Crypto Industry News:
Former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison and FTX co-founder Gary Wang have pleaded guilty to federal fraud charges and are cooperating in the Justice Department's investigation of former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried.
The US Attorney for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) Damian Williams made this information public on December 22, emphasizing that this latest major event is unlikely to be the last.
Williams also confirmed that the SBF is now in Federal Bureau of Investigation custody and is "on his way back to the United States" where he will be flown directly to the Southern District of New York to appear before a judge "as soon as possible."
In a separate proceeding, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced on Dec. 21 that it had charged Ellison and Wang for their involvement in a "multi-year plan to defraud equity investors in FTX," adding that it was also investigating other securities law violations and other related entities and individuals with misconduct.
The SEC noted that both Ellison and Wang are also cooperating with ongoing investigations.
Technical Market Outlook:
The BTC/USD pair had made a local high at the level of $17,055 in form of a Pin Bar candlestick pattern on H4 time frame chart. The market keeps trading below 100 MA on the H4 time frame chart and is trading below the intraday technical resistance seen at $16,880. The volatility is still limited despite the recent spike down, so the trading rage is seen between the levels of $16,268 - $16,720. Any breakout below the range low would extend the corrective cycle towards the level of $15,984 (November 28th low). On the higher time frame, like weekly, there is a clear test of the 50 WMA located at the level of $15,600, so any breakout below the moving average and a weekly candle close below moving average will be considered as another indication of the down trend continuation.
Weekly Pivot Points:
WR3 - $17,039
WR2 - $16,862
WR1 - $16,778
Weekly Pivot - $16,685
WS1 - $16,601
WS2 - $16,509
WS3 - $16,332
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 new yearly low was made at $15,555 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 in the longer term.