The United States is seriously thinking about cybersecurity before the start of the Olympic Games in Beijing. Meanwhile, cryptocurrencies are approaching psychological lows and are again beginning to tickle the nerves of investors who were counting on a quick comeback after the market crash in May. Judging by what the chart is drawing now, bitcoin is more likely to hit $21,000 than return to $41,000. Let's get this sorted out.
Republican Senators Marsha Blackburn, Roger Wicker, and Cynthia Lummis have called on the U.S. Olympic Committee to ban American athletes from using China's new digital currency at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. The arguments are very simple: espionage, cybersecurity, and data security concerns. "Olympic athletes should be aware that the digital yuan can be used to monitor Chinese citizens as well as those who visit China. As soon as you installed a digital yuan wallet on your smartphone, you immediately fell victim to the Chinese authorities," the lawmakers said. The letter to Susanne Lyons, chair of the US Olympic Committee, also said that the Chinese token, which will soon be released into circulation, could question the status of the US dollar as the world's dominant reserve currency.
The Chinese authorities have said many times that the new digital yuan will mainly be used for domestic payments. According to the latest data from the People's Bank of China, more than 20.8 million people have opened virtual wallets for these purposes. The Chinese Foreign Ministry has responded to these accusations by asking US lawmakers to find out what digital currency really is. "US politicians should stop mixing sports and politics, and stop inflating a non-existent problem due to the development of a new digital sphere in China," the ministry said in a statement.
"According to the latest reports, hackers who previously worked in the Ministry of State Security of the People's Republic of China participated in ransomware attacks on the United States, creating a real threat to cybersecurity. Everything was done for financial gain," the White House said. During his speech, US President Joe Biden accused Chinese statesmen of extortion and cryptojacking attacks. The allegations come as part of an investigation into which China's Ministry of State Security had a hand in a massive hacking of Microsoft Exchange email earlier this year, which compromised about 30,000 organizations using the service.
With the number of cyberattacks growing exponentially this year, much of the focus is now on ransomware attacks that target critical US infrastructure. The US government has already announced a new initiative to combat these types of digital crimes, including finding ways to prevent or track crypto payments during these attacks. It is also reported that it is planned to create a task force on this type of extortion.
As for the technical picture of bitcoin, against the backdrop of all this news, it again began to terrorize investors with its attempts to push through the minimum of June 21 in the region of $29,200 - the last hope of buyers for a rebound and return of the trading instrument to the high of $41,100. If we see a breakdown of $29,200 in the near future, then it is unlikely that something will stop bitcoin on the way to test the $25,700 minimum, and then the $21,600 area. Most likely, only there we will see a return to the market of large players and a set of new positions.
So far, there has been no serious movement of bitcoin on cryptocurrency exchanges, which indicates the nerves of steel investors. It will be possible to say that the situation has returned to normal only after the return of BTC to the level of $32,400 and gain a foothold above this range. Only after that, the upward correction will continue to the $36,000 area and it will be possible to talk about the resistance test at $41,100.
