Crypto Today: Bitcoin blocked under $7,000; Ripple's XRP gained 7% in recent 24 hours

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Markets:

BTC/USD is changing hands at $6,630. The coin has stayed mostly unchanged on a day-to-day basis and lost about 1% since the beginning of Friday. BTC hit the intraday high at $6,874 but failed to hold the ground. Now it locked in a tight range with short-term bearish bias amid shrinking volatility.

ETH/USD has settled at $137.30, off the Asian high of $142.02. The coin has lost by 1% since the beginning of the day and stayed unchanged as compared to this time on Thursday. Now ETH/USD is moving in a short-term bearish trend amid low volatility.

XRP/USD has settled above $0.1700 after a sharp increase late on Thursday. The coin tested area above $0.1800 during early Asian hours but retreated to $0.1725 by press time. XRP has lost over 2% since the beginning of the day, though it is still 7% higher from this time on Thursday.

Among the 100 most important cryptocurrencies Quant (QNT) $3.6 (+31%), Maker (MRK) $322.7 (+15.6%) and Chiliz (CHZ) $0.0070 (+12.5%) are in the green zone. The day's losers are  EDC Blockchain (EDC) $0.0125 (-29.9%), Ravencoin (RVN) $0.0152 (-3.8%), Steem (STEEM) $0.1771 (-2.4%).

Chart of the day:

XRP/USD, 30-min chart

Market

Gold-backed crypto-tokens continue to rise in price as sourcing gold itself during the coronavirus-induced downturn is reportedly getting more difficult.

As gold prices are growing amid skyrocketing demand for the physical precious metal, gold-backed crypto tokens are also on fire. Demand for two of the most liquid gold-backed token projects, Paxos Gold (PAXG) and Tether Gold (XAUT), has increased significantly this week, according to the recent data. These tokens can be redeemable for physical gold, which makes it especially attractive for investors seeking exposure in gold.

There’s no gold. There’s roughly a 10% premium to purchase physical gold for delivery. Usually, it’s like 2%. I can buy a one-ounce American Eagle for $1,800,” said Josh Strauss. “$1,800!” Josh Strauss, partner at money manager Pekin Hardy Strauss in Chicago commented.

Industry

BitBay, a large Poland-based cryptocurrency exchange went offline on Thursday due to connectivity issues. The platform partially restored the functionality to allow users to cancel orders. The company said that the problems were caused by the issues of the external service provider.

The Coinbase Wallet developers integrated several decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols into the wallet interface. Thus the wallet users can get hassle-free access to passive cryptocurrency income. Earlier this functionality was realized via web-interfaces of decentralized applications or via WalletLink for desktop computers. The company commented in the official announcement:

With this new lending experience, you are just a few taps away from putting your money to work. Pick a coin to lend, pick a smart contract and enter the amount you wish to lend. Your crypto is then deployed directly to the smart contract to start earning interest.

Once the coins are loaned, users can monitor how their interest grow right inside the wallet app.

Arcane Research registered the growing interest in the deliverable futures offered on the cryptocurrency platform Bakkt. Thus, in March the trading volumes increased by 44% on a month-to-month basis.

Physical #BTC delivery on @Bakkt increased 44% in March, although being relatively flat in USD. Despite the recent market instability, Bakkt seems relatively unaffected.

Also, experts pointed out the decrease in trading volumes amid the collapse of Bitcoin prices. According to  Bakkt Volume Bot, the trading volume on the trading platform amounted to $7.7 million, while open interest settled at $4.2 million.

Regulation

The Financial regulator of Malta (The Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA)) found out two fraudulent cryptocurrency-related websites that falsely claimed that they operated under Maltese license. The warning was issued against “COINMALEX” and “Crypto Foxtrades”. These two companies.

The MFSA wishes to alert the public, in Malta and abroad, that Crypto Foxtrades is NOT a Maltese registered Company NOR licensed or otherwise authorized by the MFSA to provide the service of an exchange or other financial services which are required to be licensed or otherwise authorized under Maltese law,” the regulator MFSA warned.

Notably, MFSA has been vigilant in monitoring the cryptocurrency industry. The regulator issues warnings whenever it spots fraudulent activities or phony licensure claims.

Quote of the day:

Congratulations Bitcoin hodlers. It looks like #Bitcoin may actually be living up to its status as a non-correlated asset after all.  Every asset class is rallying today except Bitcoin!

Peter Schiff, CEO of Euro Pacific Funds