TOP 3 Bitcoin and Crypto News for Today: 17 April


Geoffrey Schwartz

Bitcoin (BTC) price prediction, Binance (BNB) smart chain white paper released, and Nassim Taleb recommends cryptocurrencies.

The last day of the workweek ended in the green for the three major indexes. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) rocketed up 704.81 points (about 3%) to close at 24,242.49. The S&P 500 went up 75.01 points (about 2.7%) to close at 2,874.56. The NASDAQ Composite advanced 117.78 points (about 1.4%) to close at 8,650.14. All of this optimism and hope was based on a drug report published by Gilead Sciences, which showed some promise for treating the coronavirus.


As for news within the crypto world, some of the major headlines include a price prediction for Bitcoin (BTC), the release of a Binance (BNB) Smart Chain white paper, and Nassim Taleb recommending the use of cryptocurrencies.


Bitcoin (BTC) Price Prediction — Retest of $7,000 Before Blasting Off to $7,500


Yesterday morning was strong bullish impulse for the average price of Bitcoin (BTC). As a result, this pushed the BTC/USD pair above the $7,026 mark. By the end of the day, the price of BTC was able to gain a foothold above this support level.


BTC/USD Chart by TradingView

Overnight growth was not supported by large volumes, and a local maximum was set around the $7,224 area. The next morning, the priced rolled back from its maximum.




Looking at the lines from the Stochastic Relative Strength Index (Stoch RSI), the price of BTC is now in the overbought zone. A rollback to the average price region can therefore be expected in the near future. If the 2H EMA55 provides support, then growth may continue to the $7,300 mark.


BTC/USD Chart by TradingView

Yesterday’s growth to $7,190 mark closed above $7,000 with a full candle, indicating buyer strength. It is likely not the usual removal of short positions. For the moment, the big picture is an upswing. To confirm this, the bulls need to keep the price above $6,900 and pass the $7,150 resistance level. If that is the case, then traders can expect a significant increase to its previous local maximum of $7,459 or higher.


Binance (BNB) Smart Chain White Paper Released


Binance has broken into the decentralized application market by creating the Binance Smart Chain, a special parallel blockchain to land smart contracts. The Binance Smart Chain, which will be cross-chain interoperable, will use a Proof-of-Stake Authority consensus. As a result, staking the Binance Coin (BNB) will be available to all users.




According to the recently released white paper, the reason a separate chain was required was because:


The execution of a Smart Contract may slow down the exchange function and add non-deterministic factors to trading


While Binance (BNB) is aware of the situation in the dApps market, EOS (EOS), Ethereum (ETH), and Tron (TRX) have managed to address the needs of dApp developers.


Pro-Bitcoin (BTC) Nassim Taleb Recommends Using Cryptocurrencies


With developed countries announcing one stimulus package after another to counteract the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, some governments are screwing over its citizens. Nassim Nicholas Taleb, author of The Black Swan, highlighted the importance of cryptocurrencies as a tool for cross-border remittances.



According to Pierre Madani, Chief Financial Officer of Kafalat S.A.L., BDL has begun to confiscate hard currencies from over-the-counter remittances because of hyperinflation for the Lebanese Pound (LBP) and the national banks losing credit. Instead of acquiring stable foreign currencies, beneficiaries can only obtain the ‘worthless’ LBP.




Taleb, a major advocate for Bitcoin (BTC) and other financial institutions involving cryptocurrencies, believes that they could replace the classical remittance and exchange tools in emerging markets. He also applauded the anti-authoritarian nature of Bitcoin (BTC) and other major cryptocurre