Bitcoin price analysis: Recovery faces gigantic hurdles; experts disagree with economist Nouriel Roubini views on cryptos

• Bitcoin is consolidating the losses above $6,200 while waiting for a catalyst.
• “Bitcoin and ether are very much viable means of payment, and their "stored value" characteristics are not disputed by market participants or regulators,” expert disagrees with Roubini.

Bitcoin is range-bound on Friday, October 12, 2018. The crypto is stuck in the range following a slight recovery from the support at $6,100. This recovery is important to the investors who were expecting a break towards $7,000. Bitcoin (BTC) embarked on a consolidation phase in the past couple of weeks leading to a belief that a bullish break is imminent. However, the expected breakout turned into a breakdown as bulls suffered at the receiving end of the bears’ merciless grip.

Currently, Bitcoin is trading at $6,214 after a brief recovery from the above-mentioned support at $6,100. BTC/USD has reached an intraday high of $6,234.14 but the upper range limit at $6,250 is a major hurdle towards the critical medium-term resistance at $6,300.

The trading is currently uneventful and Bitcoin is consolidating the losses in wait for a catalyst. The immediate resistance is $6,250 while $6,500 is the ultimate resistance. Both the 50 and the 100 SMA will also stand in the way of upside movement at $6,284.14 and $6,432.23 respectively. On the other hand, Bitcoin price is supported strongly at $6,100 while the lifeline support at $6,000 will come in handy in case the lower range limit is breached.

In other news, a renowned economist Nouriel Roubini alongside the lead researcher at CoinCenter, Peter Van Valkenburg spoke at the U.S Senate Committee hearing on Wednesday, October 11,2018 where they discussed digital assets as well the entire blockchain ecosystem. The economist said that cryptocurrencies are the “the mother and father of all scams and bubbles.” In addition to that, he referred to the blockchain technology as a “glorified database.” His statements were extremely strong and clearely showed that he is anti-cryptocurrency. He went ahead to say that digital assets are a haven for the people in support of terrorism and other related illegal activities.

Various industry experts have come out against Nouriel Roubini comments and views of the cryptocurrency space with most of them saying that his claims are unfounded. For instance, Ken Nguyen, CEO of Republic, the AngelList & NEO Global Capital-backed crowdfunding platform for startups and blockchain projects disagreed saying:

"Roubini's prepared remarks argue that cryptocurrencies are not a viable unit of account, means of payment or store of value. He also stated elsewhere that Bitcoin can't scale and is not decentralized. I generally disagree, and find these damning statements mostly good for their entertainment value, but not particularly thoughtful.” Nguyen continued “Bitcoin and ether are very much viable means of payment, and their "stored value" characteristics are not disputed by market participants or regulators. Any deficiency to date with respect to scalability or absolute decentralization can and will be improved over time. CoinCenter's viewpoints are more nuanced and balanced, but that's not what gets the attention these days."

BTC/USD hourly chart

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