Crypto Industry News:

The introduction of the ruble digital pilot program will take place in May 2023. Russia is trying not to lag behind other economies in developing blockchain technology.

The Bank of Russia's plan to implement a pilot Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) has been slightly delayed. The central bank decided to postpone its launch until a comprehensive regulatory framework for the digital ruble is adopted. This is expected to happen sometime in late April or early May.

According to a Tuesday report by the state news service TASS, the pilot of the digital ruble was originally supposed to start on April 1. However, this date was postponed because the CBDC legislation only passed the first reading in the Duma.

Anatoly Aksakov, head of the State Duma's financial markets committee, said that the central bank will postpone the process of the digital ruble, as the legislative framework for implementation is not yet ready, and the bank does not plan to implement it under an experimental legal regime. He said the digital ruble law would likely be passed in April and take effect in May.

While many private banks in other countries expressed their lack of confidence in CBDC integration, the banks participating in the digital ruble trial expressed their willingness to start testing.

Originally, 15 banks planned to participate in the pilot program. This number has now fallen to 13. After the pilot program is launched, these banks will participate by supporting real operations with a limited number of customers.

Additionally, some bank employees will serve as test participants for CBDC retail payments, along with Ingosstrakh, one of Russia's largest insurance companies.

Technical Market Outlook:

The ETH/USD pair weekly time frame chart looks very bullish as the price broken above the 50 WMA already. The market is currently testing the 23% Fibonacci retracement level of the last big wave down that started in November 2021. Just above this level, there is an important long term technical resistance seen at $2,029. Bulls need a monthly close above this level in order to sustain the up move. The key, long term technical support is still seen at the level of $1,044 and as long as the market trades above this level, the long term outlook remains bullish. Please notice today we have weekly close, monthly close and quarterly close.

Weekly Pivot Points:

WR3 - $1,809

WR2 - $1,787

WR1 - $1,773

Weekly Pivot - $1,765

WS1 - $1,751

WS2 - $1,742

WS3 - $1,720

Trading Outlook:

The Ethereum market has been seen making lower highs and lower low since the swing high was made in the middle of the August 2022 at the level of $2,029. This is the key level for bulls, so it needs to be broken in order to continue the up trend. The key technical support is seen at $1,368, so as long as the market trades above this level, the outlook remains bullish.