Cryptocurrencies had their best year in 2017 with most of them climbing by more than 1000%. This year, the industry has faced with challenge-after-challenge causing many digital currencies to suffer double digit losses. Ripple, Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin have fallen by 72%, 42%, 43%, and 44% respectively.
The challenges so far have included crypto ad-bans and other restrictions from the likes of Google, Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram. Other companies such as PayPal, Visa, and Mastercard have also made it difficult for people to buy and sell the cryptocurrencies.
United States’ regulatory agencies like the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodities and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) are currently drawing regulations on everything to do with cryptocurrencies.
In Europe, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has just published new regulations, which will affect all firms providing online financial services. The new rules will limit several things including marketing, margin requirements, and negative balance protection. At the same time, Japan and South Korea are also working on regulations to protect their citizens.
Meanwhile, ethereum continued to slide after a major developer resigned. Ethereum code editor, Yoichi Hirai resigned after realizing that the Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) that he was in charge of violated Japanese law. Ethereum is currently trading at $415. As shown, the ETH/USD pair’s RSI is currently below 30 and the MACD shows signs of a recovery. In the short-term, this could be an indication that the pair could see some short-term gains.
