Bearish Downturn Continues as Crypto Markets Struggle to Maintain Support

Cryptocurrency markets continue to struggle after failing to hold support last night, causing additional bearish pressure this Wednesday. Bitcoin remains below the $20k level, trading at $19,103. Ethereum is also down below $1,300, currently at $1,294. The short-term sentiment for cryptocurrencies remains bearish this week as global markets continue to struggle this October.

Key Points:

• Cryptocurrency markets continue to show bearish momentum, with BTC and ETH failing to hold support.
• The SEC starts its probe into Yuga Labs for potentially violating securities laws.
• Google Cloud will start accepting crypto payments via Coinbase for select services.
• Decreasing price and trading volume suggest a potential price reversal this or next week.
• Fear and Greed index remains in extreme fear, at 20 points today.

Crypto Market Update

The big news of today, which could also be contributing to the bearish pressure for crypto markets, is the SEC’s probe into Yuga Labs. According to a report from Coindesk, the SEC is probing the Bored Ape Creator Yuga Labs over a potential violation of securities laws.

Specifically, the SEC is looking into issuing ApeCoin, and whether dropping 15% of the token’s supply to NFT holders qualifies the crypto asset as a security. It seems the SEC is taking a closer look at NFTs and crypto exchanges in the industry to see whether the new forms of digital assets and services fall under its regulation.

This month, the SEC has been in the news quite frequently after charging Kim Kardashian over the promotion of unregistered crypto securities and fining the celebrity over $1.2 million for a single Instagram post. Kim Kardashian failed to disclose her payment of $250k for the promotion, which the SEC considered a violation of anti-touting laws.

Policy and lawmakers are taking the bearish market as an opportunity to learn more about Web3 and are looking to take an active role in regulating the various sectors of the industry.

In other, more positive news, Google Cloud started accepting Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Dogecoin via Coinbase. While the feature of payments via cryptocurrency will only be available to a handful of customers, the integration of Coinbase Commerce is the first step in Google’s integration of crypto payments for its services.

According to Decrypt:

“CNBC also reported that there “wasn’t a guarantee” that Google would stick with Coinbase for payments processing, and there’s competition from a newly crypto-integrated PayPal business service.”

Bitcoin and Ethereum Price

Bitcoin and Ethereum prices continue to struggle this Wednesday, with BTC falling to the $19k range and ETH dropping below the $1,300 support level. In addition, the trading volume is declining for both crypto assets, down 9% for BTCUSD and 14% for ETHUSD.

Take a look at this trading probability pattern posted by Souradeep Dutta CFA on Quora:

A decrease in price and volume is a bullish sign which could indicate a price reversal. This means we could see the market bottom out later this week before bouncing back above $20k for BTC and above $1,300 for ETH.

The fear and greed index for crypto markets remains in extreme fear, with today’s level at 20, the lowest this month.

While the bears continue to push crypto assets down, this month remains an excellent opportunity to dollar-cost average long-term positions and pick up undervalued assets and NFTs.

Disclosure: This is not trading or investment advice. Always do your research before buying any cryptocurrency or investing in any services.

Follow us on Twitter @themerklehash to stay updated with the latest Crypto, NFT, AI, Cybersecurity, and Metaverse news!

Image Source: maxxyustas/123RF // Image Effects by Colorcinch