Ripple, NFTs, Bank of France XRP, Bitcoin Whales, NAGA Group: Editor’s Pick
After a relatively quiet week in the newsroom, let’s take a look back at the top stories from the worlds of forex, fintech, and crypto in our best of the week segment.
Ethereum’s Upcoming EIP 1559 Upgrade Could Cause ETH Price to Skyrocket
The trading week kicked off with news of Ethereum. Blockchain developers on the Ethereum network have approved a proposed change to the network that would ‘burn’ a small amount of Ether (ETH) every time that the currency is used to pay ‘gas fees’ on a transaction. According to Bloomberg, the proposal, known as ‘EIP 1559’, will be bundled into an upgrade in July or August of this year.
Many analysts believe that the reduction in the supply of Ether tokens will lead to higher token prices overall. This is because a reduction in the supply of Ether will make the asset more scarce.
Read more on Ethereum’s upcoming EIP 1559 here.
Bank of France, Likely to Prefer XRP over Bitcoin and Ethereum
Banque de France, the central bank of France, has reportedly discussed XRP and Ripple for the launch of a central bank digital currency (CBDC). The central bank is planning to prefer XRP over Bitcoin and Ethereum.
According to a report published by CPA Australia, Ripple and XRP gained the attention of many central banks around the world due to their efficient network. In addition, the report highlighted the efforts made by the Reserve Bank of Australia, ECB, PBOC, and the Federal Reserve in the issuance of a central bank digital currency.
Read more on the Bank of France XRP Preference here.
Anonymous Bitcoin Whale Moves 5,000 BTC
Bitcoin touched $57,000 on Thursday with BTC whales on the move again after the most recent price surge.
According to the latest data published by blockchain tracker and crypto analytics platform, Whale Alert, an anonymous Bitcoin user moved 5,000 BTC worth over $280 million to an unknown crypto wallet.
Read more on the Bitcoin Whale moves here.
NAGA Group Secures $30 Million Financing as Demand Soars
NAGA Group AG (XETRA: N4G), a German social trading-focused FX and CFDs broker, announced on Tuesday that it has signed an agreement with US Fund Yorkville Advisors for securing capital financing of up to $30 million over the next three years.
The broker will issue convertible notes to receive the proceeds. The funding will be done in tranches and NAGA confirmed to Finance Magnates that it will withdraw an initial €8 million immediately.
Read more on the NAGA Group Financing here.
Chiliz Reaches $1 Billion Market Cap Amid NFT Boom
Chiliz (CHZ), a digital currency for sports and entertainment platforms, is up more than 70% in the last 24 hours as the recent boom in non-fungible tokens (NFTs) has pushed the price of CHZ to a record high. Chiliz is developed by socios.com, a global sports fan engagement platform.
CHZ is trading around $0.23 with a market cap of more than $1.2 billion. The token has gained 1,000% since the start of this year. NFTs are booming, and the interest of football fans in branded tokens has increased significantly in the last few months. Recently, Chiliz announced that the company is planning to invest nearly $50 million in the US expansion.
Read more on the Chiliz $1bn Market Cap here.
NFTs Are Here!! What’s Next For the Art World and Beyond?
In a Finance Magnates analysis, we delved deeper into the world of NFTs.
Most of the cryptocurrency world has been at least nominally aware of them since the CryptoKitties craze jammed up the Ethereum blockchain in late 2017. Since then, the NFT space has quietly been building itself. However, to most folks outside of the crypto space, NFTs may have seemed to appear out of nowhere when celebrity artists and musicians suddenly began making a killing off of them earlier this month.
Read more on NFTs what they mean for the art world and beyond here.
XRP Holds Gains as MoneyGram Officially Cut Ties with Ripple
As Finance Magnates reported this week, MoneyGram has officially cut ties with Ripple Labs in light of the ongoing legal fight with the US Securities & Exchange Commission.
Back in December, Nasdaq-listed MoneyGram already suspended using Ripple’s under-fire XRP token in forex settlements as part of its cross-border payments process. Ripple had provided incentives to the Dallas-based money-transfer company to use its on-demand liquidity service as part of an agreement signed in 2019.
MoneyGram revealed it has netted more than $60 million in fees from using XRP transfers as an alternative source of revenues in both payment and settlement services
Read more on the MoneyGram XRP decision here.
Ripple Settles Issue with YouTube over XRP Scam Videos
Ripple announced that the company has resolved legal issues with the video-sharing platform, YouTube.
Ripple and the company’s CEO, Brad Garlinghouse filed a lawsuit against YouTube in 2020 for failing to enforce its policies by allowing fake accounts to conduct XRP giveaway scams. According to an official announcement by Garlinghouse, Ripple and YouTube will work together to detect XRP scams.
Read more on the Ripple YouTube Settlement here.
SEC Wants 8 Years of Personal Financial Records from Ripple Executives
The US securities market regulator is now seeking personal financial details or two Ripple executives, Chris Larsen and Brad Garlinghouse, in connection with the illegal $1.3 billion sales of XRP tokens.
The two executives filed a motion within the court asking to drop the subpoenas sent to six banks, seeking the financial records of the two for the last eight years.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) alleged that the XRP falls under the category of securities, and Ripple failed to register it with the regulator. It named both Larsen and Garlinghouse in the lawsuit filed last December.
Read more on the SEC Ripple demands here.
iFX EXPO Live Event Announced for Dubai
After a long lull in live events, there is exciting news from Ultimate Fintech. The brand will host its popular iFX EXPO in Dubai this year.
The eagerly anticipated iFX EXPO will take place at the exclusive 5-star Grand Hyatt Hotel, Dubai from 19-20 May 2021 and is set to connect high-level executives in financial services and fintech from around the world.
This will be a live event giving attendees the chance to get back to face-to-face networking in a well-organised and COVID-secure environment.
Read more on the iFX Dubai Expo here.
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