United States-based crypto lending platform Nexo is facing a class-action lawsuit over suspension of XRP services on Dec. 23, 2020. The lead plaintiff, California resident Junhan Jeong, submitted the complaint on Thursday. The complaint accuses Nexo of breaching its user agreement by suspending the use of XRP as loan collateral without notifying its customers beforehand. The suspension followed the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s legal action against Ripple Labs for conducting unregistered securities offerings on Dec. 22. Nexo allows users to borrow fiat currency or stablecoins using over-collateralized loans that are backed by crypto assets. Should price fluctuations in the …

The total crypto market capitalization reached the important milestone of $2 trillion on April 5. As cryptocurrencies increase in value, they are likely to attract further investments from institutional investors because they can no longer afford to neglect it. Less than three months ago, the crypto market had reached the $1 trillion in market cap for the first time ever. This rate of growth shows that investors are hugely bullish on the potential of the sector and the ones who delay their investment decisions may have to enter at much higher levels. Ark Invest founder and CEO Cathie Wood is …

The price of XRP saw a 55% breakout over the past two days as the sixth-ranked cryptocurrency by market capitalization has renewed its focus on the creation of a cross-border payment network that is inclusive and sustainable. Data from Cointelegraph Markets and TradingView shows that XRP dropped to a low of $0.566 in the early hours on April 4 before a wave of trading volume helped lift its price to a high of $0.877 within the last few hours. The uptick in trading volume was sparked after Ripple posted a blog titled “Creating a More Financially Inclusive and Sustainable Future” …

According to a recent research note by JPMorgan, institutional investors have withdrawn about $20 billion from their gold investments since mid-October and during the same time frame, institutional inflows into Bitcoin (BTC) have increased by $7 billion. The bank said, “any such crowding out of gold as an 'alternative' currency implies big upside for Bitcoin over the long term." JPMorgan believes that Bitcoin’s declining volatility could increase adoption from institutional investors. If that happens, the value of the private investments in Bitcoin may mirror that of gold and this gives Bitcoin an upside target of $130,000 in the long term, …

Following in the footsteps of Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs has announced plans to allow its wealth management clients to trade in cryptocurrencies and other digital assets. In an interview with CNBC, Mary Rich, the global head of digital assets for Goldman Sachs private wealth management division, said that the rollout may happen sometime in the second quarter of 2021. Bitcoin adoption by two of the world’s preeminent investment banks is likely to force other banks to walk down the crypto path sooner than later. The arrival of fresh money from the clients of these legacy institutions may further increase demand …

XRP tokenholders who have sought the right to intervene in the ongoing case against Ripple Labs by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, have been given the green light by the district judge of the court of the Southern District of New York. According to a letter filed by District Judge Analisa Torres on Monday, the proposed intervenors have until April 19 to file their motion to intervene, with two deadlines up until mid-May being set to file oppositions and responses for both the SEC and the defendants themselves. Their argument was backed up by a letter …

Ripple continues its push into the Asian market by acquiring a stake in a cross-border payments firm. According to a blog post, Ripple has agreed to acquire a 40% stake in cross-border payments firm Tranglo, with the aim to expand RippleNet’s On-Demand Liquidity, or ODL, service that uses the XRP cryptocurrency. The completion of this transaction is subject to regulatory approval, with investment firm TNG Fintech Group remaining the majority shareholder in Tranglo. The new acquisition is expected to significantly expand Ripple’s ODL corridors with Tranglo’s payments infrastructure. Founded in 2008, Tranglo is a cross-border payment processing hub supporting business …

On Monday Visa announced that it had launched a pilot program with Crypto.com to enable its partners to settle fiat transactions by sending USD Coin (USDC) stablecoin to Visa’s Ethereum address at Anchorage digital bank. This step by Visa shows that legacy finance companies are increasing their adoption of cryptocurrencies. According to a PwC report reviewed by Bloomberg, crypto mergers and acquisitions soared to $1.1 billion in 2020 compared to $481 million in 2019. The increase in these deals is likely to surpass the 2020 numbers on every single metric with the arrival of large investors and institutional players according …

Glassnode data shows Bitcoin (BTC) exchange reserves on Coinbase have dropped by about $8 billion. This indicates that institutional investors are locking away their purchases in cold storage for the long term instead of booking profits. HODLing by institutions is a huge positive as it will continue to reduce Bitcoin's available supply, which may boost prices even if demand begins to diminish. The news flow suggests no slowdown in institutional adoption. New Zealand Wealth Funds Management revealed that its product KiwiSaver Growth Strategy allocated 5% of its assets to Bitcoin in October 2020. According to the firm’s chief investment officer …

On March 24, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced that U.S. buyers are now able to purchase Tesla vehicles with Bitcoin (BTC). Musk also tweeted that Tesla will not convert BTC payments into fiat but will add to its existing treasury of about 48,000 Bitcoin. Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives expects Bitcoin to account for less than 5% of Tesla transactions, but the percentage could move up as crypto adoption increases. The analyst said the move by Tesla could be a defining moment for Bitcoin from a transactional point of view. This week, CNBC host Jim Cramer thanked Anthony Pompliano on …

Bitcoin (BTC) bulls faced strong headwinds on March 22 that quickly dampened any attempt at a breakout above the $58,000 level despite comments from United States Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell which called the top cryptocurrency a “substitute for gold.” Data from Cointelegraph Markets and TradingView show that traders made several attempts to push BTC above $58,000 over the past two days only to be rejected, with Monday’s failure resulting in a pullback to the $54,000 support level. On-chain analysis shows that while BTC price struggles to climb back above $60,000, whale wallets have been in accumulation mode over the …

The Turkish lira lost 15% of its value and dipped close to its all-time low after Turkey's President Erdogan fired central bank governor Naci Agbal. This resulted in a massive spike in Bitcoin (BTC) searches in Turkey as investors sought to protect their wealth from devaluation. This is just another example that shows how investors may be treating Bitcoin as a possible substitute for fiat currencies. In other news, United States Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell has a different view. While speaking at an event hosted by the Bank for International Settlements, Powell said that Bitcoin is more of a …