Crypto update: Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Ripple (XRP) bounce back

New Zealand Stock Markets

The cryptocurrency market has managed to steady the ship and is up slightly over the last 24 hours.

This means the value of the entire market has edged higher to US$408.4 billion according to Coin Market Cap.

The Bitcoin (BTC) price has pushed 0.2% higher over the last 24 hours to US$9,116.31 per coin, lifting its market capitalisation to almost US$155 billion. The world’s largest cryptocurrency appears to have shaken off recent media reports labelling it a scam. Former Paypal CEO Bill Harris told ReCode that Bitcoin was “the greatest scam in history” and dismissed its use as a means of payment and store of value due to the wild swings in its price.

The Ethereum (ETH) price has climbed 1.3% higher since this time yesterday to US$648.43 per token. This gives the popular alt coin a market capitalisation of US$64.2 billion. Traders have responded positively to news that key developers have expressed an interest in working together on the technical direction of the coin after recent infighting.

The Ripple (XRP) price has pushed 1.6% higher during the last 24 hours to 84.4 U.S. cents, giving XRP a market capitalisation of just over US$33 billion.

The Bitcoin Cash (BCH) price has risen 1.4% over the last 24 hours to US$1,359.59. This latest move higher has increased Bitcoin Cash’s market capitalisation to over US$23.2 billion.

The EOS (EOS) price has slipped ever so slightly lower during the last 24 hours to US$15.01 per token. This gives EOS a market capitalisation of just under US$12.3 billion.

It was a similar story outside the top five with small gains being made by Litecoin (LTC), Cardano (ADA), and NEO (NEO). While Stellar Lumens (XLM) and IOTA (MIOTA) have been the best performers on the market with a 7% and 4.4% gain, respectively, during the period.

Ripple's XRP Just Might Be the Next Big Crypto Futures Market

Global Stock Markets

Bitcoin futures may have been launched with tremendous fanfare - XRP futures, on the other hand, not so much.

But in fact, U.K.-based startup Crypto Facilities has been operating a futures market for the world's third-largest cryptocurrency, developed by blockchain startup Ripple Inc., for almost 18 months now. And while the company's CEO Timo Schlaefer has been tight-lipped about the product so far, he sees trends in recent data that indicate broader XRP futures adoption may be on the horizon.

"We have pretty good order books," Schlaefer told CoinDesk, "And we're in the process of working with some of the large market makers to draw that further."

Indeed, when bitcoin was still months away from getting its first Commodity and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) regulated bitcoin derivatives, Schlaefer's company had quietly partnered with Ripple and launched XRP futures, its second cryptocurrency futures product after bitcoin to be regulated under the UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

Later, when Chicago commodities giants Cboe and CME Group opened their first bitcoin futures in December, Crypto Facilities' own XRP futures were trading $14.2 million in volume a month. And by the time Cboe's first bitcoin futures contract expired in January, Crypto Facilities' XRP futures had almost doubled in volume to $24.6 million.

Yet, almost no one outside of the firm's own pool of investors even knew the futures were being traded, much less with that kind of volume. Now, that appears to be changing with the company on track for another positive month, and others exploring the contracts.

While Schlaefer wouldn't reveal the identities of the large market makers the company is currently courting, data he provided exclusively to CoinDesk gives a look into how the offering has been growing - and it largely mirrors the price of XRP itself.

For instance, the volume of cash-settled XRP futures, which the company officially launched in October 2016, were relatively flat from month to month until March 2017.

That's when XRP futures volume more than tripled to $3.08 million and quadrupled to $12.1 million the following month. Over the same time period, the price of XRP experienced similar growth, rising from $0.03 in April to $0.34 in mid-May, before shrinking substantially.

But then again in January 2018, the volume of futures mirrored XRP's price increases, jumping to $24.6 million as the price of the cryptocurrency reached a record $3.53.
And according to Schlaefer, while the number of registered investors in XRP futures, between 2,000 and 3,000 people, seems small, he estimates that those investing in the product comprise only about 30 percent of Crypto Facilities' total number of investors.

With most of those trading falling into the category of retail investors, XRP also represents a growth opportunity for the company, and Schlaefer believes, the industry at large.

"We still want to get them a more diverse user base," he said. 'But it's going in the right direction."
Continuing momentum

And there's reason to believe more products could be on the horizon.

Already, CME Group, valued at $55 billion, has set a precedent of working with Crypto Facilities in the build-up to its own bitcoin futures launch.

While a representative of CME Group declined to comment on whether the company is exploring XRP futures, it participated in Ripple's $55 million Series B investment in 2016. Shortly thereafter, the former head of precious metals and metals options at CME Group joined Ripple as its head of XRP markets, giving Ripple potentially valuable insight into CME Group's inner workings.

Further, in response to CoinDesk's inquiry about XRP futures, a Cboe spokesperson reiterated statements from the company's chief executive, who last year said the exchange was open to adding additional cryptocurrency options.

Lastly, Paul Chou, the co-founder and CEO of LedgerX, a CFTC-regulated bitcoin derivatives provider, said his company was exploring the possibility of XRP futures.

LedgerX launched the first regulated and physically-settled bitcoin derivatives product last year and has since traded $100 million in notional volume.

Still, Chou hinted at what could be reservations that slow adoption.

For example, he said that the company's decision on whether to add XRP futures will stem primarily from its analysis of XRP's "concentration of holdings." Indeed, the reason for LedgerX's concern reflects apprehension more broadly held within the cryptocurrency community about Ripple Inc. and its control over XRP. For one, Ripple's employees reportedly hold large amounts of the cryptocurrency.

