Tag: #XRP

Ripple Acquires Swiss-based Metaco, Sets Sights on $10T Institutional Crypto Custody Market

by Blockchain News

Ripple, the global provider of blockchain-based payment systems, has announced its acquisition of Metaco, a Swiss provider of digital asset custody and tokenization technology, according to a press release from Ripple’s official website.

This strategic move is in response to the predicted growth of the institutional crypto custody market, anticipated to reach an impressive $10T by 2030, and Ripple’s recognition of the growing demand for enterprise crypto services.

Ripple’s CEO, Brad Garlinghouse, referred to the acquisition as a “monumental” move that will significantly augment the company’s growing product suite and extend its global footprint. Ripple and Metaco share a common objective: offering secure enterprise-grade solutions to top-tier institutional clients. The acquisition is set to provide Ripple’s customers with the technology needed to issue, custody, and settle any kind of tokenized asset, advancing its enterprise offerings.

Established for over a decade, Ripple has consistently addressed the multi-trillion-dollar challenges in the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry. The company’s expansion, from cross-border payments and Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) to liquidity management and tokenization, demonstrates its continuous innovation and growth. The integration of Metaco’s solutions, aimed at issuing and settling tokenized assets, is the next evolution in Ripple’s product suite.

Metaco’s offering, Harmonize™, provides a secure, versatile custody infrastructure for institutions looking to expand into the crypto economy. Its solutions have been widely accepted by the world’s largest custodians, top-tier banks, financial institutions, and corporations. The technology is currently available in several jurisdictions, including Switzerland, Germany, Turkey, France, the UK, the US, Singapore, Australia, Hong Kong, and the Philippines, among others.

Adrien Treccani, Founder and CEO at Metaco, expressed his enthusiasm about the partnership with Ripple, emphasizing that the collaboration would enable Metaco to leverage Ripple’s scale and market strength to achieve its goals more quickly.

The institutional interest in crypto custody is apparent, with several established financial institutions expressing their intent to enter this arena. For instance, BNY Mellon is currently offering digital asset custody services to US asset managers, while NASDAQ recently announced its plan to launch crypto custody services for Bitcoin and Ethereum by the end of Q2 2023.

The acquisition signals a bright future for crypto custody as more reputable financial institutions express their interest in the market. Ripple is poised to leverage this opportunity alongside Metaco to offer innovative services to customers, thereby strengthening its position as a leader in the realm of enterprise crypto solutions.

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YouTuber’s Channel Hacked for XRP Scams

by Blockchain News

The rise of cryptocurrency has brought about a wave of new investors, eager to get in on the action and reap the rewards. Unfortunately, this has also created a new target for hackers and scammers looking to make a quick profit. One recent example of this is the hacking of the popular YouTube channel DidYouKnowGaming.

DidYouKnowGaming is a YouTuber with 2.4 million subscribers who creates content related to video game trivia and history. However, the channel was recently hacked by an anonymous bad actor, who used it to promote XRP cryptocurrency scams. The hacker changed the channel’s profile and cover images to Ripple’s logo, in an attempt to lend legitimacy to the scam.

Fortunately, YouTube was quick to intervene and prevent further damage. They prevented the XRP hackers from interacting with the channel’s subscribers and worked with DidYouKnowGaming to regain access to his channel. However, this incident is just one example of a growing trend of hackers targeting YouTube channels to promote scams.

One of the largest YouTube creators, Linus Tech Tips, also recently reported losing access to his channels. While the exploit used by the hackers to gain access to YouTube accounts remains a mystery, it is clear that the threat to crypto investors from such hacks is prominent.

The rise of deepfakes only adds to this threat. Deepfakes are fake impersonation videos generated by artificial intelligence (AI) tools, and they have become increasingly prevalent in recent years. Hackers often create deepfakes of celebrities and entrepreneurs to misguide crypto investors and trick them into investing in scams.

For example, hackers have created deepfakes of Tesla CEO Elon Musk in the past, causing confusion among investors who thought he was endorsing a particular cryptocurrency. Concerns about deepfakes escalated even further when Chinese tech giant Tencent launched a new deepfakes creation tool, allowing users to impersonate anyone for a fee.

Crypto investors across the world use YouTube to learn about and research the world of cryptocurrencies, blockchain, and Web3. However, as the number of hacks and scams on the platform increases, it is important for investors to remain vigilant and take steps to protect themselves.

