• U.S. banks allowed to provide crypto custody services
• Russian Lawmakers pass major Crypto bill
• As volatility returns, Bitcoin dominance is decreasing
Cryptocurrency market burst to life this week, with almost all major cryptocurrencies managed to break out from the local sideways price action. The largest digital asset by market capitalization, bitcoin has lost a significant share of market dominance during the last few weeks. Bitcoin’s dominance ratio dropped to 61.5% a level last time seen over on June 2019.
Bitcoin has the largest market valuation out of all the digital assets. BTC’s market cap is around $175 billion out of the grand total of $285 billion that represents the overall worth of all 5,700+ crypto assets.
Russians are not allowed to pay for goods and services with Bitcoin
Russian lawmakers approved the Digital Financial Assets (DFA) bill on July 22 that gives legal status to cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin – but bans them from being used to pay for goods and services. The new regulation recognizes digital assets “as an aggregate of electronic data capable of being accepted as the payment means… [but] cannot be used at the same time to pay for any goods and services,” according to a report by news agency Tass. Russian citizens may still buy and hold crypto assets as an investment, however, this fact must be declared to the authorities. According the Tass report, Russia’s central bank will play a major role in the regulation of virtual currencies. “The central bank will have the right to determine features of digital assets accessible by qualified investors only”. Furthermore, virtual currencies “can be issued, purchased and sold and registered within the framework of special information systems” and “systems and their operators shall conform to Russian laws and stand filed in a relevant register kept by the Bank of Russia.”
BITCOIN - On Tuesday the most popular cryptocurrency managed to break above the upper limit of the symmetrical triangle pattern. Price also broke above the resistance at $9359.23 confirming the upward trend. The nearest key resistance lies at $9770.00 Source: xStation5
US bank regulator permits cryptocurrency custody
On July 22, the OCC announced that banks in the U.S. are allowed to hold cryptocurrencies. Effectively, this has opened the floodgates for banks to enter the cryptocurrency market and provide their clients with tools to invest in cryptocurrencies. The CEO of Ripple, Brad Garlinghouse, welcomed these news. In his opinion cryptocurrencies should co-exist with fiat and the US banking sector should keep up with technological innovations to satisfy the needs of their customers. "Today’s ruling is a huge step forward. The @USOCC is absolutely leading the way to foster innovation, protect consumers and provide a level playing field for all. The future has never been fiat versus crypto – these can and should coexist in harmony! " said Garlinghouse via Twitter
RIPPLE - price bounced of the major resistance at $ 0.2060 which is additionally strengthened by 200 MA (redline) Should downbeat moods prevail, support at $0.1862 may come into play. Source: xStation5