As such, in response to demand from customers "who are definitely inquiring about XRP," Chou said, the company established a group to investigate.

In particular, the group is looking into the potential that those that who hold large amounts of XRP could manipulate the price, especially if the futures contracts are settled in cash.

Bitcoin rises from six-week low as G-20 weighs cryptocurrencies

Global Stock Markets

An international group of central bank regulators and government ministers has told the G20 countries that bitcoin poses no threat to global financial stability, sending the cryptocurrency market higher. 

The Financial Stability Board’s chairman, Mark Carney, who also heads the Bank of England, has sent a letter to the G20, saying that the organization doesn't see bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as a threat to the global economy.

The FSB is an international body that monitors and makes recommendations about the global financial system.

he letter comes ahead of the 2018 G20 meeting in Argentina, starting on Monday. At the summit, the participants will discuss bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, and their influence on the global financial stability.

 A number of leading economies – France, Japan and the US – have called for a joint response to the speculation around bitcoin and other digital money.

Bitcoin reacted bullishly to Carney’s letter.

The cryptocurrency surged over 6 percent to $8,200 on Monday, which is still over 50 percent off the $20,000 peak seen in December 2017.

Ripple, ethereum, bitcoin cash, cardano and other cryptocurrencies were also trading in the positive zone, buoyed by the surge in bitcoin. More than 90 of Coinmarketcap’s top 100 cryptocurrencies were gaining on Monday.

Ethereum, litecoin and bitcoin slump after torrid week

Global Stock Markets

The price of bitcoin and its competitors has fallen dramatically over the last three days, with all but two of the top 50 cryptocurrencies further tumbling in value this morning.

Bitcoin, ethereum, ripple and bitcoin cash have all dropped in value by at least 7 per cent in the last 24 hours, according to CoinMarketCap, having slid steadily since Monday.

One bitcoin is worth $8,118 (£5,826) at the time of writing, down 7.15 per cent compared to Wednesday morning, 13.48 per cent on this time last week and 4.41 per cent on mid-February, going by Coinbase data.

Of CoinMarketCap's top 50, only tether and digixDAO - two comparatively obscure coins - saw any growth at all.

The biggest slumps were suffered by nem and steem, which lost 25.06 per cent and 17.93 per cent of their values respectively in 24 hours.

The virtual currency market has endured a torrid week, with Google announcing plans to cull cryptocurrency advertising from its search results, purging initial coin offerings and other speculative investment promotions on the grounds that they represent "deceptive content" consumers cannot trust.

The crypto-sector was also prominently mocked by John Oliver on his popular HBO show Last Week Tonight and saw security questions raised after an attempted heist on China's Binance exchange.

Binance has since offered a $250,000 (£179,000) bounty for information that led to the thieves' arrest, a gesture doing nothing to quell comparisons between the unregulated digicoin scene and the Wild West.

The spectre of regulation continues to cast a shadow, with India's former Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das the latest to reassert doubts about the market's safety, arguing that online coin transactions were too complex to regulate and should instead be banned outright.

China and South Korea have expressed similarly conservative attitudes towards cryptocurrencies in recent months.

ASX: Can Ripple (XRP) disrupt the Commonwealth Bank of Australia?

Austrlian Stock Markets

Investing in cryptocurrencies today is like investing in the internet in the 1990s. There will be big winners and big losers, but the underlying blockchain technology supporting some of these cryptocurrencies will most likely be a game changer.

Consider the business of transferring money across the world. Western Union has been prominent in it and so have the big banks Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA), Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC), Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ASX: ANZ) and National Australia Bank Ltd. (ASX: NAB).

These traditional global transfer systems can take up 3 days to process the transaction and it is expensive because currencies often first have to be converted to a common global currency like the US dollar.

That was supposed to be the OFX Group Ltd (ASX: OFX) point of differentiation. OFX specialises in global money transfers made within one day at rates that are cheaper than the big banks.

In fact, OFX provided a positive trading update to the market today showing that the volume and average value of transactions had increased in 2H18 compared to 1H18.

What is interesting in the update, was OFX’s view of their competitive advantage in the market as shown below.

Having a cheaper service compared to the big banks underpinned by a strong risk management framework with excellent client service is clearly what makes OFX competitive and they are reaping the benefits of that.

Now consider Ripple (XRP), the cryptocurrency with a scalable network that can enable real time payments and money transfers anywhere in the world. The maximum time it takes for it to process a global payment is 4 seconds. That’s quick!

According to its website, Ripple consistently handles 1,500 transactions per second, 24×7, and can scale to handle the same throughput as Visa.

Ripple’s scalability and transfer speed could really disrupt OFX and other more traditional money transfer businesses but it could also benefit them if they can successfully adopt the technology. Moneygram did just that by announcing a partnership with Ripple earlier this year.

Bitcoins and Volatility

Global Stock Markets

The cryptocurrency market is a notoriously volatile one, and many virtual currencies have experienced a dip in price in 2018.

This includes the major ones as well, such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple and Litecoin.

Perhaps the most notable is the number one cryptocurrency; Bitcoin.

The digital currency has plunged by around $1,000, which is approximately 2% of its value. So, why is the price of Bitcoin as volatile as it is? One of the main reasons that they are under so much pressure is because of the new regulations that have been brought in by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

They have recently announced that exchanges will now have to register as a national securities exchange.

 This has sparked fear though that more regulations could be introduced, which has reduced the value, causing the price to drop.

Another reason is because of the Coinbase announcement of introducing a weighted index fund for cryptocurrencies.

