TronWeekly

Crypto World News

You are here: Home / Search for "xrp"

Search Results for: xrp

Ethereum Registers Growth in Network Addresses in Spite of Dropping 64 Percent in March 2020

by

In between February 14th to March 13th, Ethereum’s valuation had dropped by 64.33 percent. It is fair to say that the global financial crisis had gotten the better of the largest altcoin coin during the collective crash.

image 1 1

However, as the market approached a sense of recovery at the moment, with ETH trading at $170 at press time. it was observed that Ethereum’s network growth rate has been on an incline in spite of the recent depreciation. Its long-term outlook pictured a positive scenario as according to Santiment’s recent data, the number of Ethereum addresses had drastically improved.

The data indicated that from January 2020 to the present day, the number of addresses on ETH had increased from 40,000 to 70,000, which is a 75 percent hike over the past 4-months. The utilization of ETH’s parent blockchain was evident as unique addresses remain a fundamental factor for identifying the long-term narrative of an asset.

Similarly, in terms of exchange balances, data from glassnode exhibited that since late 2019, the amount of there stored in various platforms has improved by more than 21 percent to over 18,187,000, which is 16 percent of the total circulating supply.

Image 2

The last time exchange incurred such high levels was back in December 2016.

Researchers at Santiment had stated,

“This is a key indicator of Ethereum’s long-term potential continuing to look promising. Network growth shows the number of new addresses being created on the project’s respective network each day. Essentially, this chart illustrates user adoption over time, and can be used to identify when the project is gaining or losing traction.”

The consistent rise in addresses could also be due to the rise of decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms that utilize Ethereum blockchain and ETH as collateral on the network.

Before the crash on 13th March, the total value-locked in DeFi in terms of Ethereum was over a billion dollars but since then the market has shrunk a bit due to the market crash.

However, recoveries were already taking place in the DeFi platform as the TVL had risen from below $600 million in Mid-March to over $725 million at press time.

As the DeFi market continues to improve its credentials, the number of Ethereum addresses is likely to increase in the charts as well.

Ethereum: BackBone to Bitcoin?

Recently, Bitcoin Jack, a popular crypto analyst on Twitter stated that the importance of Ethereum has been largely undermined in the ecosystem and that is functionality is crucial for Bitcoin’s growth as well. He stated,

“Unpopular opinion: ETH has become the backbone to BTC. The amount of value already captured in ETH and the functionality provided to the ecosystem is impossible to ignore. Stablecoins (and DeFi) are becoming more important than ever. Big money understands this.”

There is no doubt that just like Bitcoin, Ethereum is here to stay because its ecosystem supports various sectors in the crypto industry, which is required for the adoption and success of crypto assets at large.

Hence, the more credibility ETH receives from the community, it may indirectly trigger the necessary boost in Bitcoin’s adoption as well.

 

Bill Gates impersonated in Latest Bitcoin YouTube Ponzi Scheme; Platform Takes Down Videos Soon After

by

Since its inception, the cryptocurrency industry has been hit multiple times by scam and fraud. Although several steps have been taken to prevent such issues on a large scale, every now and then a hacker manages to ruffle the feathers of the ecosystem. Bill Gates is impersonated in the latest Bitcoin YouTube ponzi scheme.

The latest scheme involved a hacker hijacking multiple YouTube accounts to broadcast a video of Bill Gates talking about a Ponzi cryptocurrency scheme. The analysis showed that the hacker had taken an excerpt from the previous speech and layered it with details of the Ponzi scheme.

This was not the first time that cryptocurrency hackers had used names of famous personalities for their own nefarious purposes. The recent hack was noticed when multiple YouTube channels bore the thumbnail photo of the Microsoft co-founder with the topic “Microsoft Bitcoin Investment News”. Apart from this, the hacker had changed the names of the channels to resemble Microsoft counterparts such as Microsoft US, Microsoft Europe and Microsoft News.

At the time of writing, both Microsoft and YouTube have categorically denied any sort of affiliation with the hacker with the latter taking down all the videos involved. Microsoft added that none of its verified accounts were hacked and no data was stolen. The hacker infiltrated almost 30 YouTube accounts and streamed an old video of Gates talking to an audience at Village Global back in June 2019.

