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Visa Announces Plans to Integrate Ethereum-based USDC Stablecoin to Its Payments Network

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4 Wochen ago

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As part of its Fast Track program, payments giant Visa is working with Circle to integrate the USDC stablecoin making it simpler for businesses worldwide to make instant payments in USDC.

On Tuesday, December 2, payments and credit card giant Visa Inc (NYSE: V) announced that it will integrate the Ethereum-based USDC stablecoin to its global payments network consisting of over 60 million merchants. USDC is a USD-pegged stablecoin developed by Center, the joint consortium between Circle and Coinbase.

However, Visa said that it won’t itself custody the USDC. Rather, it will work with Circle to help Visa card issuers integrate the USDC software. Thus, all Visa card users and merchants will be able to send and receive payments in USDC. As Forbes reported, Circle is also working on a similar Fast Track program by Visa.

This program will allow businesses across the world to make payments to each other in USDC. The system will then covert USDC to the respective national currency before users can spend it via Visa cards. Cuy Sheffield, head of crypto at Visa said:

“This will be the first, corporate card that will allow businesses to be able to spend a balance of USDC. We think that this will significantly increase the utility that USDC can have for Circle’s business clients. We continue to think of Visa as a network of networks. Blockchain networks and stablecoins, like USDC, are just additional networks. So we think that there’s a significant value that Visa can provide to our clients, enabling them to access them and enabling them to spend at our merchants.”

This is also a big win for Circle as the partnership with Visa will give the USDC stablecoin massive liquidity in the financial markets. Apart from its primary use case of stablecoin, USDC is also working on expanding its footprint.

USDC Integration and Other Visa Developments around Crypto

Visa is making some bold moves in the crypto space as digital currencies push further for mainstream adoption. As part of its Fast Track Program, Visa has onboarded nearly 25 crypto wallets so far. Each of these wallets will also be able to pilot the USDC integration.

The digital payments revolution is happening for real and Visa has shown its intentions to work along with commercial banks. Sheffield said: “We are actively working with commercial banks to help them understand and navigate transitions to digital currency based products.”

On the other hand, Visa has also partnered with BlockFi for launching a Bitcoin rewards credit card by early 2021. The new credit card will rewards users with 1.5% cash back for all purchases made in Bitcoin. BlockFi said that the partnership with Visa aims ‘expanding Bitcoin’s accessibility to a broader set of consumers’.

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RIOT Stock Registers Unprecedented Rally, Riot Blockchain Valuation Soars Above $1B

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12 Minuten ago

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Dezember 29, 2020

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Following the Bitcoin all-time high on Sunday, December 27, Riot Blockchain stock registered 20% gains on Monday’s trading session. The stock has already appreciated by 13x this year. Apart from BTC, investors of Bitcoin mining companies are making a bomb in the market.

Bitcoin mining giant Riot Blockchain is making all the news in the market at the moment. On Monday, December 28, Riot Blockchain Inc (NASDAQ: RIOT) stock price surged a massive 20% surging past $15.5 levels. One of the biggest milestones with the Monday rally is that the Riot Blockchain has clocked a $1 billion market cap.

The latest price rally comes as Riot Blockchain hints at going aggressively on its Bitcoin mining business. Last week, the Riot Blockchain added new S19 Pro Antimers to its bitcoin mining arsenal. The company announced the purchase of an additional 15,000 Bitcoin (BTC) mining machines from Bitmain. The recent purchase also pushes Riot’s total fleet to 37,640 Next-Generation Bitmain Antminers.

Riot said that the fresh purchase of Antminers will help the mining company to attain a 65% jump in its mining hash-rate. RIOT stock has registered an unprecedented rally this year in 2020. RIOT stock has multiplied by 13x this year registering a 1200% surge so far.

Riot Blockchain has issued nearly 17 million shares since November 2020 with its total outstanding shares going to 67.5 million. It has been a phenomenal journey for Riot ever since it ventured into the Bitcoin mining business in October 2017. With valuations less than $50 million back then, Riot has grown more than 20x in size as of its latest stock price.

