Weekly Round-up — 8/1/21

The first week of 2021 brings considerable volume movement alongside positive regulatory news coming from the U.S. After the new year with a bull run — there are no signs of slowing down at the moment of this weekly round-up. Keep reading to find out more about the key news that has unfolded over the last week.

Price changes and market fluctuation

According to on-chain metrics (via Glassnode), Ethereum (ETH) is still seen as undervalued and likely to increase further. It comes as ETH breached the $1k barrier for the first time in three years. The price of Ethereum has skyrocketed, with an increase of 37% in a single day earlier this week.

Similarly, Bitcoin (BTC) saw a meteoric rise, exceeding $41k as it continues on a bull run of its own. Its price has doubled within a month and it shows no signs of slowing down. Experts at JP Morgan believe it could continue to rise to around $150k, fearing that BTC could start to become a serious rival to gold and gold-backed financial markets.

Regulatory

In other news, stablecoins are solidifying their position as true virtual currency with more and more states around the world recognising or adding to their legitimacy. In a move by the U.S government, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) revealed (through a press release) its decision to allow Federally chartered banks and thrifts to utilise stablecoins and public blockchains for payment settlement and other banking functions.

Legal

XRP has been in trouble for the past two weeks because, as SEC claims, Ripple broke laws surrounding the selling of unregistered securities when XRP was being sold to investors. Despite this, its price has since recovered, with many members of the community asking for it to be recognised as a currency. A petition has since been created — however reaching the required threshold to be discussed by the U.S government will be a different matter.

Important Information

Cryptocurrencies are generally not regulated and investors do not have access to recourse or compensation schemes such as, for example, in the UK, the Financial Ombudsman Service or the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. Investing in cryptocurrencies can be high risk and investors should carefully evaluate their appetite for risk and their understanding of trading cryptocurrencies prior to entering into a transaction.