Summary:

  • Bitcoin (BITCOIN on xStation5) has finally broken above a crucial resistance at $9000
  • South Korea shows a bit softer stance in contrast to fears from the past weeks
  • Iceland runs out of electricity supply due to heavy Bitcoin mining

Bitcoin accelerated its uptrend during the yesterday’s session as it managed to break above a $9k mark climbing the highest level this month. Let us recall that we pointed out such a scenario on Wednesday when we referred to blockchain talks in the US House of Representatives. At the time of writing Bitcoin is nearing a round psychological level at $10k which could constitute a major obstacle for bulls and they could struggle to break it at the first time. On the other hand, a daily close above $9350 seems to bode well for cryptocurrency buyers, nevertheless without an increase in the amount of daily transactions any more sustained rises might be hard to achieve. The chart below illustrates how much Bitcoin transactions have slowed down of late being a substantial drag on the virtual currency price.

link do file download linkBitcoin daily transactions decreased substantially which could find it hard to see more durable increases in the Bitcoin price. Source: bitcoin.com, XTB Research

In terms of recent news regarding Bitcoin it’s worth mentioning some revelations coming from South Korea as the country softened its regulation approach in contrast to fears in the last several weeks that the government would close down cryptocurrency exchanges. For all that a subtle change in the Korean stance one cannot forget that the country’s authorities still plan to focus on taking action against illicit activity in digital currency trading. Finally, it has to be said that the Korean government is still clearly “divided with many opinions ranging from an outright ban on cryptocurrency trading to bringing the institutions that handle the currency into the system”.

link do file download linkTechnically Bitcoin could be heading higher toward the nearest resistance in the vicinity of $10900 being underpinned by a 61.8% retracement of the latest upside. Thus, any pullbacks toward $9350 could be viewed by Bitcoin supporters as a buying opportunity. Source: xStation5

We have already written many times that North-based countries are the best localizations for crypto mining companies and Iceland is decisively among them. However, this could create some issues and it has been already seen in Iceland which is running out of electricity supply on the back of heavy Bitcoin mining. What’s more, this problem could be hard to deal with as the country offers quite cheap energy generated from hot geysers or hydro-power plants. Let’s also recall that the power consumed by mining companies have crossed recently the overall consumption of all Icelanders.