Cryptomarkets under Pressure Again

Bitcoin managed to close out the day in positive territory on Wednesday, despite falling to a day low $9,199.59, hitting sub-$10,000 levels for the first time since the beginning of December. The new low raised more alarm bells across the cryptocurrency markets as regulatory noise continued to ring in the ears of the investors through much of the day.

Despite the negative sentiment, the day ended on a positive note however, which may have brought hopes of a better day today for the markets, which have been reeling through the week.

There was plenty of support from Bitcoin miners on Wednesday, with hashrate divergence favouring Bitcoin, in spite of Bitcoin Cash having a better day performance wise. Bitcoin’s average hashrate stood at 19.421E on Wednesday, up from the previous days17.0245E. In contrast Bitcoin Cash saw its average hashrate fall from 2.1298E to 1.7819E on Wednesday, suggesting that miners have yet to buy into a future without Bitcoin.

Wednesday also saw the expiry of the first Bitcoin futures contract and, while the futures markets were likely anticipating a solid entrance into the cryptocurrency market, it turned out to be quite the opposite.

The February contract settled at $11,055, down 26.3% from December’s opening $15,000, with the first of the futures contracts having pinned Bitcoin back from any customary rallies following the December launch.

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At the time of writing, Bitcoin is down 3.19% to $10,833.89, sitting just above an intraday low $10,693, while easing back from an intraday high $11,823.56 hit in the early hours of this morning.

Bitcoin Cash has also struggled this morning, down 1.69% to $1,712, giving up strong gains from earlier in the day, with Ripple being the only major crypto sitting in positive territory at the time of writing, up 1.51% to $1.32248, though Ripple had managed to splash through to $1.5 levels in the early hours.

The cryptomarkets may feel that there is a way around a possible closure of exchanges in South Korea, with the use of VPNs masking IP addresses, but the reality remains that Bitcoin trading will be just that little bit more elusive than currently, with investors who had recently entered the market and got burned unlikely to return any time soon. Well, not until there is one of the legendary crypto rallies to restore confidence in the markets.

Interestingly, the Asian markets seem to have had a greater appetite for the cryptos at present, in spite of the threat of exchange closure on its doorstep, with the cryptos seeing gains made through the Asian session fade.

For the day ahead, government chatter will need to be monitored, with the negative sentiment unlikely to ease off anytime soon.

The good news for Bitcoin is that the smart money has yet to suggest another crash, with the Cboe’s February futures contract sitting at $11,160, up $340 on the day. Bitcoin investors won’t be able to blame the futures market today and, as we have seen since the launch, the futures market can hinder the cryptomarkets, but for now seem unable to bring the investors back to the table.

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