Idelto

Cryptocurrency news website

Centralized

XRP Price Climbed 123% in 30 Days, Spark Token Airdrop Pushes Value Higher

by

XRP Price Climbed 123% in 30 Days, Spark Token Airdrop Pushes Value Higher

During the course of the week digital currency markets have seen colossal gains and one crypto asset, in particular, XRP, has jumped significantly in value over the last seven days. The distributed ledger token XRP climbed 25% upwards on Tuesday alone, and seven-day price stats show the coin has gained 123% as well.

At the time of publication, XRP is currently swapping for $0.677 per coin as it gained more than 25% during the early morning (ET) trading sessions on Tuesday. The coin holds the third-largest market valuation today with a current liquid market cap at around $22.55 billion.

The market cap gives the XRP token a 4.02% dominance index rating out of the value from all the crypto assets in existence today ($563.91B). The XRP token price has more than quadrupled during the course of the year.

There is currently a supply of 45,348,221,180 XRP in circulation today and there’s been around $11 billion in reported XRP trade volume during the last 24 hours.

XRP Price Climbed 123% in 30 Days, Spark Token Airdrop Pushes Value Higher
XRP/USD prices recorded for this article were logged on November 24, 2020.

One of the primary reasons for XRP’s current spike stems from the project the Flare Network, which plans to airdrop tokens to XRP owners. This means more than 45 billion “spark” tokens will be given to XRP holders who are holding anytime before December 12, 2020.

XRP is seeing a majority of trades on Binance, Upbit, Huobi Global, and Coinbase Pro. XRP still has a ways to go to catch up to the digital asset’s all-time high recorded on January 3, 2018, at $3.30 per XRP. Many bitcoiners and cryptocurrency advocates dislike XRP and consider the project a very centralized operation no different than traditional databases.

Despite this criticism, XRP fans think the token will continue to rise because the project is bank-friendly and claims to be working with over 350 financial institutions. Unlike bitcoin (BTC), the distributed ledger’s consensus is managed by XRP’s independent servers.

On November 23, XRP settled over 981,000 transactions in 24 hours which is well above (180% larger) BTC’s 350,000 average transactions per day. While confirmation times for BTC can be over 10 minutes or hours depending on the mempool backlog, XRP transactions settle in five seconds.

Even though a few of these benefits are appealing to some users, bitcoiners detest XRP for creating 100 billion tokens at launch. Lots of crypto advocates think XRP goes against the very nature of decentralized cryptocurrencies and many users won’t go near the token.

Meanwhile, the fork of XRP, stellar XLM has also seen massive gains this week as well climbing 54% in value during the last 24 hours. XLM which was created by one of XRP’s cofounders Jed McCaleb has spiked over 93% this week, and 103% during the last 30 days.

What do you think about XRP climbing the cryptocurrency charts and gaining value against the USD? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.

The post XRP Price Climbed 123% in 30 Days, Spark Token Airdrop Pushes Value Higher appeared first on Bitcoin News.

The Moss Piglet Dilemma: Paypal Bans Payments to Merchants Using the Word ‘Tardigrade’

by

The popular payment provider Paypal has been known for cutting off a number of merchants and organizations over the years. This week, the public found out that Paypal has been censoring merchants that sell items related to the name “tardigrade” just because a Balkan arms dealer uses the same name. The story shows just how beneficial censorship-resistant money is today and how centralized monetary systems are ultimately doomed.

Ever since Paypal came out in 2001, the payment platform has seen broad use and a great number of users worldwide leverage the system. However, the payment processor is a centralized system, and over the years it has been known for restricting services to certain individuals and organizations.

For instance, Paypal censored the web portal Wikileaks and this invoked the nonprofit organization to start accepting bitcoin (BTC). Last year, Paypal shut off ties to workers leveraging the adult web portal Pornhub and 100,000 performers were left stranded. Now the most trafficked adult website worldwide accepts bitcoin (BTC) and litecoin (LTC) for payments.

Archie McPhee’s Paypal support response screenshot and some of the water pig or tardigrade themed ornaments he sells.

On September 11, Paypal once again was caught censoring merchants over the use of the name “tardigrade.” Basically, a tardigrade is an eight-legged micro-animal and people also call them “moss piglets” and “water bears.” The funny little water bears have a global fanbase and people collect all types of tardigrade merchandise.

