Bitcoin (BTC) finds support above $10,000 with a nod from China
Bitcoin is finding price support from markets, and emotional support from China's state-run Xinhua news.
After a nerve wracking straight streak to almost US$14,000, Bitcoin prices pulled back to about $10,300. In the last few hours it's repeatedly found support at $11,000, and now seems to be settling in to its new five-digit home quite nicely. Or maybe it's all an illusion and the stuff is about to plummet towards $9,000.
In the previous sharp pullback Bitcoin only went as low as a cushy $10,300, and since then the markets have reiterated their support for Bitcoin at $11,000.
According to the folk wisdom many analysts attach to the Relative Strength Index (that pink-shaded line below the price chart), Bitcoin is making itself quite at home in its new five-figure price range. The gist is that if it's in that pink area it's theoretically not over- or under-bought.
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Bitcoin has repeatedly found support at $11,000, which shows that it has a strong social support network from traders there, and is more likely to hang around and call that place home.
Bitcoin prices also found a strong dose of support from an unexpected direction, in the form of an almost genial nod from China's state-owned Xinhua News Agency which described Bitcoin as having "shown the characteristics of safe-haven assets and attracted many investors' attention".
It also adds some reasonably in-depth coverage of the current state of the markets, including a mention of the growing number of CME Bitcoin futures contracts. It notes that shorts are outnumbering longs, which may suggest either spot traders hedging or a good old fashioned bear attack.
Coverage of Bitcoin prices and market activity is quite remarkable from China's state-owned news agency, considering cryptocurrency trading is banned in the country – although an underground trading scene remains. It's as clear a sign as any that there may be a thawing in the frosty relationship between China and Bitcoin.
It's extremely hard for anyone, even entire countries, to sit and watch on the sidelines as Bitcoin prices double. If people want their Bitcoin fix they're going to find it. Meanwhile, over in the USA, Bakkt has set a launch date of 22 July (for user testing) for Bakkt's physically delivered Bitcoin futures, in another sign of solid interest from formal corners.
With a lot to look forward to on the near horizon, and a nice new place in the five-digit range following the massive rise of late, Bitcoin is probably feeling pretty good about itself.
Of course, nothing is guaranteed. Bitcoin is going to keep encountering scaling issues in the foreseeable future, and the markets might still foreclose on its new place, but for now Bitcoin has lots of reasons to smile.
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Disclosure: The author holds BNB, BTC at the time of writing.
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