While YouTube and other platforms are working to prevent hacks and scams, investors should be wary of any investment opportunities that seem too good to be true. They should also be careful about the information they consume on the platform and take the time to research any claims made in videos or comments.

In conclusion, the hacking of DidYouKnowGaming’s YouTube channel is just one example of a growing trend of hackers targeting YouTube creators to promote scams. The rise of deepfakes only adds to this threat, and investors should remain vigilant when researching and investing in cryptocurrencies.

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Ripple Launches Liquidity Hub to Bridge Crypto and Fiat

by Blockchain News

Fintech firm Ripple has announced the launch of its latest product, the Ripple liquidity hub, a solution for businesses to bridge the gap between crypto and fiat currencies. The service operates as a stand-alone solution in addition to Ripple’s popular cross-border payments service, on-demand liquidity (ODL). This makes it a global liquidity network offering its partners access to payout rails worldwide.

Ripple’s liquidity hub has been developed from an enterprise point of view to offer digital assets from various market makers, including crypto exchanges and over-the-counter trading desks. When an enterprise partner requires liquidity, it can source it from these large pools of deep liquidity, including United States dollars, Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Ethereum Classic (ETC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), and Litecoin (LTC).

Interestingly, the product launch finds no mention of XRP (XRP), the crypto token issued by Ripple. XRP has been central to most liquidity products and services the fintech firm offers, especially cross-border liquidity services. However, XRP was mentioned among digital assets in the company’s pilot phase.

The omission of XRP from its liquidity pairs could be attributed to the company’s ongoing court battle in the U.S. with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Ripple has been accused by the SEC of selling XRP as an unregistered security, and the company is currently fighting this claim in court.

Despite this, Ripple claims that its liquidity solution will considerably reduce the cost of operations on high-volume transactions. This is done by optimizing cryptocurrency pricing and liquidity across asset pairs. The liquidity hub eliminates the need to pre-finance capital positions to source liquidity or conduct transactions. The service reduces complicated multiplatform administration requirements by enabling organizations to access digital assets in a single place. Additionally, the service locks in optimum pricing for digital assets to protect companies from market instability and price swings.

Ripple has made a name for itself in the fintech world for offering various liquidity solutions and cross-border remittance services. Its popular ODL solution has onboarded several banks worldwide to provide cheap remittance services with the help of cryptocurrencies.

The Ripple liquidity hub is the latest offering from the company and marks its continued push to become a leader in the fintech industry. By providing businesses with access to deep liquidity pools across various digital assets, Ripple aims to make it easier for organizations to conduct high-volume transactions without incurring excessive costs. Although XRP is not mentioned in the product launch, it remains a central part of Ripple’s liquidity products and services.

In conclusion, Ripple’s liquidity hub is a step forward in bridging the gap between crypto and fiat currencies. The service offers businesses access to deep liquidity pools across a range of digital assets, reducing the cost of operations on high-volume transactions. With its ongoing court battle with the SEC, Ripple’s decision to omit XRP from its liquidity pairs is a strategic move to protect the company’s interests. Despite this, Ripple remains committed to providing businesses with innovative solutions that simplify cross-border remittance services and provide access to deep liquidity pools.

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XRP Not a Security According to Hogan

by Blockchain News

Jeremy Hogan, a lawyer at the legal firm Hogan & Hogan, has recently declared in a series of tweets that the digital asset known as XRP, which is owned by Ripple, is not a security since it does not meet the criteria for what is known as a “investment contract.” Hogan contends that the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has not shown that Ripple is in violation of either an implicit or explicit investment contract in its action against the company. This is despite the fact that XRP might be regarded a security according to the definition of an investment contract.

Hogan notes that the SEC contends that the purchase agreement is all that is necessary to demonstrate that XRP is a security; nevertheless, this argument differentiates the “investment” from the “contract.” Hogan adds that the SEC contends that the purchase agreement is all that is required to demonstrate that XRP is a security. According to Hogan, a simple purchase cannot be considered a “investment contract” since there is no duty for Ripple to do anything other than transfer the asset. This is because there is no further consideration involved in the transaction.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) initiated legal action against Ripple in December 2020, alleging that the company unlawfully marketed unregistered securities in the form of its XRP coin. Ripple has long contested this allegation, stating that the Howey test, which is used to assess whether or not a transaction qualifies as an investment contract, does not apply to XRP. This test is used to establish whether or not a transaction qualifies as an investment contract.