Even though the scheme was cut short quickly, multiple users had fallen prey to it. By the time the videos were taken down, thousands of dollars had been sent to the scammer who made away with it. YouTube statistics showed that the video had tens of thousands of views. This went to show that a large number of people online were unaware of the dangers in the world of finance and crypto.

Users even reported parts of the streams on channels that were not recorded. The scam involved a typical ‘cryptocurrency giveaway’, a practice that became popular right after the Bitcoin bull run of 207. In this method, victims send a small sum of money to the hacker in the hopes of multiplying their assets. Once the perpetrator collects enough capital, the scheme is shut down and the investors lose a large sum of money.

In the latest Ponzi scheme, viewers were asked to send anywhere between a minimum amount of 0.1 and 20 BTC. The viewers were given the ‘Microsft assurance’ to guarantee that they will get their assets back. It becomes obvious that Microsoft name was used to lend the hacker some reasonable credibility and trust. The concept of crypto giveaway scams has become a dominant problem within the cryptocurrency industry.

Brad Garlinghouse, the CEO of Ripple had pointed out a few weeks back that all those dabbling in crypto scams should stop as regulators were cracking down heavily. Garlinghouse also slammed the crypto heads who initiated an XRP giveaway to lure users into liquidating their assets. The XRP giveaway was first spotted by And_SQPR who had tweeted:

“@YouTube @bgarlinghouse @Ripple @JoelKatz someone has created a YT account as Brad Garlinghouse and is using this video to promote an xrp airdrop scam. @YouTube you need to shut this down #XRP #xrpthestandard #Ripple”

Giveaway cryptocurrency scams earlier dominated the Twitter space, but this was brought to a stop by efforts taken by individuals such as Jack Dorsey and Elon Musk. Chaos Computer Club, a popular German hacking community also had their channel hacked to display the same ‘Microsft Bitcoin’ scam messages.

Bitcoin Cash [BCH/USD] Market Analysyis: Crypto Sees Red in Short Term as Coronavirus Continues its Rampage

by

The cryptocurrency market has seen some major changes over the last several weeks, with support breaks and new resistance formations coming imminently. Apart from bitcoin’s wild swings, altcoins like bitcoin cash have also become a prominent player in the current financial ecosystem.

Bitcoin’s hard fork was busy fending off competition from Bitcoin SV when the market crash started due to the coronavirus outbreak. In the past week, Bitcoin Cash has been one of the cryptocurrencies involved in up-down price moves.

At press time, BCH was trading for $216.44 with a total market cap of $3.98 billion. The cryptocurrency was holding the 5th position on the charts with a 24-hour market volume of $2.8 billion. Some analysts believe that Bitcoin Cash needs some sort of volume injection as multiple markets were drying up at the moment.

A majority of BCH’s price action depends on Bitcoin, just like other altcoins. As long as Bitcoin does not surge significantly, holders need to be wary of BCH price surges.

Support 214.49

Resistance 226.1

Daily 140.68

1 hour:

bch 1 hr compressor

The hourly chart showed that Bitcoin Cash was in the process of correcting its earlier prices. BCH’s immediate support was at $214.4 while the immediate resistance held at $226.1.

The Parabolic SAR was above the price candles which meant that Bitcoin Cash was heading into more bearish territories.

Bitcoin Cash’s Chaikin Money Flow indicator was below the zero line. The graph has stayed below the zero line since March 29 after the capital leaving the market surpassed that of the incoming capital.

The Awesome Oscillator had dropped in amplitude after markets came to a standstill. This market predicament is expected to change as soon as the world learns to cope with the spread of the coronavirus.

1 day:

bch 1 day compressor

Bitcoin Cash’s daily spectrum was something to watch out for as the cryptocurrency broke all of its immediate supports. The new daily support for Bitcoin Cash was $140.68.

The Chaikin Money Flow indicator on the daily chart had spiked above the zero line which meant that the capital coming into the BCH market had increased.

The Awesome Oscillator had increased in magnitude for the first time since the start of the year.

BCH’s Parabolic SAR was below the price candles, a sign of bullish markets in the future.

