{"id":264,"date":"2019-07-06T06:34:22","date_gmt":"2019-07-06T10:34:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hodlin.com\/blog\/?p=264"},"modified":"2020-12-13T22:43:41","modified_gmt":"2020-12-14T03:43:41","slug":"ripples-global-ambitions-plus-bitcoin-and-ethereum-developments-in-june-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hodlin.com\/blog\/ripples-global-ambitions-plus-bitcoin-and-ethereum-developments-in-june-2019","title":{"rendered":"Ripple\u2019s Global Ambitions Plus Bitcoin and Ethereum Developments in June 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Overly, the crypto market did tap good tidings in the first half of the year. After impressive gains from April through to June, the crypto market is officially over. Why not? Last year was a pain for crypto asset holders. Leading the free fall was the anchor coin, Bitcoin (BTC)<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

By diving from highs of $20,000 to a\nlow of $3,200, many investors were shaken. However, with regulators changing\ntheir tune and mainstream financial institutions warming to blockchain, sinking\nbillions in crypto infrastructure development the future is brightening. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Case in point, Russia. Citing the\nbenefits of crypto and especially Bitcoin-rumor has it that they are amassing\nthe store of value coin in droves as a safety measure against US and NATO\nsanctions, as efficiency, Elvira Nabiullina, the head of Russia\u2019s central bank\npraised blockchain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saying cryptocurrencies are a measure of the readiness of a society, she quips: It will be more convenient, it is electronic money for people, for citizens. Are we ready, as a society, to refuse cash<\/em>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Will Ripple (XRP) Succeed<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, the Game of Thrones as far\nas global payment providers are concerned is whether one of the many will finally\nemerge and replace SWIFT.  Dominant and\nbacked by more than 11,000 global banks and taking advantage of their \u201corganizational\nassets\u201d of more than four decades, SWIFT is undoubtedly the leader. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the ground is shifty and\nRipple is taking advantage. Already, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is pulling\nstrings in the Middle East advocating for xCurrent. There are conversions with\nsome of these banks actually opting for xRapid. In South East Asia, Yos***aka\nKitao is pulling strings through SBI Holding\u2019s SBI Ripple Asia. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He has a seat in Ripple\u2019s board<\/a> and his expertise will definitely come in handy as Ripple plans to expand. Amid all these developments, the highlight has to be xRapid and the use of XRP as a bridge currency. The investment in Money Gram<\/a> is bullish for consolidating XRP prices as the global remittance company will end up using xRapid. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nhttps:\/\/twitter.com\/Dillon\/status\/1144321269992697856\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Eventually, they will cut costs and\nthat is bullish for their shareholders explaining the soaring prices hours\nafter the Ripple and Money Gram announcement was made. Overly, there are over\n15 banks and financial institutions using xRapid. Encouragingly and from Ripple\u2019s\nefforts, the number will likely rise in days ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ethereum (ETH) and Istanbul, Beacon Chain and Phase Zero<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As far as Ethereum is concerned,\ndevelopers are hard at work. In fact, relative to other smart contracting\nplatforms as Tron or EOS for example, Ethereum is the most active in code\nenhancement. It all has to do with the readiness for Ethereum 2.0. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because of this, there is expectation\namongst investors that ETH will rally ahead of this multi-stage improvement.\nAlready, phase zero has been set for testing in early Jan 2010 while Istanbul\nis scheduled for Oct 2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, two approved EIPs will be activated completing what was scheduled in the last Constantinople upgrade. Besides, SubZero spec is now done. Therefore, scanning ETH related events; it is easy to conclude that the path of least resistance is up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Eth2 spec release v0.8 — SubZero

The phase 0 spec freeze is here! Thank you to everyone for all of the incredible work that has gone into thishttps:\/\/t.co\/XuSHr4NCnP<\/a><\/p>— dannyryan (@dannyryan) July 1, 2019<\/a><\/blockquote>