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xrp

Ripple becomes tidal wave, leads weekend pump and notches legal victories

Amid a weekend pump carrying multiple cryptocurrencies higher, Ripple’s XRP looks to be leading the way with a push as high as 30% on the daily — carried on the back of a string of legal victories and rumors of relisting at some exchanges. 

Where Bitcoin and Ethereum are up merely 2.7% and 3.4% respectively on the day, XRP climbed to $1.36 before retreating to $1.32, where it sits at the time of publication. The digital currency is now up 111% on a 7 day basis, and a staggering 544% on the year. The recent push has also buoyed XRP back into the top 10 cryptocurrencies by marketcap, behind only BTC, ETH, and BNB at #4.

The rally flies in the face of a lawsuit from the Securities and Exchange Commission, which charges that XRP’s $1.3 billion ICO was an “unregistered securities offering.” The news led multiple exchanges to delist the currency, and XRP lost its place as the 3rd largest currency by marketcap, at time looking as if it would even fall out of the top ten. 

The bad news for XRP didn’t stop with the SEC, either. In March Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse announced that the company would be “winding down” its relationship with Moneygram — a once highly-touted partnership that investors often pointed to as proof of the digital currency being on a path towards becoming “the standard” for payments and settlement.

Despite the deluge of negative headlines, it appears all buyers needed was a small ray of hope to jump back in — and they’ve gotten exactly that. Ripple lawyers have notched two victories in their legal battle against the SEC, including winning access to internal SEC discussion history regarding cryptocurrencies, and a court denied the SEC the ability to disclose the financial records of two Ripple execs, including Garlinghouse.

Ripple executives themselves seem heartened by the news, with CTO David Schwartz saying the US isn’t “prepared” to regulate cryptocurrencies (a possible dig at the ongoing legal proceedings).

All in all, it’s just another week for one of the most controversial cryptocurrencies in the space.

Ripple becomes tidal wave, leads weekend pump and notches legal victories

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3X as many crypto figures make it onto Forbes 2021 billionaires list as last year

Forbes released their annual billionaires list on April 6, with Amazon overlord Jeff Bezos and his $177 billion topping the list for a fourth consecutive year.

The “digital gold rush” has seen nine new crypto billionaires join the Forbes list, pushing the total up to 12 (depending on whether you count the Winklevoss twins as one or two entries.) That’s up from just four in last year’s Forbes World’s Billionaires list

Sam Bankman-Fried – Newcomer

Sam Bankman-Fried is the wealthiest crypto-billionaire, with a net worth of $8.7 billion. Bankman-Fried founded trading firm Alameda Research and popular derivatives exchange FTX. The 29-year old has made waves in the crypto space, with FTX recently winning the naming rights to Miami Heat’s home stadium for 19 years. Cointelegraph recently ranked Bankman-Fried as the third most influential figure in crypto for 2020.

The Winklevoss Twins – Newcomers

Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss have a net worth of $3 billion each and started investing in Bitcoin in 2012. The brothers famously sued Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg for IP theft in 2004 and won a $65 million settlement which they used to invest in Bitcoin. They started the crypto exchange Gemini in 2014, and they purchased Nifty Gateway in November 2019.

Chris Larsen – Returnee

Larsen, the co-founder of Ripple Labs saw his net worth grow from $2.6 billion to $3.4 billion over the past year.

Larson and Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse have been fighting an ongoing dispute with the SEC in relation to XRP and unregistered securities offerings. However, the SEC’s lawsuit against Ripple hasn’t appeared to affect its token too badly, with XRP increasing by 387% in the last 12 months.

Jed McCaleb – Newcomer

McCaleb is another co-founder of Ripple, and reportedly holds 3.4 billion XRP and 1 billion Stellar Lumens — the cryptocurrency he founded after leaving Ripple — with his holdings adding up to a net worth of $2 billion. Cointelegraph reported that McCaleb sold off $400 million worth of his XRP holdings in 2020 alone.

