JPM Coin Drives Crypto Higher - Cryptocurrency Weekly Update

Weekly Comment
"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win."

So said Mahatma Gandhi, and now a quote that has been re-used in the last few days when discussing JP Morgan and more specifically Jamie Dimon. Unquestionably, the biggest press of the last week was the announcement of JPM Coin, and with it the frenzied reaction of market commentators. It is well known that JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon has been a prominent Bitcoin basher over the years with all manners of quotes available if you take a search on the web. The apparent U-Turn is interesting as it now means that wider audiences that have to date been distant from blockchain and cryptocurrency, are now sitting up and taking notice with many feeling that this announcement will trigger many more like it.

For those more interested in how revolutionary JPM Coin will be, this is where the backlash begins! For many, JP Morgan's announcement has been viewed as a masterful proclamation of something revolutionary which seems to have raised the hackles of those that have been in the industry for years and have argued with people that have cited Mr. Dimon when disparaging cryptocurrency and blockchain.

At its heart JPM Coin appears to be little more than a stablecoin where effectively an individual or entity can exchange 1 US Dollar for 1 JPM Coin which they can redeem at any point for a guaranteed value of the notional $1. It is expected to speed up transactions within the JP Morgan network but ultimately some would argue that their solution is just called "banking" and that effectively JP Morgan are entering the space with a solution which is effectively already passed its sell by date, and not harnessing the true power of what other blockchain projects already do.

When all is said and done and irrespective of what it actually does or doesn't do, the simple act of announcing something like this is great for demonstrating that views are changing and big players are active in the space. It will also do wonders for expanding the thirst for education in the space which for us is one of the key barriers right now to making the crypto and blockchain market grow along with regulation which we all know is also imminently upon us. Exciting times!

BTC Price: $3,746
Last 7 Days: 2.3%
1month: 2.1%
12months: -64.95%

BTC Technicals
Volume levels were significantly up in the last week for BTC and perhaps suggestion that the market is priming itself for the announcements that are due between now and the end of the month (Samsung’s Galaxy S10 on Wednesday and ETF proposal next week). If we can see a break of the short-term BTC downtrend then a resistance seems likely at around the $4,255 level. A move back down to the downside sees $3,355 as interim support.

BTC Volume:
11th February: $6,241,497,691 (BTC price of $3,661)
18th February: $8,178,565,910 (BTC price of $3,746)
31% increase in trading volume in the last 7 days

ETH Price: $137.76
Last 7 Days: 12.2%
1month: 10.5%
12months: -85.3%

Ethereum Technicals
It has been a strong last 7 days for ETH and if we can see a substantial hold above the $102 level then this could suggest better times ahead. There are certainly some indicators showing a breaking of longer-term downtrend to the upside and so if the price can potential push as high as $167 then the next level beyond that would be $225. With the Constantinople fork imminently due to arrive, it could be an interesting end to the month for Ethereum.

Past Week Talking Points

• Twitter Co-founder and CEO, and Founder of Square Jack Dorsey was quoted this week: "We would love to make [Bitcoin payments] as fast and efficient and transactional as possible and that includes looking at our seller base and our register. It's not an ‘if’, it's a ‘when’".

• Some evidence has come to light that Gerald Cotton who was CEO of QuadrigaCX (and died in December 2018) may have kept private key's for the exchange's wallets printed out and stored in a safety deposit box. *Cue frantic searching to try and recover the $145million in Digital assets*

• New-York based research company Fundstrat has placed the slowdown on crypto in the last year on adverse regulatory achievements as well as waning interest in ICOs. They have also stated that incremental improvements in the crypto space should help in pushing crypto prices higher and that as the US Dollar weakens (as they expect) more institutional investors will enter the space.

• One of Japan's biggest banks has announced that it has struck a deal with Alipay (Alibaba's financial arm). Mizuho Financial Group is shortly to release its JCoin, and Alipay will allow its users to pay for transactions with JCoin.

Last 7 Days Big Market Movers
LatiumX LATX UP 220% Price: $0.030
Unibright UBT UP 156% Price: $0.042
Maximine Coin MXM UP 145% Price: $0.011

Market Cap. Dominance
BTC: 52.1%
ETH: 11.47%
XRP: 10.14%
Other ALT-Coins: 26.29%