RIOT Stock and Shares of Other Bitcoin Mining Companies Profit from BTC Bull Run

The recent Bitcoin (BTC) price rally during Q4 2020 has also pushed the stocks of Bitcoin mining companies to new highs. Earlier on Sunday, December 28, the BTC price hit its all-time high of $28,000 in a massive bull run followed by huge institutional inflows.

Moreover, along with the BTC price rally, the Bitcoin hash-rate has jumped significantly since November 2020. Over the last two months, the BTC hash-rate has surged nearly 30% and is currently at 132 TH/s. The surge in the hash-rate suggests higher mining activity for Bitcoin.

As a result, Bitcoin mining companies have been making massive purchases of the BTC mining machines. In addition to Riot Blockchain, other giants like the Marathon Patent Group have made aggressive purchases over the last few months. Just like RIOT, the Marathon Patent Group (NASDAQ: MARA) has registered a phenomenal rally of 18% on Monday, December 28. MARA stock has multiplied investors’ wealth by 12x in 2020. It means the MARA stock has also given phenomenal 1100% returns year-to-date.

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Bhushan is a FinTech enthusiast and holds a good flair in understanding financial markets. His interest in economics and finance draw his attention towards the new emerging Blockchain Technology and Cryptocurrency markets. He is continuously in a learning process and keeps himself motivated by sharing his acquired knowledge. In free time he reads thriller fictions novels and sometimes explore his culinary skills.



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How low could XRP go? Watch these price levels next

Published

6 Stunden ago

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Dezember 29, 2020

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XRP price dropped by 30% on Dec. 29 following Coinbase’s decision to suspend trading. 

The market sentiment around XRP has become overwhelmingly negative due to the fear of more exchange delistings.

In the near term, XRP faces three key historical support levels at $0.224, $0.1743 and $0.1471.

Where will the XRP price go next?

The ongoing price trend of XRP is not cyclical nor reliant on technical analysis. It is due to investors selling XRP following the suspension of trading across major cryptocurrency exchanges.

On Dec. 29, Coinbase announced that it is suspending the XRP trading pairs on their platform. Paul Grewal, the chief legal officer at Coinbase, wrote:

“In light of the SEC’s lawsuit against Ripple Labs, Inc, we have made the decision to suspend the XRP trading pairs on our platform. Trading will move into limit only starting December 28, 2020 at 2:30 PM PST, and will be fully suspended on Tuesday, January 19, 2021 at 10 a.m. Pacific Standard Time*. We will provide additional updates, if any, through the Coinbase Support Twitter account, including if there are any changes to timing.”

As Cointelegraph previously reported, analysts anticipated Coinbase to suspend XRP trading after the United States Securities and Exchange Commission filed its complaint.

Coinbase plans to undergo an initial public offering, and it is in the firm’s best interest to remain fully compliant with the regulators in the U.S.

Considering the regulatory uncertainty around XRP, traders have emphasized that technical analysis is of less importance in the short term. Scott Melker, a cryptocurrency trader, said:

“A few people have told me that there’s oversold bullish divergence on the $XRP chart. You are doing it wrong. Charts don’t matter here. You cannot trade in a vacuum. Jesus could come down with Biggie and Tupac and put on a concert for Brad Garlinghouse and I still wouldn’t buy.”

In the foreseeable future, XRP has several major support areas it could potentially recover from. However, these are deep support levels on the weekly chart, which shows that it lacks momentum for a major rebound.

XRP/USD weekly candle price chart (Coinbase). Source: TradingView.com

The XRP price has fallen by over 60% in merely two weeks, recording one of its steepest two-week drops in history.

What happens next?

Adam Cochran, a partner at Cinneamhain Ventures, was one of the first to break the story that Coinbase had conversations about suspending XRP trading.

Cochran hinted that the SEC are probably looking into more projects and companies than people realize. He said:

“If you thought my scoop on Coinbase delisting/suspending $XRP was insightful, you’re going to love the next scoop I’m working on, this week. Looks like that SEC is far more active than we thought and sniffing around a number of projects and companies!”