Crypto Industry News:

The Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) received inquiries from 21 cryptocurrency exchanges in order to obtain a license in accordance with the Virtual Financial Assets (VFA) Act.

According to the official announcement of 21 exchanges, there are 34 potential VFA service providers who have sent letters of intent to the Maltese financial regulator to obtain a license for VFA services.

MFSA clarified that cryptocurrency suppliers up to October 31 acted in accordance with the transitional provisions set out in Art. 62 of the VFA Act. These companies will now need to apply for authorization at MFSA to continue operations in or from Malta.

According to media publications, applicants will be classified at MFSA's discretion into one of four categories that specify the requirements of license holders. The regulator also plans to enforce administrative penalties for compliance violations.

In an official announcement, MFSA stated that it would shortly contact applicants to arrange an initial meeting. After the meeting, applicants will have 60 days to submit a full application back to the authority.

According to the announcement, 30 applications for registration of VFA agents were received by MFSA, of which 18 were registered. The list of registered agents is available on the MFSA website.

The VFA Act is part of the legislation related to Blockchain technology adopted in July 2018 together with the Malta Digital Innovation Authority Act and the Innovative Technological Arrangement and Services Act. In September, MFSA published its strategic plan, claiming that it will actively monitor and manage the business risk associated with cryptocurrency companies.

Technical Overview:

The ETH/USD pair keeps trading close to the recent lows made by the corrective down move last week and did not improve the situation during the weekend. The market is making lower highs, so the bearish pressure might be clear now and confirmed by the recent Pin Bar and Harami candlestick patterns on the H4 timeframe chart. The market continues a corrective cycle with a low made at the level of $172.91, but as long as ETH/USD trades above the level of $163.11 there is still a chance for another impulsive wave up. The nearest technical resistance is seen at the level of $193.52 and the nearest technical support is seen at the level of $179.94. The key technical support is located at the level of $172.91.

Weekly Pivot Points:

WR3 - $203.38

WR2 - $197.53

WR1 - $186.87

Weekly Pivot - $181.92

WS1 - $171.26

WS2 - $165.71

WS3 - $155.07

Trading recommendations:

The best strategy in the current market conditions is to trade with the larger timeframe trend, which is still up. All the shorter timeframe moves are still being treated as a counter-trend correction inside of the uptrend. When the wave 2 corrective cycles are completed, the market might will ready for another impulsive wave up of a higher degree and uptrend continuation.