Crypto Industry News:
According to media reports, the Bank of Russia has admitted that the use of cryptocurrencies to clear cross-border payments is inevitable. The institution cites the current geopolitical conditions as a reason for such a decision. The Russian central bank is once again considering changing its approach to regulating cryptocurrencies. Now agreed with the finance ministry to legalize digital assets for cross-border payments, local news agency TASS said on Monday.
Deputy Minister of Finance - Alexei Moiseev - said that the Bank of Russia and the Ministry of Finance are working together on a law recognizing digital assets in cross-border trade as legal tender. Moiseev highlighted the crucial importance of enabling local cryptocurrency services in Russia. He drew attention to the fact that many Russians use foreign platforms to open a portfolio for digital assets.
"It is necessary to do this in Russia, with the involvement of entities supervised by the central bank, which are obliged to comply with anti-money laundering requirements and the KYC principle," the official said.
Russian lawmakers have repeatedly opposed the idea of using cryptocurrencies as a payment method. In 2020, Russia passed the important Digital Financial Assets Act which officially prohibited the use of digital coins such as bitcoin (BTC) for payment purposes. The Bank of Russia has been quite skeptical about the cryptocurrency payment proposal from the start. The institution, through its stubbornness, wanted to protect the Russian ruble as the only legal tender in the country.
Interestingly, the idea of introducing this type of payment in domestic trade appeared in Russia already at the end of 2021. Then the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, announced that it was "too early" to use cryptocurrencies to trade energy resources such as oil and gas .
Technical Market Outlook:
The BTC/USD pair keeps trading inside the narrow range as the volatility dries up and the market continues the whipsaw movement between the levels of $19,521 - $20,586. The key short-term technical support is the zone lower line seen at $19,521 and any violation of this level would trigger another down wave towards the level of $18,940 (short-term technical support and target for bears). The momentum remains neutral with occasional spikes into the positive and negative zones.
Weekly Pivot Points:
WR3 - $20,411
WR2 - $20,111
WR1 - $19,911
Weekly Pivot - $19,840
WS1 - $19,610
WS2 - $19,509
WS3 - $19,209
Trading Outlook:
The down trend on the H4, Daily and Weekly time frames continues without any indication of a possible trend termination or reversal. So far every bounce and attempt to rally is being used to sell Bitcoin for a better price by the market participants, so the bearish pressure is still high. The key long term technical support at the psychological level of $20,000 had been violated, the new swing low was made at $17,600 and if this level is violated, then the next long-term target for bulls is seen at $13,712. On the other hand, the gamechanging level for bulls is located at $25,367 and it must be clearly violated for a valid breakout.