Blockchain payments firm Ripple has announced a $200 million Series C share buyback, a decision that will take the San Francisco-based tech firm to a record-high valuation of $15 billion. Back in December 2019, Ripple raised $200 million in a Series C funding round with Tetragon Financial Group, a United Kingdom-based investment firm, acting as the lead investor alongside other participants SBI Holdings and Route 66 Ventures. However, in December 2020, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a $1.3 billion-dollar financial lawsuit against Ripple Labs, as well as co-founder Chris Larsen and CEO Brad Garlinghouse; accusing the …

Bitcoin (BTC) and most major altcoins are struggling to find a bottom, indicating that traders are dumping their positions out of fear. The big question on everyone’s mind is whether the selling is over or could the decline continue? UTXO Management senior analyst Dylan LeClair highlighted that the network cost basis, the average price at which Bitcoin was last moved by various investors, is $24,000 and historically, the ratio of cost basis to price has bottomed out below 1.0. If history were to repeat itself, Bitcoin may have to fall some more to make it an attractive buy according to …

Bitcoin (BTC) and most major altcoins continue to witness a bloodbath on Jan. 21 and the result of the most recent downturn has been a $200 billion reduction in market capitalization. A new report by Huobi Research, in collaboration with Blockchain Association Singapore, forecast Bitcoin to enter a bear market in 2022. The liquidity tightening measures undertaken by the U.S. Federal Reserve and other central banks across the world and the regulatory action by authorities could play spoilsport and keep crypto prices under check. The calls for a bear market have not shaken up the resolve of MicroStrategy CEO Michael …

Bitcoin (BTC) and select altcoins are showing signs of some buying near support levels. According to Arcane Research, the seven-day average real Bitcoin trading volume has dropped to the lowest level since July 2021. During the previous instance, the sharp drop in volume marked a bottom and led to a strong rally from August to October 2021. However, Bloomberg Intelligence senior commodity strategist McGlone warned in a recent podcast that risk assets may correct as the United States Federal Reserve increases rates and reduces asset purchases. After the corrective phase is over, McGlone expects Bitcoin to transition from a “risk-on …

Bitcoin’s (BTC) volatility has been shrinking in the past few days. The standard deviation of daily Bitcoin returns for the last 30 and 60 days as calculated by the Bitcoin Volatility Index is at 2.63%, the least volatile it has been since November 2020. Generally, tight ranges are followed by strong price expansions. In 2020, the low volatility period in November was followed by a sharp rally in mid-December, which resulted in a supercycle that carried the price all the way to $64,854 on April 14, 2021. However, there is no certainty that the volatility expansion will happen only to …

Bitcoin (BTC) and most major altcoins are facing selling at higher levels and buying on dips, indicating the possibility of a range formation. On-chain analysis firm Whalemap said that a “reclaim of $46,500 will look like a trend reversal,” for Bitcoin as the previous accumulation phase of 90,000 BTC was at this level. Fidelity Digital Assets said in its annual report that the “massive “ Bitcoin accumulation by Bitcoin miners suggests that the “Bitcoin cycle is far from over.” The report went on to add that more sovereign nations may “acquire Bitcoin in 2022 and perhaps even see a central …

Bitcoin (BTC) and most major altcoins appear to have started a relief rally. Glassnode data suggests that Bitcoin addresses with a non-zero balance have risen to about 40 million, indicating increasing adoption by retail traders. Edelman Financial Engines founder Ric Edelman said that the number of Americans owning Bitcoin could rise from 24% currently to one-third by 2022. He expects this to happen as “Bitcoin is becoming more and more mainstream. People are hearing about it everywhere — it isn’t going away.” The investors buying Bitcoin seem to be in it for the long haul, if the outflows from major …

Bitcoin (BTC) dipped below the $40,000 level on Jan. 10 for the first time since September 2021. The crypto markets were not alone as the U.S. equity markets also witnessed strong selling when traders chose to reduce risk and piled into the 10-year Treasury yield which surged to 1.8% from 1.51% at the end of 2021. On Jan. 9, Goldman Sachs chief economist, Jan Hatzius, said that the U.S. Federal Reserve may increase rates by four quarter-percentage points in 2022. Analyst Alex Krüeger also warned that crypto markets may not be able to ignore the Fed if it “decides to …

Bitcoin (BTC) and the U.S. equity markets fell sharply on Jan. 5, reacting negatively to the minutes from the Federal Reserve's December FOMC meeting, which showed that the members expect the balance sheet reduction to start after the Fed begins hiking interest rates in early 2022. Adding to the negative sentiment was the shutdown of the world’s second-biggest Bitcoin mining hub in Kazakhstan, where the internet has been shut down following massive protests by citizens. This caused a dip of about 13.4% in the Bitcoin network’s overall hash rate from 205,000 petahash per second (PH/s) to 177,330 PH/s. According to …

Bitcoin (BTC) and most major altcoins are stuck in a tight range with bulls buying near the support and bears selling at resistance levels. Usually, such tight ranges are followed by an expansion in volatility. Although a few analysts have not ruled out a quick drop to low $40,000s, most traders expect Bitcoin to rebound sharply and move up to $60,000. Goldman Sachs said in a note to investors that if Bitcoin continues to increase its market share over gold as a store of value and crosses the 50% mark, then it could rally to $100,000 over the next five …

Bitcoin’s (BTC) price action has been uneventful in the first few days of the new year and it continues to languish below the psychological level at $50,000. The Crypto Fear and Greed Index is in the fear zone registering a value of 29/100. On-chain analytics resource Ecoinometrics said stages of extreme fear rarely remain for long, which means “there is a limited downside at 30 days.” Bitcoin continues to garner support from various quarters. Wharton School finance professor Jeremy Siegel said in an interview with CNBC that Bitcoin has replaced gold as an inflation hedge in the minds of Millennials. …

Bitcoin (BTC) and most major altcoins are attempting a rebound off their respective support levels, indicating that buyers continue to accumulate on dips. Data from Coinglass shows that 9,925 Bitcoin left Coinbase Pro, the professional trading arm of Coinbase, on Dec. 30, a possible sign of institutional buying. This is in sharp contrast to the strong inflows seen in Binance and OKEx. Several analysts believe that institutional buying could pick up in January. Economist and trader Alex Krüger expects a Bitcoin rally in early January based on fund flows. He also highlighted that January has produced positive results for Bitcoin …