Cryptocurrency Market Review 20.03.2018

Trump bans deals in Venezuela's cryptocurrency Petro. US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order barring US companies and citizens from dealing in Venezuela's cryptocurrency, the Petro. It bans "all transactions related to, provision of financing for, and other dealings in, by a United States person or within the United States, any digital currency, digital coin, or digital token" issued by Venezuela's government since 9 January.

Bill on “Digital financial assets” submitted to Russian State Duma. A draft law on “digital financial assets” has been submitted to the Russian State Duma. The bill provides for only one type of transactions that owners of such assets can commit: exchange of tokens for rubles or foreign currency. According to Sputnik, the bill on cryptocurrencies and digital tokens sees them as assets, not legal tender, so they cannot be used to pay for goods and services in Russia.

Tom Lee: Altcoin bear market over, but rally not yet expected. The bear market for smaller cryptocurrencies known as altcoins is over, but the rally is not expected to resume just yet, according to a group of analysts at Fundstrat, the Wall Street research firm led by noted Bitcoin bull Tom Lee. Altcoins go through “purgatories,” or periods of consolidation, that last 70 to 231 days, the report said. Until then, investors should stay in larger cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoin (Bitcoin), according to Fundstrat.

Tether gaining popularity against the background of Bitcoin volatility. Tether's USDT, a stable-coin that aims to trade at $1, is becoming more and more popular among traders, research from Morgan Stanley finds. It said since the beginning of 2018 trades between USDT and Bitcoin (Bitcoin) have become more common, and Bitcoin trades paired against USDT now make up 14% of Bitcoin trading volumes, up from less than 1% in October.

The total cryptocurrency market capitalization stands at $348 383 881 656.

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