Cryptocurrency Brief: Bitcoin trades slightly higher, U.S. government shutdown weighs on regulatory decisions, Binance-powered crypto-to-fiat exchange kicks off – Wednesday, January 16

BTC/USD: Bitcoin prices remained range-bound, showcasing an upside after yesterday’s slight pull-back during late European session Wednesday; the crypto market has, however, failed to pick up significant gains this year, suffering the consequences of last year’s losses. At the time of writing, BTC/USD rose 1 percent to 3,686.70. Meanwhile, the near-term support is seen at $3,200.00 and resistance at $3,800.00.

Market Update: According to a report from NewsBTC, an MIT Technology Review revealed that the prolonged US government shutdown has weighed on important decisions for the digital currency market, which will mark a major difference to cryptocurrencies.

Also, the shuttering of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) for a record fourth week has hampered the launches of key crypto products and services, especially Bakkt, announced by NYSE operator Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) last year, originally scheduled to be launched on January 24.

ETH/USD: In line with Bitcoin, Ethereum also gained, albeit proportionately higher than the former, although a delay in Constantinople hard fork seems to weigh on the currency’s strength further upwards, owing to a vulnerability noted by the smart contract audit firm ChainSecurity. According to the official announcement, "Out of an abundance of caution, key stakeholders around the Ethereum community have determined that the best course of action will be to delay the planned Constantinople fork that would have occurred at block 7,080,000 on January 16, 2019". At the time of writing, ETH/USD gained 2 percent to 125.14. Meanwhile, the near-term support is seen at $110.00 and resistance at $135.00.

XRP/USD: Ripple, also remained in the green zone during Wednesday’s afternoon session, tracking a similar upside in its wider peers, although market sentiments remained nearly range-bound. At the time of writing, XRP/USD gained nearly 1 percent to $0.33423. Meanwhile, the near-term support is seen at $0.3200 and resistance at $0.3400.

BCH/USD: Bitcoin Cash, too mirrored the movements in its other counterparts, rising during European session Wednesday amid a silent day with lack of major market movers. At the time of writing, BCH/USD (ABC) surged over 2 percent to $127.975, while BCH/USD (SV) gained over 2.50 percent to 78.30; the near-term support for ABC is seen at 120.00 and resistance at 135 while that for SV is seen at 65.00 and resistance at 90.00.

EOS/USD: Nothing different, the EOS, also showed up green signals amid an otherwise flat trading day in the digital currency market. At the time of writing, EOS/USD rose 1.39 percent to $2.4526. Meanwhile, the near-term support is seen at $2.00 and resistance at $3.00.

Market Update: The world’s leading cryptocurrency exchange company has launched a crypto-to-fiat exchange in Jersey, FxStreet reported. According to a press release sent to Cointelegraph, the new platform is referred to as Binance Jersey and as mentioned, will support fiat-to-crypto trading.

LTC/USD: Litecoin, also matched its counterparts, rising, in line with the overall sentiment in the market. At the time of writing, LTC/USD remained 0.75 percent higher to trade at $31.888. Meanwhile, the near-term support is seen at $28.00 and resistance at $40.00.