Cryptocurrencies Market News: BitMEX issues - BlockFi hack and much more

• Crypto sentiment is mixed on Tuesday.
• BitMEX experienced an unexpected downtime due to technical issues.
• BlockFi revealed they have been hacked.
• Iran is set to restrict Crypto exchanges under ‘currency smuggling’ laws.

 

Crypto sentiment is mixed on Tuesday.

Bitcoin is once again stalling near the 10K level. Both Monday's and Tuesday's candlesticks have been pretty indecisive (doji candles), which shows that the market is lacking any clear direction at these levels.

All we can do for now is look for breakout levels that could give us more clues on the future path of the digital gold. If the 10K level does break then there is a decent resistance zone very close by. 10522.51 has been used on three occasions on this chart alone to good effect could the next break be the real one?.

Litecoin has trading 0.60% lower but has recently bounced off the session lows. The price holding around 45.00 and looks like it could potentially break past the opening price. Cardano is once again the outperformer in the cryptosphere and has pushed 2.5% higher on Tuesday breaking the previous wave high. 

Bitcoin Daily Chart

 

BitMEX experienced an unexpected downtime due to technical issues.

The trading platform for cryptocurrency derivatives BitMEX went offline on Tuesday ahead of the US opening. With both website and API of the exchange unavailable. The company reported that the sudden downtime was caused by the issues with the trading engine and assured users that all funds were safe.

We’re working to bring the BitMEX platform back online as soon as possible. All funds are safe, delayed orders will be rejected, and no liquidations will occur during downtime. There will be a cancel only period on coming back online.

 

BlockFi revealed they have been hacked.

Crypto lending firm BlockFi confirmed on Tuesday that they had been victims of a "SIM-swapping" attack. The good news is all of the customer funds are said to be secure but their names and addresses were compromised along with their account histories. 

According to darkreading.com a SIM swap attack is when a fraudster gets information by getting a mobile phone carrier to transfer a user's phone number to a fraudster's SIM card, the bad guys can access a variety of riches linked to a victim's mobile phone.

 

Iran is set to restrict Crypto exchanges under ‘currency smuggling’ laws.

According to ArzDigital, the Iranian parliament published a proposal this week to include cryptocurrency in existing “currency smuggling” and foreign currency exchange regulations. The result of this potential plan is Iranian entrepreneurs face the risk of being jailed by local authorities or sanctioned by Americans. 

The law would mean Iranian cryptocurrency exchanges would need to be licensed by the Central Bank of Iran and follow legacy foreign currency exchange guidelines, although it’s not apparent how existing exchanges should apply for licensing or adapt those fiat norms to blockchain technology. This seems to be an attempt by the Iranian government to quell capital outflows by preemptively justifying any moves to shut down or penalize local crypto exchanges.

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