Metamask-Mastercard crypto debit card faces backlash: Is it the future of crypto payments?

A few days after Metamask and Mastercard came together to launch a pilot program for a crypto debit card in the US, crypto purists are not having it. A large section is criticizing the move, saying that it undermines the ethos of cryptocurrency. With the debit card, users can spend directly from their Metamask wallets, simplifying crypto transactions. They can convert their crypto into fiat currency in real-time as they transact through Linea, a speedy layer-2 network from Ethereum. Disgruntled crypto stakeholders raise concerns The launch of the Metamask debit cards has raised serious concerns among crypto users . They argue that the card’s structure negates decentralization and financial freedom, key pillars of cryptocurrency. According to disgruntled crypto users, the card will box its users to traditional banking systems. Muna O., a crypto purist, asked, “Wasn’t the whole ethos of crypto to provide an alternative system to fiat?” while highlighting the contradiction. The partnership with Mastercard is seen as an attempt to undermine the autonomy on which cryptocurrency is premised. There are also concerns about security, more so with centralized systems. Johana Castellanos, a blockchain analyst, called for sophisticated security measures rather than relying on what is currently there. Johana pointed out that Metamask’s wallet has endured frequent attacks. The cost associated with the debit card has also been mentioned. There are fears that the percentage swap fee might be high, around 6 to 9%. Because the card will be unregulated, it will attract juicy fees for Metamask and Mastercard to reap while hurting the users, contrary to the promise of crypto. Metamask and Mastercard have high hopes for pilot program The rollout of the card in the US follows earlier rollouts in the EU, UK, Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia with eligible currencies including USDC, USDT, and WETH. The Metamask card was promoted as a way to avoid the hustle of transferring cryptocurrency to a bank or centralized exchange before spending. The partnering entities argue that the card will boost the public adoption of cryptocurrency. On one hand, Metamask has robust security features to ensure the card is tamper-proof and difficult to hack. On the other, Mastercard has a wide merchant network, giving the card fast, cheaper and secure spending. Lorenzo Santos, Senior Product Manager at Consensys said, “ Metamask card pilot gives people more freedom to spend crypto. Metamask card represents a major step to removing the friction that has traditionally existed between the blockchain and real-world commerce.” From Zero to Web3 Pro: Your 90-Day Career Launch Plan

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Shiba Inu (SHIB) Price Hits Pre-Pump Levels: What's Happening?

Shiba Inu lost major part of its growth as asset's value tumbles down quicker than expected

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Ripple Abruptly Moved 50 Million XRP. Here’s the Destination

Whale Alert, a prominent platform that monitors significant cryptocurrency transactions, recently reported a large transfer of 50 million XRP. According to the tweet, the transaction—equivalent to $111,697,462 at the time of reporting—was sent from Ripple’s wallet to an unidentified recipient. This transaction has sparked considerable discussion within the cryptocurrency community, with speculation ranging from regulatory settlements to speculative alliances. Details of the Transaction The reported transfer involved 50 million XRP, a significant amount even by Ripple’s standards. Such large-scale transactions often attract attention due to their potential implications on market dynamics and investor sentiment. While the identity of the receiving wallet remains unknown, the movement of funds by Ripple has raised questions regarding the purpose and potential recipients of the transaction. XRP Community Reactions The XRP community has not been shy about expressing opinions on the transaction. Some community members on Twitter, such as @Xrp_goat, speculated that the transfer could be related to legal proceedings. “Ripple just paid the SEC,” they stated , referencing the ongoing legal battle between Ripple and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over whether XRP should be classified as a security. Another user, @Theannointedone, speculated that the funds might be directed toward former U.S. President Donald Trump, stating , “Right to Mr. Donald Trump.” We are on twitter, follow us to connect with us :- @TimesTabloid1 — TimesTabloid (@TimesTabloid1) July 15, 2023 Ripple’s History with Large Transactions Ripple is no stranger to high-value transactions. The firm occasionally moves large amounts of XRP to fund operations and provide liquidity to its On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) partners, or distribute tokens to strategic stakeholders. However, the lack of transparency regarding the recipient in this particular transaction has left room for debate and speculation. Market Impact At the time of writing, XRP is trading at $2.29, with a 1.09% price decrease over the last 24 hours. While large transactions like this often raise concerns about potential sell-offs, there is no direct evidence linking this transfer to market movements. However, investors and traders remain cautious, as significant transfers from Ripple’s wallets are sometimes perceived as signals of impending market activity. A s Ripple continues its activities amid regulatory challenges and market volatility, such high-profile transactions will likely remain a focal point for investors and analysts. Disclaimer : This content is meant to inform and should not be considered financial advice. The views expressed in this article may include the author’s personal opinions and do not represent Times Tabloid’s opinion. Readers are urged to do in-depth research before making any investment decisions. Any action taken by the reader is strictly at their own risk. Times Tabloid is not responsible for any financial losses. Follow us on Twitter , Facebook , Telegram , and Google News The post Ripple Abruptly Moved 50 Million XRP. Here’s the Destination appeared first on Times Tabloid .