When the ETF is launched it will help in reflecting major trends in the cryptocurrency market, similarly to how equity index gives a sense of what’s happening in the economy. This will only be available to customers in the US.

Finally, the Bank Of England has also issued a warning regarding the crackdown on cryptocurrencies, which includes Bitcoin.

 The banks have said that virtual currencies are not able to perform the most basic function of money, so the banks believe that by properly regulating them will reduce the amount of illegitimate activities.

Can Ripple (XRP) Overtake Bitcoin (BTC) In 2018? - Part II

Global Stock Markets

How does Ripple work?

Ripple has a novel system compared to the majority of cryptocurrencies, which has earned it the title of being one of the most scalable and fastest cryptocurrencies available.

While Bitcoin was created with an ideology to move away from traditional banking systems, the ripple was designed to be compliant with banks and their networks. This is enhanced by the ripple network’s sheer transaction processing capabilities. At the moment, the ripple network can process up to 1,500 transactions per second, while bitcoin can process only 10.

However, both networks are underpinned by powerful Blockchain technology. This refers to the system that is responsible for recording all transactions made on the network, like a digital ledger, but also for encrypting transactions. While bitcoin utilizes its vast community of miners to verify transactions and mine new Bitcoin, the Ripple network is mainly controlled by its startup. However, since expanding they have started to utilize third parties to aid in verifying transactions.

This system has allowed for increased stability on the ripple network. The company stated in a recent blog post that they were planning on shifting from single-handedly managing their own nodes, to employing trusted third-parties to perform this service instead.

While some cryptocurrency advocates feel that ripple’s system is still too centralized, ripple responded by locking their remaining cryptocurrency holdings in an encrypted account and now only releases a limited amount per month.

What causes the ripple price rise?

The ripple price has grown immensely in the last few weeks. At the start of December 2017, XRP stood at $0.25, reached $1.00 at the start of January and has since grown to $2.20. This sharp price increase is considered to have come about due to investors cashing in their bitcoin to invest in other cryptocurrencies. This accounts for the fact that the ripple price has continued to grow despite the fact that the bitcoin price has decreased.

In addition, the price boost has likely been encouraged by the fact that several major Japanese credit card companies announced that they would be conducting test pilots using ripple for projects that include international payments. Ripple is also significantly cheaper than bitcoin which makes it an easier investment.

At the moment, there are 28 billion ripples in circulation compared to bitcoin’s 16.7 million. Ripple boasts a total market cap of just over $90 billion, which makes it the world’s second-biggest cryptocurrency. Second only to bitcoin.

How to invest in ripple

Ripple is widely available on most of the world’s biggest cryptocurrency trading platforms such as Kraken and BitStamp. To buy ripple, you would have to create an account on the exchange of your choice and verify your personal information. After your account has been verified, you can deposit funds into your account to purchase XRP.

At the moment, the ripple is available on over 50 exchanges, with many more promising to add support for it in the near future. However, the cryptocurrency is still unavailable on one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange platforms, Coinbase. The exchange’s CE, Brian Armstrong, previously stated that ripple was merely a distraction from bitcoin.

According to a virtual currency analyst from Interactive Investor, Gary McFarlance, there are several cryptocurrencies that are similar to ripple. A notable one is Stellar Lumens, which was created by a previous ripple executive. Stellar has also shown impressive growth but is yet to match that of ripple.
Considering ripple’s rapid rise to prominence, it is still too early to tell whether Ripple will hold onto its current value. In addition, the fact that it’s becoming widely utilized by centralized institutions makes it unlikely to ever truly overtake bitcoin, however, it definitely makes for a worthy competitor.

Can Ripple (XRP) Overtake Bitcoin (BTC) In 2018? - Part I

Global Stock Markets

Bitcoin’s trajectory of the last year has been nothing short of incredible. The continued record highs have attracted the attention of the media, the public, governments, banks, and many more. 

 

As more and more cryptocurrency millionaires popped up, more investors wanted a piece of the action, until we found ourselves in the midst of a massive crypto hype.

However, it’s not just bitcoin that captured the attention of millions around the world. Ripple quietly grew to prominence until a few weeks ago, when it spiked with over 36,000%, more than doubled in its price and quickly became one of the new darlings of the crypto world.

Ripple’s boom followed shortly after several international banks, as well as Korean and Japanese credit card firms, stated that they would use Ripple technology to pilot test projects.

At the time of writing, ripple (XRP) is worth an average of $2.20 and it is available on several major cryptocurrency exchange platform. Granted, it pales in comparison with bitcoin’s price of $13,800 per BTC, but it’s not so shabby when considering that ripple grew from a humble $0.006 just a year ago. In addition, the cryptocurrency’s sheer supply has ensured that it is currently the world’s second most lucrative cryptocurrency.

However, this begs the question, why exactly did ripple grow as much as it did in the last year, and does it have the potential to overthrow the grandfather of cryptocurrencies?

What is Ripple?

Bitcoin is a virtual currency that is underpinned by a larger Blockchain network. Similarly, the ripple has its own payment network that is referred to as XRP, although even the most avid of ripple advocates simply call it “ripple.”

Ripple is also underpinned by a larger Blockchain network, which consists of several technological processes that ensure that all transactions are recorded securely online. This underlying Blockchain network is widely considered to be the future of payment systems.

However, this is where most similarities between the two end. Ripple was established in 2012, but initially, it was not designed to act as a form payment. Instead, the network was created to verify and record assets, including its own virtual currency, XRP.