Hogan further contends that each of the “blue sky” instances, which the Howey case relied on for defining an investment contract, featured some type of a contract pertaining to the investment, and that this was the case regardless of whether the case was decided in favor of the plaintiff or the defendant. According to Hogan, the most important question is not whether Ripple utilized the money from the sale of XRP to support its business, but rather whether the SEC has established that there was either an implicit or explicit “contract” between Ripple and XRP buyers pertaining to their “investment.” Hogan is of the view that the SEC has not proven that there was such a contract. As far as Hogan is concerned, there was never any such deal.

How the SEC will react to Hogan’s claims is something that has not yet been determined. On the other hand, his research offers a fresh point of view on the current legal struggle that is taking place between Ripple and the SEC. In the event that XRP is not regarded as a security, this development may have substantial repercussions for the direction that the cryptocurrency market is headed in the future.

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SEC Loses Appeal in LBRY Vs. SEC

by Blockchain News

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has acknowledged publicly in the public record that the secondary market sale of LBRY Credits (LBC) tokens does not constitute the sale of a security. On January 30, an appeal hearing was held in the case LBRY vs. SEC. The settlement was reached at that hearing.

During the appeal hearing, Attorney John Deaton put an end to a key discussion, which many people hailed as a triumph for the whole cryptocurrency sector in its fight against the SEC’s overreach regulation by enforcement.

During the hearing that took place on November 7, 2022, the SEC was granted a summary judgement in its favour. The court’s decision characterised every sale of LBC tokens that took place over a period of six years as an investment contract, but it did not go into more detail about the particulars of each transaction. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had high hopes that it could progress its campaign to obtain credibility in the secondary market and bring it within its supervision at the same time. The Securities and Exchange Commission has requested that the judge of the district court in New Hampshire uphold the broad and vague injunction that prohibits the company’s sale.

Because he believed the injunction to be too wide and imprecise, Deaton, who was acting in the capacity of amicus curiae for tech journalist Naomi Brockwell, pushed for clarification about secondary market transactions for LBC. An amicus curiae is a person or organisation that is not a party to a legal case but is authorised to assist a court by providing information, expertise, or insight that is relevant to the issues that are being litigated in the case. This can be done in order to shed light on the circumstances surrounding the case.

A study written by commercial contract attorney Lewis Cohen that studied all security litigation filed in the United States since the SEC vs. W.J. Howey Co case was mentioned by Deaton. During the course of his investigation into security matters in the United States, Cohen came across not a single instance in which a judge admitted that the underlying asset was security.

Deaton was successful in arguing to the court that LBC’s transactions on the secondary market did not include securities. In an attempt to circumvent the need to provide clarity for LBC, the SEC submitted a request for an order that draws no distinctions between LBRY, the management of the firm, and its users. The court then addressed Amici as follows: “amicus, I’m going to make it plain that my order does not extend to secondary market sales.” The judge then turned to face Deaton.

The decision in the lawsuit provided a sense of comfort for many members of the cryptocurrency community, particularly owners of XRP. Ripple is now being sued by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on the selling of XRP tokens. The new judgement that shows the selling of LBC tokens on secondary markets does not constitute as securities may work in favour of Ripple in the protracted case that they are currently engaged in. According to a Twitter account that supports XRP, the judgement also classifies XRP as a non-security.

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Monica Long Named New President of Ripple

by Blockchain News

After serving as general manager for the company, Monica Long has been promoted to the position of president at Ripple. Long began her career with the company in 2013 as the director of communications. In 2018, she was promoted to the position of general manager of RippleNet, the company’s financial network, in addition to her previous role as general manager of RippleX, the blockchain development arm of the business.

Up until this point, the role of president of Ripple has been somewhat of a mystery, with the title having been assigned to both of the company’s co-founders, Brad Garlinghouse and Chris Larsen, at different points in time.

“The role entails maintaining a high level of scalability. We’ve been through many [crypto] winters, and despite this one, we just had a record-breaking year in terms of both our company and our consumer growth.

She went on to say that despite this atmosphere, “We are continuing to increase our workforce.”

When there were just ten people working for the firm, Long joined Ripple. She was the driving force behind the creation of the On-Demand Liquidity solution for the firm, which was released in 2018 and is referred to be “Ripple’s flagship product.” In the last year, Ripple has launched an additional service that is called LiquidityHub, and according to Long, the business will continue to build on this service. In the previous year, almost sixty percent of RippleNet’s payment volume was routed via ODL.