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Why Bitcoin’s ‘red-hot run’ could correct to ‘$20,000 over the next few weeks’

Bitcoin’s ( BTC ) price movement correlation with the global money supply (M2) is signaling a possible massive correction for the asset as it seeks to breach the six-figure valuation mark. This relationship hints that Bitcoin could experience a steep drop to $20,000, an almost 80% plunge from its current valuation, according to an analysis by financial commentary platform The Kobeissi Letter in an X post on December 21. Historically, Bitcoin prices have exhibited a lagged correlation with the global money supply, typically trailing by approximately 10 weeks. The entity stated that this trend aligns with the recent peak in the supply, which hit a record $108.5 trillion in October before falling by $4.1 trillion to $104.4 trillion as of December, the lowest level since August. Bitcoin and Global money supply correlation chart. Source: Joe Consorti Notably, the decline coincides with Bitcoin’s recent retreat, which saw the cryptocurrency face the threat of plunging below $90,000 . “If the relationship still holds, this suggests that Bitcoin prices could fall as much as $20,000 over the next few weeks. Bitcoin’s red-hot run may take a pause,” the platform noted. The analysis noted that Bitcoin’s valuation may decline if this historical relationship persists. Fate of Bitcoin price correlation with M2 At the same time, in an X post on December 18, Bitcoin custody firm Theya’s head of growth, Joe Consorti, noted that investors should anticipate two possible outcomes with the two continuing to show correlation. Consorti suggested Bitcoin could decouple from this pattern, driven by strong demand within its ecosystem. He also warned that tightening liquidity could lead to a deep mid-cycle correction if the correlation persists. Elsewhere, Jamie Coutts, chief crypto analyst at Real Vision , highlighted Bitcoin’s correlation with global money supply as a key indicator of its future trajectory. In a late November post on X, Coutts projected the M2 money supply to exceed $127 trillion by 2025, an 18% increase driven by economic and monetary factors. He noted that Bitcoin has historically absorbed about 10% of new liquidity, suggesting the cryptocurrency could see substantial inflows during this period. Global money supply chart. Source: Jamie Coutts However, not all market players believe the M2 correlation with Bitcoin will dictate the digital currency’s price movement. An X user with the pseudonym CryptoAnarchyst argued that the money supply is no longer a key indicator for Bitcoin, as the market has shifted from retail-driven to institutional and derivative-led. The user stated that with the rise of exchange-traded funds ( ETFs ), retirement funds, and corporations, the focus has moved away from traditional liquidity measures, and relying on M2 could lead to poor decision-making in the current market. Sooner you guys realize that M2 no longer matters, better is going to be for you guys. M2 mattered when the market was mostly direct retail driven. People had to have cash on hand to invest in Bitcoin… since ETFs came in, now retirement funds, corporations, derivatives, and… — 🇭🇷CryptoAnarchyst📈🚀🌚 (@CryptoAnarchyst) December 21, 2024 Correlation between global money supply and risk assets The global M2 supply measures total liquidity in the economy, including checking and savings accounts and other assets easily converted into cash. When global liquidity increases, central banks inject more money into the system by lowering interest rates or using quantitative easing, such as buying government bonds , often boosting investment in risk assets like Bitcoin. On the other hand, when liquidity contracts, risk assets like Bitcoin typically face downward pressure. Bitcoin’s fixed supply also makes it appealing as an alternative to central bank systems, further tying its price to changes in global liquidity. Bitcoin price analysis Bitcoin was trading at $97,013 at press time, with daily losses of over 1%. On the weekly chart, BTC is down over 5%. Bitcoin seven-day price chart. Source: Finbold At the current valuation, Bitcoin’s technical setup suggests that the asset is facing bullish sentiment both in the long and short term. This is backed by Bitcoin trading above the 50-day simple moving average ($91,748) and the 200-day SMA ($70,040). Looking ahead, Bitcoin is facing major resistance at $100,000 for a chance to clinch another record high, with $95,000 serving as a strong support level worth watching in the short term. Featured image via Shutterstock The post Why Bitcoin’s ‘red-hot run’ could correct to ‘$20,000 over the next few weeks’ appeared first on Finbold .

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TOP 10 Altcoins Under $0.10 to Buy in 2025!