Bitcoin was designed to be a decentralized peer-to-peer monetary system, where community members gave their own computer processing powers to verify and create new blocks and mine new Bitcoin, and as a reward received Bitcoin proportional to their efforts.

In contrast, the ripple was established with a ready limited amount of 99 billion XRP ready for distribution which could be either traded or used as a means to navigate between other assets which would allow users to evade transactions fees.

Quicker than Bitcoin

The team behind ripple have previously stated that their network has several advantages over the bitcoin core network. Most significantly is that the ripple network offers much quicker and cheaper transactions. The average transaction conduct on the ripple network takes about 3 seconds and costs one-millionth of XRP.

In addition, bitcoin has lost utility due to its exorbitant transaction fees and times. However, the ripple network has encouraged interesting partnerships with traditional financial institutions such as UBS, American Express, and Santander as the ripple network has the potential to be used practically in foreign exchange situations.

Bitcoin, Ripple and EOS price prediction: BTC/USD $10,800 level is the key

Global Stock Markets

Bitcoin toying with dangerous levels as purchases don't appear. EOS in a similar position, while Ripple paves the way for them.

BTC/USD lacks room and must take a decision. BTC/USD 240 min

The current standings in the crypto board demand the highest attention and clear thinking. In a technical analysis, maintaining its validity until the price says otherwise is as important as reconsidering the situation and assuming a new analysis that may contradict our previous beliefs. Lacking the ability to reassess in time is the fastest way to the abyss.

Right now, the BTC/USD bullish prediction is still valid, especially taking into account the unquestionable upside long-term trend and the apparent normalcy of the current retreatment from all-time highs. Nonetheless, we must be aware that the support levels are really close to the current price. A closing below $10,800, just a few points below the current price, would force us to reassess the scenario.

The MACD is extremely flat and in the equilibrium zone. The key insight is a lack of advantage from any side. No deviations, no extrema: dead calm.

The Directional Movement Index delivers juicier information. Purchases have decreased during the last bearish term as much as sales have increased. The downward trend keeps accelerating, and given the small room in the current geometric structure, a break à la Ripple must be laid on the table.

Ripple, lacking the force to leave the support behind, keeps moving laterally

XRP/USD 240 min

In the past days, Ripple has been in the same position the BTC/USD is today. Keeping a slightly upside trendline, it has broken the triangular structure to enter an expansive environment that, given its narrowness, is very unlikely to provide any tranquility to buyers. The chances that Bitcoin follows the same route as Ripple are quite high.

Ripple's MACD is, as Bitcoin's, extremely flat and thus giving no insights about the trending projections. In this case, the news is that there isn't news.

The Directional Movement Index shows a more advanced pattern than Bitcoin's. The purchases have risen together with the extension movement as sales have decreased.

The situation is tricky, since it should be solved without any volatility increase. At the current levels, the supports would not resist higher price ranges.

EOS on watch. Accelerates its decrease and approaches the support with no brakes: EOS/USD 240 min

EOS is in a fragile position. Although there's still some room until it reaches the trendline support, its downside move keeps accelerating and the sales have increased a considerable amount.

The MACD is moving in the negative zone, with a decreasing continuity profile that is set to be valid in the short term.

The Directional Movement Index shows the sales increasing significantly, as purchases decrease and the decreasing trend accelerates. The projection is threatening the price development in the next sessions. It is very likely that the price break the support, something that we have already seen in EOS.

The situation is still of uneasy calm, with all the crypto board in limiting positions, very close to supports and casting doubts on the bullish perspectives.These are kind of situations, in which very few traders are brave enough to buy, conceal some of the best opportunities. However, we must take into account that there are chances of closing the position in losses. Only by keeping this in mind we can avoid being caught up without control of our position.

Cryptocurrencies extend the bounce, Bitcoin jumps 9%, Ethereum up 11%

Global Stock Markets

Bitcoin, the world’s most traded virtual currency, is seen building on its last two days of rebound from $ 9900 levels, as markets continue to hold the interest in the digital currency and look to buy the dips, despite the concerns over the Asian regulatory clampdown. 

As of writing, the spot jumps nearly 9% to $ 11,545, having hit the highest levels in three days at $ 11,723.

Despite the solid rebound, the spot still remains confined within the $ 3000 tight range, as markets believe the bulls are gathering pace for further upside.

According to Omkar Goldbole, Crypto Analyst at CoinDesk, persistent demand around the $10,000 mark appears to have not only neutralized the immediate bearish outlook on bitcoin but also hints the cryptocurrency could be building a base for an eventual move higher.

The two-way price action witnessed in the last 24 hours is indicative of indecision in the marketplace and a decisive move (in either direction) would likely set the tone for the market.

That said, the price chart analysis today puts the odds of a decisive move higher above 50 percent, Omkar added.

Meanwhile, the latest uptick in prices is seen after Florida-based firm Weiss Ratings released a ratings assessment of cryptocurrencies, assigning letter grades to them, yesterday.


Bitcoin received a C+ grade and Ethereum, the second most valuable cryptocurrency, received a B. The firm noted that Bitcoin has excellent security and "widespread adoption."

Elsewhere, Dan Ciotoli from Bespoke Investment Group told CNBC a day before that Bitcoin is likely to reach $20,000 and $30,000 by the end of 2018 for the cryptocurrency, adding that, “The driver that I think is going to bring bitcoin up in 2018 is bitcoin-denominated commerce.”

All of the most-traded cryptocurrencies advanced further, with Ethereum up 11.43% at $ 1090, Ripple rises 2% while Bitcoin cash rallies 5.50%, according to the CoinMarketCap data.

Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market cap has risen to $ 568 billion, with Bitcoin’s market cap heading back towards the $ 200 billion figure.

Ripple Good Company Bad Crypto - Part II

FM Wealth Management News Letter

We cannot see how Ripple is going to get around this due to the fact that there is no official documentation.

 An option would be if Ripple themselves provided XRP liquidity at a set price away from the exchanges.

We have also read discussions proposing the use of market makers to provide liquidity.  This option raises questions in itself. There would need to be a global network of liquidity providers, which currently does not exist, who hold large amounts of XRP and would accept large amounts of XRP at a seconds notice.

These market makers would find it very hard to keep hedge the risk or a flat book and XRP volatility could cripple them in minutes. Consider, as we write, XRP is down 27% today.

Another problem is the lack of xRapid users. As of January 11, 2018 there was only one partnership, with a Mexican company, Cualixx. On January 11th Ripple announced MoneyGram as a partner.

While encouraging news, this is more of a test than a sign of mass adoption:
MoneyGram will pilot the use of XRP; the native digital asset of the XRP Ledger, in payment flows through XRapid…

MoneyGram is the second largest money transfer company in the world, this strategic partnership will allow them to understand how Block-Chain technology and XRP can improve consumer experience and the efficiency of their global treasury operations.

The details of the deal are sketchy at best and we wouldwould love to know more. It is clear that Moneygram sees potential in xRapid.

If they see the potential so clearly then why commit to only a pilot project and why are so few companies using it? And most importantly, why  have the hundred or so companies and major banks decided to stick with XCurrent’s the higher fees when they could adopt the XRP Token?
To us there seems to be more questions than answers. But there is one fact we are left with XRP’s use in global money transfers, right now is tiny.

Your Take Away
There are 100 billion XRP tokens in circulation. Making them worth about US$104 billion, which really meaningless if you consider that their value is based on what people are prepared to buy and sell at.

Ripple is transforming the way money is transferred and the price of XRP has rallied as the Ripple story has progressed even though XRP and Ripple are not the same thing. Owning XRP is not an investment in Ripple.

It is a speculative bet on mass adoption of Ripple’s XRapid system. Right now there is still very little information on this system and a good chance that it could completely fail or be replaced by an alternate crypto-currency. If this were to happen, Ripple the company would continue to thrive and likely go from strength to strength, but XRP would be practically worthless.

Ripple Good Company Bad Crypto - Part I

FM Wealth Management News Letter

For the last few months we have had a barrage of comments and questions regarding the Crypto Currency phenomenon.  Since the beginning of the year many have turned their attention to Ripple (XRP).  We have seen the articles by other analysts and we simply don’t agree.

Before we get started, we want to make sure that you completely understand that this Newsletter is not focusing Ripple the company. As a company Ripple has developed innovative solutions for the transfer of money and has signed deals with many major banks. We believe that RippleNet is likely become a replacement for the SWIFT payment system, which is over 40 years old, slow, and expensive in comparison.

In this Newsletter we will be talking about the Ripple token (XRP) which we will argue has practically no function at this moment, apart from letting speculators bet on Ripple’s success (which is making Ripple’s creators very rich).

In the Beginning
At its inception Ripple created 100 billion XRP tokens of which 20 percent were retained by the creators, and the rest was retained by Ripple labs to use (55 billionn tokens are held in escrow) and distribute to market makers in order to provide liquidity.

The mistake that investors are makind is that XRP is related to equity shares, but beware the tokens themselves do not give holders any rights to ownership. In addition to that, the Ripple Token is barely used in any of Ripple’s systems. So therefore there is a risk that XRP could be completely useless;
So we want you to consider that Ripple the company could actually continue successfully even if all the tokens were taken out of circulation and “destroyed”.

Realistically we don’t believe that’s not going to happen. The continued increase of XRP has made the creators very wealthy and we must admit that they have played their game beautifully. They are currently sitting on billions of dollars worth of  a potentially useless token and at the same time earning from Ripple’s revenue streams (which is not reliant on XRP). The cherry on the cake of course is that they are not regulated by the SEC, and can be as opaque with the public as they see fit.

Ripple Payment Systems
Currently Ripple has three main products, only one of which uses XRP the token. This is a quick run down, with quotes from the Ripple site itself.

XCurrent is Ripple’s enterprise software solution and is the backbone of Ripple’s business.  This software or Block-Chain essentially enables banks to instantly make and settle cross-border payments with end-to-end tracking.  American Express and Santander Bank recently announced they would use this system for Cross-Border Business-to-Business Payments. XCurrent has been so successful that it has attracted the interest and support of big banks to the point where over a hundred members are now signed up, but of course XRP is not required or used in this system.

XVia is basically a payment interface for payment providers, corporations, and banks who want to send payments across various networks using a standard interface. The system uses a simple API that requires no software installation and enables users to seamlessly send payments globally with transparency on the payment status and with other information, like invoices, attached.  Here again the Token is not needed or used.

XRapid is for payment providers and other financial institutions who want to minimize liquidity costs while improving their customer experience and yes this system uses XRP tokens. Due to the fact that payments into emerging markets often require pre-funded local currency accounts around the world, liquidity costs are high. This system dramatically lowers the capital requirements for liquidity.
The way it works is that the token acts as a bridge between different fiat currencies and so in theory cheaper than currently available systems and even the xCurrent system as it could eliminate the need for Nostro accounts.