Regarding the RippleX side of things, Long said that an automated market maker specification will be put up for a vote by the validators this year.

Due to the current legal dispute between Ripple and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, Ripple is often mentioned in the media. Ripple and its co-founders, Garlinghouse and Larsen, have been charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of conducting an unregistered securities offering to the tune of $1.38 billion and selling XRP (XRP) to retail investors in the capacity of an unregistered security.

On January 18, Garlinghouse said to CNBC that the corporation anticipates receiving a ruling about the issue this year.

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XRP staking scam

by Blockchain News

The cryptocurrency community has raised flags about a new fraud targeting XRP (XRP) investors via a phoney staking scheme.

Online fraudsters are mimicking big cryptocurrency organisations like Ripple and Binance by constructing phoney websites and email imposters promising to provide staking services for XRP.

One of these websites has a blog post with the headline “XRP staking slated to debut January 2023 for retail customers,” in which users are invited to “stake” their XRP in exchange for returns on investment (ROI) that are implausibly high and range from 12 to 27 percent.

By claiming that a better return on investment (ROI) would be given to just the first 10,000 accounts, the fraudulent scam makes an effort to hasten the decision-making process of XRP investors.

The phoney website offers an accurate clone of Ripple’s website, ripple.com, by reproducing the actual website’s style and typefaces and connecting to some of Ripple’s earlier blog articles.

The impersonators also sought to add more credibility to their postings by including information on the significance of self-custody utilising major hardware wallets, such as Ledger or Trezor. This was done in an effort to make the posts seem more legitimate.

The fraudulent website has a large number of mirror domains, many of which finish in “.org.th” or “.com.ve,” and it is designed to defraud users of XRP from all over the globe.

Imposter letters purporting to be from Binance and claiming a return on investment (ROI) of up to 31% can be seen accompanying the fraudulent XRP staking website.

On January 21, a member of the industry who goes by the handle RipplePandaXRP came to Twitter to alert the XRP community of a fraud. ” Do not transmit your XRP to an unknown address, and always verify the address to determine if it is a legitimate site,” RipplePandaXRP said in a post on its website.

Having said that, the genuine Binance exchange does, in fact, include decentralised finance (DeFi) staking for XRP into its Binance Earn programme.

On the other hand, the XRP DeFi staking scheme that Binance offers only enables users to make up to 1.4% annually.

It is essential to keep in mind that XRP does not employ a proof-of-stake (PoS) method like other prominent proof-of-stake cryptocurrencies, such as Ether. As a result, XRP cannot be staked (ETH).

Instead, the processing of XRP transactions is dependent on a network of “unique nodes” that reach a consensus over which transactions may be executed inside the network.

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Top 3 Crypto Gainers as Market Sees Flat Recovery: XRP, QNT, and CSPR

by Blockchain News

The digital currency ecosystem is seeing a general flat growth over the past 24 hours, evidenced by the combined crypto market cap, which was up 0.25% to $945.82 billion. 

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The past week, as usual, has been filled with a lot of ups and downs for the top digital currencies, all of whom have managed to pare off some of the steep losses accrued in the trailing 7-day period. 

With bankruptcy rocking the crypto world and known companies losing their top executives, the upset in the industry is only climbing more. However, amidst all these, XRP, Quant (QNT), and Casper Network (CSPR) have stood out over the past week.

XRP (XRP)

Arguably one of the most resilient tokens since the start of the crypto winter, further compounded by the fact that it is at the centre of the legal battle between the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and its associated blockchain payments company, Ripple Labs Inc.

At its current price of $0.5403, XRP has seen a 16.98% growth over the past week, reiterating how much of a bullish run it has printed in that time frame per the chart below.

Quant (QNT)

Quant is consistently top-performing and is known to have featured in the previous Blockchain.News altcoins watchlist. Currently changing hands at $157.63, up 6.57% in the past 24 hours and by 17.20% over the past week, the token is notably one of the altcoins to watch for the coming week.

Quant is notably expanding its ecosystem and relevance by a large factor as a protocol to connect blockchain protocols on a global scale.

Casper Network (CSPR)

The Casper Network recently made it to the top 100 biggest cryptocurrencies list by market cap. Investors have taken their time to ascertain how revolutionary the protocol has been since its token sale in Q1 2021.

