Cryptocurrency markets are in the green for the second week running. Ripple is leading the rally having gained 19% in the last 24 hours despite a slowing momentum in the market. Ripple is now nearing $1 currently trading at $0.84 on Bitfinex. Overall, the digital currency has gained 31% in the last 7 days.
Its momentum seems set to surpass yesterday’s 10%.
Market leader Bitcoin is only up 1.5% in the last 24 hours and Ethereum by 7.5% according to data from CoinMarketCap. The 24-hour volume currently stands at nearly $1.7 billion with Bithumb exchange accounting for much of the volume at 27%. Upbit, another South Korean exchange accounts for 15% of the volume. Bitbank, a Japanese exchange takes the third position with 8.29% of all trades. Hong Kong-based Binance is fourth with 7.61% of all XRP trades.
The US tax deadline passed on April 17 and could be part of the reason for the Ripple rebound. Traders have been fearing a massive sell-off ahead of the deadline.
Tax Deadline Passed
Only a few US citizens are said to have filed their cryptocurrency investments with the IRS. It is estimated that they owe the government about $25 billion in capital gains tax.
At its peak in January, Ripple was trading at $3.82 before a dramatic slump hit the market in February. Then, its market capitalisation just stood shy of $148 billion compared to about $33.4 billion today. This means it has lost nearly 80% of its value since the beginning of the year.
It will be interesting to see if it can reach $1 in the coming weeks, a level that has eluded it since the beginning of March.
Binance to Enable USD Pairs
News that Binance will be enabling USD to crypto transactions could boost if further. Binance, one of the largest globally has been a strictly crypto-to-crypto exchange. This means that investors had to first buy bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies before transferring it to Binance then trading them for others.
Ripple prices were recently boosted with the launch by Santander of a money transfer app built using Ripple’s xCurrent software. The service is currently available in four European countries.
Ripple is also in talks with Coinbase to have the coin listed on the exchange. Coinbase only lists four coins including Bitcoin and Ethereum, generally not considered as securities. The bone of contention right now may be weather Ripple is a security. This carries a lot of implications when it comes to securities laws.
Ripple was built to enable faster and cheaper transnational transfers. The network has already been tested by several banks. Used with its native currency, it can cut transfer costs by up to 60% according to the company.