Crypto Today: Bitcoin moving within consolidation mode ahead of next committed move

Here's what you need to know on Monday

Markets: 

• BTC/USD is currently trading at $8,100 (-1.00%) in the afternoon in U.S. hours, as price consolidates above $8000. 
• ETH/USD is currently trading at $143.80 (-1.50%), continues to be capped by resistance $145-150 range.
• XRP/USD is currently trading at $0.2125 (-1.60%), the psychological $0.2000 managed to hold following a retest. 
• Among the 100 most important cryptocurrencies, the best of the day are DX $0.001106 (+23.60%), SNX $0.928109 (+14.49%) and SC $0.001461 (+9.97%) and The day's losers are NRG $1.72 (-16.90%), CRPT $0.401198 (-4.70%) and RIF $0.075015 (-4.60%).

Chart of the day: BTC/USD daily chart

Market:

• According to a research report from BitMEX, the largest cryptocurrency margin trading platform in the global market, the usage of the lightning network on bitcoin has surpassed expectations.
• Ethereum Classic has successfully completed the “Agharta” hard fork at block number 9,573,000 at 06:26 UTC on Sunday, according to etcnodes.org.

Regulation:

• President of the European Central Bank (ECB) Christine Lagarde has announced that the ECB has assembled a task force to look into and analyze the feasibility and potential outcome of establishing a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC).
• Japanese Minister Naokazu Takemoto and Philippine Cabinet member Raul Lambino of Crypto Valley of Asia recently met to discuss Asian countries’ crypto regulations. They urge the Philippine Congress to introduce legislation on cryptocurrencies and security tokens, calling for cooperation among Asian countries.
• The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), has outlined its plans of focusing on crypto oversight, alongside many other regulators for this year. 

Industry:

• There is a high demand for a manual named  “Digital Currency: A Reader for Cadres”. A 200-page manual named “Digital Currency: A Reader for Cadres” entered its second printing in January, given the high increase of demand among Chinese officials. It is signalling interest from China’s government amid mixed views on regulations of cryptocurrencies. 
• Switzerland audit firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Switzerland, has partnered with ChainSecurity’s team, folding the company’s technology and its expertise to enhance the services that the global auditor provides.
• The Financial Services Agency (FSA) is planning to tighten crypto margin trading in Japan by limiting leverage to a maximum of twice the deposits of traders.

Quote of the day:

The Bitcoin network has been functional for 99.98% of the time since its inception.

That is better uptime than every tech company over the last 10 years.

@Bitcoin