Crypto Industry News:

The Russian Federation deputy finance minister Alexei Moiseev said that the draft law that has been prepared contains provisions on "how to obtain cryptocurrency, what can be done with it" and how to use it in cross-border settlements. We also learned that the Bank of Russia and the Ministry of Finance of the country have reached an agreement enabling cross-border settlements in cryptocurrencies.

According to Thursday's report by the Russian agency "Kommersant", Russia's deputy finance minister Moiseev said that his ministry had agreed with the central bank regulations that would allow citizens to send cross-border payments using cryptocurrencies. The proposed policy change is said to allow Russian citizens to access digital wallets.

"[The Act] generally describes how to acquire cryptocurrency, what can be done with it and how it can (...) be used in cross-border settlements"-Moiseyev said.

Russian news agencies also report that the central bank has long discussed the issue of cross-border payments with government officials. The Bank of Russia has reportedly opposed the legal operation of cryptocurrency exchanges and the acceptance of such assets as legal tender.

Technical Market Outlook:

The BTC/USD pair had bounced from the extremely oversold market conditions on the H4 time frame chart. The nearest technical resistance is seen at the level of $19,347 and $19,679 and only a sustained breakout above this levels would change the outlook to more bullish. The weak and negative momentum on the H4 time frame chart still supports the short-term bearish outlook towards the level of $17,600 again, but any breakout above the local trend line might be considered bullish.

Weekly Pivot Points:

WR3 - $21,295

WR2 - $20,039

WR1 - $19,341

Weekly Pivot - $18,764

WS1 - $18,064

WS2 - $17,526

WS3 - $16,271

Trading Outlook:

The down trend on the H4, Daily and Weekly time frames continues without any indication of a possible trend termination or reversal. So far every bounce and attempt to rally is being used to sell Bitcoin for a better price by the market participants, so the bearish pressure is still high. The key long term technical support at the psychological level of $20,000 had been violated, the new swing low was made at $17,600 and if this level is violated, then the next long-term target for bulls is seen at $13,712. On the other hand, the gamechanging level for bulls is located at $25,367 and it must be clearly violated for a valid breakout.