For example I send money from the US to Mexico, a payment provider using XRapid would convert US dollars to XRP over a US exchange, send the XRP to a Mexican exchange through RippleNet, then convert to Mexican Pesos to complete the transaction. All of this would take place in seconds.

So Where is the Problem
Let’s start with the fact that there are many unanswered questions while at the same time very little information is out there on the mechanics.  Unlike the detailed twenty pages dedicated to the processes involved in XCurrent, XRapid has very little info on the Ripple website; it simply links to the page below with a blurb about liquidity.

Cryptocurrency Markets Aren't All the Same

Global Stock Markets

Different flavors of digital money reflect emerging bets on promising applications. It's not just mindless speculation anymore. 

There's a compelling reason to consider what's going on with cryptocurrencies a purely speculative boom-and-bust roller-coaster: Over a three-month period, the prices of all the top coins and tokens are rather strongly correlated, going up and down in unison. What does that make them if not the 21st-century incarnation of tulip bulbs?

It's not so simple, though. In the last 30 days, which include a spectacular decline in the dollar price of Bitcoin, the correlations haven't been so reliable. In some cases, they appear to have broken down. I don't think that's an accident. Apart from relatively ignorant speculators, the cryptocurrency-trading community includes people who are genuinely interested in various applications of the blockchain technology and who are making informed bets on its particular flavors.

On calculating the correlations of the price of Bitcoin with the prices of the next 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, they turned out to be the strongest, both over three months and over 30 days, in the case of three "altcoins" — IOTA, Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash. 

The latter two are Bitcoin "forks" — offshoots of the original currency meant roughly for the same purposes: payments and storing value. Both were meant to reduce Bitcoin's considerable friction (long processing times and high processing fees) and enable smaller, everyday transactions more efficiently. IOTA is something of a different beast: Its developers bill it as intended specifically for the internet of things, a medium for fee-free machine-to-machine payments. It's a kind of Bitcoin for robots, so essentially still a variation of the original idea.

There are two other broad categories of cryptocurrency among the biggest "altcoins": Those launched by platforms designed for "smart contracts" and initial coin offerings (Ethereum, NEO, NEM, EOS), and those "minted" by projects working on blockchain-based transaction processing for the finance industry (Ripple, Cardano). Stellar, the nonprofit project whose cryptocurrency is called the Lumen, falls into both these categories.

Over the last 30 days, the currencies launched by Ethereum competitors have showed the strongest price correlations with Ether, Ethereum's currency. And they haven't been moving in unison with Bitcoin.

The cryptocurrency market is younger than the rapidly evolving technology itself, and the high volatility has lured a lot of oblivious gamblers. They have whipped up clouds of froth. It makes sense, however, to look beyond that.

One can be skeptical, like my colleagues on the Bloomberg View editorial board, that crypto — decentralized or harnessed by central banks — is the future of money. In that case, it makes sense to stay away from Bitcoin, Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash. But that doesn't rule out believing in other applications of the technology.

For example, if one holds that initial coin offerings are a sound way to attract investment and that the blockchain is good for registering property rights and storing contracts, then Ethereum and its competitors are worth watching and perhaps backing. Deciding which ones depends on whose technology or market one likes best: There are different arguments, for example, in favor of China-based NEO and for EOS, with its focus on fast processing.

For a believer in the blockchain as the ultimate replacement for the current money transfer infrastructure such as the Swift system, Ripple's and Cardano's digital currencies make sense. But these investments may be particularly risky, since it's not quite clear whether the currencies will ever gain broad acceptance as part of their creators' increasingly popular money-moving solutions.

After a while, any market craze gets boring and discerning investors replace speculators. It happened to dot-coms in the early 2000s, and it's starting to happen to cryptocurrencies in 2018. Eventually, some blockchain applications will turn out to be hot, others not — and some investors who buy and hold, as opposed to speculators, will make money as a satisfying result of smart bets.

Regulators and Crypto Currency an Uneasy Relationship

FM Wealth Management New Letters

We are getting many clients and readers asking about Bitcoin almost on a daily basis. Bitcoin (COIN) (GBTC) has had a mixed start to the year.  Let’s Look at some of the reasons why.

South Korea
The price had fallen 19% from last weekends high, because of the news that South Korean regulators are cracking down

In a joint operation by the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) and he Financial Services Commission (FSC) they announced that they are investigating six banks. In a press conference, FSC Chairman Choi Jong-ku told reporters that no wrongdoing is suspected, and the inspection simply aims to clarify if the banks are adhering to anti-money laundering rules and using real names for accounts.

The Korean regulator tightened regulations and anonymous crypto currency accounts were banned.
“Crypto currency is currently unable to function as a form of payment and it is being used for illegal purposes like money laundering, scams and fraudulent investor operations,” said the PSC Chairman.
All the banks provide virtual currency accounts to clients who handle crypto currencies.  The new legislation will allow regulators to shut down virtual coin exchanges. This is potentially serious the news that came out of South Korea overnight “will be deepening cooperation with agencies from China and Japan in curbing speculative transactions”. Should sentiment catch on in Japan, Bitcoin volume will really take a hit, but we see no signs that Japan will follow suit.  Japan at the moment seems to be going in the other direction. Many Bitcoin exchanges are officially recognized and it has been made legal tender.

