US Senator Invites Pro-XRP Attorney to Testify to First Crypto Policy for Maine State
Senator Eric Brakey has invited pro-XRP attorney John Deaton to testify at a bill that will authorize Maine State financial institutions to accept cryptocurrency deposits. Brakey has presented a bill, L.D. 990, to the Maine State Financial Service Committee, and the event will be held on April 4 and is open to the public via Zoom. Several industry experts have been lined up to testify and take crypto-related questions from the committee. An XRP enthusiast urged Senator Brakey to invite attorney Deaton for the testimony, and several XRP enthusiasts have backed the invitation, saying attorney Deaton is the most suitable person for the testimony. Attorney Deaton is among the stakeholders pushing for favorable regulations for the US crypto industry, and his testimony at the hearing could play a vital role in ushering in more friendly regulations for the asset class.
XRP Perpetual Futures Open Interest Skyrockets to $610 Million
XRP Perpetual Futures Open Interest (PFOI) has shot up significantly since March 24 to around $610 million at its peak.
360 Million XRP On The Move Amid Ripple CEO’s Fresh Attack
XRP has maintained its uptrend while other major cryptocurrencies saw red indexes on Friday, with the token's price up over 42% in the last 30 days. Data from WhaleAlert shows that crypto whales have been moving millions of XRP as the US SEC vs Ripple lawsuit verdict approaches. Over the past 24 hours, more than 360 million XRP tokens, worth approximately $192 million, have been moved by whales in multiple transactions. Crypto whales have also accumulated XRP, adding over 146 million tokens, worth approximately $78 million, in the last 24 hours. The biggest accumulation transaction was recorded as adding 60.3 million XRP tokens, worth approximately $32.3 million, from crypto exchange Binance.
Ripple Case Optimism Fuels XRP Trading Boom in South Korea
The past week saw XRP’s value increase by 26%, causing trading volumes on top Korean exchanges like UpBit, Bithumb, and Korbit to reach billions of dollars. In the past 24-hour period, CoinDesk states that XRP accounted for 37% of Bithumb’s trading volume, 18% on UpBit, and a remarkable 50% on Korbit, with trading pairs against the U.S. dollar and Korean won.
XRP Ledger Sidechains Now Available for Testing on New Devnet
RippleX has launched a developer network (Devnet) for testing its new XRP Ledger (XRPL) sidechains, which allows developers to customize the XRPL for their desired use cases. The sidechains feature is designed to test new features that could be implemented on the main network and could see increased XRP adoption as businesses can customize the XRPL for private needs. David Schwartz, Ripple’s Chief Technology Officer, first proposed the idea of federated sidechains for the XRPL in 2021, and the feature was subsequently redesigned in 2022 to factor in feedback from a months-long preview period. Developers replaced the "federator" with "witness," which promises to simplify the process of testing and debugging.
XRP Trading Volumes Surges to Billions of Dollars on South Korean Crypto Exchanges
The XRP token has experienced a surge in trading volumes on three of South Korea's top exchanges, UpBit, Bithumb, and Korbit, with trading making up 37%, 18%, and 50% of all volumes respectively. The surge has been attributed to speculation that the token may be classified as a commodity by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission, potentially helping Ripple in its ongoing case with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The surge in XRP trading volumes is an anomaly, as bitcoin and ether typically account for the majority of trading activity on these exchanges. Some of the volume may be attributable to manipulative wash trading.
