since the start of 2020 and explained:

The latest rally in the crypto market is quite a bit different from what we saw last year when BTC led most alternative crypto assets. The shift in leadership this year has favored other large and mid-cap names, many of which drastically underperformed BTC over the last year.

Cointelegraph contributor and crypto trader contributor Scott Melker also urged investors to remember that:

The assets that are overbought and have had the largest recent gains are the ones that have the furthest to fall before finding meaningful support.

Taking a wider view of the market, we can see that the price remains pinned between $9,350 and $9,800 and each previous level of support is now functioning as a level of resistance. At the time of writing, the absence of purchasing volume shows that traders are not viewing the current drop as a buy the dip opportunity.

In the event of an oversold bounce does occur, Bitcoin price could rise the Bollinger Band moving average which is currently located at $9,666 but its also possible that the previous support at $9,650 will function as a tough level of resistance.

The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph. Every investment and trading move involves risk. You should conduct your own research when making a decision.

Read more here:
Coronavirus and Three Major Reasons Why Bitcoin Price Broke Below $9.4K - Cointelegraph

Stocks have seen two days of steep losses amid concerning new reports about the spread of coronavirus to countries like Italy, Iran, South Korea and Switzerland. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) fell by more than 1,000 points on Monday, its worst day in two years. On Tuesday, stocks fell again, for two-day losses of more than 1,800 points.

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies had a brutal two days as well, calling into question a popular pitch some crypto believers push: that cryptocurrencies are a safe haven, an asset class that offers stability and wealth preservation during periods of heightened uncertainty and market volatility.

Amid the rout in equities on Monday afternoon, bitcoin (BTC) was down by more than 3%, ether (ETH) was down 3%, XRP was down 5% and bitcoin cash (BCH) was down by nearly 7%, creating a sea of salmon-pink on our Yahoo Finance cryptocurrency heatmap, which displays the entire crypto market as a series of color-coded boxes, with the color reflecting each coins movement in the past 24 hours and the box size representing each coins market cap.

On Tuesday, coins fell again, with bitcoin down more than 3% and ether, XRP, and bitcoin cash each down by nearly 6%.

Yahoo Finance crypto heatmap as of 4:30pm EST on Feb. 25, 2020, at the time of the stock market closing bell. (Cryptocurrency markets never close.)

Of course, two down days do not make or break a market trend theory, and bitcoin believers argue that bitcoin has proven itself as a store of value over the longer run.

Even after Monday and Tuesday, bitcoin is up 34% in 2020 so far, and it is up 640% in the last three years. Bitcoin skeptics, on the other hand, will always compare the asset to its all-time-high of nearly $20,000 at the end of 2017, a level it has not neared since.

The coronavirus is exactly the kind of health crisis that should, in theory, boost the value of bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. In the past, bitcoin has risen during bank crises in countries like Greece, a sign that people without access to the banking system do see it as an alternative option.

Even before coronavirus, news out of China was already a major driver of cryptocurrency trends in the past six months as Xi Jinping has made clear his aim for China to develop a state-backed cryptocurrency, something that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has warned about and that even Fed Chair Jay Powell has been watching.

SHANXI, CHINA - FEBRUARY 24: (CHINA MAINLAND OUT)The bank workers sanitize the cash to kill the novel coronavirus on 24th February, 2020 in Taiyuan,Shanxi,China.(Photo by TPG/Getty Images)

Bitcoin is often called digital gold, but the price of gold rose this week while stocks and bitcoin fell. It might be most correct to conclude from the last two days that crypto looks uncorrelated to equities, but the jury is still out on whether it is a safe haven asset.

This is still a very nascent, volatile asset class, says Frank Chapparo of bitcoin news site The Block. If Im an investor and I want predictability in my portfolio, Im not going to be outsized allocating to bitcoin and other digital assets. Now, that doesnt mean that this narrative of bitcoin being a hedge against global economic insecurity or political insecurity [is wrong]. Thats still something that could play out over the next ten, fifteen, twenty years.

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Bitcoin tumbles along with stocks amid coronavirus, questioning 'safe haven' theory - Yahoo Finance