Something Very Strange Is Going On With Bitcoin And BTC Google Searches

Bitcoin and cryptocurrency prices are well known to be closely tied to media and general public interest–-though that could be changing.

The bitcoin price has been climbing so far this year, rising some 200% since January, though has recently plateaued at around $10,000 per bitcoin after peaking at more than $12,000 in June.

Now, it appears Google searches for bitcoin and BTC, the name used by traders for the bitcoin digital token, could be being manipulated–-possibly in order to move the bitcoin price.

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Google searches for "BTC" (red) have suddenly eclipsed "bitcoin" (blue) searches in the U.S. and around the world. GOOGLE TRENDS

This week there has been a massive leap in Google searches for "BTC," which usually is lower than searches for "bitcoin"–with search volume for "BTC" around the world now far higher than it was even at the top of bitcoin's epic 2017 bull run.

The trend may have started in Romania, Swedish cryptocurrency website Trijo News first reported.

"It is reasonable to assume that someone is behind these radical changes," wrote Kryptografen's Bendik Norheim Schei.

"That the same pattern can be seen all over the world may indicate that VPN services have been used to distribute the search across the world, thus achieving a global trend. Google Trends points out that changes have been relatively large in Romania. Is this the source, or is it just because there have been fewer searches for BTC previously? Whatever the answer is–something very strange has happened to the interest in the keyword 'BTC' this past week."

 

The bitcoin price has in the past tracked searches for "bitcoin" and "BTC" quite closely, with a sudden rise in searches for "BTC" without a similar rise in the price highly unusual.

Meanwhile, Totte Löfström of Trijo News, which first reported the Google search discrepancy, found that, "if you choose to display the Google Trends result for the topic 'bitcoin', all searches containing that keyword are included: 'buy bitcoin,' 'bitcoin price,' 'where can I buy bitcoin,' and so on, the number of Google searches containing the word 'bitcoin' has increased very significantly lately."
Searches for "BTC" (red) have never been higher, with Romania a possible the source of the surge. GOOGLE TRENDS

Other bitcoin and cryptocurrency analysts were quick to join Schei in pointing to potential market manipulation.

"Somebody's trying to game the trading algorithms," said Glen Goodman, trading veteran and author of bitcoin investment book, The Crypto Trader, who explained how this could be used to move bitcoin prices on the market.

"There are algorithms programmed to look at Google Trends data and try to find correlations between numbers of searches for the word 'BTC' and the movements in the bitcoin price."

"If they detect patterns, it may be profitable to trade off that data. This hacker may be buying some BTC, then sending a ton of 'BTC' search queries to Google, the algos see search numbers have risen and are triggered to buy a lot of BTC which pushes the price up, and the hacker then sells their BTC at a profit. Easy money!"

Meanwhile, it seems whoever is trying to manipulate the search results for "BTC" is doing it in an organised way.

The bitcoin price usually moves higher if Google searches for "bitcoin" and "BTC" rise, though this hasn't happened to a significant degree. COINDESK

"These searches appear to be timed to coincide with the quietest time in each country–around 4am or 5am, when search traffic is subdued, so the spam search queries will have maximum impact on the graph," Goodman added.

Billy Bambrough

Billy Bambrough

I am a journalist with significant experience covering technology, finance, economics, and business around the world. As the founding editor of Verdict.co.uk I reported …

 

David – http://markethive.com/david-ogden

Crypto Market & Bitcoin Rebounding – BCH, Litecoin, TRX, XLM Analysis

 

• The total crypto market cap bounced back sharply after testing the $245.0B support area.

• Bitcoin price is back above the $10,000 and $10,100 levels, with positive signs.

• Litecoin (LTC) price is showing positive signs and it could soon revisit the $80.00 resistance.

• BCH price is gaining pace and it could rise towards the $325 and $340 resistance levels.

• Tron (TRX) price settled above the $0.0170 level and it could continue to climb higher.

• Stellar (XLM) price surged recently and it is likely to march towards the $0.0850 level.

The crypto market cap and bitcoin (BTC) are back in a positive zone. Ethereum (ETH), litecoin (LTC), ripple, BCH, tron (TRX), stellar (XLM) and other altcoins could continue to climb higher.

Bitcoin Cash Price Analysis

BCH price corrected lower recently and tested the $305 support area against the US Dollar. Later, the price bounced back above the $310 and $315 levels. It seems like the price is about to break the $320 resistance and it could continue to rise towards the $325 and $340 levels.

On the downside, there is a strong support forming near the $305 level. As long as the price is above $305, there are high chances of more gains in the coming sessions.

