This is a summary of some of the most noteworthy cryptocurrency market stories that CoinGape Media has covered in the last week.
Another week has passed in the crypto universe, and amazing things are happening in the larger industry. The recent U.S. jobs data prompted more investor speculation, while the Israel-Iran conflict caused significant market volatility. In the meantime, there have been new developments in the lawsuit involving Ripple and the US SEC, with XRP facing significant volatility this week.
Here is a roundup of some of CoinGape Media’s most talked-about headlines from the last seven days.
Crypto Market Braces For Impact As Middle East Tensions Rise & U.S. Jobs Data
The much-awaited ‘Uptober’ demonstration came to an abrupt end this week when the Israel-Iran conflict broke out. Notably, Israel attacked Hezbollah forces in Lebanon, and Iran retaliated with missile attacks against Israel. The cryptocurrency market reflected this development’s negative effects as was to be expected. According to Coinglass data, over $351 million was removed from the market due to market uncertainty brought on by the conflict.
In the meantime, it is also important to note that American businessman Robert Kiyosaki provided insightful commentary during the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. The American businessman demanded that strong and decisive leaders be appointed during such times, criticizing the Biden administration and applauding Republican Donald Trump instead.
Additionally, this week’s U.S. jobs data defied expectations of a larger rate cut by the Fed by showing that the nonfarm payroll data figures came in at 254,000 and the unemployment rate came in at 4.1%. BlackRock CIO Rick Rieder predicted that the Federal Reserve would lower interest rates even further, albeit only by 25 basis points, in light of this market event.
XRP Lawsuit Sees New Developments
In the meantime, the SEC and American blockchain payments company Ripple started new litigation-related developments this week. This week, the SEC submitted a notice of appeal in opposition to Judge Analisa Torres’ ruling in the XRP lawsuit. This suggested that the regulatory body had appealed the remedies ruling, which ordered Ripple to pay a $125 million fine.
Due to legal uncertainty, Ripple’s native cryptocurrency, XRP, saw a 13% decline in value over the course of the previous week. At the end of the week, the price of XRP was stable at $0.53. In the interim, XRP whales moved hundreds of millions of coins, which increased market participants’ level of curiosity. However, CoinGape revealed that a well-known cryptocurrency market analyst predicted XRP would hit $5 even in the face of regulatory scrutiny. Further, the SEC reportedly named Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse and Chris Larsen in its appeal this week.