The post TOP 10 Altcoins Under $0.10 to Buy in 2025! appeared first on Coinpedia Fintech News Considering to finally enter the world of the future, the right time is here as the market is highly optimistic and favorable. From the victory of Donald Trump to the mass adoption of this technology by the world’s makers, the cryptocurrency market is making a significant impact each day. Moreover, with the market shifting from Bitcoin season to the altcoin season, the volatility in the crypto space has skyrocketed during December 2024. With top altcoins crossing the beyond-affordability level, the crypto market has many undervalued gems. CoinPedia’s expert panel has dedicated itself to finding such gems. Reportedly, these tokens are much easier to invest in and have a high possibility of experiencing a meteoric rise in a short period. Gala (GALA) The gem of the Web3 ecosystem, the Gala project is a standard Layer-1 application. With a motive to empower the gaming industry, this ecosystem has dedicated itself to becoming the first billion-user application in the world of blockchain. Despite recording a negative price action over the past few days, the Gala token has maintained a strong bullish price action in the longer time frame. This makes it a fundamentally strong project. With a highly anticipated altseason in 2025, the Gala price is projected to retest its major resistance level of $0.30, making it a potential 8X project for the upcoming time. Bonk (BONK) One of the best-performing memecoins of the Solana ecosystem, the Bonk price continues to play a vital role. By trading at a discount of ~50% from its ATH of $0.00005916, the BONK memecoin is currently undergoing a bearish price action. However, considering the historic price rise, this memecoin has always achieved a new all-time high during the altcoin market after recording a major price correction during the Bitcoin season. The BONK coin price is expected to achieve a new high during the upcoming crypto bull run. This makes this project a top pick for this list. Jasmy Coin (JASMY) Built on the Ethereum ecosystem, the Jasmy Coin is a project based on the Internet of Things, a Tokyo-based provider. To restore and protect individual data by combining IoT technology with blockchain technology and giving its users full control over their personal information, the JASMY price has significant attention. By constantly recording a higher high, Jasmy Coin’s price has formed a strong bullish price action in the weekly time frame. This highlights a high possibility of this crypto project heading toward its target price of $0.10. Baby Doge Coin (BABYDOGE) This crypto project is the leading community memecoin on the BNB chain. Notably, the Baby Doge was created as a joke to help spread awareness of animal adoption. By giving more than £81,000 worth of dog food, BabyDoge is the only meme with an official world record for saving dogs. Notably, this meme coin has been highly volatile since its inception, highlighting a strong price action for it in the crypto space. With a successful listing on the top cryptocurrency exchanges around the globe, the BABYDOGE price is highly undervalued at this point. With a potential surge, this project may cut 1 – 2 zeros this bull run. Shiba Inu (SHIB) The second largest memecoin by market capitalization, the SHIB price has regained momentum by adding over 130% in 2024. With the SHIB burn program, this memecoin eyes to achieve a new high this AltSeason. The MACD indicator continues recording a bullish price action despite the ongoing memecoin market correction. However, the Shiba Inu price is currently trading at a discount of 72.39% from its ATH of $0.00008845, making it a potential token for the top 10 list. Reserve Rights (RSR) Built as an “ERC-20” token, the Reserve protocol serves two main purposes, staking and governance. Notably, the Reserve Rights (RSR) token was launched in May 2019 after the successful Initial Exchange Offering (IEO) on the Huobi Prime cryptocurrency platform. The technical indicators are recording an increase in volatility, indicating a rise in the buying and selling pressure for this altcoin. Notably, in the longer time frame, a bullish rise can be recorded, highlighting a positive outlook. An increase in the adoption process of the Ethereum ecosystem could push the value of this ERC-20 token toward a new ATH during 2025. Under an optimistic outlook, the Reserve Rights price may reach as high as $0.05 if the market favors the bulls. Flare (FLR) Built as an EVM-based layer 1 project, it aims to make blockchain more efficient by giving developers decentralized access to high-integrity data across various chains. Moreover, with a monetization model, its native token FLR acts as a mode of payment. Taking into consideration a strong bullish reversal, the Flare price may hit a new high. Notably, the altcoin is anticipated to surpass its present ATH of $0.0797 and head toward its prolonged price target of $0.10. BitTorrent (BTT) BitTorrent is a popular peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing platform with a decentralized application. Launched in July 2001, BitTorrent was purchased by blockchain platform TRON in July 2018. Following this, BTT was launched on the TRON blockchain, using its TRC-10 application. With the growing cryptocurrency space, the altcoin market is projected to gain significant traction in the coming months. This could result in the BTT coin price heading toward a new all-time high in 2025. Mode (MODE) Mode cryptocurrency project is a modular Decentralized Finance (DeFi) Layer-2 project. The primary task of this project is to use the OP stack and part of the Optimism superchain. It is used to foster growth and to adopt blockchain applications. Currently trading at a discount of ~67% from its ATH of $0.1177, the MODE price has been the attention of the cryptocurrency market with its impressive comeback. With a bullish reversal, this ecosystem may smash its present high and achieve a new one. Pepe Unchained (PEPU) Built on the Ethereum chain, this meme coin Layer-2 (L2) blockchain. With an aim to provide speed, security, efficiency, and lower transaction fees, its native token “PEPU” is used across the ecosystem as the mode of payment. Notably, this meme coin takes its inspiration from the “PEPE” token. By trading at a discount of ~72% from its ATH of $0.06858, the memecoin project has the potential to 10X in the upcoming time. Investing in the cryptocurrency market can be highly risky. Understanding the crypto-verse requires a lot of patience and knowledge. Make sure to understand the risks involved before investing in any digital asset.

