Here is what you need to know
Markets:
Rampage has been the order of the day for three days in a row across the cryptocurrency market. Major digital assets such as Bitcoin, Ripple, and Ethereum have suffered greatly at the hand of the bears. The entire market is under duress as cryptocurrencies face the worst selloff since the rally that started in January.
BTC/USD is dealing with increased selling activity. A drop under $9,500 support resulted in a stronger bearish grip. Bitcoin price plummeted to levels close to $9.000. However, an intraday low has been formed at $9,093. The largest crypto is valued at $9,146 while the trend remains bearish and the volatility levels heightened.
ETH/USD is down 3% on Wednesday after correcting from $246.71 (intraday high) to $239.50 (market value). Support at $250 failed to rise to the occasion leaving the bears to their own devices. Ethereum has hit lows of $235.52; it made a shallow recovery but the upside is limited at $240 and $250 respectively.
XRP/USD is trading 3.75% lower on the day after bears pushed the price lower from $0.2522 (opening value) to $0.2428 (market value). The high volatility and a strong bearish trend suggest that losses may still be imminent.
Top 100 cryptocurrencies worst performers
All cryptocurrencies among the top 100 are in losses. However, a number are posting extreme declines such as Bitcoin SV down 12.91%, Tezos down 11.49%, Tron down 10.84%, Dash down 10.62%, NEO down 10.17%, Cosmos down 10.98% and NEM down 12.01%.
Chart of the day
BCH/USD 1-hour chart (Price moving closer to the lower trendline of a falling wedge pattern. Further dip is likely to find support leading to a breakout above the wedge pattern in the short-term).
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Markets
MoneyGram relationship with Ripple balloons
MoneyGram, a global payments provider is expanding the use of both Ripple and XRP for its international money transfers. In a recent earnings call, CEO Alex Holmes said that the firm plans to launch more payment corridors utilizing Ripple’s RippleNet to cater to account-to-account transfers.
“Our progress on the Ripple partnership has been instrumental in helping us lead the evolution of digital P2P payments… Today, our trading volume continues to grow and we’re partnering to expand the service to more corridors.
I’m also excited to announce that we are working to integrate RippleNet for account-to-account transfers in 2020. This new integration will further accelerate our progress in accomplishing our vision of real-time global settlements.”
Regulation
The Bank of Canada (BoC) is yet to see any viable reasons as to why it should issue a central bank-backed digital currency (CBDC). According to the Deputy Governor, Timothy Lane, there is no threat to cash at the moment. However, if a competitor like Facebook’s Libra becomes successful then such digital currency considerations could be made. Despite taking part in CBDC concept study and research the bank concludes that:
There is not a compelling case to issue a CBDC at this time. Canadians will continue to be well-served by the existing payment ecosystem, provided it is modernized and remains fit for purpose.
In Japan, three significant economic watchdogs have come together in support of CBDC. The Finance Ministry, the Financial Services Agency, and the Bank of Japan are said to have participated in discussions that explore the possibilities of digital currencies and related economic impact. The three have also decided to focus on advanced research and analysis regarding the technological aspect of digital currency initiative. Haruhiko Kuroda, Bank of Japan governor was quoted in a local news daily saying:
We are advancing research and study from the technical and legal perspectives so that we will be able to move in an appropriate way when there is a growing need.
Industry
Coinbase has announced that its Coinbase Wallet has started support for Ethereum Name Service (ENS). The support will see users send ETH payments to a human-readable ETH address format. Users will feel as though they are sending crypto to an email address, unlike the usual hexadecimal addresses. It is important to note that the users must be registered under the ENS to utilize the new service.
Quote of the day
Economically, if you want to be viable as a community, you have to have some sort of technological expansion to ensure your survival. I think this is one way to do it, not just from a price standpoint of buying Bitcoin but also, from the technological standpoint, building the products we’ll use in the future.
Isaiah Jackson, author of “Bitcoin and Black America.”
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