Bitcoin skids to two-week low, but technical analyst says the slump is not a ‘decisive breakdown’ — she’s watching the next two closes

Bitcoin was under fresh selling pressure Tuesday, dragging the world’s No. 1 cryptocurrency to lows not seen since late May. At least one technical analyst, though, says the slump doesn’t represent a decisive breakdown of the bitcoin uptrend unless and until the asset registers weaker closes today and tomorrow.

Read more at: Bitcoin skids to two-week low, but technical analyst says the slump is not a ‘decisive breakdown’ — she’s watching the next two closes - MarketWatch

BITCOIN Currency: The dream currency is in trouble - by John Pittis

Investors in libertarian dream currency want establishment help over missing millions: Don Pittis

Read more at:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/quadriga-bitcoin-bankruptcy-1.5004735

EU-Bitcoin Concerns:The Bitcoin Surge Sparks Bubble Warning by Top European Official - by Alexander Weber

The frenzy on virtual-currency markets has prompted the starkest warning yet from the European Union’s financial-services chief, who said that investors are at risk of losing everything.

EU Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis asked the heads of the EU’s three financial supervisors to update their warnings to consumers “as a matter of urgency” in light of recent market developments, acording to a letter seen by Bloomberg.

“The developments relating to bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in recent weeks require our heightened attention,” Dombrovskis wrote in the letter. “While I acknowledge the important opportunities offered by blockchain technology and its various applications, the current market developments around bitcoin constitute the signs of a pricing bubble, even if -- in terms of global volume -- it remains at the moment within a small share of the financial markets.”

Read more: Bitcoin Surge Sparks Bubble Warning by Top European Official - Bloomberg

Stock Markets: Bitcoin buyers should be prepared to lose all their money, top UK regulator warns

Bitcoin buyers have been issued a "serious warning" from one of Britain's leading financial regulators.

Andrew Bailey, chief executive of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), told BBC's "Newsnight" on Thursday, "If you want to invest in bitcoin, be prepared to lose all your money."

Bailey said a lack of backing from governments and central banks for the world's most popular digital currency was evidence that putting money into bictoin was not a secure investment. He also said buying bitcoin was akin to gambling because it had the same level of risk.

Bitcoin's meteoric price rise has stunned critics and enthusiasts alike, leaving investors scrambling to understand the driving factors for the digital currency's runaway rally.

Bitcoin traded at $17,159 on Friday morning, according to CoinDesk's bitcoin price index. The digital currency has a market value of approximately $291 billion — the largest among the cryptocurrencies. A year ago, one bitcoin was worth around $780.

"If you look at what has happened this year, I would caution people … We know relatively little about what informs the price of bitcoin," Bailey told the BBC.

Soaring interest from institutional and retail investors has prompted global exchanges, such as the Cboe, to launch futures contracts.

Meantime, CME Group is poised to a launch bitcoin futures contract on Sunday and a German stock exchange operator is reportedly considering whether to follow suit.

The launch of bitcoin futures contracts represents a significant step in the legitimization of cryptocurrencies, according to some market participants. Futures are derivatives, or financial instruments, that obligate a trader to either buy or sell an asset at a specified time and at a specified price.

Bitcoin bulls have frequently referenced the cryptocurrency's scarcity value as a primary reason for its staying power. Somewhat like gold, bitcoin supply grows at glacial and ever-decreasing fixed rates with only 21 million bitcoins set to be in existence.

But while the trading of bitcoin futures on two of the world's largest exchanges is expected to provide a layer of official oversight that had not previously existed, several leading voices have expressed skepticism.

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon called bitcoin a "fraud" that would eventually blow up, while billionaire investor Warren Buffett urged traders to "stay away from it," calling the rally a "mirage."

Read more: Bitcoin buyers should be prepared to lose all their money, top UK regulator warns