Michael Saylor – Newcomer

Saylor is the CEO of listed company MicroStrategy and co-founded the software giant in 1989, and now has a net worth of $2.3 billion. Saylor has become the leading advocate for corporations holding Bitcoin on balance sheets. Since its first purchase of Bitcoin in August 2020, Microstrategy has invested $2.226 billion, taking its tally up to 91,579 Bitcoins at an average cost of $24,311 per Bitcoin.

Brain Armstrong – Returnee

Armstrong is the CEO and co-founder of Coinbase and his net worth has gone from $1 billion to $6.5 billion within 12 months. Coinbase also had a successful year, generating $1 billion in revenue, and it’s set for a direct listing in a week. That will value Armstrong’s shares somewhere north of $14B, meaning he may well top the crypto billionaires’ list next year.

Fred Ersham – Newcomer

Ersham co-founded Coinbase with Brian Armstrong in 2012 and left the firm in 2017. He is now a board member of the company, and his 6% stake has an estimated worth of $1.9 billion.

Changpeng Zhao

Zhao is the founder of the largest crypto exchange Binance and owns an estimated 30% stake in the company. Zhao’s net worth is $1.9 billion, and the digital gold rush has been good to the Binance founder, with Binance Coin becoming the second-largest altcoin by market cap. Zhao revealed earlier this week that he holds close to 100% of his portfolio in crypto.

Matthew Roszak – Newcomer

Roszak is the Chairman and co-founder of blockchain technology firm Bloq and is a leading crypto and blockchain investor. Roszak is also a founding member of Tally Capital a crypto-focused private investment firm and has a net worth of $1.5 billion.

Tim Draper – Newcomer

Draper is a crypto evangelist with a net worth of $1.5 billion. He bought $18.7 million worth of Bitcoin in 2014 after it was confiscated from the Silk Road black market. Draper was also one of the primary investors in the Tezos project and co-founded Draper Fisher Jurvetson, a leading investment firm in early-stage tech startups.

Barry Silbert – Newcomer

Silbert founded the crypto conglomerate Digital Currency Group in 2015 and has a net worth of $1.6 billion. The DCG owns asset management firm Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, which currently has $46 billion worth of assets under management.

3X as many crypto figures make it onto Forbes 2021 billionaires list as last year

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Ripple Price Prediction: XRP/USD Breaks Above $0.60 Level after Correcting Low

XRP Price Prediction – April 4

The price of Ripple above the moving averages as the price touches the daily high of $0.62

XRP/USD Market

Key Levels:

Resistance levels: $0.78, $0.79, $0.80

Support levels: $0.48, $0.47, $0.46

XRPUSD – Daily Chart

XRP/USD bulls are in control of the market as the price rises from $0.57 to $0.62 above the 9-day and 21-day moving averages. However, the technical indicator RSI (14) is seen moving towards the overbought region. This indicates that the daily trend is still bullish while the overall market sentiment may continue with sideways movement.

What is the Next Direction for Ripple?

At the time of writing, XRP/USD is trading at $0.60 after touching the high of $0.62. A building bullish momentum suggests that XRP could continue to scale the levels towards $0.70 critical resistance. From a technical point of view, the price is currently in the hands of the bulls as observed by the technical indicator which is hovering above the 60-level. Meanwhile, as the RSI (14) remains at the upside, the bullish grip may continue to strengthen.

However, the nearest resistance for the market is located at $0.68, $0.70, and $0.72. As it appeared on the daily chart, there’s no sign of a decisive move at the moment. However, if the $0.55 support gets weak, a price break-down may occur as the bears may find additional low at $0.50, $0.48, and $0.46 support levels.

Against Bitcoin, the pair is consolidating within the channel and moving above the 9-day and 21-day moving averages. Meanwhile, the buyers have been trying to push the price above the channel so as to take it to the resistance levels of 1200 SAT and above.

XRPBTC – Daily Chart

Looking at the daily chart, if the bulls failed to hold the price, then XRP/BTC may experience more downtrends and the nearest support levels for the coin are located at 850 SAT and below. Meanwhile, the technical indicator RSI (14) moves above 60-level to indicate more bullish signals.

