Bitcoin Market Update: Twitter hack and stock market jitters put BTC/USD at risk of a major sell-off

The cryptocurrency market has been flashing red colors since the start of the European session on Thursday. Several major altcoins broke below local support levels, while BTC/USD came close to the psychological barrier of $9,000. At the time of writing, the first digital asset is changing hands at $9,080, down 1.3% both on a day-to-day basis and since the beginning of the day.

What's going on

Twitter hackers made a splash. There is no direct correlation between the hacked twitter accounts and the sell-off on the cryptocurrency markets; however, the event might have influenced the sentiments. Thus, a prominent investor and cryptocurrency critic Peter Schiff believes that the Twitter hack is “a harbinger of Bitcoin itself being hacked.”

Commenting on the event, he wrote:

It looks like all verified Twitter accounts have been hacked by someone running a #Bitcoin scam. For once not being verified has its advantageous. I wonder if this is a harbinger of Bitcoin itself being hacked? Better to play it safe and just buy #gold.

Technical experts point out that Twitter hack and Bitcoin are unrelated, but the event might have served as a trigger that tilted the balance in bears' favor.

Stock market jitters. Investors analyzed mixed economic data from China and waited for earnings reports, which created anxiety on the market. The US stock futures fell following the bearish close of Asian markets. Chinese retail sales failed the expectations and thus dented risk appetite.

BTC/USD: Technical picture

Despite the massive sell-off on the cryptocurrency market, BTC/USD is still locked in a tight range. The coin stays above $9,000, and this is a good signal in the short-run. A sustainable move below this area will bring weekly SMA50 at $8,850 into focus. This MA has been limiting the decline since the beginning of May.   

On the upside, the initial resistance is created by $9,200-$9,250 area with a confluence of 1-hour SMA50, SMA100 and the middle line of the 1-hour Bollinger Band. However, an even stronger barrier comes at $9,400. This is the upper boundary of the recent consolidation channel reinforced by daily SMA50 and the upper line of the daily Bollinger Band. 

BTC/USD daily chart