First Mover Americas: Crypto Prices Little Changed, XRP Surges

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CoinDesk 20 Index: 1,892 +1.2% Bitcoin (BTC): $57,601 +0.8% Ether (ETC): $2,451 −1.3% S&P 500: 5,199.50 −0.8% Gold: $2,451 +2.5% Nikkei 225: 34,831.15 −0.74%

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Bitcoin was little changed during the European morning, trading just above $57,000, 0.2% higher than 24 hours ago. The broader digital asset market, as measured by the CoinDesk 20 Index (CD20), is similarly sedate, sitting 0.6% higher. One stand-out is XRP, which jumped nearly 20% after a judge reached a milestone ruling in the Ripple's long-running legal case with the SEC. On Wednesday, a federal judge ordered Ripple to pay $125 million in civil penalties and imposed an injunction against future securities law violations. Although the case is said to have reached its end, the SEC is expected to appeal the ruling – likely extending legal matters.

Japanese investment adviser Metaplanet arranged a 1 billion yen ($6.8 million) loan to buy more bitcoin {{BTC}} after adopting the largest cryptocurrency as a reserve asset earlier this year. The Tokyo-based company said it borrowed the money from shareholder MMXX Ventures "with the entire amount allocated for purchasing bitcoin", in a statement on its website. The six-month loan carries an annual interest rate of 0.1%. In May, Metaplanet said it would adopt bitcoin as a reserve asset to hedge against the volatility of the yen. At the start of July, it held 161.3 BTC ($9.2 million). The company's strategy mimics that of software developer MicroStrategy, which has been acquiring bitcoin for over four years and holds in excess of 226,000 BTC.

Brazil's markets regulator, CVM, approved a Solana-based ETF. It is the first product of its kind in Brazil and among the first Solana-based exchange-traded products (ETPs) globally. The Solana-based ETF is in a pre-operational stage, so has yet to be approved by the Brazilian stock exchange, B3. Exame, a local news organization, said the product would follow the CME CF Solana Dollar Reference Rate, created by CF Benchmarks. Brazilian asset manager QR Asset will offer the ETF, while Vortx, a local fintech focused on capital markets, will serve as its manager, the report stated. SOL trades at just under $154, 1.1% higher in the last 24 hours, at the time of writing.

Chart of the Day

• The chart shows daily trading volumes in the crypto spot market since early 2021.
• Volume surged to over $150 billion during Monday's market rout, the second-highest daily tally since May 19, 2021. That day, China reiterated its ban on bitcoin mining.
• Investor confidence typically recovers slowly from a high-volume price slide.
• Source: CCData

- Omkar Godbole

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CORRECTION (August 8, 12:20 UTC): Corrects the lede to clarify that the judge made a ruling in the Ripple-SEC case.