Friday, July 17, 2020

Will Ripple (XRP) reach a new high in 2021 ?

With 2019 behind our backs, it’s only natural to wonder what 2020 will look like for the world’s most popular cryptocurrencies. In this article, we will focus on the future of Ripple’s XRP. If you’ve been following the price of XRP lately, you would know that 2019 wasn’t particularly a great year for the coin.

With 2019 behind our backs, it’s only natural to wonder what 2020 will look like for the world’s most popular cryptocurrencies. In this article, we will focus on the future of Ripple’s XRP.

If you’ve been following the price of XRP lately, you would know that 2019 wasn’t particularly a great year for the coin. Unlike Bitcoin — which ended the year on the green side — XRP started at a quote of $0.35 and finished slightly below $0.20. So… is it the right time to buy XRP?

In order to understand the current price of Ripple XRP and its price prediction, it’s vital to look at the underlying value of this particular coin, as well as its primary characteristics and features.

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What is Ripple?

First off, let’s start by speaking properly. Ripple isn’t the same as XRP. Ripple is a private company building a real-time payment, exchange and remittance network on top of a distributed ledger database, the XRP ledger.

Ripple was born in 2004 when Ryan Fugger sketched the first prototype of a decentralized payment system under the name RipplePay. In 2005, the system was initially launched with one goal: offering reliable payment solutions within a global network.

Jed McCaleb and Chris Larsen took over the company in 2012 and rebranded it as OpenCoin. From that moment, the project started to focus on developing a protocol to provide payment solutions for banks and major institutions. Three years later, the company returned to its original and current name, Ripple.

In 2019, Bank of America confirmed a collaboration with Ripple’s XRP Ledger to test the distributed ledger technology on cross-border payments.

A recent BoA report openly recognized the value of Ripple’s technology:

Bank of America isn’t the only financial institution testing out this technology. Spanish banking giant Santander also announced a remittance system to cover the busy US-Mexico powered by Ripple’s technology.

“At the other end of the spectrum, many Mexicans are sending I think $35, $36 billion every year from the US to Mexico. We are launching a fast, competitive remittances program initially just from the Santander branches to any bank in Mexico,” Santander Spokesperson Ana Botin told Bloomberg.

Santander is implementing Ripple as an alternative to the long-lived Swift system. Reports point out that over 300 banks and payment systems have started trialing Ripple’s xCurrent and On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) in 2019.

What is XRP?

Despite being only second to Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), many people still aren’t aware of XRP and its origin. Ripple’s ecosystem for instant, low-cost cross border transactions uses its token XRP to move funds across the world.

Ripple has issued 100 billion XRP tokens. While the company now insists that there will never be more XRP out there, there’s no technical impediment.

The price is clearly affected by the adoption of Ripple services by major institutions. Yet, it’s worth mentioning that XRP is totally independent of the Ripple network, meaning banks that want to use the XRP ledger for remittance services don’t actually need XRP to transfer dollars, euros, rubles, etc.

Pros & Cons of Ripple’s XRP

XRP was conceived as coin that smoothes financial transactions, not as an investment. In other words, it serves as a tool within a B2B network. The development of the Ripple network, however, does play an important role when it comes to XRP predictions.

Advantages of XRP

1. Ripple’s infrastructure

The XRP protocol is led by xRapid, which enables cheaper and faster solutions than its competitors. Also, Ripple’s solid protocol makes it a highly scalable product.

Ripple’s transaction speed stands at 1500 Transactions Per Second (TPS), which is way faster than Ethereum or Bitcoin.

2. Supported by big players

Who’s behind Bitcoin? Satoshi? Who’s Satoshi? You get the idea. In most cases, there are no companies behind cryptocurrencies, which can be either good or bad. For XRP, being the token of the Ripple ecosystem isn’t necessarily a bad thing at all.

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As previously outlined, big banks and payment systems are already trusting Ripple and its technology to run cross-border payments, remittances, etc. This rising trust on Ripple’s services positively impacts the token’s overall performance.

3. Low price, huge market cap

While Ripple’s XRP isn’t meant to be an investment vehicle, you can still put money on it. After all, it only costs a few cents (for now). The low price makes a perfect entry point for small and middle size investors that can’t afford to buy huge sums of Bitcoin or Ethereum.

Another thing to keep into account is XRP’s market capitalization. Ripple has showed less volatility than other mainstream cryptocurrencies, making a more resilient investment even on the worst days for trading digital assets.

Disadvantages of XRP

1. Slow adoption

Ripple’s XRP isn’t a new coin. It has been around for quite a while now. Yet, the adoption of Ripple services hasn’t been massive. The number of large financial institutions testing out Ripple services remains limited, but there’s no doubt it’s making its way in the industry.

Unquestionably, Ripple’s XRP would benefit massively if banks and other financial players start conducting payments in XRP. To turn that into a reality, more infrastructure, technological improvements and a far wider acceptance is required.

