FX.co ★ Technical Analysis of BTC/USD for March 7, 2023

Crypto Industry News:

On March 3, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) published an article attacking Tether. Journalists allegedly found e-mails and documents which show that the USDT issuer has ties to entities from China that sent the company false invoices and used shell companies (so-called "artificial intermediaries"). What is it actually about?

The WSJ article describes some transactions conducted by Tether and the related exchange Bitfinex, which were supposed to give Chinese companies access to bank addresses. As written in the report, these entities would not be able to access a bank account on their own. Tether and Bitfinex were also supposed to help them bypass various controls by the banking sector.

Moreover, the report stated that these companies were allegedly cooperating with terrorist organizations on behalf of which money was laundered. In addition, citing a person familiar with the case, the Wall Street Journal wrote that Tether is under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice. However, no information was given as to what the investigation is about.

The company did not have to wait long for a response from its side. On the same day, an official statement on the report was published on her blog, accusing them of dishonest practices.

Tether described the reports about itself as "outdated allegations from the old days" and "totally inaccurate and misleading".

"Bitfinex and Tether have world-class compliance programs and adhere to applicable anti-money laundering, customer awareness and terrorist financing legal requirements."

It also said Tether is a "proud" law enforcement associate and "routinely and voluntarily" assists authorities in the United States and abroad in all efforts to combat illegal practices.

Technical Market Outlook:

The BTC/USD pair has failed to break above the 50 MA on H4 time frame chart ($23,885), reversed lower and after a short period of a horizontal trading inside a narrow range seen between the levels of $23,044 - $23,885 the bears spiked to the downside. The same situation seems to be continued currently as the market is trading inside a narrow zone again. The intraday technical support is seen at the level of $22,166 and $22,000. The market is now developing the corrective cycle to the downside and the weak and negative momentum on the H4 time frame chart supports the short-term bearish outlook. Traders await the breakout to get more clues about the next BTC move.

Weekly Pivot Points:

WR3 - $22,812

WR2 - $22,582

WR1 - $22,470

Weekly Pivot - $22,352

WS1 - $22,240

WS2 - $22,122

WS3 - $21,892

Trading Outlook:

Despite the recent rally, 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 gamechanging level for bulls is located at $25,442 and it must be clearly violated for a valid breakout in the longer term.