Conclusion:

A majority of the aforementioned indicators sided with the bear as world markets braced itself against COVID-19. Financial analysts stated that the end of the last quarter was reminiscent of the tragic 2008 financial crisis.

Ethereum [ETH/USD] Market Analaysis: Cryptocurrency Witnesses More Sideways Movement as World Continues to Assess COVID-19

by

Ethereum was one of the few altcoins that were expected surge this year, flagging the start of a new revolution. But, alas, the arrival of Coronavirus and the struggling economy reduced the value of Bitcoin and the cryptocurrency industry as a whole.

Over the past couple of days, Ethereum and a few other altcoins were holding steady in a financial climate that looked eerily similar to the 2008 crisis. Financial analysts have predicted major countries to be hit by recession with places like India and China being spared. 

At the time of writing, Ethereum was trading for $132.4 billion with a total market cap of $13.6 billion. The second-largest cryptocurrency held a 24-hour market volume of $11.6 billion after a 1.45 percent rise in the daily spectrum. While Ethereum was holding steady, its closest rival XRP was climbing with a total market cap of $7.6 billion.

1 hour:

eth 1 hr compressor

The hourly chart represented a price hold that was reminiscent of an earlier bear attack. Ethereum’s immediate support was at $124.3 while the resistance was at $135.4.

The Bollinger bands were in the middle of convergence after the latest price dip ensured any sort of resistance break was curbed.

The Relative Strength Index had fallen towards the middle of the graph, a sign of the reduced buying pressure. More people were now selling their Bitcoin assets in the middle of the coronavirus scare.

Ethereum’s Chaikin Money Flow indicator crashed below the zero line after struggling to stay above it. This occurred because the capital leaving the Ethereum market was more than the capital coming into it.

1 day:

eth 1 day compressor 1

Ethereum’s daily chart was a representation of the cryptocurrency’s biggest fall since February 2019. The support on the daily spectrum was at 99.75.

The Relative Strength Index climbed from the oversold zone after positive price movements throughout the week.

The Chaikin Money Flow indicator salvaged some pride as the chart rose to the zero line. This meant that the Ethereum market was enjoying a higher capital inflow than earlier.

Conclusion:

For the time being, the market can be expected to continue moving sideways because of a lack of external factors. The attack of the coronavirus has affected millions of lives across the planet and the cryptocurrency market will have to do everything to defend its credentials of being safe-haven assets.

 

Ripple Partner Siam Commercial Bank Continues to Drive Innovation in Thailand with a Focus on Customer Growth

by

Thailand has been a growing force in the digital market with several innovations taking place within the confines of the country. The nation’s upward growth was a result of careful planning and urging companies to use new and cutting edge technology.

One of the stalwarts in the Thai financial market is the Siam Commerical Market [SCB], which, after its alliance with Ripple, saw substantial growth in transactions across borders. In a recent conversation with the bank’s SVP Arthit Sriumporn about Ripple Insights, he spoke about how the partnership between the companies had grown to create an ecosystem.

One reason for SCB’s growth could be the fact that Thailand was the leader in mobile banking users. With significant help from its user base, the SCB has played an important role in establishing that status. Ripple’s interest in SCB may stem from the intention to tap into the burgeoning mobile economy in Thailand.

The SCB SVP reiterated that being part of the RippleNet had various advantages. He said:

“Siam Commercial Bank is more than 100 years old and is Thailand’s largest bank with more than 1,000 branches across the nation. We support a wide range of customers from retail to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and corporations. Our focus is always on enriching the customer experience and RippleNet has helped us to do this with remittances.”

SCB has brought users to its ecosystem by making its mobile application completely free of transaction fees. This move has encouraged a large group of people to adapt to mobile technology, taking Thailand to where it is today. Mr. Sriumporn added that customers preferred the ease of use of a mobile application rather than sitting in a bank and filling out forms.

To ensure that the mobile application does not fail its users, SCB took the help of Ripple. SCB Easy runs on Ripple’s framework, where the cryptocurrency company will help in improving customers’ demands for cross border transactions. After Thailand, the company also plans to expand to countries such as Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam.

Using SCB Easy, users can perform transactions that occur in real-time but are still cheaper than a multi-day banking process. RippleNet is used to connect multiple banking partners around the world, which in turn opens up more corridors. Sources revealed that the bank is now working on a QR code-based application that will allow tourists to use their native banking services.

