The Russian cryptocurrency mining sector is still booming

Summary:

• The number of the Russian cryptocurrency mining companies increased by 15% in first half of 2018

• Northern Trust, an American custody bank, will help hedge funds enter the cryptocurrency market

• Ethereum (ETHEREUM on xStation5) trades a notch below $410 handle after two weeks of heavy sell-off

Signs of easing downward pressure on the cryptocurrency market could be spotted recently. Bitcoin is testing the area marking the upper limit of the previous consolidation range while Ethereum is trading near its previous month’s low. The capitalization of the cryptocurrency market stands slightly above the $270 billion handle whereas the capitalization of altcoins (coins other than Bitcoin) sits subtly above the $140 billion mark. Today’s major topics cover a still increasing popularity of the cryptocurrency mining in Russia as well as the American custody bank helping hedge funds step into the cryptocurrency market. 

BITCOIN is trading in the vicinity of the upper limit of the mid-July’s consolidation range at press time. Namely, the cryptocurrency sits below the $7550 handle and is trading way below the 33-period moving average on the H4 interval (a purple line). Source: xStation5

Low electricity prices in Russia have served as an incentive for the crypto mining operations for some time already. The Russian cryptocurrency sector becomes bigger and bigger as it was presented by the recent Russian Association of Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain (RACIB) data. Quoted by the Prime news agency, Yuri Pripachkin, the President of the RACIB, stated that the number of the Russian cryptocurrency mining companies has increased to 75,000 at the end of first half of the year, marking a 15% increase in the first six months of 2018. According to the RACIB data, the Russian cryptocurrency sector employs 350,000 people. Russia amounts to around 6% of the global digital currency mining. 

ETHEREUM has experienced significant declines since mid-July. The coin is trading around July’s low which seems to be a relevant technical obstacle for bears. ETHEREUM’s upside potential also seems to be limited by the 8-period moving average on the H4 interval (a yellow line). Source: xStation5

Let’s move to America, where Northern Trust, an American custody bank, is helping hedge funds step into the cryptocurrency market. As Forbes reported, Pete Cherecwich, the President of Northern Trust,  claimed that his company cooperates with three “mainstream” hedge funds already. The company is said to help these funds diversify their portfolios with cryptocurrency investments. Apart from that, Cherecwich expressed that in his opinion governments will digitize traditional currencies in the future. 

RIPPLE saw a significant bounce higher yesterday. Nevertheless, bears returned to the market today pushing the cryptocurrency price back to the $0,43-$0,44 area. What’s interesting, RIPPLE is the coin that has diverged the most from the other major digital assets when it comes to the recent performance. Source: xStation5