India Straddling the Line
In India the government struggles to find the right approach to a crypto currency mania it is obviously uncomfortable with.
At the end of November Finance minister Arun Jaitley said, “The government’s position is clear, we don’t recognize this as legal currency.”
On 29th December, the Ministry of Finance warned investors that virtual currencies might be a Ponzi scheme and they warned of a clampdown on exchanges:
Furthermore, the Government nor any other regulator in India has given license to any agency to work as exchange or any other kind of intermediary for any Virtual Currency.  Anyone dealing in Virtual Currencies must consider these facts and beware of the risks involved in dealing in them.
Last weekend, one of India’s largest crypto coin exchanges, Koinex, had its withdrawals and deposits frozen only stating that “a tussle between our payment service partner and their bank has caused an indefinite delay in the settlement of a large portion of deposits to Koinex in the past 2 weeks”.
Coindelta has had similar issues.
This could spell the beginning of the end for these exchanges, and for crypto trading in India, which will likely migrate somewhere more receptive. As Quartz India pointed out earlier today:
“Regulators are following the same method used by China, where they haven’t explicitly banned Bitcoin, but made the regulatory environment around it so difficult by cracking down on other things that it is no longer a conducive environment for H

How About the US
Regulators in the US have done very little to stand in the way of crypto currencies despite the formation of a “Cyber Unit” and an increasing number of reminders and warnings. The latest halfhearted warning came on the 4th January from the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA), which also produced this animation to help investors.
It’s all been said before by the SEC (which soon released their own statement to commend NASAA’s statement) and there was almost no insight into how or if regulators were likely to get more involved. In fact, the only real reference to regulation:
“A NASAA survey of state and provincial securities regulators shows 94 percent believe there is a “high risk of fraud” involving crypto currencies”. Regulators were also unanimous in their view that in order to provide greater investor protection more regulation is needed for crypto currency.
It’s a far cry from what is happening in China, India and South Korea but if the SEC was serious about a clamp down, these countries illustrate how it could be done. It is clear to us that there is no imminent risk. Perhaps the SEC realizes and is afraid that crypto trading would simply migrate out of the United States if they got too heavy-handed too quickly. We should expect warnings from the SEC to get much more serious and explicit before they consider taking any action.

Your Take Away
Crypto currency trading in India and South Korea is becoming increasingly risky as regulators put exchanges and banks under pressure. This could put off would-be investors, but is unlikely to do much damage to crypto currency prices as people can still buy and sell elsewhere.
In the United States, the SEC and other regulators continue to issue reminders of the risks, but have taken very little action. The SEC’s Cyber Unit has halted two small ICOs since October and fined an investment firm in California to the tune of US400,000,000.00. At this point it will be worth monitoring if and how the communication changes throughout 2018 as it may warn would be investors of future actions.

Ethereum Continues to Rise in Shaky Market

Global Stock Markets

The cryptocurrency markets made a bearish pivot on Wednesday, plunging nine of the 10 largest cryptocurrencies into negative territory. 

The ripple price bore the brunt of the blow and fell 20 percent to sink below the $2 mark, but the damage was not isolated to XRP.

Ethereum, meanwhile, continued to advance toward record highs in spite of the poor performance of the wider markets.

Altogether, the combined value of all cryptocurrencies shed more than $28 billion, a four percent decline that reduced the cryptocurrency market cap to $700.3 billion.

The bitcoin price posted yet another disappointing return following its weekend surge to $17,252, declining six percent to $13,789 on cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex.

At present, bitcoin’s global average is holding just above $14,000, which translates into a market cap of $235.4 billion.

The ethereum price continued its nearly weeklong trend of posting moderate increases as the wider markets tumble, and the second largest cryptocurrency briefly surpassed the $1,400 mark on several major exchanges.

At present, ethereum is trading at $1,281 on Bitfinex, which constitutes a daily gain of six percent and places ethereum’s market cap at $125.6 billion.

Ripple’s XRP, however, was not so lucky. The ripple price plunged by 20 percent on Wednesday, which was worst among top 10-cryptocurrencies.

On Bittrex, the ripple price careened to a present value of $1.89, which was equivalent to its global average (excluding South Korea). Ripple now has a market cap of just $73.3 billion, placing it more than $50 billion behind ethereum in the race to achieve the second largest cryptocurrency valuation.

Although ripple’s 20 percent decline was most severe among top-tier coins, its poor performance was far from an isolated concurrence.

Apart from ethereum, every top 10-cryptocurrency returned a single-day decline, and several saw their prices fall by double-digit percentages.

Ethereum Price Achieves New All-Time High at $1,410, Market Shifts From Ripple to Ether

Global Stock Markets

Ethereum (Ether) has solidified its position as the second most valuable cryptocurrency in the market as it overtook Ripple (XRP) by a staggering $60 billion within a five-day period.

Ether Benefits From Ripple’s Downfall
Since January 4, the market valuation of Ripple decreased from $148 billion to $73 billion, falling by nearly 2-fold in a single week. On the contrary, the market valuation of Ethereum surged from $85 billion to $135 billion, recording yet another 15 percent increase in value today, on January 10.

The recent surge in the price of Ethereum can be largely attributed to the sell-off of XRP, which was likely triggered by the market’s concerns over the sudden spike in the market valuation of Ripple. 

The harsh criticism of Ripple by analysts such as ConsenSys entrepreneur-in-residence Ryan Selkis could also have led to the decline in confidence towards Ripple.

On December 29, Selkis noted that the majority of Ripple’s partner banks are not actually utilizing the Ripple network to process billions of dollars on a regular basis. 

Given that the transaction volume of Ripple and its network of banks can be only two factors that could possibly justify its market cap, the market’s interest in Ripple decreased in the short-term.

Ethereum’s Market Cap Can be Justified

Ethereum remains as one of the few blockchain networks that has a justifiable market valuation. Decentralized applications building on top of Ethereum such as CryptoKitties, 0x, EtherDelta, Status, and OmiseGo have obtained a large user base of actual users that process hundreds of thousands of transactions on a daily basis.