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Adam Back Says MicroStrategy (MSTR) Is “Stupidly Cheap”

MicroStrategy (MSTR) short-sellers will fail, according to Back

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Whale Alert: Market Observer Highlights Ongoing PEPE Accumulation

A market observer spotted multiple whale acquisitions of PEPE. Four crypto whales recently bought billions of PEPE meme coin tokens. Whale activity signals growing bullish sentiment for PEPE. A crypto market observer on X has spotted multiple whale acquisitions of PEPE, the frog-themed meme coin. In a recent post, the observer highlighted transactions involving four whales who recently invested in the meme coin, suggesting the return of significant bullish momentum for the cryptocurrency. 作为 Memecoin 龙头,12 月以来就有 5 个巨鲸对 $PEPE「下了重注」,你可以在这里找到其他四位的成本和建仓详情 1⃣「低买高卖 $PEPE 获利 624 万美金的巨鲸」12.21 重新建仓 2500 亿枚 PEPE,成本 $0.00001697 https://t.co/k3sKTAoqgn 2⃣ 地址 0x53A…63F4A 于 12.16 首次建仓 2301 亿枚… — Ai 姨 (@ai_9684xtpa) December 22, 2024 The observer’s highlights include a whale who became famous after making a $6.24 million profit from a previous PEPE transaction. According to the observer, the same whale recently bought 250 billion PEPE meme coins at an average price of $0.00001697. Meanwhile, another PEPE whale added 23… The post Whale Alert: Market Observer Highlights Ongoing PEPE Accumulation appeared first on Coin Edition .

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Solana (SOL) Extreme Weakness: Key Reason Revealed

Solana's key weakness exposed

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Analysts Provide Price Predictions for ETH, USUAL, BTC, and SOL Coins

Bitcoin faces price fluctuations after testing $98,600 recently. Analysts predict potential recovery for ETH, USUAL, BTC, and SOL coins. Continue Reading: Analysts Provide Price Predictions for ETH, USUAL, BTC, and SOL Coins The post Analysts Provide Price Predictions for ETH, USUAL, BTC, and SOL Coins appeared first on COINTURK NEWS .

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MicroStrategy Welcomes Former Binance.US CEO Brian Brooks to Its Board

Bitcoin advocate Michael Saylor’s MicroStrategy has appointed former Binance.US CEO Brian Brooks, along with two other executives, to its board of directors. This announcement follows Nasdaq’s recent decision to include MicroStrategy in the Nasdaq-100 index. Brooks, Jane Dietze — who also serves on Galaxy Digital’s board — and Gregg Winiarski, chief legal officer at Fanatics Holdings, join the board, increasing its total membership to nine, according to a Dec. 20 filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Swan Bitcoin: Brooks’ Appointment a “BIG Deal” The three new board members will be eligible for equity awards, per the statement. Swan Bitcoin highlighted the significance of Brooks’ appointment in a Dec. 21 X post, calling it a “BIG deal.” “As Comptroller, Brooks oversaw the entire US banking system and is deeply connected,” the company said. Brooks, who stepped down as CEO of Binance.US in August 2021 after citing “differences over strategic direction,” also served as Acting Comptroller of the Currency for nine months in 2021. Crypto commentator MacroScope shared with their 77,200 X followers, “all three are good especially Brooks.” MicroStrategy Joins Nasdaq-100 This announcement coincides with MicroStrategy’s inclusion in the Nasdaq-100 Index, effective Dec. 23. On Dec. 13, Nasdaq confirmed that MicroStrategy (MSTR), Palantir Technologies Inc. (PLTR), and Axon Enterprise, Inc. (AXON) would be added to the index. Illumina, Inc. (ILMN), Super Micro Computer, Inc. (SMCI), and Moderna, Inc. (MRNA) will be removed. MicroStrategy’s inclusion marks its position among the Nasdaq’s 100 largest companies by market capitalization, underscoring its transformation from a software firm into a de facto Bitcoin hedge fund since 2020.

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