People visiting Thailand will be able to scan the QR code and pay for any product instantly. This removes the hassle of currency exchange and transaction settlement times. Although a release date has not been disclosed, the SCB official believed that the application will change Thailand’s financial landscape forever.

The Siam Commerical Bank has set its sight on landscapes other than Southeast Asia. Ripple’s influence across the globe will allow the bank to explore multiple avenues and establish payment gateways in areas required. Twenty-twenty is also set to be the year when the SCB will offer cross border payments to business customers.

Stablecoins Transfer Value Went up to 444.2 Million After the Market Crash on 12th March

by

Stablecoins have been a large of the industry since making its introduction in the space back in 2015. Tether was the first stable asset in the digital currency medium and currently, it is the largest and most used stablecoin coin in the space.

However, stablecoins’ impact on the digital asset space may only increase over the next few months.

According to a recent report by Coinmetrics, it has been observed that the supply of stablecoins has drastically spiked since the COVID-19 became a global pandemic.

IMG 1

The chart above clearly indicated that the growth of stablecoins has been increasing over the past week since Bitcoin’s massive drop.

Amidst the turmoil, the network value of stablecoin went off the charts as well. According to the report, the collective digital assets all-the-high transfer value was achieved on March 13th, incurring a total transfer of 444.2 million for all the stable assets combined.

A lot of capital has continued to flow into the ecosystem following the market crash, as it was assumed that investors were looking to protect their assets. In their efforts to find a stability among stable coins, USDC has been a lucrative prospect with the coin attaining the largest percentage-wise change over the past 30-days.

The stable coin backed by Coinbase registered a market increase of over 50 percent in the past month, verifying the significant capital movement in the industry.

IMG 2

Although USDC is mostly used on Coinbase, MakerDAO recently announced its addition to the list of collaterals that can be used among various DeFi applications.

Surprisingly, the announcement to add USDC as a part of the collateral list, after the valuation of their parent stable asset DAI, was on 12th March.

Following the crash, DAI’s stabilization mechanism led to a mass MakerDAO collateral liquidation and DAI’s valuation dropped from $1.06 to $1.02, as observed on March 22nd.

In spite of USDC’s growth, Tether continued to reign over the stablecoin space as its market valuation increased by a whopping $660 million since March 10th.

At press time, USDT registered a total market cap of $4.64 billion while accounting for more than 50 percent of the total stablecoin present in the current digital asset industry.

Korean Firm Believes Ripple is the Key to Unlocking a Whole New World for Migrants

by

South Korea has emerged as one of the most exciting countries in the world of cryptocurrencies, with multiple updates and developments happening within its borders. Cryptocurrency organizations in the country have also taken on the responsibility of improving the social standards and financial structure of their citizens.

Sentbe was one such cryptocurrency company that planned to transform the financial landscape by partnering with SBI Ripple Asia. The project will work in tandem with Ripple and SBI Holdings to improve processes related to traditional banks and services.

The Brad Garlinghouse led Ripple has been a stalwart in the cross border transaction department with multiple partnerships across the board. The company has partnered with several startups across the world to provide a better infrastructure to payment corridors untapped by the financial market.

According to Sentbe, traditional financial methods have remained ineffective since its inception. J Young Lee, the co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Sentbe stated that there was a large group of people who were left in the lurch due to outdated banking methods. He said:

“Cross-border payments are typically expensive and time-consuming.but with RippleNet’s help we’ve made them faster, cheaper, more convenient. Now we want every hard-working migrant in Korea to know about and have the ability to access this better way of sending money home to their families.We are interested in expanding to any area where RippleNet can take us as the ease of integration makes any new corridor instantly valuable”

RippleNet has enabled organizations with their cross border transaction needs since 2018. Ripple‘s latest partnership with MoneyTap was another example of this growing demand for faster transfers in payment borders. For Sentbe, improving remittances meant overcoming four major challenges faced by migrant workers. These included factors like transparency, speed, convenience and cost of individual transactions.

