The crypto markets had been holding relatively steady over the past week. Until today, that is, when the prices of most coins suddenly shot higher.
The move was led by ripple (XRP), which jumped an impressive 90% to $0.70.
We get a lot of questions about ripple, so I thought I’d explain why I haven’t added it to our portfolio.
First, let’s look at the news that moved ripple today. Ripple Labs signed an agreement with PNC Bank to process international payments.
Here’s a quote from Reuters:
| PNC Treasury Management will use xCurrent, a system developed by Ripple, to speed up the way its U.S. business clients get paid invoices by overseas buyers, Ripple said. |
Many people assume this means that PNC will start using ripple, the cryptocurrency, to process international payments. That is not the case. PNC will be using a completely separate product built by Ripple Labs, called xCurrent, to process some international payments.
Further down in the Reuters piece, it explains that ripple is not involved:
| PNC Bank will not be using XRP or xRapid to carry out payments for now, Asheesh Birla, Ripple’s senior vice president for product management, said in an interview. |
So while many people are excited about banks testing Ripple Labs technology, many don’t realize that the technology Ripple Labs is selling to banks may never involve ripple at all.
Don’t get me wrong, ripple could succeed in the long run. But right now the coin is rallying on a deal that doesn’t involve the underlying cryptocurrency at all. It’s great for Ripple Labs, not necessarily the coin.
So while the company Ripple Labs does indeed have some serious traction with major banks, for now it does not involve the cryptocurrency.
Portfolio Notes
Decred
Decred (DCR) earned positive coverage this week from CoinDesk.com. The article’s focus was on Decred’s innovative governance system, but it provides excellent background on the project. Here’s an excerpt:
| They funded it to launch themselves. No token sale. No venture funding. And since then, they’ve attracted interest from crypto-focused investors like Placeholder VC and BlueYard Capital. Retail investors seem to be buying in too. The hash rate has increased dramatically this year as more miners put more powerful hardware to work on the network and token holders have staked some 46% of the total tokens minted, which locks those tokens up for on average 28 days (but up to nearly five months). |
It’s an excellent piece, and I highly recommend reading it. Decred remains among the most innovative crypto projects in the world.
For more information on Politeia, Decred’s new governance tool, this article is a good primer.
Nano
The Nano (NANO) team continues to impress with its new and improved marketing, PR and development strategy. The Nano Center, a nonprofit built to support the Nano project and community, is off to a good start. Most recently, the center has been focused on community-funded projects.
You can see all the community’s project proposals here. The center has also added useful tutorials and guides on topics like how to buy nano. These are important steps toward further adoption of this innovative and unique cryptocurrency.
Ark
Ark (ARK) continues to push forward in a difficult market, and it received some positive news coverage from CryptoDaily.co.uk this week. The piece provides a good overview of the Ark project. Here’s a bit of the article:
| Collaboration is a key part of the Ark blockchain. The team behind Ark is built up of 23 core team members from 11 countries. As it stands, the Ark community is continuing to grow its community of developers, as they believe collaboration is the key to ensuring the blockchain adoption can become a realistic prospect. |
The Ark team continues to communicate well with the community and has been posting a flurry of updates on its official Twitter account. Recent news includes the hiring of new full-time developers and important security fixes being rolled out.
That’s it for this week. Have a great weekend, everyone.
Adam