Analysts Expect “Moonshot” in Ripple’s XRP as Price Retakes $0.30: Here’s Why

After a brutal -50% performance in 2019, XRP has bounced back to start off the new year. Since the $0.17 bottom established in December 2019, the price of the third-largest cryptocurrency has rallied by 75% to $0.30, outpacing Bitcoin’s relatively mild 60% move higher. With XRP recently passing by the key technical and psychological resistance at $0.30, analysts say that the cryptocurrency could soon embark on a “moonshot” move that will bring prices dramatically higher than where they are now. Related Reading: Bitcoin Could Go Vertical as Price Explodes Past…

IRS Refused to Clarify That Its Crypto Tax Guidance Isn’t Binding, US Watchdog Says

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) should – but won’t – clarify how taxes are levied on cryptocurrencies and cryptocurrency transactions in the U.S., the government’s top auditing institution said Wednesday. The Government Accountability Office (GAO), a U.S. Congress watchdog, published a report in response to a request from Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Tex.), evaluating the IRS’s existing approach and public guidance surrounding cryptocurrencies. The office had three recommendations for the U.S. tax collector, as well as an additional related recommendation for the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), a bureau of the…

Fed Chair Jerome Powell Just Admitted the U.S. Economy Is Screwed

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell resumed his congressional testimony on Wednesday. He told lawmakers that low interest rates have become a fact of life. Twenty-four hours earlier, he asserted that the U.S. economy was doing just fine. Powell’s half right: The U.S. can’t survive normal monetary policy without risking financial ruin. Jerome Powell told Congress Wednesday that the Federal Reserve has no recourse but to print more money when the next downturn hits. That’s because low interest rates are “not really a choice anymore … [but] a fact of reality.”…

Russians Can Use Qiwi, Sberbank, Yandex Money and Now Binance P2P Exchange to Buy Bitcoin With Rubles

A growing number of platforms allow Russian residents to purchase cryptocurrencies with local fiat money. Established cryptocurrency exchanges are not the most trouble-free option, however, as they often require extensive registration and rarely support popular payment methods in the region, unlike small online exchangers and peer-to-peer platforms. Also read: Russia’s New Prime Minister Has an Opinion of Cryptocurrencies Russian Users Ask Search Engines How to Buy Bitcoin Resurging cryptocurrency markets have lifted the mood across the crypto space. The global community hopes to see the continuation of the positive trend…

A New Partnership Lets Institutional Investors Play OTC Crypto Markets

UK-based crypto lending and liquidity provider B2C2 is teaming up with SFOX, a leading U.S. crypto company serving institutional investors, according to a Feb. 12 press release.  This partnership is aimed at letting SFOX clients (including asset managers, family offices and high net worth individuals) access B2C2’s large liquidity pools and better-priced over-the-counter (OTC) markets though a single point of entry.  Danny Kim, head of growth at SFOX, said:  “We are delighted to partner with B2C2, the largest OTC liquidity provider whose streaming pricing and electronic trading capabilities are relied…

E3 Is Dying – And Geoff Keighley Just Delivered the Fatal Blow

Geoff Keighley announced that he wouldn’t attend E3 for the first time in 25 years. That means he will not be hosting the E3 Coliseum event. The expo was already dying. Keighley may have just struck the fatal blow. Gaming industry figurehead Geoff Keighley announced on Wednesday that he would not attend E3 2020. For the first time in 25 years. Asked why he didn’t want to attend – or host the E3 Coliseum event – Keighley responded: Based on what’s been communicated to me about the show, I just…

Crypto Market Cap Hits $300 Billion But Bitcoin Dominance Down 6% YTD

Today, as Bitcoin price (BTC) strives to achieve a new high, the crypto market achieved a $300 billion market capitalization. Over the past month, the figure has steadily increased from $218.4 billion to $303.1 billion, and the total market cap has gained 65.92% since the start of 2020. Crypto market daily price chart. Source: Coin360 Earlier this week, Cointelegraph contributor Michaël van de Poppe discussed the significance of the crypto market cap reaching $300 billion.  Total crypto market capitalization chart. Source: TradingView Van de Poppe posted the above chart and…

A Mailbomber in the Netherlands Wants a BTC Payment to Stop Blowing Things Up

Two letter bombs exploded in the Netherlands on Wednesday and an anonymous criminal is asking for a Bitcoin payment to prevent future attacks, Dutch police say.  The first bomb went off at a postal sorting office in ABN Amro bank in Amsterdam on Wednesday morning. The letter bomb exploded moments after a mailroom worker tossed away the package. “The colleague who was sorting the mail heard a hissing sound, and threw the package away,” Mr. van der Varst said. The second explosion came less than an hour later in a…

Blockstack’s Proof of Transfer Would Have Miners Pay BTC to Mint Stacks

Blockstack unveiled a novel consensus mechanism for piggyback blockchains called Proof of Transfer (PoX) on Feb. 6. Instead of relying on its own proof of work, miners under PoX commit Bitcoin (BTC), which circulates in the ecosystem. The system will be used in Blockstack’s proposed Stacks 2.0 blockchain, which is set for release later in 2020. The Proof of Transfer mechanism was devised to piggyback on the security of Bitcoin, while allowing complex interactions between stakeholders within the Stacks ecosystem. Cointelegraph spoke with Muneeb Ali, Blockstack’s CEO, to learn more…

PS5 Leak Teases a Bold Design Choice That Might Surprise You

The PlayStation website reportedly featured a PS5 icon before it was quickly removed. The icon bears an uncanny resemblance to the design of the PS5 dev kit. If genuine, the final design may be closer to the dev kit than expected. The design of the final retail version of the PlayStation 5 may be closer to the development kit than anticipated, according to the latest PS5 leak. PlayStation 5 Website Blunder A PlayStation 5 icon allegedly appeared – albeit briefly – on the Japanese version of the official PlayStation website…