Lee stated that many times, low-income workers did not know about hidden costs and transaction charges. On top of this, remittances were slow and usually took about 2-3 days to settle. Families of these workers usually find it very difficult to receive payments due to outages and a lack of transparency, stated Lee. The lower financial strata have usually flocked to digital assets in times of need, a test case being Venezuela.

Sentbe Archives has shown that they first planned to use Ripple’s XRP back in 2017, but that it was stopped because of Korea’s regulatory authority. The initial plan was to use XRP as a liquidity settlement solution. After that, the company turned to use Ripple‘s technology, such as the RippleNet, for its speed and convenience. This straightforward approach resulted in users saving more than $25 million in transaction fees.

With the RippleNet partnership, Sentbe becomes part of a wide network of banks and financial institutions. At the moment, Korean customers have the option of sending money to 25 payment corridors across the regions. Sources close to the company said that there were also plans to set up partnerships in the Latin American corridor. The need of the hour was financial inclusion and migrants also needed to be a part of this, remarked Lee.

 

Bitcoin’s Liquidity concerns highlighted with the instability of Bid-Ask spread

by

The digital asset industry put its best foot forward at the start of 2020.After witnessing a collective bullish rally, which saw Bitcoin surge up to $10,145 by February 2nd week.  Since then, however, an unexpected slump has sparked a series of misfortunes for the biggest digital asset, as on 12 March BTC succumbed to $3800.

In order to understand market conditions, analysis of the bid-ask spread is a common practice. The Bid-Ask spread is the difference between an amount the buyer is willing to pay and the amount a seller is ready to accept. The measurement scale is taken in terms of basis points or bps, where 1 bps=0.01%.

Coinmetrics recent report conducted a study to analyze the Bid-Ask spread in the current market.

Bid-Ask spread indicated absence of Liquidity

According to common consensus, a B/O spread should usually be under 20 bps under normal trading parameters. On observing the chart below, a normal spread in the market can be understood.

Image 1

However, large price movements usually create a ripple effect in the Bid-Ask spread, as the market instantly reacts to market volatility.

During September 2019, Bitcoin‘s price dropped from $9500 to $800 within a 24-hour window and the Bid-Ask spread jumped drastically for a brief period in the charts.

Image 2

As observed in the chart above, the B/O spread spike above 50 bps but as the price attained stability, the spread was under 20 bps levels again in the network.

In light of the above scenario, the situation was significantly different at the present time.

The slump on 12th-13th March inevitably affected Bid-Ask spread as usual but since then, the spread levels have failed to return to normalcy.

Image 3

B/O spread data continued to indicate levels above 20 bps until 23rd March, which is exactly 10 days after the crash. Such volatility in the B/O spread implied the market continued to lose its liquidity.

The community speculated that another reason for the reduction of liquidity is the fact that users expected the turbulence to continue, and they were waiting to improve their spreads in the market.

Lack of Open-Interest in Derivatives Market

An argument can be made that liquidity in the exchanges was dropping due to the absence of exiting market investors. As mentioned before, a significant part of investors conducted a sell-off on the 12th and since then, traders have idealized a cautious approach.

The Open-Interest on major exchanges hasn’t recovered as well, hence the Bid-Ask spread continues to indicate a loss of liquidity.

Moneygram’s 11.3 Million Pay-Day from Ripple, Could Only Improve with Probable IPO Plans on The Horizon 

by

The partnership of Ripple and Moneygram was a major talking point in the past year.

Moneygram, which is one of the largest remittance companies in the world entered a partnership alongside Ripple in order to expand its services around the world.

According to Moneygram’s recent report to the SEC, it has been a profitable venture for the organization. The filing suggested that Moneygram has already received on a whopping 11.3 million in revenue as a result of their partnership.

Is Ripple steadily entering remittance services?

It is no secret that the growth of XRP is directly related to Ripple’s growth. The fact that Ripple publicly entertains the use of XRP for remittances has been reaching global corridors now.

Moneygram’s partnership is a prime example.

 

The American remittances company’s total revenue for the last few months has been declining, but the partnership with Ripple, to embrace RippleNet’s On-Demand Liquidity, has been fruitful to the present day.

The report stated,

“The Company is compensated by Ripple in XRP for developing and bringing liquidity to foreign exchange markets, facilitated by the ODL platform, and providing a reliable level of foreign exchange trading activity.”

