Cryptocurrency Market News: Bitcoin retreats below $10,000 amid high market volatility

Here's what you need to know on Friday

Markets:

BTC/USD is changing hands at $9,880, having retreated from the intraday high of $10,047. The coin has lost 2% since the start of the day, though it is still 5% higher on a day-to-day basis. Now Bitcoin is trading within the strong short-term bullish bias amid high volatility.

At the time of writing, ETH/USD is changing hands at $208.80. The price tested a high of $216.93 during early Asian hours but reversed to the downside. The second-largest coin has lost 2% since the start of the day and gained 2% in the recent 24 hours. Now ETH is moving within a short-term bullish trend. The volatility is expanding.

XRP/USD is hovering at $0.2153, unchanged on a day-to-day basis and down 1.5% since the beginning of Friday. XRP’s recovery is still blocked by $0.2200. A sustainable move above this area is needed for the upside to gain traction. XRP/USD is trading within a bearish trend amid expanding volatility.

Among the 100 most important cryptocurrencies, Crypterium (CRPT) $0.6307 (+65%), ABBC Coin (ABBC) $0.1665 (+27.8%), and 0x (ZRX) $0.3120 (+24.3%)

The day's losers are, Numeraire (NMR) $29.70 (-8.9%), Chiliz (CHZ) $0.0099 (-8.3%), Nexo (NEXO) $0.1059 (-6.2%).

Chart of the day:

BTC/USD, daily chart

Market

The volatility is back on the market. Bitcoin jumped above $10,000 ahead of a technical event that is supposed to trigger a long-term rally. However, the digital asset is driven mostly by speculative sentiments and agitation, which may lead to a downside correction after the halving.  Jehan Chu, a managing partner with blockchain investment and advisory firm Kenetic Capital, said:

Bitcoin trades sentiment-driven at its peaks and valleys, and the post-halving hangover is part of the normal price ebbs and flows on top of Bitcoin’s fundamental value.

Macro investor Paul Tudor Jones explained while he was buying Bitcoin. He said that he used cryptocurrency as a hedge against inflation amid excessive money-printing by global central banks. He also added that Bitcoin reminded him of the role gold played in the 1970s.

The best profit-maximizing strategy is to own the fastest horse. If I am forced to forecast, my bet is it will be Bitcoin.

Industry

Bitcoin is still way more popular in the darknet than a privacy-focused cryptocurrency Zcash, according to the research performed by Rand Corporation for Electric Coin Company. The researchers did not found evidence that Zcash was less popular among criminals than Bitcoin or Monero. They pointed out that users engaged in illicit activities might not understand the Zcash privacy features, that’s why they choose other coins.

Regulation

The Bank of Netherlands (De Nederlandsche Bank, DNB) said that all cryptocurrency service providers should be registered with the regulatory by May 18. The Dutch Senate voted the Implementation Act amending European Union’s fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (ALMD) on April 21. Now all companies that offer fiat-crypto conversion services or cryptocurrency custody services have two weeks to register with the DNB.

Telegram agreed to disclose the communications between the company and the participants of the ICO in 2018. The company filed an order of consent agreeing to submit the documentation requested by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The documents in question are related to communications about the distribution of Gram tokens during the initial coin offering (ICO) in 2018 and the related purchase agreements.