Crypto Industry News:
Cryptocurrencies are regularly the victim of audacious accusations that they are "criminals' money", a gateway to money laundering and all the evil in the world. However, the latest data on the percentage of crypto transactions performed in the criminal underworld say something else. It is fiat currencies (invariably) that are the favorite means of exchange of value in the criminal underworld.
Illegal activities accounted for 0.15% of all cryptocurrency transactions last year, according to Chainalisys, the onchain data company. At the same time, this data refutes the claim that digital currencies are mainly used to facilitate criminal activities. And this myth is still alive and well - as recently proved by the American Secretary of the Treasury Janet Jellen and the President of the European Central Bank, Christine Lagarde.
Janet Yellen recently issued cryptocurrency warnings and expressed deep concerns about them. Cryptocurrencies are a major source of concern for authorities when it comes to criminal activity and terrorist financing, she said. The president of the ECB - Christine Lagarde - on the other hand, expressed contempt for decentralized money. She called cryptocurrencies "suspects" and added that they were not currencies and central banks would never accept their existence.
Chainalisys data, however, discredits the attitude of the above-mentioned persons. They prove that people use cryptocurrencies - mainly and overwhelmingly - for legal transactions. Illegal activities with the use of crypto are a necessary margin and it is insanely small considering the potential of digital currencies in this respect.
This, however, does not end the story, because everyone can interpret the Chainalisys as they want. Look only with the eye that can see what we want to see at any given moment.
The skeptical eye will see that the value of illegal cryptocurrency transactions has reached new highs in 2021. The volume of black market transactions last year reached USD 14 billion.
However, when looking at the onchain data in full, it can be seen that the share of criminal behavior using cryptocurrencies is growing as the market grows. It was in vain to expect that the volume of illegal transactions would not increase during the boom, when last year - according to Chainalisys data - the total volume of transactions on the crypto market increased by 567%.
Technical Market Outlook:
The BTC/USD pair has made a new local low at the level of $34,324, just above the technical support located at $33,977. The bulls are trying to bounce higher, but so far the local bounce is shallow. Moreover, the market is moving away from the descending trend line, so the bearish pressure intensify. Any violation of the last support level located at $32,870 will result in sell of towards the swing low seen at $30,000. The immediate technical resistance is located at the level of $35,563 and $36,190.
Weekly Pivot Points:
WR3 - $48,426
WR2 - $46,630
WR1 - $41,615
Weekly Pivot - $39,882
WS1 - $34,802
WS2 - $32,798
WS3 - $28,034
Trading Outlook:
The market is bouncing after over the 80% retracement made since the ATH at the level of $68,998 was made. The level of $44,442 is the next key technical resistance for bulls, but the game changing technical supply zone is seen between the levels of $52,033 - $52,899. When this zone is clearly broken, the BTC is back to the up trend.
