Bitcoin markets have continued their bullish behaviour, with the (Bitcoin) price currently up 2.64% according to the Bitcoin Price Index (BPI) via CoinDesk. A large upward move occurred, pushing the price to a high of $349.98 on the Bitstamp exchange. Since then, the price has retraced to $348.21. Daily resistance lies at $352.49 and $360.80, while $330.06. The price is currently testing the first weekly resistance level and if a break above $349.80 is maintained, then the price action should tend towards the second weekly resistance at $375.25.
The FBI has announced that they have arrested the operator of the illicit black market website Silk Road 2.0. Law enforcement officials estimate Silk Road 2.0 was generating $8 million per month in sales from 150,000 active users as of September 2014. The FBI stated that an agent was able to infiltrate the website and gained access to private, restricted areas of the website. Two arrests have been made, along with almost £160,000 worth of drugs seized. A global crackdown on dark markets promises to take down several dark market websites in the next few days.
Coincheck has launched a consumer friendly Bitcoin exchange, allowing smaller trades. The company is based in Japan, providing fast Bitcoin (ANXJPY) transactions and fees have been waived until 2015. Their entry into the market comes after Kraken based their international operations in Japan one week ago. The features of the exchange will be integrated with Coincheck’s other services, including a bitcoin wallet. The exchange is aimed at consumers who have heard about digital currencies and need easy access to Bitcoin, which should help boost adoption in Japan.
The 4 hour chart below shows the Bitcoin price action on the BitStamp exchange with the Ichimoku cloud. The price action has broken above the cloud, indicating a formation of an upward trend. Further confirmation of a trend change will be given when the lagging line passes through the cloud in the upward direction. Also, the conversion is above the base line, which is a bullish signal. The cloud will act as support going forward at just under $339.77. The cloud is also changing from red to green, providing a bullish signal.
At the daily timeframe, the price action is still below the cloud and it will act as resistance at the $350 level. A break above this could signal a potential trend reversal at the daily timeframe. The conversion line should provide support going forward. If the $350 level is broken, then the next resistance lies at $399.26.
