Crypto prices dropped across the board as news emerged that the U.S. government subpoenaed Bitfinex and Tether. One coin is selling for $9,882 right now, down from $11,186 last week. Litecoin followed big brother lower again and is quoted at $161 dollars right now.

Bitcoin Drops on Tether Subpoena

Bitcoin prices dropped over 10 percent today after Bloomberg leaked a rumor that the U.S. government subpoenaed both Bitfinex and Tether. The outstanding supply of tethers snowballed since December of last year, from below 1 billion to over 2.3 billion. In other news yesterday Tether announced that they were terminating the audit that was expected last year:

‘Given the excruciatingly detailed procedures Friedman was undertaking for the relatively simple balance sheet of Tether, it became clear that an audit would be unattainable in a reasonable timeframe,” Tether said.’

According to some speculators, the two companies are printing tethers without USD backing to support crypto prices. More on this controversy HERE.

The technical picture is unchanged. Bitcoin is still in a downtrend on the daily charts. To end it the bulls will have to push us above the $13,000 handle. A break below the $9,211 swing low could exacerbate the losses. On the longer-term charts BTC/USD is still keeping the bullish bias.

Litecoin Follows BTC

Litecoin prices continue to follow BTC lower. Both BTC/USD and LTC/USD are down around 10 percent today, with litecoin dropping by $18 to $161.

Here too we have been in a downtrend for some time. A breakout above the $214 swing high is needed to end it. A move below $160 may open the door to the the next important swing low at $137 dollars. A breakdown below here could lead to more LTC losses. Similarly to BTC, on the longer-term weekly and monthly charts LTC/USD is in an uptrend. However as we’re said many times previously ending these long-term trends may take many weeks/months of downward movement.

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