Bitcoin (BTC/USD) Violates Upward Trendline – Major Resistance at $50,500

PayPal has expanded its cryptocurrency services from US residents only, to include UK customers as well. After introducing a feature that allows Americans to buy Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies on its platform, less than a half a year back, PayPal has now announced that it will provide the same service to its UK customers.

The feature will allow eligible UK customers to buy, sell and store Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies through the PayPal platform. The service will take effect from this week, and apart from Bitcoin, other cryptos, including Litecoin, Ether and Bitcoin Cash, will also be available for purchase, for as little as 1 British Pound.

This move was the first international expansion of PayPal’s cryptocurrency services, after announcing its plans for global expansion in late 2020. Since then, the company has been largely engaged in cryptocurrencies, and now it has extended its business to the UK as well.

OpenNode will power both off-chain and on-chain Bitcoin and Lightning payments on Substack, an email subscription platform. This means that journalists and writers can now effectively make a living in Bitcoin, as independent writers. The product designer at Substack, Nick Inzucchi, was excited about working with OpenNode and said that it would enable independent publishers on his platform to accept crypto payments. This news put further bullish pressure on BTC/USD, pushing it above the $50,000 level on Monday.

Furthermore, Iran has announced that it will again allow Bitcoin and crypto miners to begin operating their businesses in September. Previously, the government of Iran banned bitcoin mining operations within the country’s boundaries, as there were many crackdowns taking place. The decision was made to discourage miners from operating during the hot summer months, as the process consumes a large amount of energy.

The energy woes of the government led it to take the harsh decision to ban crypto mining facilities. But now, the country has decided to allo crypto mining operations, including Bitcoin mining, to resume from September, and this news has added upward momentum to the BTC/USD.

Moreover, the CEO of United Wholesale Mortgage, Mat Ishbia, said on Monday that the company intends to start accepting crypto-assets for payments by the end of the year. This step would make the UWM the first major nationwide mortgage lender to accept Bitcoin as a payment. On Monday, this news added further gains to the leading cryptocurrency pair, BTC/USD and pushed it near its highest level in 15 weeks, above $50,000.

On the flip side, the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Minneapolis Federal Reserve, Neel Kashkari, said that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies could not be used for anything. He added that he was less optimistic about Bitcoin than he was five to six years ago, as the cryptocurrency is associated, to the tune of about 95%, with fraud, hype, noise and confusion. He said that there was less or zero innovation, and a whole lot of fraud involved in the cryptocurrency.

He argued that cryptos would never be able to compete with the US dollar or overtake it as a form of currency. He even called several cryptocurrencies Ponzi schemes and total frauds, claiming that they were taking advantage of the get-rich-quick mindset of people. These negative comments by the Federal Reserve chief added weight to Bitcoin, as it only made further gains.

The BTC/USD, which is the most popular cryptocurrency pair, is currently trading at 49,450, after rejecting the 50,500 mark. The daily pivot point mark of 49,700 is now sustaining the pair. The BTC/USD has completed a sequence of Doji candles on the 1-hourly graph, indicating investor hesitation. A break of the 50,000 to 48,295 area, on the other hand, would aid in determining future market patterns.

Today, 48,295 is providing significant support on the downside. However, a break below this level would open Bitcoin to levels of 47,131 and 46,034. The breach of the 50,500 level, on the other hand, would open the BTC to support levels of 51,650 and 52,800. On Tuesday, the bullish bias remains dominant.