2. Regulatory framework

Okay, let’s be fair. This isn’t really a disadvantage of Ripple’s XRP. It’s something all cryptocurrencies have to (unfortunately) deal with nowadays. On the bright side, Ripple has faced numerous misconduct lawsuits over the years, and won every single one of them.

XRP Price Prediction 2020

The 2019 crypto market marked the end of the so-called “crypto winter”, and opened the doors to a slow recovery face for most cryptocurrencies, especially Bitcoin. However, Ripple’s XRP began at nearly $0.35 and declined consistently as the days passed by without notorious jumps except for the mid-year rally pushed by Satoshi’s currency.

With Bitcoin’s halving event scheduled in 2020, the market is expecting a recovery that will likely positively affect all coins, Ripple included. For the first quarter of 2020, volatility could be high, with plenty of ups and lows as market participants digest the big event.

Apart from Bitcoin’s performance, which could possibly attract more people onto the market, another factor that would play a major role in Ripple’s price dynamic is institutional interest.

Additional partnerships with big banks and financial institutions could push XRP to around $1.40-1.50 as it approaches the end of 2020.

To estimate the future price dynamic of XRP, we’ve compiled the opinions and predictions of renowned figures and publications in the cryptocurrency market:

#1 Roman Guelfi Ripple Price Prediction

Cryptocurrency expert Roman Guelfi has painted a promising prediction for XRP, emphasizing that the number of big projects involving XRP is rapidly increasing. He strongly believes in the correlation between the adoption of Ripple’s technology and price.

Moreover, Guelfi insisted on the fact that the increasing number of altcoins on the market can only positively impact XRP and other classics like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin.

#2 Ripple Coin News Ripple Prediction

One of the leading XRP news prediction sites estimates the price for 2020 will reach levels above $8 dollars, and find strong resistance around $10.

Again, the idea behind the growth of this cryptocurrency is mainly linked to new partnerships and the development of new technologies that enhance the already existing line of Ripple services.

#3 Investing Haven Ripple Price Prediction

Crypto prediction site Investing Haven is among focused entirely on providing price predictions for all digital assets.

Ripple’s XRP is not an exception. While the site initially went all-in for a $20 level by the end of 2020, it later corrected its statement due to the so-called “Corona Crash”. Overall, the site analysts remain bullish for XRP, but point to 2021 as a catalyst.

#4 UsLifted Ripple Price Prediction

UsLifted, another prominent XRP news predictions website, provides a more precise outcome for the Ripple price, pointing at a bullish $22.79 with a circulating supply of 38,739,145,924 XRP.

#5 D.Y.I. Investing

A renowned cryptocurrency trader known as ‘D.Y.I. Investing’ on Twitter has shared his private thoughts on the immediate future of XRP. In his view, Ripple’s coin might enter in a bullish cycle in 2020, leading the price to an upward extension up to $28.

XRP Price Prediction 2021

Rating agency Moody’s estimates that blockchain standards will expand by 2021. With XRP maintaining or improving its current position in the market, it’s viable to see movements above the $2 mark, especially if institutional interest continues to increase.

XRP Price Prediction 2025

Algorithmic analysis points at XRP approaching the $4.50 level in 2025. From a fundamental perspective, Ripple’s XRP development might have to find support on further institutional adoption worldwide. Aside from partnerships in the United States, more deals in Europe and the Latam regions could boost the price evolution.

XRP Price Prediction 2030

Needless to say, the year 2030 is still a long way from now. The future of XRP in the long run will focus merely on surpassing regulatory and adoption challenges.

With central bankers slowly accepting the idea of digital currencies, and developing their own alternatives, we could see XRP taking a leadership role among banking and payment solutions, which obviously will push its value upwards.

Under positive circumstances, XRP could be looking at a price level of $17 to $20 per unit by 2030.

The Bottom Line

There’s no doubt that XRP has a bright future in the long term. Buying XRP today can result in huge gains in only a matter of years. That said, relying on a single XRP prediction might not be a wise choice. The XRP forecasts should serve as a reference for conducting your own analysis

Thursday, July 16, 2020

In the Aftermath of Hack, Lawmakers Blame Twitter, Not Bitcoin

Wednesday’s Twitter hack would seem to spell regulatory doom for Bitcoin, which is widely distrusted in Washington. Some lawmakers – and U.S. President Donald Trump himself – associate it with crime.

In 2019 Trump tweeted he is not a fan of bitcoin and that “unregulated crypto assets can facilitate unlawful behavior.” He also reportedly told Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to “go after Bitcoin.”

But immediately following the hack, lawmakers seemed more focused on Twitter’s security problems rather than cryptocurrency’s role in the hack.

On Wednesday, high-profile accounts belonging to Elon Musk, Kanye West, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, cryptocurrency exchanges and many others were co-opted into a bitcoin scam that netted the hackers at least $100,000. Twitter struggled to resolve the issue, even temporarily blocking verified accounts’ abilities to tweet and reset their passwords. Security experts said the hack was likely deep in Twitter’s system, and therefore is not a quick fix. 

