Cryptocurrency Market News: Bitcoin and altcoins on recovery track, bulls are ready to jump

Here's what you need to know on Thursday

Markets:

BTC/USD is changing hands at $9,300, with 2.8% of gains on day-to-day. The coin recovered from the intraday low of $9,032. Now it is trading within the strong short-term bullish bias amid low volatility.

At the time of writing, ETH/USD is changing hands at $205.50. The price tested the low of $196.87 during early Asian hours but reversed to the upside. The second-largest coin has lost 1.5% since this time on Wednesday and gained 3% since the start of the day. Now ETH is moving within a short-term bullish trend. The volatility is low.

XRP/USD is hovering at $0.2153, while the recovery is still blocked by $0.2200. A sustainable move above this area is needed for the upside to gain traction. XRP/USD is trading within a bearish trend amid low volatility after having recovered from the intraday low of $0.2099.

Among the 100 most important cryptocurrencies, Numeraire (NMR) $32.08 (+25%), Hyperion (HYN) $0.5554 (+23.8%),  and Verge (XVG) $0.0039 (+22.3%)

 The day's losers are, Holo (HOT) $0.0004 (-10.9%), DigiByte  (DGB) $0.0232 (-9.2%) Unibright  (UPT) $0.2820 (-8.68%).

Chart of the day:
BTC/USD, 30-min chart

Market

BitMEX researchers analyzed the upcoming Ethereum 2.0, which is set to go live in July 2020, and concluded that the launch may be less important than it is believed to be. The experts also noted that ETH price may grow initially, however, the longer-term value of the update remains questionable. 

Of course in the short term, a significant amount of ETH could be locked inside the beacon chain, attracted by the ability to earn the new block rewards. This could restrict the supply of ETH on the market and drive up the price, on the other hand, it could merely attract ETH from other contracts where they are considered locked. However, the real question is whether Ethereum 2.0 will drive long term value and for that, supply does not only need to be restricted, there needs to be sustainable demand.

Industry

The Stellar Development Foundation announced the investment of $5 million in crypto wallet provider Abra to foster the development of products and services on the Stellar network.

The Stellar Development Foundation is a non-profit company behind the Stellar blockchain. Abra provides an investment app that allows users to invest in over 100 cryptocurrencies, stocks and exchange-traded funds or ETFs.

Commenting the news, Abra CEO Bill Baryhdt said: 

Our goal is to democratize access to financial services… As we integrate with Stellar, we’re going to be able to build the next generation of banking [infrastructure].

Litecoin issued version 0.18.1 release candidate (RC1). The new version includes new features and improvements, according to the projects lead developer Adrian Gallagher:

We are pleased to release Litecoin Core 0.18.1 release candidate. This is a new major version release, including new features, various bug fixes, performance improvements and updated translations.”

The version may contain bugs and issues as it is a release candidate. Thus, the team invites everyone to test it and report issues a final public release.

The Libra Association appointed Stuart Levey as its first CEO. He will join the Libra Association in summer after stepping down as Chief Legal Officer for HSBC Holdings. During the Bush and Obama Administration, Mr. Levey worked as the first Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence.

I am honored to join the Libra Association as it charts a bold path forward to harness the power of technology to transform the global payments landscape. Technology provides us with the opportunity to make it easier for individuals and businesses to send and receive money, and to empower more than a billion people who have been left on the sidelines of the financial system, all with robust controls to detect and deter illicit financial activity.

Regulation

ErisX received the Virtual Currency License from New York's Department of Financial Services (NYDFS). The spot and derivatives marketplace is conducted now allowed to cryptocurrency transactions with New York residents as it met the required standards for the so-called BitLicense. Among other companies with licensed by NYDFS are Coinbase, Robinhood and Bitstamp.

Thomas Chippas, CEO of ErisX, commented:

We are pleased that the New York Department of Financial Services recognized our commitment to the high standards we borrowed from existing capital markets structures and applied them to the cryptocurrency space.