The price of bitcoin slipped again on Tuesday. The reason for the move was unclear, but it may be related to concerns about the security of the cryptocurrency after U.S. officials managed to recover most of the ransom money paid to the hackers targeting Colonial Pipeline. U.S. law enforcement officials said they seized $2.3 million in bitcoin paid to DarkSide, the cybercriminal gang behind a crippling cyberattack on Colonial Pipeline.
Bitcoin's decline has dragged all other cryptocurrencies back into the spotlight, bringing the issue of security and links to cybercrime back to the forefront.
Last month, Chinese authorities called for a crackdown on cryptocurrency mining and trading. Once a major player in the market, China has since taken steps to stamp out speculative investments in cryptocurrencies, banning a fundraising method known as initial coin offerings and shutting down local exchanges. Trump, who is returning to the political scene, has also blasted cryptocurrencies, which he says penalize the dollar.
From a technical perspective, BTCUSD broke out of its upward trending triangle yesterday and has shifted the focus to the lower bound in line with the downtrend which has been in effect since the break of USD 42,000. The probability of a return to the psychological level that once served as support at 30,000 USD is high. The real technical objective will be how prices react following a test of the 30,000 USD mark, with the 25,000 USD in extension likely to be the true bearish target.
To invalidate this negative scenario, Bitcoin will need to recapture the high oblique of the triangle and return above 42,000 USD to reverse the trend.
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