Cryptocurrencies have failed to hold at highs for long due to the Asian central banks, those of Japan and South Korea in particular. The Bank of Japan plans to impose stricter rules for crypto exchanges in order to prevent new hacker attacks. Earlier, South Korea also established rigid rules which made a considerable negative impact on digital assets. This time, the country's authorities decided to soften restrictions on cryptocurrency trading. Still, bitcoin remains under pressure staying slightly above the mark of $9,000. Meanwhile, ethereum dropped by almost 5% trading near $727. Ripple lost around 4% and bitcoin cash declined to $1,560 a piece. However, Fundstrat Global Advisors Managing Partner Thomas Lee expects the demand for bitcoin to recover in mid May, thus improving market sentiment bit by bit.
He believes that the current downtrend is linked to the market reaction to the upcoming consensus conference that will take place next week. At this conference, the blockchain technology will be discussed. Around 7,000 participants are expected to attend this event, which points to a growing interest in digital currencies. Still, investors remain cautious and will stick to the wait and see approach until the end of the week.