Branded as a functional, highly efficient, low-energy consuming layer 1 protocol, Casper adoption and token price growth took a new dimension this past week.

While its price is slightly below its weekly high, the current $0.03634 came by following a 24.94% growth over the past 7 days, the highest of the top 100 coins surveyed over the same timeframe.

Image source: Shutterstock

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Altcoin Watch: Top 3 Tokens to Watch This Week XRP, ALGO, and COMP

by Blockchain News

Less volatility was experienced in the digital currency ecosystem over the weekend, but a bearish sentiment is still the general outlook.

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The combined cryptocurrency market cap was still down 1.75% to $917.22 billion at the time of writing, a far cry from the $1 trillion benchmark that is used to judge the ecosystem’s moderate health.

With the general regressive pathway of major digital assets, here are some of the altcoins to watch this week.

XRP (XRP)

XRP’s growth is the biggest of the top 10 tokens in the past week, as it is up 32.47% to $0.4975 within the same timeframe. The XRP community has remained ever optimistic about the potential of its affiliated firm, Ripple Labs Inc, to win the long-protracted lawsuit with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The negative impacts of the lawsuit have significantly battered the digital currency, but the prospect of winning the case has made investors remain optimistic about its likely future price growth. Ripple and the SEC have asked to court to pass judgment on the case, creating an avenue for investors who trust the company will win to bag some of the coins.

This move is somewhat dangerous as the tables may turn the other way. However, a win can be massive and current buyers are choosing to focus on this.

Algorand (ALGO)

Algorand has been a steady blockchain builder in the broader crypto ecosystem, and with the partnership, it hit with FIFA for the upcoming World Cup, the protocol is billed to gain more global recognition. This recognition can drive up its adoption across the board and thus spell a good omen for the ALGO coin.

The coin is one of the best performers over the past week, up 34.32% to $0.3815, and is worth watching for short to learn term price gains.

Compound (COMP)

Compound is one of the most dominant Decentralized Finance (DeFi) protocols that has stood the test of time compared to related protocols. Its legacy, consistency, and innovative growth have made the COMP token more resilient.

COMP is currently changing hands at $61.84, up 25.65% over the past 7 days. With Ethereum’s transition to Proof-of-Stake (PoS) following the Merge, DeFi enthusiasts may consider Compound as a legacy platform to meet their lending needs.

Image source: Shutterstock

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DBS Offers 4 Crypto Trading for Premium Clients in Singapore

by Blockchain News

Singapore-based banking giant DBS announced Friday that it has launched crypto trading through its digibank, enabling accredited investors to trade four cryptocurrencies on its digital exchange.

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The launch of the crypto trading feature comes at a time when DBS wealth clients are increasingly choosing self-directed options, with 9 out of 10 equity transactions executed digitally currently.

By investing from a minimum investment of USD 500, accredited premium clients can trade four of the more established cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Ethereum (ETH), XRP on its digital exchange (DDEx).

Image 2_Clients can enjoy a full and consolidated view of their investments across traditional and alternative asset classes, all in one place.jpg

 

The largest bank in Singapore said “having their cryptocurrency holdings makes it easier for clients to stay on top of their investments across traditional and alternative asset classes.”

Senionr executive of the DBS, commented about the latest movement, and said this move would help their clients to grow and protect their wealth. Sim S. Lim, Group Executive, Consumer Banking and Wealth Management, DBS Bank, said:

“We believe in staying ahead of the curve and providing access to the solutions they seek. Broadening access to DDEx is yet another step in our efforts to provide sophisticated investors looking to dip their toes in cryptocurrencies with a seamless and secure way to do so.” 

DBS established digital exchange around two years ago and received a cryptocurrency license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) last year. Per the statement, crypto trading on DDEX was initially “limited to corporate and institutional investors, family offices, and clients of DBS Private Bank and DBS Treasures Private Client only,“

The latest service would also be available to accredited investors in its Treasures segment. DBS said around 100,000 of their clients in Singapore will be able to access the services offered by DBS’ digital asset ecosystem.

Image source: Shutterstock, DBS

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Bitcoin (BTC) $ 27,224.29 1.67%
Ethereum (ETH) $ 1,908.29 2.48%
Litecoin (LTC) $ 95.26 1.71%
Bitcoin Cash (BCH) $ 114.75 1.14%