Summary:

• A majority of Canadians are aware of Bitcoin’s existence
  
• Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel Prize winner, criticizes virtual currencies again
• Opera browser adds a built-in cryptocurrency wallet

Thursday starts with declines across major virtual currencies. Over the past 24 hours all major cryptocurrencies were falling again. The capitalization of the whole market sits a notch above $245 billion while the capitalization excluding Bitcoin stands below $140 billion. Keep in mind that cryptocurrencies trigger different emotions among various people. In today’s post we focus on one of top cryptocurrencies critics, a survey from Canada regarding cryptocurrencies’ awareness among ordinary people and a new Opera browser’s feature.

Cryptocurrencies are gaining more and more attention of big companies. Opera, one of the most famous browsers, adds the native Ethereum wallet to its program. Doing so it’s becoming the first among giant browsers with such a functionality. The company believes that this feature will meet expectations of people in their daily life. What’s more, Opera focuses especially on users’ privacy. The implementation of such a feature can increase knowledge and popularity within a global web society. Will other main browsers follow Opera’s decision? We will be waiting for next information.

Today, BITCOIN is going down. It is trading around $6150. The most popular virtual currency is still moving below 33-period moving average on a H4 interval (a purple line on the chart). But current price movements may be just a stirring of a next downward trend. Source: xStation5

Cryptocurrencies have a lot of enthusiasts, but also a lot of critics. Joseph Stiglitz may be easily classified to the latter group. The famous economist joins a group of sceptical scholars towards virtual currencies. Recently, the Nobel Prize winner has forecasted that digital currencies will be “regulated into oblivion”. Stiglitz holds the view that Bitcoin is using largely to circumvent tax authorities and regulations. Moreover, the economist encourages to totally ban it. His most recent remark confirmed his previous messages about cryptocurrencies. As we can see, virtual currencies do not have only sympathizers.

ETHEREUM settles down. After this week’s big drops, one of the major cryptocurrencies is faintly fluctuating around $430. On the chart (a H4 interval), the cryptocurrency is moving clearly below 33-period moving average (a purple line). We are waiting for subsequent signs to get a confirmation that a new downtrend has just unfolded. Source: xStation5

An interesting report comes from Canada regarding the latest Bank of Canada’s survey. As per results of this research nearly 9 out of 10 Canadians are aware of the most popular cryptocurrency’s existence. Furthermore, awareness of people of this particular cryptocurrency has risen over 20% within the year. On top of that. the number of Canadians owning Bitcoins doubled over the last year. It excellently illustrates an increase of cryptocurrencies’ popularity. Either way, these results look encouragingly from a cryptocurrencies standpoint.

LITECOIN is also falling. The virtual currency is likely to test its lower bound of a downward channel on a H4 interval (an orange area) again. Depending on next moves the cryptocurrency may leave the present channel. Source: xStation5