Crypto Today: XRP shoots for the skies as critical barrier is broken

Here's what you need to know on Tuesday

Markets

BTC/USD is currently trading at $9199 (-1.20%), with the $9000 level currently at risk of a breach. 

ETH/USD is currently trading at $188.00 (-0.50%), bulls are losing further momentum underneath $200. 

XRP/USD is currently trading at $0.2670 (+6.90%), a surge in upside pressure as the price breaks down $0.2500 barrier. 

Among the 100 most important cryptocurrencies, the best of the day are ICX $0.463045 (+29.55%), KICK $0.000131 (+26.49%) and HBAR $0.016759 (+18.27%) and The day's losers are MONA $1.60 (-10.50%), MOF $1.18 (-7.75%) and XTZ $1.94 (-5.30%).

Chart of the day: XRP/USD daily chart

Market

BitMEX, one of the leading crypto derivatives exchange, is set to launch XRP perpetual swaps on February 5. The exchange on Twitter announced they will offer leverage of up to 50x for the XRP/USD swap contract. The decision was not abrupt as the platform already announced the baking of such a contract last month. 

Elsewhere regarding XRP, 500 million XRP was locked in an escrow at Ripple at 23:34:20 UTC. The transaction was termed- “back to me.” Whale Alert announced this news on Twitter today.

BitPay, announced that the company will soon allow invoices to be paid from any Bitcoin wallet or exchange. 

Regulation

The UK’s Financial Watchdog, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has announced its implementation of a new regime to provide a detailed set of rules for crypto businesses in the country. The new FCA handbook proposes different application fees for businesses according to their business size, income, and profit from asset activity.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has announced new anti-money laundering (AML) and counterterrorist-financing (CTF) rules for cryptocurrency firms.

According to MAS, the new rule is an update of the Singaporean regulatory framework for digital-payments-services and will be enforced immediately. From now on, cryptocurrency businesses operating in Singapore will need to register and be licensed to continue operating in the country.

Industry 

Research conducted by Gartner Inc. predicts a 50 percent increase in overall data quality by 2023 for all businesses and organizations using blockchain smart contracts.

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance is adjusting its fee structure to get market makers to add liquidity on its futures platform. Under the revised Binance Futures Market Maker Program, market makers will receive a negative fee for selected trading pairs, according to an official announcement. 

IBM is designing a blockchain proof-of-concept (PoC) for an agency of the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture (USDA) called the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), which will enable it to assess how distributed ledger technology (DLT) can fully enhance important regulation services especially export certification systems.

Quote of the day

An estimated $3.5 billion changed hands on the Bitcoin blockchain yesterday. The highest level since the 2017 bull market.

MatiGreenspan