On Twitter, the Seattle-based gift salesmen, Archie McPhee, complained that Paypal was censoring his tardigrade-themed products. The problem is there is a known Balkan arms dealer called Tardigrade Limited, and Paypal has blocked all payments to anything tethered to the word. This means any tardigrade merch that mcphee.com sells is banned by Paypal due to an algorithm that flags the name even if it is tied to moss piglet ornaments.

“Just an FYI— Paypal is currently blocking all transactions containing the word “tardigrade” in the product name or description,” McPhee tweeted. “We’ve contacted them and they told us we should just stop using the word tardigrade.”

McPhee said he changed the name on the page to “Water Bear Ornament” but he said it was a “terrible solution.” “You can still purchase all our tardigrade items with a credit card through Shopify, but not through Paypal,” McPhee stressed.

The gift salesmen continued:

If we can’t use the word ‘tardigrade’ in the text on the page, tags, or in the URL, how can customers find it? This is not limited to Archie McPhee. This is ALL OF PAYPAL. And they give a message that the USER is violating their agreement. It’s scaring customers away.

Screenshot shared by Archie McPhee on Twitter.

It’s a shame that merchants have to deal with such absurd rules and a mega-company like Paypal can’t even fix the system’s algorithm to give these sellers a better solution. McPhee also highlighted another merchant who was experiencing the same issues trying to sell plush tardigrade merchandise. Other types of merchants explained how Paypal censored them for dealing with sanctioned countries or other types of arbitrary decisions.

“Our transactions for Cuban coffee were blocked by Paypal,” one merchant replied to McPhee’s tweet. “We buy green beans from UK importers, roast and sell in the UK, and are not subject to Cuba sanctions. We had to omit Cuba from the title, but could use it in the description which isn’t passed to Paypal. Then we quit using [Paypal], they suck.”

Crypto proponent John Moriarty responded to McPhee’s Twitter thread as well, and he suggested using digital currencies instead. “Maybe then people should ‘just stop using’ Paypal— Direct crypto payments can’t be censored because there is no third party,” Moriarty wrote to the tardigrade salesman.

A number of Archie McPhee’s moss piglet or tardigrade-themed products.

For years now, companies like Paypal and other payment processors have censored a number of businesses, organizations, and individual merchants. Simply for trying to make a living, accepting payment for activism, or being located in a sanctioned country, centralized processors can destroy people’s livelihoods.

However, ever since Satoshi Nakamoto created Bitcoin, the world has had access to censorship-resistant funds that can be sent to anyone and bypass any border in a permissionless fashion.

Individuals, nonprofit organizations, sex workers, whistleblowers, journalists, and a myriad of other types of people have been barred from a variety of payment processors, as other firms like Visa and Mastercard have censored as well. McPhee and many other people should learn about digital currencies and how easy it is to accept crypto for payments.

One thing is for sure, blockchains like Bitcoin remove unnecessary third-party actors who have to either follow regulatory guidelines or have arbitrary opinions. The autonomy of crypto payment networks will never stop micro-animal gift sellers from selling cute moss piglets and stuffed tardigrades.

What do you think about Paypal censoring the tardigrade merchants over the name? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments below.

The post The Moss Piglet Dilemma: Paypal Bans Payments to Merchants Using the Word ‘Tardigrade’ appeared first on Bitcoin News.

Drawbacks of Cryptocurrency Exchanges – How Non-Custodial Services Are the Solution

by

Drawbacks of Cryptocurrency Exchanges - How Non-Custodial Services Are the Solution

Cryptocurrency exchanges are online platforms where one can buy, sell, or trade cryptocurrencies. The aim of crypto exchanges is to connect buyers and sellers by creating a cycle of supply and demand in one place.

Centralized vs Decentralized Exchanges

However, almost every exchange is prone to hacking, has privacy issues, and users could end up losing their funds. Non-custodial exchange services look to overcome these shortcomings of cryptocurrency exchanges.

Online cryptocurrency exchanges can be categorized into two types: centralized and decentralized.

Centralized exchanges allow you to sign up with your email and password and usually have extra security features like two-step authentication or email verification.

