BTC/USD Analysis - April 19, 2021

Nose Dive in Bitcoin

The BTC/USD closed at 56,163 after placing a high of 60,223 and a low of 54,416. BTC/USD continued its bearish trend for the third consecutive session and fell to its lowest level since 26th March. The recent decline in the cryptocurrency market was triggered after the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey instituted a ban on cryptocurrency payments. This ban came in as Turkey's fiat currency, and Lira was failing. This ban is said to commence at the end of April.

According to CBRT, the lack of a mechanism for supervision and central authority regulations for cryptocurrencies was the major reason behind the recent ban. The CBRT also cited that the cryptocurrency market was highly volatile, and many cryptocurrency transactions were irrevocable.

The reasons given by CBRT were similar to that given by the Nigerian central bank last month, when it issued a reminder of a ban on financial services for cryptocurrency exchange operations in the country. On Friday, the CBRT issued several restrictions on cryptocurrency transactions that will restrict the payment service providers from incorporating digital assets into their services directly or indirectly. This ban will take full effect as from 30th April. After releasing this ban, Bitcoin prices started to fall and have been falling since then to reach their lowest level since 26th March, at around 54,000.

After a few weeks of headlines, Turkey saw a surge in Google searches for Bitcoin. The renewed interest in Bitcoin in the country came after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sacked the governor of CBRT, Naci Agbal. According to some experts, Turkey will only see a new wave of interest for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies after this ban as the country were struggling with high inflation.

Another reason behind the recent decline in the cryptocurrency market could be attributed to the rumours that started to spread over the weekend. The US Treasury was planning to charge several financial institutions for money laundering through digital assets. The news is yet to confirm by the agency, but it has caused a disruption in the cryptocurrency market and a massive scale that drove Bitcoin below 52,000. Almost the top 100 cryptocurrencies experienced a –10% to –20% decline.

BTC/USD Intraday Technical Levels

Support Resistance

51032.8 62831.1

53654.7 61520.2

54965.6 58898.3

Pivot Point: 57587.4

BTC/USD - Technical Outlook

The leading cryptocurrency BTC/USD fell dramatically from 61,300 to 46,639 level amid violation of upward trendline and profit-taking by investors. Currently, the BTC/USD pair has covered most of the losses and completed 50% Fibonacci retracement at 55,565 level. Bitcoin is trading at 56,750 level heading towards a 61.8% Fibonacci retracement level at 57,870. The 61.8% Fibo level extends solid resistance level to Bitcoin bulls; closings of Doji or Spinning top candle typically drive prices lower. On the downside, the support levels continue to hold at 53,685 and 50,918 levels. All the best!