Bitcoin’s price action on June 24, 2024, indicates a clear bearish trend. Hovering around ,171, bitcoin has fluctuated between ,580 and ,384 in the past 24 hours. BTC’s market cap is .21 trillion, with a trading volume of .12 billion, reflecting significant market activity despite the decline. The decline on Monday aligned with recent news […]
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IMF: CBDCs Can Boost Financial Inclusion and Payment Efficiency in Middle East
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says 19 countries in the Middle East and Central Asia, including Bahrain, Georgia, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, are in the advanced “proof-of concept” stage for central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). “We support policymakers evaluating the need to issue a CBDC and help them craft strong policies and regulatory frameworks […]
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Putin Criticizes U.S. Dollar’s Lack of Gold Backing, Calls for Alternative Payment Systems
Russian President Vladimir Putin criticized the United States for its abandonment of the gold standard, remarking in a Sputnik-released video that the U.S. dollar is now a trust-based currency without tangible backing, a decision underscored by the absence of gold equivalence. This critique arrives during efforts by BRICS countries to diminish reliance on the U.S. […]
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Putin Says BRICS Developing Independent Payment System Free From Political Pressure
Russian President Vladimir Putin recently announced that the BRICS bloc aims to establish an independent payment system, free from political pressure and external interference. Putin stated that the addition of new members has increased BRICS’ share of global GDP to 36% and its share of the global population to 45%. Putin Announces BRICS Open to […]
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Study: Half of Surveyed Germans ‘Imagine Using a Digital Euro as an Additional Payment Option’
A new report has found that half of Germans who participated in a survey study can “imagine using a digital euro as an additional payment option.” However, the study also revealed that some three-quarters of the respondents view the “aspect of privacy in connection with the use of the digital euro as very important or […]
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Paypal Expands PYUSD to Solana Blockchain for Better Payment Solutions
Payments giant Paypal has made Paypal USD (PYUSD) available on the Solana blockchain, making the stablecoin “faster and cheaper to use.” Platforms like Crypto.com, Phantom, and Paxos are among the first to offer PYUSD on Solana, alongside Paypal and Venmo wallets. Paypal Makes PYUSD Available on Solana Blockchain Paypal Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq: PYPL) announced at […]
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XRP Ledger Daily Payment Volume Soars 350%, Hitting 2 Million Transactions
As a recent Messari report outlined, the XRP Ledger (XRPL) showcased notable progress during the first quarter of 2024. The decentralized public blockchain, which facilitates the transfer of XRP, fiat currencies, and other digital assets, has demonstrated substantial activity.
XRP Ledger Burn Rate Slows Amid Low Fees
During Q1 2024, XRP, the native token of the XRPL, secured its position as the sixth largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, reaching .1 billion (currently M). Despite a slight price decrease, XRP’s circulating market cap witnessed a 1.3% growth quarter-over-quarter (QoQ).
The XRPL employs a deflationary mechanism by systematically burning transaction fees. This process exerts downward pressure on the total supply of XRP, which stands at 100 billion tokens.
Since the inception of the XRP Ledger, approximately 12 million XRP have been burned. However, the low burn rate during Q1 can be attributed to the network’s relatively low transaction fees (less than .002 per transaction).
Additionally, 1 billion XRP is released from escrow to Ripple each month, with any unutilized tokens being placed into new escrow contracts. This pattern will continue until the remaining approximately 45 billion XRP becomes liquid; at this point, the deflationary pressure from burned fees will be the primary variable affecting supply.
While XRP’s price decreased marginally 0.1% QoQ, lagging behind the overall crypto market’s 63.0% increase, it rose 14.8% year over year (YoY).
Inscription-Fueled Transactions Propel XRPL Daily Payments
The report highlights that revenue in the XRPL is measured as total fees collected by the network, which are subsequently burned, contributing to the redistribution of wealth from transaction fee spenders to XRP holders. Network activity showed significant growth, with active addresses and transactions increasing by 37% and 113% QoQ, respectively.
A substantial portion of transaction activity on the XRPL stemmed from inscriptions, a transaction type popularized in early 2023. Over 30 million transactions were sent to a single account by approximately 45,000 accounts engaged in inscription-related activities.
According to Messari, inscriptions, facilitated by XRP Script, played a key role in driving the surge in daily payments, which soared 350% QoQ to 2 million transactions.
Lastly, the report notes that the XRP Ledger blockchain witnessed a net increase of 150,000 accounts, driving the total number of accounts up by 3.1% to 5.15 million in Q1.
However, new addresses decreased 12.4% QoQ to 183,000, primarily due to the high number of addresses created in Q4, coinciding with the inception of inscription activity.
As of press time, XRP is valued at .5279, down 2.5% in the past 24 hours and 3.5% in the past seven days, which is in line with the broader market trend.
Featured image from Shutterstock, chart from TradingView.com
Lightning Labs CTO Conducts First Mainnet Multi-Hop Asset Payment via Taproot Asset Channels
Olaoluwa Osuntokun, co-founder and CTO of Lightning Labs, recently executed the first successful mainnet multi-hop asset payment using Taproot Asset channels, marking a new development in asset transfer capabilities over the Lightning Network. Asset Transfer Achieved on Lightning Network Using Taproot Channels The transaction, conducted by Osuntokun, involved a multi-hop payment using a digital asset […]
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Deutsche Bundesbank President on Digital Euro: ‘The Eurosystem Has No Interest in Monitoring People’s Payment Patterns’
Joachim Nagel, President of the Deutsche Bundesbank, praised the privacy traits a hypothetical upcoming digital euro would possess. During a speech, Nagel specified that the Eurosystem would have “no interest” in monitoring the payments and expenses of digital euro users and would not be able to identify them based on their payments. Deutsche Bundesbank President […]
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Nigerian Blockchain-Based Payment Startup, Ivorypay, Partners With Stablecoin Issuer, Tether
A Nigerian startup specializing in blockchain-based payments and remittances has entered into a partnership arrangement with the stablecoin issuer Tether. The arrangement is expected to extend the benefits of stable digital transactions to a larger number of consumers and businesses across the African continent. Ivorypay, Tether Partnership Aims to Boost User Confidence Ivorypay, a Nigerian […]
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