Even though they make it easier for everyday users to buy and sell digital assets with their interactive interface, one major downside of such exchanges is that they do not give users full control of their cryptocurrencies. The private keys of your wallets are held with the exchanges, so if they were to get hacked, your funds will be lost.

Decentralized exchanges (DEXs) give users more control over their assets as they only act as intermediaries and do not store private keys giving the users full control of their funds. However, these exchanges come up with their own drawbacks such as low liquidity, slow UI, and not being able to handle huge amounts of transactions, etc. There are a very few DEXs compared to CEXs owing to the difficulty that users face while using the former due to complex UI. This is where an instant crypto exchange comes in – users can instantly trade their digital currencies in just 3 simple steps without the hassle of needing to register or worrying constantly about security.

Generally, people prefer CEX over a DEX because of a number of reasons like liquidity, volume, user-friendly platforms, etc. Top centralized exchanges like Bitfinex, Bittrex, Coinbase, Kraken, Binance, Huobi have 99% of the transaction volume and were the first to exist in the market even before the idea of decentralized exchanges came up, so they have an upper hand of being in the market since inception.

Drawbacks of cryptocurrency exchanges

Cryptocurrency exchanges come with their own set of disadvantages, the major drawbacks include:

  • Privacy: Exchanges store all your information such as IP address, email, and details about your transactions which basically doesn’t leave behind much privacy for you.

  • Data Breaches: With increased KYC/AML policies by exchanges due to local regulations, security breaches have risen sharply. In fact, over 10000 Binance users’ personal data was stolen in 2019 with the hacker demanding 300 BTC threatened to release the photos which included driving licenses, passports, and face scans of users.

  • Loss of funds: The majority of the exchanges have had a story of getting hacked and users losing their hard-earned money. The bigger picture is explained in detail in the next paragraph.

The cumulative money lost from just the top three biggest exchange hacks in the last 7 years is over 1 Billion US Dollars, now imagine what the figures would look like if we consider all the hacks. Below is a picture that summarizes the money lost in all major hacks until April 2018.

Drawbacks of Cryptocurrency Exchanges - How Non-Custodial Services Are the Solution

Source: https://howmuch.net/articles/biggest-crypto-hacks-scams

The world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange in terms of daily volume, Binance, which is known for its innovative products and strong leadership went through a security breach in May 2019 which resulted in 7000 Bitcoins being stolen from their platform. Even though all the affected customers were reimbursed in this case, it shows how vulnerable it is to leave your money on exchanges.

“Your keys, your Bitcoin. Not your keys, not your Bitcoin.’’

– Andreas Antonopoulos, Bitcoin and security entrepreneur

Drawbacks of Cryptocurrency Exchanges - How Non-Custodial Services Are the Solution

Source: Chainalysis

Cryptocurrency traders and enthusiasts started trending hashtags such as “ProofOfKeys” on Twitter after major exchange breaches to ensure investors and traders stay away from custodial wallets and not store their cryptocurrency on exchanges unless they are trading. Non-custodial cryptocurrency exchanges and wallets started to gain traction as users gave much more priority to their security.

Also, trading on exchanges is not only risky but also a tedious task. In order for you to trade on a DEX, you need to enter your private keys or Keystore or use MetaMask; the latter is the most recommended method. Then you need to send your digital currency from your private wallet to Metamask and then to DEX. Every transaction has to be signed by you. Probably the most frustrating part of using this type of exchange is you have to wait until someone buys or sells so that your order fills, which can take a long time depending on the liquidity on that exchange.

CEXs solve this waiting problem by using market makers, but again, users are required to log in and perform authentication to trade and confirm by email to make every withdrawal. On top of all this, all exchanges require you to do KYC to comply with local regulations, which can take days.

Overcoming CEXs’ and DEXs’ drawbacks

Instant crypto exchange services that require no registration and perform your transactions fast may be the solution. These platforms give you basically as many options as any regular exchange – but overcome their shortcomings.

Another major advantage of such platforms over CEXs and DEXs is that they do not control your funds at all – as non-custodial services, they allow you to keep the keys to your crypto privately. An as there’s no registration required, the crypto exchange is very simple here. For example, on ChangeNOW, all you have to do to buy Bitcoin is to enter the amount of the sum you want to exchange, your wallet address, and to click Confirm.

