OKCoin has announced its intention to suspend XRP trading and deposit following the recent lawsuit against Ripple Lab, the company behind the asset, and two executives. This is a huge blow as panic withdrawal has been triggered with investors under pressure to switch to other assets. Coinbase has also announced that they will halt XRP trading in the coming year amid the reported lawsuit. The price of XRP has been affected heavily having dropped from its yearly high to as low as $0.22 especially in a period that is supposed to be a celebration for a bull run.

OKCoin Announcement Related to XRP

According to the announcement, the XRP deposit and trading would be disabled on January 4, 2021, as the legal proceedings take place. OKCoin also pointed out two different timelines for the suspension. The first one has to do with users who have borrowed from the XRP/USD margin pair. Those who fall under this category have until 7:00 PM PST January 13, 2021, to return the borrowed value. Users who refuse to abide by this will have to face an automatic liquidation by their system to end the loan contracts as reported by the exchange.

The second suspension timeline has to do with the spot trading, margin trading, and deposit. Customers who fall within this category should be aware that the above-mentioned activities would be suspended starting from 7:00 PM PST on January 14, 2021. OKCoin noted that the ongoing legal battle will take time to resolve, and there is no known date for the legal proceeding to end. For this reason, they will inform their customers when they get access to any information that can influence the change of their position.

The Legal Battle

The US Securities and Exchange Commission has sued Ripple for the illegal sale of securities. This was revealed by the Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse in a recent interview. SEC, unlike Ethereum and Bitcoin has refused to recognize XRP as a currency. XRP was premined, and a lion-share of its units are within the possession of Ripple in an escrow, and periodically released into the market.

Garlinghouse argues that they do not tap the reserve funds anyhow as they please. According to him, XRP has become increasingly decentralized in recent times as it has been recognized as a bridge currency for cross-border transactions. In another part, he accused the Trump administration of being hostile to the cryptocurrency market.

He, therefore, believes that the incoming administration may certainly create a favorable environment for cryptocurrency. Also, he assured that they will not allow themselves to be bullied by the SEC, but instead, they will fight for the entire cryptocurrency ecosystem.

Garlinghouse believes that treating XRP as security controlled by Ripple is equal to treating oil as security controlled by Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE: XOM).

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In what confirms the continued embrace of Bitcoin (BTC) and altcoins by institutional investors and the big-money clients, Grayscale’s total Assets Under Management (AUM) has been reported to top $19 billion, a significant uplift from the $16.4 billion reported a week ago. According to a report by CoinDesk, Grayscale hit this AUM milestone on December 28, and Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust holds by far the largest chunk of the total assets at $16.3 billion.

The recent rally of Bitcoin to new highs as recorded in the past days started as a chain reaction that took its precedent months ago when Wall Street firms and institutional investors began betting big on Bitcoin. The investment made by the likes of MicroStrategy Incorporated (NASDAQ: MSTR), Square Inc (NYSE: SQ), and PayPal Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: PYPL) did not just help put Bitcoin in the limelight through mainstream media, it also prompted the embrace of the digital assets by other firms.

With this chain reaction, the price of Bitcoin continued to soar in response to boosted demand for the coin, and institutions like Grayscale that serves institutional investors benefited from this new demand, and hence, the continued increase in the firm’s AUM. Besides BTC, Grayscale’s Ethereum (ETH) AUM is now worth $2.1 billion, while the bulk of smaller holdings in Litecoin (LTC), XRP, and ZCash amongst others helped Grayscale’s total AUM to reach the new milestone.

Grayscale’s AUM May See More Boost in 2021

While it may be too early to project the possible performance of Grayscale in the coming year 2021, the spate of patronage the company recorded in the last two quarters of 2020 makes the case for improved performance provided the tempo is sustained.

Just as has been noted earlier, the continued embrace of cryptocurrency assets by highly liquid companies will continue to have a positive reaction on the price of Bitcoin, and by extension, this will even make more people pick interest in BTC. As a relatively young asset class, Bitcoin and altcoins have tremendous room to grow as the adoption rate is still not optimized owing to certain regulatory provisions in most countries, Grayscale and other hedge funds have enough room to compete for new clients entering the space.

With Grayscale been among the institutions at the forefront of helping to drive the acceptance of BTC, ETH, and other digital currencies, enjoying the dividends of its works through impressed AUM figures does not come as much of a surprise.

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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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