Summary:

  • Ripple (XRPUSD on xStation5) set its new high overnight as the cryptocurrency-based technology could help stock exchange operators 
  • European economists doubt Bitcoin could be a threat to the financial stability at least at this stage
  • Morgan Stanley estimates how much money hedge funds have invested in cryptocurrencies in 2017

Although the buying frenzy has been focused chiefly on Bitcoin of late the spree seems to be turning to Ripple, being the fourth largest cryptocurrency market based on market capitalization. The digital currency saw an incredible pick-up overnight surging to above $0.9. While there was no a straightforward reason for such a move it needs to pay a closer attention to the news regarding Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT). According to finexrta.com central banks and financial market infrastructures – key stakeholders in the global payments system – have ramped up their engagement with technology providers to explore how they can use DLT in their business services.

The Singaporean central bank (MAS) is at the forefront of this process as it already announced the second phase of the Project UBIN in the past month. Let us explain the project aims to help the MAS and the industry better understand the technology and the potential benefits it may bring through practical experimentation. Besides, it’s worth mentioning the Australian stock exchange which has already finished two years of tests to declare the adoption of DLT to replace its securities clearing and settlement platform.

link do file download linkRipple (XRPUSD) soared to its new all-time peak facing an obstacle in form of an upper boundary of an upward channel. Having said that one may forecast the price to decline deeper once bears are able to break a support placed at $0.85 to the downside. If so, slides might reach as low as a lower limit of the channel. Source: xStation5

The Bitcoin thread has been already talked about by many prominent people, financial institutions or even central banks as it could be a potential threat to the global financial stability. However, a group of European economists believe Bitcoin does not pose a threat to the financial stability, albeit they accord themselves that regulatory oversight needs to be increased. This is the fallout of a survey published on Tuesday by the UK-based Centre for Macroeconomics while the group consisted of 100 prominent European university economists. What’s more, some of them declared that Bitcoin seems to be negligible compared to the overall financial system. For one, according to Michael McMahon, professor in economics from the University of Oxford “cryptocurrencies are still too small and lacking in widespread ownership, especially among large investment groups, to be a serious risk to the overall financial system”.

link do file download linkBeside Ripple Dash (DSHUSD) has also gained momentum recently as it’s reached a top at $1,550. The virtual currency appears to be constantly inspired by major upgrades to the system’s transaction capability. Source: xStation5

As the year is coming to an end it’s worth wondering how much money hedge funds have already invested in the cryptocurrency market so far in 2017. According to calculations carried out by Morgan Stanley they could have put a massive $2 billion into cryptocurrencies since the beginning of the year. Moreover, the research showed that more than 100 cryptocurrency-related hedge funds have involved in trading while as much as 84 new funds have been launched only this year.

link do file download linkAccording to Morgan Stanley global hedge funds have invested over $2 billion in cryptocurrencies so far this year. Source: businessinsider.com