The Brutal Truth About XRP

On the heels of the LIBRA collapse, memecoins appear to be hitting a major sentiment shift. Both Nic Carter and Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong agree that memecoins won’t vanish, but the free-for-all is winding down. Carter points to rampant insider trading killing any notion of a “fair launch.” At the same time, Armstrong sees a need to filter out fraud and focus on genuine value. Of course, the elephant in the room is that our sitting president and first lady have their own memecoins, with a collective market cap of $3.4 billion.

A new Chainalysis report shows sanctioned entities racked up $15.8 billion worth of crypto last year – nearly 40% of all illicit on-chain activity. Most enforcement efforts focused on Russia’s wartime economy and Iranian entities seeking to sidestep sanctions, though Tornado Cash and other decentralized platforms remain stubbornly resistant. Read the entire crime report here.

Ethereum gas fees recently tumbled to their lowest levels since mid-2020, dropping 70% in a week, according to data from The Block. But don’t cheer yet – the slump comes alongside a 46% plunge in on-chain volume, hinting at weak demand rather than improved efficiency. Not exactly a bullish sign for Ethereum’s network activity. But let’s not single out ETH. BTC network activity, on the other hand, hit a 12-month low last week, with transactions down 55% from their peak.

The SEC just revealed its new Cyber and Emerging Technologies Unit (CETU), aimed at protecting investors from bad actors in crypto and AI. CETU will replace the Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit, which was created in 2022 under the former Biden administration. SEC acting chairman Mark Uyeda says: “The unit will not only protect investors but will also facilitate capital formation and market efficiency by clearing the way for innovation to grow.”

Last week, Messari co-founder Ryan Selkis published a thread on X explaining how Ripple’s dream of becoming the “global bridge currency” has been leapfrogged by stablecoins. Afterall, stables did explode in popularity while Ripple was stuck in its SEC lawsuit. Now, despite winning this lawsuit, and spending millions on compliance and promotion, we’ve long questioned Ripple’s real economic role and underlying utility… beyond its PR strategy of announcing new “partnerships” with global banks. Perhaps this thread is some good food for thought.