Note 3/30: XRP Spike

Ripple’s XRP has had a roller coaster ride in crypto markets. At the beginning of 2018, it was the crypto world’s third most valuable digital asset. Growing adoption of Ripple’s cross border payments platform, in which XRP is used as a bridge currency between two fiat currencies, was cited as a reason for investor enthusiasm for the token. But the tides quickly turned for the … Continue reading Note 3/30: XRP Spike

What Happens to Ether Prices After The Merge?

In July last year, I wrote about investor enthusiasm for Ethereum’s move to a Proof of Stake (PoS) consensus system. Traders piled into ether, the blockchain’s native token, in hopes of a big payoff close to the actual event. [There were profits, but they were taken much before the actual event]. Amidst the chilly crypto winter, investors are repeating the trade. The catalyst for ether’s … Continue reading What Happens to Ether Prices After The Merge?

Notes 3/11: Circle’s USDC Loses Peg

USDC, the crypto world’s second biggest stablecoin, has lost its peg due to exposure to Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), the bank that liquidated yesterday. The stablecoin’s peg with Tether’s USDT, another dollar-backed stablecoin, fell to as low as 0.86 at cryptocurrency exchange Kraken before recovering. As of this writing, it is still askew at $0.92. USDC’s peg crashed because investors rushed to redeem their holdings … Continue reading Notes 3/11: Circle’s USDC Loses Peg

Notes 3/9: Ethereum As A Security

In their crackdown on cryptocurrencies, regulators may have found their biggest target yet. The New York Attorney General’s (NYAG) office today filed a case against cryptocurrency exchange KuCoin for an unregistered offering of securities. In its filing, the agency alleged that Ethereum’s ether, the world’s second biggest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, is a security. Just yesterday, when asked about the cryptocurrency’s regulatory status, the head … Continue reading Notes 3/9: Ethereum As A Security

What Will September Bring for Bitcoin and Crypto Markets?

For Bitcoin and the larger crypto ecosystem, this summer wasn’t a particularly warm one. In fact, a series of bankruptcies and scandals by major players crashed the ecosystem and prices plummeted. Bitcoin price has fallen by roughly 13% from the start of August and the overall market cap for cryptocurrencies declined by 8.1% to $992 billion in the same period, based on data from Coinmarketcap. … Continue reading What Will September Bring for Bitcoin and Crypto Markets?

Bitcoin Price Continues Crumbling As Celsius Contagion Spreads

The dreaded W word is re-entering the crypto lexicon. Chatter about a crypto winter is on the cards once again after the asset class’s spectacular pandemic run. The irony of crypto becoming one of the first casualties of an impending recession is rich because its enthusiasts have spent years positioning it as a hedge against central bank policies and distinguishing the asset class from mainstream … Continue reading Bitcoin Price Continues Crumbling As Celsius Contagion Spreads

Bitcoin Price And Crypto Markets In Turmoil

And they all come tumbling down. The congratulations and celebrations from crypto’s biggest and latest shindig had barely died down and its markets took a turn for the worst Monday morning.   Bitcoin price, which has been on a steady decline since last November, crashed below $25,000 this morning. As of this writing, it is trading at $23,557.23, a drop of roughly 15% from its … Continue reading Bitcoin Price And Crypto Markets In Turmoil

Can Crypto Handle A Recession?

After climbing to dizzy heights last year, markets are hemorrhaging value as prices plummet since the beginning of this year. Expensive assets that were worth millions of dollars as recently as last year have crashed from their earlier valuations. One of the world’s biggest financial instruments careened to a sudden and spectacular crash in less than a month, further deepening distrust of a financial system … Continue reading Can Crypto Handle A Recession?

Stablecoin UST’s Peg Continues to Unravel

The unraveling of stablecoin TerraUSD’s (UST) peg to the US dollar continues unabated. As of this writing, it is trading at $0.40, down 23.7% from its price 24 hours ago, according to data from Coinbase. That figure is a far way off from its $1 peg to the US dollar but still represents an improvement from trading lows of 23 cents to the dollar on … Continue reading Stablecoin UST’s Peg Continues to Unravel

Terra And The Freestanding Algorithmic Stablecoin

A successful algorithmic stablecoin is the Internet equivalent of a freestanding dollar, a currency cut off from its peg to the gold standard. Recent advances in technology and cryptography make the idea sound deceptively simple. Practical implementation, however, remains elusive. Many attempts at creating algorithmic stablecoins have failed in the past. TerraUSD (UST) is the latest example of one such coin teetering on the brink … Continue reading Terra And The Freestanding Algorithmic Stablecoin

Terra Continues Free Fall, Repegging In The Works

Will TerraUSD (UST) become the latest stablecoin to fail? That might be the most important question on the minds of investors in the stablecoin. Terra’s price, which was inching upwards towards its 1:1 peg with the US dollar yesterday, crashed to 26 cents Wednesday morning. Traders also sold off their holdings of Luna – the underlying token responsible for maintaining Terra’s price peg, crashing its … Continue reading Terra Continues Free Fall, Repegging In The Works