 

The Ripple network has continued to grow over the last year and these numbers of over 11 million in revenue for Moneygram are likely to go higher in 2020.

The length of the contract between Ripple and Moneygram is also a long term understanding until 2023, which indicated that Ripple was adamant to get major financial institutions to use RippleNet’s services or the long term.

With Ripple aggressively working towards bringing more financial institutions to utilize blockchain assets, the partnership with Moneygram can be taken as the first step towards a larger paradigm shift in the global financial system.

 

Ripple’s IPO- to be or not to be?

During the World Economic Forum in Davos this year, Brad Garlinghouse stirred the speculation pot and suggested that IPO’s could the next big thing in crypto/blockchain.

With those words escaping his speech, it was only a natural reaction that the community started weighing in on the prospect of Ripple launching its own IPO. However, before cultivating a plan towards an IPO, Ripple still had to settle their matters with the SEC to prove that XRP is a digital asset and not a security.

With many people confusing ICO and IPO in the space, it is important to take note that an IPO for a crypto-supportive organization is far complicated then it seems.

An organization has to substantiate its profitability beforehand, rather than raising funds based on future prospects, which was basically an ICO.

A digital asset bearing the narrative of an IPO will be carrying and projecting the idea of crypto into the mainstream industry. The root reason for any investor to invest in an IPO would be solely based on profitability. Hence, the likelihood of a Ripple IPO in 2020 is practically weak, considering the global financial system is currently threading through a meltdown due to the COVID-19 impact.

An IPO down the line can have significant implications on XRP’s future as well. XRP would be directly launched into the larger remittances industry and its face value will improve meteorically.

 

Albeit these speculations, Ripple needs to prove XRP’s crypto credentials to the SEC before the idea of an IPO could take a flight.

 

Bitcoin Surges on Friday as Cryptocurrency Market Recovers From Coronavirus Plummet

by

In the past week, financial markets around the world have experienced numerous losses that have sent investors scurrying all over. While Coronavirus concerns are rising, financial bodies have been trying to find out how to arrest the fall. The cryptocurrency market recovered on the last weekday in the midst of this turmoil.

It was found on March 20 that in the span of 24 hours the cryptocurrency market had expanded by more than $20 billion. This rise during the time of ‘ social distancing ‘ was one of the few silver linings.

The cryptocurrency industry was hit recently when people began questioning its strength during global struggles. Several personalities even questioned Bitcoin’s secure-haven asset credential as the world’s largest cryptocurrency fell just like other mainstream assets. Digital assets saw a sharp rise after violent selling in the last two weeks.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin was trading for $6638. This was a substantial increase from the sub $5400 levels it was holding earlier. Bitcoin’s market cap had risen to $121.3 billion after a 21.8 percent increase on Thursday.

The 24-hour market volume increased by billions to settle at $56.9 billion. Bitcoin’s surge also triggered a bull run among other altcoins. Ethereum, XRP and Bitcoin Cash rose by 22.6 percent, 15.39 percent, and 28.6 percent respectively.

Ethereum investors were urging it to cross the $150 mark as the cryptocurrency rose to sell for $146.9. The largest altcoin had a market cap of $16.18 billion and a daily trading volume of $18.7 billion. While this was still not enough to catch up to Bitcoin, it still helped ETH get a boost over XRP.

XRP received a much-needed bull run when the cryptocurrency increased by 15 percent. Several members of the XRP Army hit the panic button after the cryptocurrency fell to 12 cents. The market cap and price recovery was a much-needed reprieve during a time of an intense market squeeze. XRP’s market cap was $7.5 billion while the daily volume had increased to $2.939 billion.

The market bounce was needed after the industry lost almost 26 billion dollars in value on March 8. This came after crude oil prices had tanked world over, pulling the Nasdaq and the Dow along with it. The next few days resulted in a bear market that removed another $92 billion from the cryptocurrency market. Bitcoin’s 48 percent plunge caused it to fall to its $3867 annual low.

Mainstream stocks were still struggling as the Coronavirus continued to spread to new regions. The American markets are expected to take another hit as 4000 new cases were reported in the mainland. On March 19, the seriousness of the situation was elevated again when the global death toll surpassed ten thousand.