Ripple Price Prediction: XRP/USD Breaks Above $0.60 Level after Correcting Low

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Ripple Price Prediction: XRP/USD Trades above $0.60 as Price Prepares to Break Above

XRP Price Prediction – April 2

XRP/USD is rising with a gain of 3.88% over the past 24 hours as it rises above the $0.60 level.

XRP/USD Market

Key Levels:

Resistance levels: $0.65, $0.67, $0.69

Support levels: $0.50, $0.48, $0.46

XRPUSD – Daily Chart

XRP/USD continues to hold strong above $0.55 and this level has been supporting the market since a few days ago. However, it’s possible that the more the resistance level of $0.60 is tested, the more it’s likely to break above. On the other hand, if XRP crosses below the 9-day and 21-day moving averages, we can expect the price to break beneath and the potential support levels of $0.50, $0.48, and $0.46 may be tested.

What is the Next Direction for Ripple?

At the time of writing, the price is hovering at $0.59 with the slightly bullish momentum supported by the 9-day moving average. The resistance levels to watch are $0.65, $0.67, and $0.69. The technical indicator is beginning to move gradually upwards. However, the bulls may remain in control until a larger divergence to the upside is seen.

Comparing with Bitcoin, the Ripple (XRP) has been slowly grinding higher. After bottoming out around the 949 SAT level, the price began to slowly ascend and is currently trading around the 1011 SAT. XRP’s price is now contained within the descending channel as traders wait for the bulls to hopefully push the price above the 9-day and 21-day moving averages.

XRPBTC – Daily Chart

Moreover, if the bulls can break above the upper boundary of the channel, we can expect initial resistance at 1050 SAT. Above this, higher resistance lies at 1200 SAT and above. From below: If the sellers push the market beneath the moving averages, we can expect supports at 800 SAT and below. The RSI (14) is moving to cross above 60-level and it’s likely to follow a bullish movement.

Ripple Price Prediction: XRP/USD Trades above $0.60 as Price Prepares to Break Above

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Former SEC chair Jay Clayton tips new Bitcoin regulations are coming

Former US Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Jay Clayton has stated that Bitcoin has not been classified as a security for a long time.

But speaking on CNBC’s Squawk Box on March 31, Clayton warned that its status as a non-security still does not protect it from the imposition of new regulations which, he warned, could be coming soon.

Host Andrew Ross Sorkin pointed out that under Clayton’s watch the SEC did not take a position on Bitcoin regulation. Clayton responded that was because the asset was declared not to be a security before he even took up his position as the head of the regulatory body.

“Bitcoin was decided to be not a security before the time I got to the SEC. Therefore, the SEC’s jurisdiction over Bitcoin was rather indirect.”

Clayton has remained in the industry following his departure from the SEC in December 2020 and currently advises One River Asset Management on cryptocurrencies.

Although he professes not to have any special insights into what new laws are coming from his time heading up the SEC, he believes the regulatory environment is due for a shake up.

“Where digital assets land at the end of the day […] will be driven in part by regulation—both domestic and international—and I expect, and I’m speaking as a citizen now, that regulation will come in this area both directly and indirectly whether it’s through how these are held at banks, security accounts, taxation and the like. We will see this regulatory environment evolve.”

Clayton’s comments come just a week after billionaire hedge fund manager Ray Dalio warned that the U.S. may ban Bitcoin outright just as they did with gold in the 1930s.

His comments about Bitcoin’s status as a non-security are also interesting in light of Ripple’s appeals to the SEC for documents from the agency to determine how exactly it came to the conclusion that Bitcoin and Ethereum were not securities.

The company and its backers have repeatedly argued that XRP is not a security however the SEC believes it is markedly different due to being morcentralized. Former SEC attorney Marc Powers told Cointelegraph that the agency is executing significant overreach in its case against Ripple and its executives.

Former SEC chair Jay Clayton tips new Bitcoin regulations are coming

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