Week in Review: Cryptocurrency Price Analysis for the week December 03 to December 09

Key Highlights:

• SEC defers Bitcoin ETF again as it pushes the decision to February 2019
• Japanese Police See Surge in Suspicious Cryptocurrency Trade Reporting
• Bipartisan lawmakers in the USA seek cryptocurrency rules to protect consumers
• G20 Countries Agree To Regulate Crypto Assets
• ASIC Miners Dumped In China After Bitcoin’s Price Crash

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission once again delayed a ruling on approving the first bitcoin ETF for listing on a major U.S. exchange. The SEC has repeatedly rejected cryptocurrency ETFs citing concerns over market liquidity and investor safety, and it now has until Feb. 27 to rule on VanEck’s latest bitcoin ETF proposal. The proposal was first submitted by money manager VanEck and blockchain startup SolidX, who partnered with the Cboe exchange earlier this year. Under SEC rules, a decision on the proposal cannot be delayed any further, meaning the next notice must either approve or reject the ETF.

The National Police Agency of Japan has revealed that between January and October this year, it recorded 5,944 reports from crypto exchanges regarding suspicious cryptocurrency transactions possibly involving money laundering and tax evasion. Figures reported by Jiji Press show that from 699 cases reported last year, the numbers have multiplied more than eight-fold, which the NPA sees as proof that operators are taking their reporting obligations more seriously now.

Its been seen recently, The US Congress is getting more serious about cryptocurrency, This week Members of the House planned to introduce two bills to prevent fraud, protect consumers and make sure the country doesn’t fall behind as a leader in the global digital asset class. One bill directs the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to describe how price manipulation could happen in virtual markets, then recommend regulatory changes. Another seeks to keep the U.S. competitive in the global industry.

Globally G20 — the group of the world’s 20 biggest economies — agreed to introduce regulations on crypto assets (cryptocurrencies) to counter money laundering and financial terrorism. The decision was reached at the G20 leaders’ summit held on December 1, 2018, in Argentina. The regulations shall be in line with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recommendations. The G20 countries which include leading economies — India, China, US, UK, and EU — agreed that international standards on crypto assets are crucial to support sustainable growth. And, that the member countries will remain committed to the full, timely and consistent implementation and finalization of the agreed financial reform agenda, and the evolution of its effects.

With Bitcoin values falling more than it takes to mine them, the entire ASIC mining (an application specific integrated circuit, used for Bitcoin mining) has hit a roadblock. Chinese cryptocurrency miners are now either dumping their ASIC or selling it at throwaway prices, according to reports. A recent video circulating on social media has shown crypto miners selling their ASIC as ewaste.

Bitcoin (BTC)

Bitcoin is melting down and its doing in very quickly. The prices hit the high point of USD 4,155.98 and the lowest point of USD 3,280.23 during the week. The exchanges that were more active, in volumes, with BTC across various pairs this week were,  BitMex (24.14%), CoinBene (2.95%) and OKEx (2.45%)

Among prominent news around Bitcoin, Hungry.dk, a Danish online food takeaway portal which handles orders from over 1,500 restaurants in Denmark, has started accepting bitcoin (BTC) as payment.

Ethereum (ETH)

Ether like BTC are hit severly now sits below USD 100 levels. Ethereum on the top, this week were at USD 116.62 and were at lows of USD 83.47. The markets that were more active, in volumes, with ETH across various pairs this week were OEX (6.10%), EXX (5.65%) and LBank (3.90%)

Among news surrounding Ethereum, Ethereum’s developers have decided to activate the Constantinople hard fork upgrade on the cryptocurrency platform’s network at block number 7,080,000, however, this is only set to happen if Ethereum’s community members vote to move forward with the update.

Ripple (XRP)

XRP still is at second place as Ethereum continues to take a beating. On the top, this week the prices of XRP were at USD 0.368598 and towards the bottom, it quoted USD 0.291351. The exchanges that were more active, in volumes, with XRP across various pairs this week were Bitbank (10.78%), ZB.COM(9.78%) and OKEx (5.33%)

For XRP this week, American Express has praised Ripple’s Capability to Process Cross-border Transactions ‘In a Matter of Seconds’ 

The Other Movers and Shakers

The Other coins that made to the top and bottom this week according to Coin Market Cap (accessed on December 09 at 1:35 pm IST) were

Movers

• Veros – Showing a rise of 483.24%
• EvenCoin – Showing a rise of 481.63%
• Lightpaycoin – Showing a rise of 119.90%

Shakers

• Dignity – Showing a drop of 54.94%
• XinFin Network – Showing a drop of 52.14%
• nOS – Showing a drop of 50.57%

What do you think would be the sentiment of the crypto markets next week? Do let us know your views on the same.