Quick take:
- Twitter has experienced one of its greatest hacks to date that has affected accounts of prominent global personalities and companies.
- The coverage of the Twitter hack by Mainstream media highlights Bitcoin as the digital currency used by criminals.
- Furthermore, most headlines keep using the phrase ‘Bitcoin Scam’ further denting the reputation of BTC.
- BTC has since slipped from its $9,200 price level and is trading below the $9,150 support zone.
The last 24-hours on Twitter and the internet has been riddled with reports of Twitter accounts of prominent global personalities and companies being hacked. The perpetrators of the hack tricked people into sending Bitcoin to a BTC address with the promise of doubling the amount of Bitcoin sent.
Affected Twitter accounts include the official handles of the Gemini Exchange, Binance Exchange, CZ (Binance CEO), CoinDesk, Tron’s Justin Sun, Elon Musk, Charlie Lee, Chas App, Coinbase, Bill Gates and even Kanye West. Below is a tweet by Zilliqa highlighting some of the affected accounts.
Many Twitter accounts have been compromised in the last few hours and are promoting fake #Bitcoin giveaways. These are all scams. Do NOT participate in any of these events!
– MS pic.twitter.com/aVrL9boxBG
— Zilliqa (@zilliqa) July 15, 2020
Coverage of the Twitter Hack Places a Dent on Bitcoin’s Reputation
A quick Google search of the Twitter hack reveals that mainstream media is denting the reputation of Bitcoin through the wording of their headlines to highlight the event. This fact was pointed out by @100trillionUSD via the following Tweet. @100trillionUSD is the creator of the famous Stock-to-Flow model of Bitcoin.
Main stream media coverage of this hack & privacy breach: “bitcoin scam”, “bitcoin scam”, “bitcoin scam” … pic.twitter.com/ywlXoaxxo0
— PlanB (@100trillionUSD) July 16, 2020
Brief Technical Analysis of Bitcoin
A quick glance at the crypto markets reveals that news of the Twitter hack and its association with Bitcoin
has had an undesired effect in the crypto markets. At the time of writing this, Bitcoin has dropped from comfortable levels above $9,200 and is currently battling to keep the $9,100 area of support. The majority of the altcoins are in the red led by Ethereum which has dropped from $240 to the $230 levels since news of the hack.
Revisiting the daily BTC/USDT chart courtesy of Tradingview reveals that there is a high chance that Bitcoin could drop further as a result of the Twitter hack. Taking a closer look at the chart reveals the following situation for Bitcoin.
- Bitcoin is clearly trading below the 50-day moving average with the 100-day and 200-day MA’s providing areas of interest for a possible bounce at $8,800 and $8,500 respectively,
- Trade volume has reduced and is in the red with the MACD indicating uncertainty ahead.
- MFI is relatively high at 60 with the Twitter hack providing fuel for the possible selling of Bitcoin in the crypto markets.
Conclusion
Summing it up, the coverage of the Twitter hack by Mainstream media is hurting Bitcoin by labeling the digital asset as the preferred currency for criminals. As a result, Bitcoin and the general crypto market is in the red with BTC possibly headed into bear territory in the hours and days ahead.
As with all analyses of Bitcoin, traders and investors are advised to use stop losses to protect against sudden volatility. Another tactic would be to implement a ‘wait and see’ approach during uncertain times such as now.
Disclaimer: This article is not meant to give financial advice. Any additional opinion herein is purely the author’s and does not represent the opinion of EWN or any of its other writers. Please carry out your own research before investing in any of the numerous cryptocurrencies available. Thank you.