Bitcoin tests waters under $3,300 as SEC postpones the decision on crypto ETF

Bitcoin, the largest digital asset, has lost nearly 10% of its value and touched $3,299 level during early Asian hours. While the coin managed to recover to $3,330 by the time of writing, it is still moving within a strong bearish trend with more downside to come once European and American traders join the market.

The new wave of widespread selling on the cryptocurrency market was triggered by SEC's decision to postpone the verdict on  SolidX Partners Inc. and asset manager Van Eck Associates Corp., applications for launching  Bitcoin ETF. After a series of delays, the regulator was supposed to decide upon the matter in December. 

“Sentiment in the market is really bad, any negative news has an exponential effect,” Timothy Tam, co-founder, and CEO of CoinFi explained commenting the recent carnage on the cryptocurrency market.

Bitcoin's technical picture

Bitcoin lost over 80% of its value from the peak reached in December 2017, and the sell-off is gaining traction on the panic-stricken market. BTC/USD is trading nearly 50% below its DMA200 and moving closer to Weekly SMA200 (currently at $3,174). 

In November, coin broke below weekly SMA100 for the first time on record and stayed below that level ever since, creating a bearish setup from the long-term perspective. A failure to engineer a sustainable recovery above $4,000 adds dark colors to the technical picture and implies that BTC/USD has yet to bottom out.

A sustainable break below the above said weekly SMA200 would send the prices in a tailspin with the next aim as low as $1,830, which is the lowest level since July 21 and a starting point for the strong bullish trend of 2017.