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- Brave Browser and BAT has come under fire recently about its possible centralized nature.
- The market is trading near strong support at the $0.12 handle.
- Support moving forward: $0.1304, $0.1231, $0.1044, $0.0919, $0.0804.
- Resistance moving forward: $0.1448, $0.1766, $0.1835, $0.2245, $0.2577, $0.2909.
Latest BAT News
The BAT and Brave browser have gained much well-deserved attention over the past few months.
From being added to Coinbase, to becoming the default browser on the brand new blockchain-based HTC Exodus 1 smartphone, to being mentioned in the latest TOR blog post as a privacy-focused browser which integrates TOR, the team has continued to show good progress.
However, not everybody sees the BAT ecosystem in the same light or as decentralized as the Brave team has made it out to be.
Riccardo Spagni, AKA fluffy pony, the lead developer on the Monero project, has recently come forward to voice his opinion on the centralized aspect of the Brave browser and its accompanying BAT cryptocurrency.
His initial criticism stems from a “loophole” he had found within the Terms of Service for the Brave browser. He highlighted the fact that the Brave team reserves the right to own any unclaimed BAT donations/tips if left for over a 90-day period.
He then went on to highlight that in the event of a Sybil Attack investigation, the Brave team has the right to freeze a user’s wallet for a period of up to 90 days as the investigation takes place. He concluded the tweet by saying that they basically are the mafia.
I just found out that BAT has a nice loophole that lets them steal funds from users. Permissionless scamovation indeed! https://t.co/blKdqzI7Xm
— Riccardo Spagni (@fluffypony) November 22, 2018
Fluffypony didn’t stop there. He stated that users do not wish to see a plethora of advertisements, even if they are getting paid to see them. He also alluded to the fact that it is a permissioned system as advertisers must go through the Brave company to have their adverts shown to its users. He believes that the Brave and BAT system could function much better on a database and has no need for a blockchain.
Let us continue to analyze price action for BAT recently and highlight any important support and resistance areas moving forward.
BAT Price Analysis
The BAT cryptocurrency has seen a small 3.21% price decline over the past 24-hour trading period as the market is now exchanging hands at a price around $0.1334, at the time of writing.
The cryptocurrency has seen a small 0.53% price increase over the past 7 trading days but has undergone a 42% price fall during the entire cryptocurrency November 2018 wipeout.
The BAT project is now ranked in 30th position in the market cap rankings and currently holds a total market cap of $161 million.
Analyzing price action from the short-term perspective above, we can see that after reaching resistance at a 1.618 Fibonacci Extension level (drawn in purple) priced at $0.3933 during November 2018, the market rolled over and began its November price collapse.
Price action continued to fall until it reachedlong-term support at a downside 1.272 FIobnacci Extension level (drawn in red) priced at $0.1304.
The market continued to fall slightly lower during December 2018 as it hit further support below at the short-term downside 1.414 Fibonacci Extension level (drawn in green) priced at $0.1231, before rebounding.
Price action is now trading at the $0.1304 support handle once again.
Trend: Bearish Below $0.12
BAT/USD has managed to prevent itself from falling too much further during December 2018. It has moved sideways since rebounding at $0.1231.
If the sellers ramp up the pressure and push the market below $0.12, we can consider the bearish market to have continued further.
For the market to be considered in a bullish condition, we would need to see BAT break above the $0.20 handle once again.
Where is the Support for BAT Located Below $0.12?
If the sellers manage to cause BAT/USD to penetrate below the support at $0.12, we can expect immediate significant support below to be located at the long-term downside 1.414 Fibonacci Extension level (drawn in red) priced at $0.1044.
If the bears continue to drive the BAT/USD market even lower, there is more support located at the short-term downside 1.618 Fibonacci Extension level (drawn in green) priced at $0.09197, followed by the medium-term downside 1.618 Fibonacci Extension level (drawn in blue) priced at $0.0804.
What If the Buyers Begin to Push BAT Higher?
If the buyers step back into the market and begin to push price action higher once again, we can expect immediate resistance above to be located at the previous short-term downside 1.272 Fibonacci Extension level (drawn in green) priced at $0.1448.
Further resistance above this can be located at the long-term .886 Fibonacci Retracement level (drawn in red) priced at $0.1766, followed by the bearish .236 FIbonacci Retracement level (drawn in orange) priced at $0.1835.
If the buyers can continue to climb above the $0.20 resistance level, we can expect further higher resistance to be located at the bearish .382 and .5 Fibonacci Retracement levels (drawn in orange), priced at $0.2245 and $0.2577 respectively.
Conclusion
The Brave team has made significant progress since launching their browser and blockchain. However, as recently highlighted by fluffypony, the network may not be as decentralized as they make it out to be.
The BAT market has taken a beating over the past few weeks but has reached a strong support level around the $0.12/$0.13 level. If the market does collapse further below $0.12, we can expect price action to head lower in another wave of selling.