Cryptocurrency newsletter: Trump’s tweets rattle crypto market

Summary:

• Bitcoin tumbles after harsh comments expressed by Donald Trump
• China cracks down on illegal crypto mining
• Ripple declines toward this year’s lows

Trump hits Bitcoin

The cryptocurrency market has a hideous weekend as major of altcoins saw massive declines when investors were digesting negative remarks voiced by US President Donald Trump. As a result, Bitcoin has lost a lot since the start of the weekend, other digital coins have experienced painful losses as well. What did Trump actually say? He wrote on his Twitter account that he is “not a fan of Bitcoin and other Cryptocurrencies, which are not money, and whose value is highly volatile and based on thin air”. In addition to that, he suggested that unregulated digital assets might facilitate various illegal activities. On top of that, Donald Trump also referred to the latest Facebook’s plans regarding launching its new cryptocurrency called Libra. He said that if Facebook wanted to offer finance services it should become a bank. Looking at the chart below one may notice that Bitcoin broke below the blue trend line over the weekend, a move which could encourage more sellers to enter the market. On the other hand, bulls might hope that price carnage will be stopped at around $9500 where a notable support could be localized.

Bitcoin has plunged following negative comments expressed by Donald Trump. Source: xStation5

China finds illegal crypto mining activity 

Information brought by AFP showed that Chinese police cracked down on illegal cryptocurrency mining in eastern China. The authorities found it by seeing a surge in local electricity usage. It needs to be said that the police confiscated as many as 4000 mining devices. In its report the police wrote “In value, it is the largest case in the amount of electricity stolen that Jiangsu has cracked since the founding of New China, and a rare sight in the whole country,”. The revelations from AFP suggest that up to 20 people were engaged in such activity. It is worth noting that any rapid crypto price surges could be a reason to step up mining activity, hence the latest spike in the Bitcoin price toward $12k could encourage crypto miners.

Ethereum has plunged toward $200 at the start of this week, reaching its lowest level since mid-May. Source: xStation5

Ripple moves toward the 2019 lows

Although the crypto slump has been quite widespread, the Ripple price seems to stand out the most as it has almost touched the lowest level this year, slightly below $0.3. From a technical standpoint one may suppose that these levels could be tough to break for sellers as the price reversed several times from that place in the past. Therefore, if somebody predicts a price reversal in the entire cryptocurrency market Ripple could be among the best choices to get long exposure.

Ripple has sunk toward the 2019 lows being hurt by heavy declines in other cryptocurrencies. Source: xSation5