Hi Everyone,
Welcome to the first day of summer!!
Top news in crypto-land today is the flash announcement from world-famous rapper Akon, who is now getting into the ICO market with his own crypto called Akoin.
It doesn’t stop there though. Apparently, his vision includes building a brand new crypto city in Senegal to use the currency exclusively.
I suppose with the recent updates from the United States it would be very difficult to raise money for an ICO of the coin there. Perhaps Akon can do some other type of token introduction without raising money from the public to get started.
In Senegal of course, this isn’t the first attempt at localized currencies in the region.
As we’ve been saying, the real need for Bitcoin and other decentralized currencies comes specifically from emerging markets. Only once natural growth picks up there, will the institutions get involved. If that takes a day or a year, nobody can say.
@MatiGreenspan – eToro, Senior Market Analyst
Today’s Highlights
- Dollar Rising
- Gold Falls Further
- Crypto Ramps up Regulation
Please note: All data, figures & graphs are valid as of June 21st. All trading carries risk. Only risk capital you can afford to lose.
Traditional Markets
Stocks are mixed to negative today but the currency markets are in the throes of a strong US Dollar swing.
This is primarily the result of the new direction in policy from the US Federal Reserve, which is planning to increase interest rates while the rest of the world largely sustains their very low rates.
We’ve discussed before how the Dollar may be reversing the trend but now we can see that it is at its highest level in almost a year.
On this chart, I’ve put a Fibonacci Retracement line. For those of you who are green on technical analysis, fib lines are used to predict the likelihood in nature of a specific price being reached, according to Fibonacci’s patterns found in nature.
As we can see, we’re now approaching the 50% level.
Metals Moving
The main mover lately has been gold and other precious metals which are currently dropping like it’s hot.
As the Dollar get’s stronger gold tends to get weaker as you can buy more ounces of gold with a single dollar.
The recent slide has brought us all the way back to the medium term trend line that we’ve been watching for the last year.
Of course, everyone draws their trendlines a bit differently, but for those that are bullish on the long-term prospects for precious metals, this might be a good time to start looking for an entry.
On the other hand, the hotter it gets, with the USD and other reasons, the more gold tends to melt.
Also, watch out for the Bank of England today, which will deliver its decision (most likely not to raise rates) at noon in London.
Though there will be no press conference following this decision, Governor Mark Carney will be speaking later tonight at the Mansion House Dinner.
Crypto Regulation
As we go forward, the role that governments play in cryptocurrencies is increasing at a rapid pace.
In response to hacks on Coinrail and bithumb, the government of South Korea has already released the details of a new bill to regulate crypto exchanges.
Europol is also ramping up efforts to get a handle on the space and will be meeting this week with more than a dozen major crypto exchanges, discussing anti-money laundering initiatives.
Here at eToro, we’re doing our part as well. Yesterday, our very own Iqbal Gandham,UK Managing Director, addressed the Treasury Select Committee in London and did an amazing job representing the crypto industry.
Iqbal is not only the managing director of eToro UK but he is also the Chairman of Crypto UK self-regulatory body and a huge advocate for the sensible regulation of cryptocurrencies.
You can catch the recording at: https://www.parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/252986ff-cec8-4647-a208-787618136dfb
The more clarity we see from global governments about how the space will be regulated the more people will feel free to invest and use cryptocurrencies regularly.
Let’s have an awesome day ahead!
This content is provided for information and educational purposes only and should not be considered to be investment advice or recommendation.
The outlook presented is a personal opinion of the analyst and does not represent an official position of eToro.
Past performance is not an indication of future results. All trading involves risk; only risk capital you are prepared to lose.
Cryptocurrencies can widely fluctuate in prices and are not appropriate for all investors. Trading cryptocurrencies is not supervised by any EU regulatory framework.
About the Author: Mati Greenspan is a Senior Market Analyst at eToro
Connect with Mati on….
eToro: http://etoro.tw/Mati | Twitter: https://twitter.com/matigreenspan | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matisyahu/ | Telegram: https://t.me/MatiGreenspan | Office Phone: +44-203-1500308 (ext:311)
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