Bitcoin Price Prediction as BTC Falls Below $22,000 – Time to Buy the Dip?
Bitcoin has been on a steady decline for a while now. It was trading near $23,000 early today and has been on a steady decline ever since. It was trading at $21,800 during the US session. Despite this, now is not the time to panic and sell your crypto holdings.
The price has the potential to go back up over time as long as there is no major change in regulations or government intervention in the market. As long as you have some Bitcoin left in your portfolio to buy back into when the price drops again, you should be fine.
Kraken Under The Microscope: SEC Investigates Crypto Exchange For Possible Violations
One of the reasons behind a strong selling trend in the crypto market is a report by SEC investigating Kraken exchange. According to reports, the Security Exchange Commission will be investigating crypto-to-crypto exchange Kraken for violating securities laws.
Bloomberg has been speculating about a possible settlement for the last few days, suggesting that it could take place soon.
About Kraken
Kraken is a digital crypto-assets trading platform that lets customers buy and sell Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Dogecoin. The exchange’s fourth largest by volume, according to the CoinGecko data, has been accused of wrongdoing by federal authorities.
JUST IN: #Crypto exchange Kraken shuts down staking following SEC charges.
— Watcher.Guru (@WatcherGuru) February 9, 2023
In November, Kraken agreed to pay the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control $362,158.70 for apparent violations of sanctions against Iran In September, Anthony Ripley, the incoming CEO of BCH (Bitcoin Cash), said that the company had no plans to delist any coins or tokens that are labeled as securities by the SEC.
Today we charged Kraken with failing to register the offer and sale of their crypto asset staking-as-a-service program, whereby investors transfer crypto assets to Kraken for staking in exchange for advertised annual investment returns of as much as 21 percent.
— U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (@SECGov) February 9, 2023
In January, the SEC levied charges against the two largest exchanges in terms of trading volume – Genesis and Gemini. These charges were for offering unregistered securities.
The Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler believes that many cryptocurrencies—but not Bitcoin—are unregistered securities. Securities are investment tools that raise capital through the public and private markets.
The number of crypto-related enforcement actions has grown significantly in recent years. This can be explained by the fact that the body is trying to regulate the space to ensure people’s safety and financial well-being.
SEC commissioner Peirce is not happy about the decision to shut down Kraken's staking program https://t.co/Tvwl5SjWxm
— SUBSCRIBE TO PLAYING BUSINESS (@Anthony) February 9, 2023
According to Gensler, the cryptocurrency industry is “substantially non-compliant,” despite the fact that there are already clear rules in place to safeguard consumers. Nonetheless, more work needs to be done to ensure the safety of investors. Digital asset exchanges are under close scrutiny by US regulators following the collapse of mega-company FTX in December 2017.
That being said, the market is uncertain and investors are staying away from the crypto market.
SEC Crypto-staking Action Against Kraken Lowers Coinbase Shares
Coinbase shares closed down more than 14%. The company’s CEO, Brian Armstrong, has voiced his concern on rumors that the Securities and Exchange Commission was mulling new enforcement action.
Many centralized exchanges, including Coinbase, offer customers the option to hold their digital assets without any yield. Crypto staking is when investors choose to lock away their assets with a blockchain validator, who verifies proof of accurate transactions on the blockchain.
1/ We're hearing rumors that the SEC would like to get rid of crypto staking in the U.S. for retail customers. I hope that's not the case as I believe it would be a terrible path for the U.S. if that was allowed to happen.
— Brian Armstrong 🛡️ (@brian_armstrong) February 8, 2023
For each token that’s frozen thanks to this process, investors could receive as much as 5-20% more tokens from the validator in return. Armstrong tweeted about a “terrible path” the SEC would be pursuing if it classified Ether as a security.
The cryptocurrency market is unpredictable, volatile, and highly dependent on sentiment. In the current state of the market, investors are reluctant to invest due to heightened regulation and uncertain regulation. The current SEC investigation on Kraken news has been keeping investors away from the crypto market for now.
Bitcoin Price
The current Bitcoin price is $21,905, and the 24-hour trading volume is $31 billion. Bitcoin has fallen by nearly 4.5% in the last 24 hours. With a live market cap of $422 billion, CoinMarketCap currently ranks first.
On the technical front, BTC/USD trading is extremely bearish. Currently trading at $21,900 and has recently completed a 61.8% Fibonacci retracement at this level; this means that there is a good chance of price pushing down towards $20,000 in the short term. Bitcoin’s resistance is expected to remain near its average of $22,300 or $22,775.
Leading technical indicators like the Relative Strength Index and the Moving Average Convergence Divergence are both pointing to a bearish market. Strong selling pressure is present as both the RSI and MACD have reached the 25 levels and are producing histograms below zero. In addition, a bearish engulfing candle is a sign that investors are strongly bearish.
If Bitcoin breaks below $21,800, we expect its next support level would be around $21,400. Support levels are expected to remain close to keeping Bitcoin’s price down.
Bitcoin Alternatives
Cryptocurrencies and related ICOs are creating a lot of buzz throughout the world. CryptoNews Industry Talk has analyzed the top 15 cryptocurrencies to watch in 2023 to help guide your investment decisions.
If you’re looking for an investment opportunity with a high potential of profit, there are other options to explore.
Disclaimer: The Industry Talk section features insights by crypto industry players and is not a part of the editorial content of Cryptonews.com.
Find The Best Price to Buy/Sell Cryptocurrency
