Crypto Industry News:
Payment giant Mastercard is taking another step towards further involvement in the crypto space with the goal of developing its core business model. According to a media report, the company will launch a program that will help banks and financial institutions offer cryptocurrency-based products.
The initiative is one of many taken by the company to integrate crypto into its business model. According to the report, Mastercard will launch a pilot program in the first quarter of 2023. The initiative will be available to selected banking institutions to enable them to launch crypto trading products.
In the coming years, the program will be extended to further regions and institutions. Mastercard will act as a "bridge" alongside Paxos, a trading platform that already offers similar services to companies such as PayPal.
In late 2020, PayPal and Paxos announced a partnership to provide Americans with access to Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Partners act as a "link" between digital assets and investors. They deal with protection, compliance and security.
The Paxos and Mastercard transaction are subject to similar terms. The payment giant conducted surveys and other studies to assess sentiment around cryptocurrencies and concluded that most still want access to these assets. Respondents, as their research shows, would prefer to obtain exposure through their local bank and other financial institutions.
Technical Market Outlook:
The BTC/USD pair bounce had been rejected from the level of $19,950 after a Bearish Engulfing pattern was made at the H4 time frame. There is still missing one more wave to the downside in order to complete the Falling Wedge pattern. The supply zone located between the levels of $20,221 - $20,580 (marked as a red rectangle) is very important for bulls from a technical point of view, because only a sustained breakout above it would change the outlook to more bullish, so please keep an eye on this zone for a possible breakout towards the next target seen at $22,410. The momentum remains positive, which supports the short-term bullish outlook for BTC. The nearest technical support is seen at $18,944 and $18,856. The swing low and range low is seen at the level of $18,150.
Weekly Pivot Points:
WR3 - $19,510
WR2 - $19,356
WR1 - $19,287
Weekly Pivot - $19,202
WS1 - $19,133
WS2 - $19,048
WS3 - $18,894
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.