Summary:

• Based on the data provided by Google cryptocurrency interest declines rapidly 
• Binance, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges globally, offers a $250k reward for arrest of hackers after the last week heist 
• Romanians seem to be well familiarized with cryptocurrencies 

A majority of digital currencies are trading sideways at the beginning of the new week. In case of Bitcoin we were offered a bullish engulfing pattern yesterday which could lead to a rebound over the next couple of days. Do notice that the Sunday’s candlestick was able to take the price back above $9,350 – quite an important level to watch from a technical point of view. However, looking broader there is no doubt that overall interest of virtual currencies has waned of late, which has coincided with price calmness stripping traders of investment bargains. 

Word searches for “cryptocurrency” dropped substantially. Source: bitcoin.com 

According to the data from Google Trends searches for “Bitcoin” has plunged 80% recently, and the same has seen in other digital currencies such as Ripple, Ethereum as well as “cryptocurrency” as a whole. If you compare the above-mentioned chart with the Bitcoin price you can notice that both lines have moved the same direction more or less underlining that the major driver for cryptocurrencies remains interest. Delving into some details of the Google data one may single out that the highest interest of Bitcoin was registered in South Africa, Slovenia, Australia, the Netherlands, Singapore, Austria, Canada, Switzerland or Norway. 

Bitcoin drew a bullish engulfing on Sunday suggesting bulls could prevail going forward. If so, they may try to go toward the major supply area placed in the vicinity of $11,750 from where the price has been retreating a few times. Source: xStation5 

Binance, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world based on trade volume, informer earlier today that it would offer a $250k reward (the equivalent of the sum in Binance coins) for information leading to the arrest of the hackers who had targeted the exchange last week. In the same statement the company decided to put aside the equivalent of $10 million for future “bounty rewards” against any illegal hacking attempts on the exchange. It’s worth mentioning that despite a heist taking place last week thieves got away with nothing and they actually lost money. According to the Financial Times the attempted heist was “large-scale” and carried out by “well organised” cyber-criminals via a so-called phishing scam. 

Ethereum is constantly hovering a touch above its relevant support zone at $650, and if buyers manege to keep the price above this area, an extended increase toward below $1000 might be expected. Source: xStation5

According to the poll conducted by Isense Solutions as much as 57% of Romanians leaving in urban area have already heard about cryptocurrencies while a third of them believe that virtual currencies will become “the currency of the future”. What could be even more noteworthy, roughly 17% of respondents admitted they are planning to acquire digital coins within a year, whereas 8% of them already did so during the past 12 months. The firm which carried out the study wrote in its statement that “Romanians have started to become familiar with the term cryptocurrency. They want to keep up with the trends and take advantage of the opportunities generated by new technologies”.