Federal officials allege that Georgia Republican Brant Frost IV operated a $140 million Ponzi scheme through First Liberty Building and Loan, defrauding 300 investors with false promises of high returns, while spending investor funds on personal luxuries and political contributions. The scheme, which began as a loan business, was exposed as a Ponzi scheme by 2021, leading to investigations and potential legal actions.
XRP's trading volume has plummeted by 54% to $1.38 billion, possibly due to investor caution despite recent positive developments like Ripple dropping its SEC appeal, major XRPL upgrades, and new partnerships. The price remains slightly up, with traders awaiting further catalysts for movement.
A market analyst suggests XRP is poised for significant gains, potentially reaching $8 to $19 or higher, driven by technical patterns and a positive legal ruling, indicating that XRP holders could profit substantially in the upcoming market cycle.
Ripple's XRP has surged to become the third-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, surpassing Tether (USDT), amid a broader crypto market rally. The token's price has increased by 424% in the past month, driven by positive developments in Ripple's SEC lawsuit and optimism following Donald Trump's election victory. XRP's market cap now stands at $152.2 billion, with further growth potential as Ripple seeks regulatory approval for its stablecoin. However, analysts caution that the rally may be overextended.
Speculation is growing about the potential impact of the upcoming Bitcoin halving on XRP's price, with experts offering varied predictions. Despite the SEC v. Ripple lawsuit hindering XRP's performance in the last bull market, optimism is rising due to legal clarity received in the lawsuit. Projections for XRP's price after the halving range from hitting its previous all-time high of $3.84 to reaching $5.85 by 2025, with some even suggesting potential prices of $38.5 or $46.5 depending on Bitcoin's post-halving performance. However, readers are advised to conduct thorough research before making any investment decisions.
XRP, the native token of Ripple, has been stagnant despite the recent crypto market surge, but a prediction by analyst Andrew Forte suggests a potential rise to $100 per token by 2037, representing a 15,900% increase. Other experts have expressed similar optimism, but the ongoing lawsuit between Ripple and the SEC, as well as the overall health of the cryptocurrency market, could significantly impact XRP's future. The potential for XRP's growth continues to spark debate within the cryptocurrency community.
Three current and former minor league baseball players, including Jordan Qsar, have been indicted for allegedly making $189,000 in illegal profits from insider trading related to Jack in the Box's acquisition of Del Taco in 2021. The Securities and Exchange Commission also filed a civil lawsuit against the trio and a fourth former minor leaguer, alleging they received insider information from a friend working at Jack in the Box and shared it with others, resulting in significant stock gains. The players face charges of conspiracy, securities fraud, and wire fraud, with the SEC seeking injunctions, disgorgement of profits, and civil penalties.
The anticipation of a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) launch is overshadowing the regulatory uncertainty surrounding Coinbase, the largest US crypto exchange. While a Bitcoin ETF could potentially bring in more business, analysts argue that it may also divert investors away from Coinbase. The ongoing Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) lawsuit against Coinbase further clouds the company's outlook. Despite these challenges, Coinbase's financial performance is expected to improve in the third quarter, with analysts predicting increased revenue and a narrower loss. The optimism surrounding Bitcoin ETFs has contributed to Coinbase's stock gain, but some investors are overlooking potential regulatory developments. If Coinbase loses the SEC case, it could potentially be broken up into separate entities. Additionally, there are expectations of growth from the next Bitcoin halvening and benefits from increased retail volumes. However, there are concerns that ETFs could make Coinbase shares less attractive as a proxy for the crypto market.
Matthew Motil, a North Olmsted house-flipper who called himself "The Cash Flow King," has been accused by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of running an $11 million Ponzi scheme that defrauded dozens of investors. Motil allegedly promised high returns on house-flipping ventures but used investor funds for personal expenses and other business ventures. He faces a lawsuit seeking to recoup money for investors and impose penalties, including a ban on serving as an officer or director of a public company.
Bitcoin remains stagnant around $29,200 as investors digest the impact of a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) lawsuit against Richard Schueler and his projects Hex, PulseChain, and PulseX, as well as the fallout from an exploit of stablecoin exchange Curve. Altcoins, including Ether, Solana, Tron, and Polygon, have experienced downward drifts following the HEX suit. Curve's native crypto, CRV, has dropped 12.5% to trade at 56 cents. Despite some larger-size buyers accumulating bitcoin during the recent price drop, the overall market sentiment remains in a holding pattern.
A federal judge has denied Terraform Labs' motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), stating that the SEC has jurisdiction and a plausible claim that Terraform's stablecoin, TerraUSD (UST), the Anchor Protocol, and LUNA may have violated securities law. The judge also rejected the use of a ruling in the Ripple case, where another judge ruled that Ripple did not violate securities law in selling XRP to retail investors through an exchange intermediary. The SEC has hinted at a possible appeal, and the price of XRP dropped around 2% following the ruling.
Despite concerns over the Ripple vs. SEC lawsuit, the XRP Ledger (XRPL) has shown significant growth in various areas during Q2 2023. The circulating market cap of XRP increased by 42.5% year-to-date, although it declined by 10.7% in Q2. While transaction volume decreased, there was a notable increase in average daily NFT transactions. The XRPL also saw expansion in sidechains and achieved a 31.8% growth in total new address count. Despite challenges, Ripple's ecosystem is driving utility adoption and progressing towards providing sustainable value and utility.
Binance.US has resolved all USD withdrawal issues on the crypto exchange, but warns banking partners may terminate the service in the near future and recommends converting USD fiat balances to stablecoins. The exchange also announced new USDT pairs for digital assets and will remove most USD Advanced Trading pairs. Meanwhile, USDT continues to depeg on Binance.US, falling to 0.96 against USD. Binance.US filed a motion against the SEC for contradictory statements around its alleged “commingling” of client assets.
Despite the recent SEC lawsuit against Coinbase, CEO Brian Armstrong still envisions the exchange's platform becoming a global "super app" like WeChat, bundling together financial services, social interactions, and more. Armstrong believes that Coinbase's super app will be based on decentralized protocols, creating a digital economy of peer-to-peer services that keeps users' data out of the reach of large organizations.
Binance.US will suspend US dollar deposits and withdrawals as its banking partners prepare to pause the channels to withdraw US dollars from the exchange, days after regulators sued Binance and its chief executive, Changpeng Zhao. While trading, staking, deposits and withdrawals in cryptocurrencies would remain fully operational, customers would be unable to deposit or withdraw US dollars from the exchange. The US arm of the world’s largest crypto exchange said on Thursday that it was taking “proactive steps” in its transition to a crypto-only exchange for the time being.
