5 Things to Know in Crypto Today – XRP Rallies on Hopes of a Ripple Win

Key Insights:

• The crypto market suffers at the hands of the US jobs report that cemented a 75-basis point Fed rate hike in November.
• Investor hopes for a Ripple victory in the SEC v Ripple case improved, driving XRP back toward $0.60.
• Contagion risk continues to plague the broader crypto market as the crypto winter extends into October.

US Nonfarm Payrolls Sink Crypto Market

On Friday, US nonfarm payrolls increased by 288k, following a 275k rise in August. The NFP increase and a fall in the participation rate left the unemployment rate at 3.5%, down from 3.7% in August.

In response to the fall in the US unemployment rate, the FedWatch Tool’s probability of a 75-basis point November Fed rate hike increased from 75% to 81%. The chance of a 75-basis point hike had stood at just 56.5% on September 30.

The crypto market responded to the jobs report, with the crypto market cap falling by $11.5 billion within 30 minutes of the release. A partial recovery left the market cap down $10.9 billion to $907.9 billion for the day.

XRP Makes Its Way Towards $0.60

On Friday, XRP rallied by 5.13% to end the day at $0.51816. XRP bucked the top ten trend for the third consecutive day and extended its winning streak to five sessions. While the broader crypto market struggled over the fear of a more hawkish Fed, sentiment towards the ongoing SEC v Ripple case remained XRP positive.

On Wednesday, Ripple showed its teeth and hit back at the SEC’s objection to two companies filing amicus brief motions to support Ripple’s case. In a letter to the Court, the defendants did not mince their words, with the letter concluding,

“If the SEC cannot evaluate the veracity of such claims, then it had no business bring this litigation in the first place.”

The markets likely considered Ripple’s response a reflection of the defendant’s position of strength in the case.

Earlier this month, the Court overruled the SEC’s objection to the Court denying the SEC’s attempt to protect the William Hinman speech-related documents under the attorney-client privilege, which has driven expectations of a Ripple victory.

In a famous 2018 speech, Division of Corporation Finance, William Hinman, said that Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) are not securities.

While the markets expect the SEC to appeal, the consensus is that the SEC is fighting a lost cause vis-à-vis the Hinman docs.

XRP was back on the move this morning, rising by 1.86% to $0.52782, with $0.60 as the next price target.

About Capital Management Acquires Huobi Majority Stake

Huobi Token (HT) was among the front runners on Friday, rallying by 4.40%. News of Hong Kong-based About Capital Management acquiring a majority stake in Huobi Global delivered HT price support.

Huobi stated,

“The transaction only involves the changing of controlling shareholder and has no impact on Huobi’s core operation and business management teams.”

This morning, HT was on the back foot, falling by 0.96% to $4.2960.

Marathon Digital Reports Exposure to Compute North

Contagion risk continued to plague the crypto market going into the weekend, suggesting no immediate end to the crypto winter.

This week, Bloomberg reported that bitcoin (BTC) mining giant Marathon Digital has more than an $80 million exposure to Compute North. The long-lasting crypto winter has impacted Compute North, a crypto-mining infrastructure provider. In September, Compute North filed for Chapter 11.

BNB Chain Back Online after Chain Hack

On Friday, Binance Chain was back online after going offline in response to a hack. Binance CEO CZ tweeted,

“An exploit on a cross-chain bridge, BSC Token Hub, resulted in extra BNB. WE have asked all validators to temporarily suspend BSC.”

BNB Chain provided an update on Friday saying,

“A new on-chain governance mechanism will be introduced on the BNB Chain to fight and defend future possible attacks.”

Binance coin (BNB) is having a bearish week. After falling by 1.60% on Friday, BNB is heading for a fourth consecutive day in the red. This morning, BNB is down 0.46% to $281.0.