The cryptocurrency market corrected somewhat over the weekend but has since made its way back up. It is now sitting over the $400 billion mark, the first time the market has broken over this price threshold in 7 weeks. Presently, Bitcoin (available on Coinbase) (BTC) is just below the $9,000 mark and Ethereum (available on Coinbase) (ETH) is sitting under $650. Today, we’re taking a closer look at Ripple (available on Binance)(XRP), Stellar(XLM), and Dentacoin(DCN).
Ripple (available on Binance) (XRP)
Source: CoinMarketCap
XRP had quite the run-up in price this past week but has since corrected. Gary Gensler, the top financial regulator for the Obama administration and former Goldman Sachs partner, spoke to the New York Times about his views on Ripple (available on Binance) and Ethereum (available on Coinbase), yesterday. Gensler believes that ETHer and Ripple (available on Binance) were issued and traded in violation of American securities regulations. In the interview he said:
“There is a sTron (available on Binance)g case for both of them — but particularly Ripple (available on Binance) — that they are noncompliant securities.”
The teams behind both of these projects have spoken out in the past, arguing that their tokens are assets and not securities. Presently, the Securities and Exchange Commision (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission are trying to figure out how to properly categorize and regulate these digital currencies. The main focus in the past has been on Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) and the smaller cryptocurrencies, trying to monitor fraud but the pair has recently pivoted to regulating the cryptocurrency exchanges. It seems 2018 will be the year they try to get ahead regulation wise of all the aspects of cryptocurrency.
Gensler ended his interview by saying:
“2018 is going to be a very interesting time. Over 1,000 previously issued initial coin offerings, and over 100 exchanges that offer ICO, are going to need to sort out how to come into compliance with U.S. securities law.”
XRP’s correction might be due to Mr. Gensler’s opinion. At press time, the digital token is trading for $0.873 a coin, down -1.87%, in 24 hours.
Stellar (XLM)
There is no big news to report on the Stellar project front. While there are many new dApps being built on the Stellar network, there is nothing that really stands out that would heavily effect XLM’s price. Recently, Stellar concluded its 6th Build Challenge that didn’t go without complications.
Still, the cryptocurrency remains as the 8th largest on the market and is still a force to be reckoned with its cross-border payment network.
The Stellar team is kicking off May with a meetup in Dubai, named “Blockchain and Fintech”. With the team showcasing what the Stellar platform can do on such a large stage, I see the price of XLM rising shortly after the event – for all you day traders reading this.
At press time, XLM is trading at $0.369 a coin, down -1.96%.