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Ripple’s XRP token kicked off trading today at $1.58 (£1.13) – an almost 78 percent surge on its Wednesday low of $0.89 (£0.89), according to CoinMarketCap. XRP fell below $1 for the first time since December this week after the threat of South Korean regulators banning cryptocurrency trade sent Ripple, bitcoin and Ethereum crashing on the markets. Ripple was dealt a crushing loss of more than $114billion (£82billion) to its January 4 record market capitalisation of £148billion (£106billion), falling on Wednesday to a new year low of $34billion (£24billion). XRP has now rallied to clawback $25billion (£18billion) in just 12 hours, at 3.24am. The CoinMarketCap crypto tracker below shows the latest XRP price and market cap in real time. CLICK HERE TO READ: BITCOIN PRICE LIVE UPDATES Here is all the latest Ripple news and price updates from CoinDesk, CoinMarketCap and leading crypto experts. All times GMT.

Saturday January 20

3.51pm: Lamborghini on sale for 475,000 Ripple XRP tokens Tiffany Hayden, community manager at Edge Secure, tweeted out a photo of a Lamborghini up for sale for bitcoin, ripple, litecoin or Ethereum. A sign on the car reads: “For sale in cryptocurrency only. 07 Lamborghini Murcielago LP640. “One of seven in the world in this Tiesto Grigio colour. Very low miles. A++ showroom condition.” The asking price for the sports car is 48 BTC, 545 ETH, 3,200 LTC, 475,000 XRP or 8.3million TRX. Ms Hayden tweeted: “Lambo for sale in the hotel parking lot. “Crypto only.” Good luck, Buddy. 475K $XRP? LMAO!” 9.43am: Ripple kicks off on an uncertain foot XRP entered the Saturday markets at $1.55, according to CoinMarketCap – down 8.8 percent on its Friday high of $1.7. The token's price briefly peaked just after 5.30am, shooting up to $1.61 and has since traded around that price point. The other top tokens are in the green at 9.43, with bitcoin and Ethereum up 8.96 percent and 6.18 percent respectively. 9.30am: Sebastian Kettley takes over live reporting from Joe Tambini.

COINMARKETCAP Ripple price LATEST: XRP kicked off at a loss today before briefly spiking

Friday January 19

22.40pm: Bitcoin, ripple and ethereum have been under threat from the South Korean Government South Korea revealed plans to curb crypto futures to crackdown on criminal activity exploiting cryptocurrencies. However, Bitaccess co-founder Mo Adam however dismissed concerns, claiming it would be impossible to completely ban bitcoin. Mr Adam said the threat of a crypto crackdown was a "recurring theme" in the cryptocurrency market because of its novelty. 7.47pm: Top-10 cryptos down today The biggest 10 digital currencies are all down today, following yesterday’s rally. Ripple is down nearly seven percent in the last 24 hours, with bitcoin down 3.40 percent and Ethereum down 3.43 percent. The global market cap now sits at $562,013,842,812, according to CoinMarketCap. 6.18pm: Ripple’s price falls to near $1.50 XRP is now trading at $1.52, a drop of nearly 5.8 percent over the past 24 hours. Its market cap now sits at just over $59billion, which is equivalent to 5,221,920 BTC, according to CoinMarketCap. 5.07pm: Is the boom over for Ripple, bitcoin and Ethereum? Jordan Hiscott, chief trader at Ayondo Markets, said he has “trepidations” about the future of cryptocurrencies unless fundamental questions about the purpose of cryptocurrencies are answered. He told Express.co.uk: “With at least a 50 percent retractment from the high in December, it does seem that the bubble has burst for some cryptocurrencies. “My personal view is that it’s problematic to group all cryptocurrencies together as most have vastly different features. “This is why I have some trepidation about the future of the asset class. The questions we have to ask ourselves is: are these genuine alternatives to fiat money for monetary exchange purposes, or are they turbo-charged speculation tools that create vast amounts of wealth?” He added that he “doubts they can be both” because people are unlikely to spend their cryptos in a traditional transaction if they believe the price with be ten times higher the following year.

Cryptocurrency price: A year in charts Mon, March 12, 2018 Compare crypto currencies (Ripple, Bitcoin, Ethereum, LiteCoin) on value, market cap and supply for the past year Play slideshow coindesk.com 1 of 10 LiteCoin is going down with the market dip

4.17pm: US agency raises concerns over cryptocurrency investments The US securities regulator has raised the alarm about the safety of bitcoin-themed investments, Reuters reports. The Securities and Exchange Commission is said to have told the fund industry they want answers to their concerns before endorsing more than a dozen proposed products based on cryptocurrencies. A letter signed by Dalia Bass, the SEC's director of the division of investment management, read: “There are a number of significant investor protection issues that need to be examined before sponsors begin offering these funds to investors.” The SEC has demanded to know how mutual funds or exchange-traded funds based on bitcoin would store, safeguard, and price that asset, according to Reuters.