Along with this, there are several other features that widen the possibilities of a trader on ChangeNOW. For example, they have no upper limits for the crypto exchange; over 200 cryptocurrencies are supported, and it’s possible to buy them with Visa or MasterCard. The rates are very reasonable as the service claims it uses special algorithms that pick the best rate at the moment of the exchange.

So what’s the best place to trade crypto?

Of course, there is no ideal platform to trade crypto out there. ChangeNOW has its own drawbacks – they have no crypto-to-fiat options available, and fiat-to-crypto exchanges are a bit pricy. Many traders consider instant exchange services the best place to trade crypto with security and convenience – but we recommend you doing your own research to choose the best platform that will fit your needs.

The post Drawbacks of Cryptocurrency Exchanges – How Non-Custodial Services Are the Solution appeared first on Bitcoin News.

Ripple CEO’s Public Statements About XRP Token Under Fire in Class-Action Lawsuit

by

Ripple CEO's Public Statements About XRP Token Under Fire in Class-Action Lawsuit

Plaintiffs in the class action lawsuit against Ripple Labs have filed another litigation complaint against Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse. The news follows the recent court judgment that denied Ripple Lab’s attempt to get the case dismissed.

Also read: Market Update: Slew of Unknown Coins Has Seen Considerable Gains Since ‘Black Thursday’

Plaintiffs Accuse Ripple Labs CEO of Selling XRP After Telling the Public He Was ‘Long XRP’

On March 25, the plaintiffs suing Ripple Labs filed an amended complaint with the court against the company’s CEO Brad Garlinghouse. According to the court filing, Garlinghouse told the public a few statements during interviews and on Twitter that ostensibly favor the plaintiff’s side of the argument. The document notes that the CEO told people on Twitter and in the media that he was holding and “long XRP,” but the plaintiffs believe Garlinghouse was selling the token regularly. The complaint filed on Wednesday reads:

Ripple’s CEO, Brad Garlinghouse, has also been a vocal advocate for investing in XRP. In a December 14, 2017 interview with BNN, when asked if he is personally invested in XRP, the CEO stated ‘I’m long XRP, I’m very, very long XRP as a percentage of my personal balance sheet.

Ripple CEO's Public Statements About XRP Token Under Fire in Class-Action Lawsuit

However, despite Garlinghouse explicitly saying that in public, the plaintiffs believe the CEO was instead dumping lots of XRP on the open market for USD and other assets. They believe retail investors were damaged by these alleged actions and Ripple Labs employees had knowledge of these instances, the plaintiffs further claimed.

“Rather,[Garlinghouse] was dumping XRP on retail investors in exchange for dollars and other cryptocurrencies,” the complaint adds. “Defendants had exclusive or superior knowledge of material information regarding Garlinghouse’s XRP sales but omitted it from their representations to investors…Accordingly, Garlinghouse’s statement was a misrepresentation and omission of material fact to investors.”

Ripple CEO's Public Statements About XRP Token Under Fire in Class-Action Lawsuit

Lawsuit Claims XRP Is Centralized and a Security

Essentially, the plaintiffs suing Ripple Labs also believe that the firm advertised XRP as a utility token for the network but the company is accused of simply using XRP for revenue. Other than making revenue, the plaintiffs say that XRP is basically a security token and other products like Ripplenet and Xvia are simply smoke and mirrors with no real value. Ripple Labs and Garlinghouse have denied all of these accusations against them and have tried to get the case dismissed. In addition to the plaintiff’s attempt to get a jury trial, the case questions whether or not XRP is a security. The plaintiffs wholeheartedly believe that XRP is a security and the entire project is centralized.

Ripple CEO's Public Statements About XRP Token Under Fire in Class-Action Lawsuit

For instance, the plaintiffs further highlight that the Ripple Labs XRP product manager, Warren Paul Anderson, tweeted frequently about XRP’s centralization issues. “On January 9, 2018, Anderson tacitly admits that the XRP Ledger remains centralized, tweeting that the ‘[N]ew XRP Ledger (rippled) 0.81.0 release gets us one step closer to executing on our aforementioned decentralization strategy,’” the complaint notes.

What do you think about the class-action lawsuit against Ripple Labs? Let us know in the comments below.

 

The post Ripple CEO’s Public Statements About XRP Token Under Fire in Class-Action Lawsuit appeared first on Bitcoin News.