The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has requested to seal the infamous Hinman Speech documents, claiming that they are not relevant to the court’s summary judgment decision. The Motion to Seal Summary Judgment Document was filed by the SEC on Dec. 22, requesting the sealing of various information and documents, most notably the Hinman Speech documents. The Hinman Speech documents refer to the speech given by former SEC Corporation Finance Division Director William Hinman at the Yahoo Finance All Markets Summit in June 2018, where he reportedly stated that Ether (ETH), the native token of the Ethereum blockchain, …

Bitcoin (BTC) is on track to end the year with a loss of about 65%. This would mark the third negative year for Bitcoin with the other two being 2014 and 2018. In comparison, the S&P 500 has fared much better but that is also down close to 20% in 2022. Although cryptocurrency prices have seen deep cuts this year, traders have continued to plow money into the space. An online survey conducted by Blockchain.com shows that 41% of the respondents bought crypto this year and 40% plan to purchase crypto in the next year. However, a sustained recovery in …

Wrapped XRP (wXRP) is a crypto asset pegged to XRP (XRP) and can be used on blockchains other than Ripple’s native XRP Ledger. Ripple is a blockchain-based global payments system providing crypto solutions for businesses, and XRP is the native currency of the Ripple network. Identical in value, its wrapped version, wXRP, can be used in financial payments and settlements on other blockchains. This article will discuss why we need wXRP, how to buy wXRP, use cases of wXRP, and the purpose and safety of wXRP tokens. What are wrapped cryptocurrencies? Wrapped cryptocurrencies are tokens that are used as cryptocurrencies …

As the year comes to an end, investors will be keenly watching for a Santa Claus rally on Wall Street as many believe that if the rally does not happen, the next year may either remain flat or turn negative. Jurrien Timmer, director of global macro at asset management giant Fidelity Investments, tweeted on Dec. 19 that the United States equities markets may remain “sideways” and choppy in 2023. He expects “one or more retests of the 2022 low, but not necessarily much worse than that.” The cryptocurrency market has been largely correlated with the S&P 500 in 2022. Unless …

Rumors continue to swirl suggesting the two-year legal battle between Ripple Labs and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) may be coming to an end as early as this week, prompting the community to weigh in on the matter. Speculation about the potential settlement appears to have come from a Dec. 10 ask-me-anything (AMA) with Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson, who said he had heard rumors that the case would be settled on Dec. 15. In the days since, there's been plenty of commentary from the community — giving their two cents on what a settlement would mean for …

The consumer price index (CPI) data on Dec. 13 and the outcome of the Federal Reserve meeting on Dec. 14 could influence the United States stock markets and the cryptocurrency markets in the near term. Traders are likely to play it safe and not take large directional bets until the CPI print because any nasty surprise could produce a sharp knee-jerk reaction. Some analysts believe that Bitcoin (BTC) could fall further before it hits a bottom, but Arthur Hayes, the former CEO of crypto derivatives platform BitMEX, thinks that Bitcoin may have passed its worst phase for this cycle. While …

The United States equities markets are headed for a down week as market participants remain cautious ahead of next week's key consumer price index data for November. The CPI report will be followed by the Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee meeting on Dec. 13-14 where the central bank is expected to hike rates by 50 basis points, according to the FedWatch Tool. The outcome of the events next week could increase the volatility in Bitcoin (BTC) and result in a trending move. After a terrible year that saw some high-profile cryptocurrency companies go bust, the bulls will expect 2022 …

The FTX crisis kept Bitcoin’s (BTC) price under pressure in November, but data from Bitstamp exchange shows institutional investors may have viewed the dip as a buying opportunity. The exchange told Cointelegraph that compared to October, its revenue from institutions increased by 34% in November. In another positive sign, Goldman Sachs executive Mathew McDermott told Reuters that the bank was doing some due diligence on crypto companies since they were “priced more sensibly” after the FTX crash. ARK Invest said in the latest edition of its monthly “The Bitcoin Monthly" newsletter, that the FTX implosion “could be the most damaging …

Ripple’s chief technology officer has responded to a conspiracy theory fabricated by Artificial Intelligence (AI) tool ChatGPT, which alleges the XRP Ledger (XRPL) is somehow being secretly controlled by Ripple. According to a Dec. 3 Twitter thread by user Stefan Huber, when asked a series of questions regarding the decentralization of Ripple’s XRP Ledger, the ChatGPT bot suggested that while people could participate in the governance of the blockchain, Ripple has the “ultimate control” of XRPL. Asked how this is possible without the consensus of participants and its publicly-available code, the AI alleged that Ripple may have “abilities that are …

It’s the final month of the year and analysts are out with their projections for the next year. In a note to investors, Standard Chartered suggested that “The financial-market surprises of 2023” will include Bitcoin (BTC) price diving to $5,000 at some point in the year. The fall will be triggered by a liquidity crunch, which could result in more bankruptcies and a fall in investor confidence in the crypto sector. If this feels like an extreme, venture capitalist Tim Draper went in the opposite direction and predicted that Bitcoin could skyrocket to $250,000 by the middle of 2023. While …

The most talked about crypto lawsuit involving the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Ripple is approaching its conclusion after a two-year-long battle. On Dec. 2 the SEC and Ripple both filed redacted replies to each other’s opposition to motions for summary judgment. Ripple argued in its motion document that the SEC has failed to prove that its offering of XRP between 2013 and 2020 was an offer or sale of an “investment contract” and therefore a security under federal security laws. Ripple concluded the document by stating that “the court should grant Defendant’s Motion and should deny …

Non-farm payrolls in the United States rose by 263,000 in November, exceeding economists’ expectations of an increase of 200,000. Analysts believe that the numbers remain hot and do not allow much scope for the Federal Reserve to slow down its aggressive rate hikes. This is contrary to Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s remarks delivered at the Brookings Institution where he said that the central bank could reduce the pace of rate hikes “as soon as December.” That triggered a sharp rally in risk assets. After the latest jobs report, the market participants will closely watch the Fed’s comments and decision in …