Litecoin (LTC), Tron (TRX) and Stellar (XLM) Price Analysis

Litecoin price remained well bid above the $72.00 and $70.00 support levels. LTC price is now trading above the $75.00 level and it seems like it could revisit the $80.00 resistance. Any further upsides will most likely push the price towards the $85.00 and $88.00 levels.

Tron price corrected lower and tested the $0.0165 support area. TRX price is back in a positive zone and is trading nicely above the $0.0170 level. It seems like the price may perhaps recover further and trade towards the $0.0180 and $0.0182 levels in the near term.

Stellar price surged higher this week above the $0.0700 resistance level. XLM price is now trading above $0.0750 and it may soon break the $0.0800 resistance level. If there are more gains, there are high chances of a run towards the $0.1000 resistance area.

Looking at the total cryptocurrency market cap 4-hours chart, there was a test of the key $245.0B support area. The market cap stayed above the $245.0B support area and recently bounced back. There was a sharp rise above the $255.0B and $260.0B resistance levels. However, the market cap is again struggling to clear the $265.0B resistance area. If there is an upside break above $265.0B, there could be a decent rally towards the $280.0B and $285.0B resistance levels. Overall, there could be more upsides in bitcoin, Ethereum, EOS, litecoin, ripple, XLM, BCH, BNB, TRX, ADA, XMR, and other altcoins in the coming sessions.

 

 

Aayush Jindal

David – http://markethive.com/david-ogden

Bitcoin Gets a Blow of 1%; Falls below $10,300

• Bitcoin loses 1% in the last 24 hours and goes below 10,300 USD.

• The next resistance may come at 10,481 USD.

Bitcoin has almost lost 1% over the last 24 hours and ditching the growth pattern it is now below 10,300 USD. The trading range of Bitcoin’s price in the last one day has been between 10,380 USD and 10,102 USD. The medium-term outlook is expected to be bullish.

BTC to USD Price Analysis-

The first blow for Bitcoin happened between 01:30 and 10:30 UTC and this fall took 79.22 USD away from it and placed it at 10,301 USD. The second variation started at 10:42 UTC and over the next 5 hours and 27 minutes, it lost 208 USD and the value of the coin was dragged to 10,102 USD, the lowest point for the day. However, it got stronger after that and by 21:01 UTC, it got a lift of 2.32% and reached 10,338 USD. Towards the closing of the day, it started weakening and after losing 1.45% it got placed at 10,188 USD by 00:56 UTC, today.

Bitcoin Price Chart by TradingView

Bitcoin Price Prediction-

Bitcoin is the top coin of the market and this volatility of Bitcoin’s price movement shows the overall health of the market. Though, no big rise is anticipated for the short-term, long-term outlook is likely to be bullish. The next resistance may fall at 10,481 USD.

 

Support & Resistance Levels-

R1- $10379.19, R2- $10481.59, R3- $10576.32

S1- $10182.06, S2- $10087.33, S3- $9984.93

 

Mehak Punjabi Mehak Punjabi 17 mins ago

 

David – http://markethive.com/david-ogden

Opinion – We Want Bitcoin Results, Not Predictions

Is it safe to say that people are tired of talking about bitcoin? While not necessarily bored by it, they are tired of hearing the same things over and over, one of which is that the currency is about to enter a huge rally of sorts.

No More Bitcoin Predictions; We Want to See Change

Tom Lee, as reported by Live Bitcoin News earlier today, is back in the limelight again, commenting that the currency is about to hit a new all-time high once the S&P jumps up. Lee, despite claiming that he would never try to predict the bitcoin price again, has come out a few times this year to discuss where it could wind up, even stating the bitcoin could potentially strike the $40,000 mark in 2020.

This is a big prediction, but he’s not alone in the playing field. Others, such as venture capitalist Tim Draper, have commented that one unit of bitcoin could hit the six-figure range by 2022, spiking to as much as $250,000 each. He later revamped this statement to say that the currency would hit this mark six months later, so a bit of a delay is at hand, but not much.

This is all fine and dandy and likely to get some people breaking out the champagne, but for the rest of us, we’re getting a little tired of just hearing these predictions regarding where it will go later. We want to see change now and given how often everyone talks about the potentially bull rallies that the coin will soon allegedly enter, we can’t help but feel a little disappointed with the present results.

Everything takes time; we’re not children, and we understand this. In addition, bitcoin has shown major improvements this year considering how “in the trash” it was by the time 2018 said goodbye. At that stage, the currency was trading in the mid-$3,000 range and had lost more than 70 percent of its overall value.

Many of us thought recovery was completely out of the question, but five months later, it did begin to show signs of life once again, spiking to $5,000 per unit by the time April 2019 rolled along.