In the short-term, it is likely that the upward price trend of Ether will continue, as decentralized applications on the network perform well.

Ethereum Bursts Past $1,300! With a MarketCap of Almost $127 Billion

Australian Stock Markets

Ethereum has cemented itself back firmly as the second largest cryptocurrency in the world.

It has been in second spot according to CoinMarketCap ever since the website took the controversial decision to exclude the three Korean exchanges from the averages “due to the extreme divergence in prices from the rest of the world and limited arbitrage opportunity.”

Cryptocurrencies generally traded at higher values on the Korean exchanges compared to other exchanges in the USA and around the world. Arguably, this made the prices appear more realistic for English-speaking currency traders, however it affected the market capitalisations of those currencies.

Therefore, Ethereum was catapulted back into second place to replace Ripple. It is the only major cryptocurrency to register any gains over the last day, gaining over 13%.

It remains to be seen which cryptocurrency will eventually be the dominant currency, as Bitcoin is regarded as having inferior technology to some of the new options on the market.


While much of the crypto-market has seen a degression over the past few days, Ethereum has stood strong throughout the bleeding.

On January 4th, Ethereum surpassed the $1,000 threshold for the first time ever. It struggled to maintain above the mark until January 7th when Ethereum shot to over $1,150. Today Ethereum saw gains of over 13% and now sits at roughly $1,310.00

So far Ethereum has had a great start in 2018. It will be interesting to see how far this can go. I've seen price predictions all over the board.

Some think it can reach up to $8,000 by the end of the year. Although the ETH price continues to rally, Ethereum is still facing scaling obstacles that must be dealt with in the near future.

Ethereum processed 1,254,004 transactions in the last 24 hours, the most out of any cryptocurrency. Unfortunately, it is also using over 100% of it's network capacity with over 37K unconfirmed transactions waiting in queue.

On the contrary, the STEEM network proccesed 987,532 transactions and did not even break the 1% network capacity mark.

Ripple Surpasses Ethereum to Become Second Most Valuable Cryptocurrency after Bitcoin

Global Stock Markets

Ripple, a cryptocurrency first established in 2012 has surpassed Ethereum to become the second most valuable cryptocurrency after bitcoin.

Ripple's market cap rose more than 50% on Friday, to a record $85bn. Its market value continued to climb over the weekend, peaking at over $100bn.

Ripple’s surge knocked Ethereum into third place after bitcoin, with a market cap of $72bn.
Bitcoin’s market cap is roughly $220bn.

Ripple rose in value by more than 19,600% over the course of 2017. It began the year trading at around $0.006 and ended at $1.97.

Ripple’s gains in 2017 outstripped the gains of Ethereum and bitcoin, which rose by roughly 9,000% and 1,400%, respectively.

Take Advantage of the New Cryptocurrency Economy - HODL! 

Yes, you read that right, hodling. This is the practice of holding on to a long-term investment without giving in to the urge to sell, it is misspelled deliberately for dramatic effect to mimic an investor frantically trying to type the word “HOLD!”

If you plan to join the legion of cryptocurrency "hodlers", the stepping stone should probably be the "Blue Chip" of cryptocurrencies, which is the Bitcoin of course - With a market cap far exceeding any other cryptocurrency, Bitcoin Hodling is the way to go.

Many cryptocurrency investors claim that they have made more money from holding onto an investment long term instead of trading. It might be best for everyone to just HODL the cryptocurrency, and only trade if you have previous experience, trading is not for noobs.

Bitcoin, Ethereum and other major cryptocurrencies slip while Ripple briefly surges to third place

European Stock Markets

Ripple briefly retook its place as the third-largest cryptocurrency, with a market value of $47 billion, a milestone it reached earlier this month. 

The digital currency reached the key psychological $1 mark for the first time Thursday, and hit an all-time high of $1.38 that same day. Ripple said Thursday that its digital token was now available on more than 50 exchanges around the world.

 

Alternative digital currency Ripple made some significant gains Friday, despite the wider market for cryptocurrencies seeing a sharp pullback.

Also known as XRP, it soared to $1.24 at 1:14 a.m. ET, and was up 25 percent over a period of 24 hours, according to data from industry website Coinmarketcap. The digital currency reached the key psychological $1 mark for the first time Thursday, and hit an all-time high of $1.38 that same day.

It briefly retook its place as the third-largest cryptocurrency, with a market value of $47 billion, a milestone it reached earlier this month. Ripple pared its gains later Friday morning. Its market capitalization fell bellow that of bitcoin cash, as XRP's price slid to 95 cents by 3:25 a.m. ET.

Interest in alternative cryptocurrencies — known as altcoins — tends to increase when there is too much activity congesting the blockchain network underpinning bitcoin, according to experts. But major altcoins including Ethereum, bitcoin cash and litecoin were also seen trading lower Friday.

Bitcoin cash was surrounded in controversy earlier this week after cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase unveiled support on its service for buying and selling the bitcoin rival. Some accused the venue of insider trading with bitcoin cash trading higher hours before the service launched its new feature.

Coinbase said it is currently investigating these claims, and would "not hesitate" to fire employees if it finds they violated its trading policy.

Meanwhile, litecoin's price fell after its creator Charlie Lee said he had sold and donated all of his holdings in the cryptocurrency. Lee said his sold stake was a "small percentage" of daily volume on the cryptocurrency exchange GDAX and that it "did not crash the market."