Terra (UST) Peg Crisis Deepens

The crisis in algorithmic stablecoin Terra’s peg with the US dollar deepened on Monday evening before staging an overnight recovery. TerraUSD (UST), the world’s third biggest stablecoin, was trading at $0.62 to the dollar yesterday evening based on prices available at Coinbase. As of this writing, the stablecoin’s price has risen to $0.89. The Luna Foundation Guard (LFG) announced yesterday that it was lending out … Continue reading Terra (UST) Peg Crisis Deepens

Dogecoin: The Joke Cryptocurrency That Made It Big

One night in November 2013, bored after a beer, Australian engineer Jackson Palmer created a new currency. He was on vacation at his parent’s home in Gosford, a suburb of Sydney. Intrigued by Bitcoin, Palmer was downloading the cryptocurrency’s blockchain, a database of its transactions, to run a ‘node’ on its network and mine it on his home computer. But the internet connection was slow. … Continue reading Dogecoin: The Joke Cryptocurrency That Made It Big

Volatility Returns to Crypto Markets; Bitcoin Price Crashes by 9 percent in 30 Minutes

And you thought volatility in crypto prices was a thing of the past. In the space of a couple of hours, crypto markets shed $30 billion of their overall value in less than two hours.   Bitcoin price crashed by more than 9 percent to $8,648.66 in approximately 30 minutes today at 14:35 UTC. But that was not the end of it. The original cryptocurrency … Continue reading Volatility Returns to Crypto Markets; Bitcoin Price Crashes by 9 percent in 30 Minutes

August Started with Promise For Bitcoin Price But Failed to Deliver For Crypto Investors

Caught in the middle of rising tensions between two of the world’s biggest countries and reports of economic turmoil, stock markets tumbled. So did Bitcoin and crypto markets. August promised much, when it started off with a surge for crypto investors. But it delivered little – markets soon shed their gains and resumed a mostly flat trajectory. Bitcoin, which was trading in the $10,000 range, … Continue reading August Started with Promise For Bitcoin Price But Failed to Deliver For Crypto Investors

Coinbase May List More Eight More Cryptos

Coinbase may be adding to its token count. In a blogpost published yesterday, the San Francisco-based exchange revealed that it was considering adding up to eight new coins – Cosmos, Algorand, Decred, Dash, Harmony, Matic, Waves, and Otology – to the collection of coins it offers to traders. The final decision to support these currencies, however, is subject to the exchange’s digital asset framework, which … Continue reading Coinbase May List More Eight More Cryptos

Volatile Bitcoin Rally Shows Signs of Reversing

In yet another demonstration of its volatility, Bitcoin price reached a new high this morning before falling back by almost 5% within a matter of 45 minutes. As of this writing, the cryptocurrency is trading at $11,736.25, almost unchanged in its price from 24 hours ago. Earlier this morning, a single bitcoin was changing hands at $12,294.25, per Coindesk data. That figure represented a gain … Continue reading Volatile Bitcoin Rally Shows Signs of Reversing

Bitcoin Price Volatility Returns, Crashes $1,900 in Less Than Three Hours

When bitcoin price cratered in 2018, analysts and commentators opined that its price swings might become a thing of the past with more money flowing into the asset class. As it turns out, they were wrong. The entry of institutional investors and technological developments, such as the Lightning Network, have not done much to dampen volatility in the asset class. Bitcoin price recorded its steepest … Continue reading Bitcoin Price Volatility Returns, Crashes $1,900 in Less Than Three Hours

Bitcoin Price Soars Past $13,000

Bitcoin price continued its rapid gains last night, gaining 14% in its price and moving past the $13k mark this morning on all exchanges and data services tracking its price. As of this writing, it is trading at $13,244.39 on Coindesk’s index, up 16.16% from its price 24 hours ago. In the last one week, bitcoin’s price has surged by more than 40% on the … Continue reading Bitcoin Price Soars Past $13,000

Bitcoin Price Crosses $10,000 Mark

Is bitcoin price reverting back to its old ways? Within a span of 24 hours, the cryptocurrency breezed past the $10,000 mark on Saturday and briefly meandered beyond $11,000, before settling back into the $10,000 range. As of this writing, it was trading at $10,729.87, roughly unchanged from its price 24 hours ago. A day earlier, Bitcoin was changing hands at $9,859.61. Such schizophrenic price … Continue reading Bitcoin Price Crosses $10,000 Mark

Bitcoin Price Breaks Past $9,000 Mark In Anticipation of Facebook Announcement

In its attempt to regain past glory, Bitcoin price breached another major milestone and crossed the $9,000 mark over the weekend. The original cryptocurrency first struck past the mark yesterday evening. It retraced its steps for a brief period of time two hours later before striking out again past $9,000. As of this writing, Bitcoin is changing hands at $9,285.84 per Coindesk. Yesterday’s increase means … Continue reading Bitcoin Price Breaks Past $9,000 Mark In Anticipation of Facebook Announcement