Things Need to Improve

Since then, it’s more than doubled in price, but for the most part, it’s underperformed as of late, especially given the situation involving the trade war. While BTC did spike at certain points during the early moments of the trade conflict, these spikes didn’t last long, and many times the currency has dropped to new lows in the $9,000 range.

Everyone seems to have an opinion regarding where it will go and what will happen, and some are claiming good things will happen very soon, but at this stage, we’re tired of just hearing about it. We just want to see it happen already.

 

 

NICK MARINOFF · SEPTEMBER 15, 2019 · 6:30 PM

David – http://markethive.com/david-ogden

Bitcoin (BTC) Price Weekly Forecast – Slow And Steady Increase Likely

• There was a downside correction from the $10,954 swing high in bitcoin price against the US Dollar.

• The price is holding the $10,000 support and it could bounce back in the near term.

• There is a major bullish trend line forming with support near $10,140 on the 4-hours chart of the BTC/USD pair (data feed from Kraken).

The price could dip in the short term before it starts a fresh increase above $10,500 in the near term.

Bitcoin price is showing positive signs above $10,000 against the US Dollar. BTC could rise steadily as long as there is no close below the $10,000 support area.
 

Bitcoin Price Weekly Analysis (BTC)

In the last weekly forecast, we saw bitcoin price holding the key $10,000 support area against the US Dollar. The BTC/USD pair climbed higher and traded above the $10,000 resistance area. Moreover, there was a break above the $10,800 level and the 100 simple moving average (4-hours). However, the price failed to continue higher and topped below the $11,000 resistance.

A swing high was formed near $10,954 and recently the price started a fresh decline. It broke the key $10,500 support area and the 100 SMA. Moreover, the price spiked below the $10,000 support area. Finally, a swing low was formed near $9,903 and the price is currently correcting higher. It broke the 23.6% Fib retracement level of the last decline from the $10,954 high to $9,903 low.

However, the upward move is facing hurdles near the $10,400 and $10,500 levels. Additionally, the price is also struggling to climb above the 50% Fib retracement level of the last decline from the $10,954 high to $9,903 low. If there is a break above the $10,450 and $10,500 levels, the price could continue to rise. The next key resistance is near the $10,800 level.

On the downside, there are many supports near the $10,100 and $10,000 levels. Additionally, there is a major bullish trend line forming with support near $10,140 on the 4-hours chart of the BTC/USD pair. If there is a downside break below the trend line and the $10,000 support, the price could resume its decline.

 

Bitcoin Price Weekly Analysis (BTC) Chart

Looking at the chart, bitcoin price seems to be consolidating in a contracting range below the $10,500 resistance. It might soon break the $10,500 resistance and continue higher. Conversely, a downside break below $10,000 could start a strong decline in the coming sessions.
 

Technical indicators

4 hours MACD – The MACD for BTC/USD is slowly moving back into the bullish zone.

4 hours RSI (Relative Strength Index) – The RSI for BTC/USD is currently stable above the 50 level.

Major Support Level – $10,000

Major Resistance Level – $10,500

 

 

Aayush Jindal

David – http://markethive.com/david-ogden

Bitcoin price analysis – BTC/USD bounced from key support, further growth imminent

 

• BTC/USD managed to push for a reversal from the tested $9,800 support only to hit a snag at $10,200.

• Bitcoin must settle between $10,200 and $10,400 to allow the bulls to focus on higher levels heading towards $11,000.

Many cryptocurrency analysts and experts have become strongly bearish in the past few weeks. This was fueled by the failure to break the psychological resistance at $11,000 even after pushing for recovery from the recent dive to $9,300. Moreover, Bitcoin has had a rough time defending support areas, the latest being the dip below $10,000.

However, the 4-hour chart clearly shows an asset that has potential for growth. BTC/USD managed to push for a reversal from the tested $9,800 support. In fact, the price ascended to levels above the 100 Simple Moving Average (SMA) 4-hours but the momentum hit a dead-end at $10,200 (first resistance area).

Also supporting Bitcoin is the main trendline since August 29 lows. Besides, Elliot Wave Oscillator has posted four consecutive bullish session following the late Wednesday recovery. Trading at $10,101 at the time of writing, Bitcoin only needs a break above the $10,200 resistance. A move the will pave the way for a trajectory to $10,400 (second resistance and breakout point). It will still be a win for the bulls if the price settles between $10,200 and $10,400 as it will allow them to focus on the medium resistance between $10,800 and $11,000.

BTC/USD 4-hour chart

 

John Isige – FXStreet

David – http://markethive.com/david-ogden