Crypto newsletter: Bitcoin halving is approaching

• Bitcoin halving will take place on Tuesday
• Bitcoin price breached the $10,000 level
• Ethereum is testing major resistance at $209.28

 

Following a breakout above $ 9,500 resistance, Bitcoin bulls pushed higher and managed to breach $ 10,000 for the first time since February. However price pulled back, forcing Bitcoin back into the $ 9,000’s range. Recent rally came ahead of a important technical event. On May 12, 2020, the Bitcoin blockchain will experience the third block reward halving since the outset of the network back in 2009. Miners are rewarded with a certain amount of bitcoins every time a block is formed (approximately every 10 minutes). When Bitcoin started for the first time, 50 bitcoins per block were given to miners as a reward. After extraction every 210,000 blocks (approximately every 4 years), the block reward is halved and will be halved until the block reward reaches 0 (around 2140). For now, the block reward is 12.5 coins per block and will decrease to 6.25 coins per block in half.

Bitcoin soared above $ 10,000 before halving, which according to some market participants may initiate long-term rally. However, some investors believe that the price is driven mainly by speculative sentiment and agitation, which may lead to a downward correction in half. Source: xStation5

News & World Report senior investing reporter John Divine says the halving is a stark contrast to the recent stimulus packages and fiat creation.
“Previous halvings, in 2012 and 2016, respectively, were followed by huge run-ups in the price of bitcoin; halvings are fundamentally bullish for the cryptocurrency and another long-term rally could follow this next one,” Divine explained in a note to investors on May 4. “Bitcoin halving simply illustrates one reason it has earned so much investment. In sharp contrast to fiat currencies like the U.S. dollar – over $2 trillion has been created by the Federal Reserve in 2020 alone – the number of bitcoin in existence has a hard cap, and mass dilution events are fundamentally impossible.”

 

It is difficult to say how Bitcoin price will react on Tuesday. On one side halving might be already priced in by the market and there will be no major price movements. On the other side halving of supply might cause an increase in price if demand for Bitcoins is equal or greater than what it was before the halving event. Below are two charts showing past price performance of the two halving events:

The first halving event occurred on the 29th of November, 2012 at block height 210,000. Source: xStation5

The second halving event occurred on the 10th of July, 2016 at block height 420,000. Source: xStation5

Ethereum price managed to break above $200.00 and is currently testing major resistance level at $209.28. Should upbeat moods prevail, resistance at $250.62 may come into play. Local support is located at $ 191.05. Source: xStation5

 

Crypto news:

 

The Bank of the Netherlands (De Nederlandsche Bank, DNB) announced that all cryptocurrency service providers should be registered in the regulations by May 18. On April 21, the Dutch Senate passed the Implementation Act amending European Union’s fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (ALMD). Now all companies offering fiat-crypto conversion services or cryptocurrency custody services have two weeks to register in DNB.

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