Lawmakers were quick to respond.

See also: CoinDesk’s full coverage of the Twitter hack

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), a vocal critic of tech platforms, fired off an open letter to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey soon after the hack went mainstream. The event, he said, “may represent not merely a coordinated set of separate hacking incidents but rather a successful attack on the security of Twitter itself.”

Hawley also asked whether there was a risk that President Trump’s account could have been hacked and how many users might have had their data stolen. 

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) revealed he had met with Dorsey privately in 2018 and discussed implementing end-to-end encryption of users’ direct messages, which could contain sensitive information and may have been vulnerable during the hack. Wyden says Dorsey told him at the time that Twitter was working on encrypted DMs, but two years later it hadn’t delivered. 

Read more: Twitter Hack 2020 Was Probably Done by a Bitcoiner – But Not a Savvy One

“This is a vulnerability that has lasted for far too long, and one that is not present in other, competing platforms. If hackers gained access to users’ DMs, this breach could have a breathtaking impact for years to come,” Wyden said in a statement. 

Focusing blame

Meanwhile, some crypto supporters in Washington, D.C., aren’t worried the hack will cause lasting damage to the industry.

Coin Center Director of Communications Neeraj Agrawal noted that while Twitter was compromised, Bitcoin (or crypto) was not. And if the hackers’ goal was to make money, they failed miserably: Only a scant $123,200 in bitcoin flowed through the wallet listed, and it’s likely some of those funds were recycled through by the attackers.

The incident shines a spotlight on centralized points of failure, such as one individual on a single platform being able to compromise numerous accounts. 

“Somebody who has limited access to the admin panel on Twitter was able to do so much damage because Twitter is a centralized server,” Agrawal said.

Agrawal doesn’t think the incident will have a huge impact on how lawmakers approach crypto.

“Even though maybe it’s been broadcast to more people than ever before, the kind of people who are watching it closely, like policymakers for example, see this and … they’re not surprised by the capability for this,” he said. “I hope that they see this, and they know that there’s nothing new here, there’s nothing to react to when it comes to Bitcoin policy.”

It remains to be seen whether the White House or senior administration officials decide to weigh in, but so far the response from lawmakers has been promising, said Kristin Smith, executive director of the Blockchain Association.

See also: After the Twitter Hack, We Need a User-Owned Internet More Than Ever

She pointed to a tweet from Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) as one example, noting he explicitly said centralized control was the issue behind Twitter’s hack.

“I would say 99% of policymakers are not thinking about blockchain or cryptocurrency. And so anytime that you have national headlines that deal with a hack of this size and magnitude, and Bitcoin is sort of involved in the process, for the uneducated it’s a bad association because they then think that Bitcoin is sort of a preferred tool of criminals. Those of us that work in the industry and know it, study it, the policymakers who spent the time to learn about it, know that that’s not the case,” Smith said.

Wednesday’s hack may prove to be a teachable moment for the crypto-skeptics, she said. Blockchain analytic firms are already watching the address the scammer used, and exchanges have begun blacklisting it, preventing potential victims from sending any funds to the account. 

Agrawal said he hopes there is a conversation about the potential benefits of using crypto, such as by Russian political activists or in trying to avoid currency freezes. 

Read more: Russian Activists Use Bitcoin, and the Kremlin Doesn’t Like It

“We got lucky, because hackers have unprecedented access to a massively important system where so much damage [could have happened]. I mean, it’s mind numbing the amount of payoffs they could have caused in a few minutes. But instead they went for bitcoin,” he said. 

Criminal opportunities

James Comer (R-Ky.), head of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, also sent a letter to Dorsey demanding the committee be briefed on everything from how quickly Twitter alerted the FBI to whether the hack was conducted by a foreign adversary. Comer, too, expressed concern over where direct messages were vulnerable. 

“Twitter’s failure not only created an opportunity for criminals to perpetrate a crime broadcasted to millions of Twitter’s users, but the hackers’ potential breach of Twitter’s security poses broader risks regarding hackers’ access to private direct messages,” he said in the letter. 

Senate Commerce Chair Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) also sent Dorsey a letter, though it was less strident than Hawley’s. He said he was concerned about the potential for disinformation to be spread through such a hack, especially via high-profile accounts. 

Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) said in a statement shared with CoinDesk the hack could have had “major consequences” on elections, calling on Twitter to “get to the bottom of the hack and implement necessary safeguards” to prevent a repeat.

Read more: Twitter Hack: Chainalysis and CipherTrace Confirm FBI Investigation

On a local level, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo directed the state to conduct a full investigation into the hack. 

“With more than 300 million users, Twitter is a primary source of news for many, making it a target for bad actors. This type of hack by con artists for financial gain can also be a tool of foreign actors and others to spread disinformation and – as we’ve witnessed – disrupt our elections,” said Cuomo in a statement.

The hack is likely to continue to ratchet up pressure on social media companies, which are already facing scrutiny over content moderation, disinformation and foreign interference