CoinMarketCap Ripple price live: XRP chart shows token suddenly started to fall

3.54pm: China bank bans cryptocurrency trade The People’s Bank of China has ordered financial institutions to cancel all business dealings related to cryptocurrencies, the South China Morning Post reports. A statement issued by the central bank said: “Every bank and branch must carry out self-inspection and rectification, starting from today.” “Service for cryptocurrency trading is strictly prohibited. Effective measures should be adopted to prevent payment channels from being used for cryptocurrency settlement.” The news comes after the Chinese Government shut down crytpo exchanges in the country last September. 3.33pm: Cryptocurrency market begins to fall Nearly all the top-100 cryptocurrencies have started to depreciate at the same time. Ripple is currently holding out at 0.04 percent growth, but rivals bitcoin and Ethereum are already down two and 1.35 percent respectively. Latest XRP charts show a sharp downturn in price from about 1.15pm this afternoon. 8.30am: XRP continues price rise opening at 20 percent higher than yesterday XRP opened at $1.58 (£1.13) this morning and had climbed to $1.63 (£1.17) at 8.14am, surging by 19.14 percent in 24 hours - almost three times as much as Bitcoin and Ethereum. Ripple has shot up by almost 78 percent since its collapse on Tuesday, making a remarkable recovery. All three cryptos continue to be in the green.

GETTY/RIPPLE Ripple price latest: XRP is on the mend after plunging in the markets this week

10.15pm: Ripple pushes past $1.70 XRP briefly broke the $1.70 barrier this evening, pushing as high as $1.73. The cryptocurrency has since dipped back to $1.64, but investors will be encouraged by today’s performance overall. 9.14pm: Bitcoin market cap near $200billion again Bitcoin’s total market capitalisation is creeping back towards the $200billion mark, following this week’s crash. The crypto is currently worth just over $199billion, far ahead Ethereum at $102billion and Ripple at $62.5billion. 7.53pm: ‘Banks hesitant to use Ripple’ Hank Uberoi, chief executive of cross-border payments specialist Earthport, has said that established banks might hold back on using Ripple’s service because they are “unsure” about how it is regulated. Speaking to the Financial Times, he said: “Banks are hesitant to use XRP because they are unsure of the regulatory aspects of it. “If money is in transition and the price of XRP collapses in that time, what happens then?” Mr Uberoi is also concerned that Ripple is pointless unless everyone is using it. “It is only of value if everyone is connected to the network — like a fax machine, if others don’t have one, then it is not much use,” he explained.

6.10pm: Recent bitcoin crash not a bubble, says expert Blockchain investor Spencer Bogart has said that bitcoin’s recent dip is not the bubble some investors have been predicting. Speaking to Bloomberg about bitcoin’s recent downturn, he said: “There’s couple of different ways to frame this, is that the markets down 50 percent from it’s all time highs. “The other way to frame this is it’s up a 1,000 percent over the past year, right, so when we talk about a correction here, really all we’ve done is go back to the all time highs that we set only six weeks ago. “It hasn’t been much of a correction yet at least not in comparison to some historical corrections.” Read more: BITCOIN WILL OUTLAST OTHER CRYPTOCURRENCIES

COINMARKETCAP Cryptocurrency price chart: The global crypto market is up by more than $150billion today

5.40pm: Crypto investors getting used to idea of regulation, expert says Speculators are starting to accept that governments in South Korea, China and France are planning to put restrictions on cryptocurrency trading, according to Mati Greenspan, senior market analyst at eToro, which has helped the market recover today. He told CNBC: “Now that the reasons for the recent sell-off are more clear to everyone and the slightly sour regulatory concerns have been priced in and the Asian premiums are evening out, traders will most likely start focusing on the technicals.” 4.59pm: All top-100 cryptocurrencies up today Price charts from CoinMarketCap show that all the top-100 cryptos have surged today following a crash earlier this week. The total cryptocurrency market capitalisation is now more than $586.5billion compared to a low of $417.6billion yesterday afternoon. 3.54pm: TransferWise ‘open’ to using Ripple Money sending service TransferWise has said that it is considering using XRP in the future. Replying to queries on Twitter, TransferWise said: “We're not using Ripple tech right now, but not ruling out the possibility - always considering new ways to make TransferWise better for customers.” Ripple has already secured a number of high-profile deals with titans of the financial industry, including American Express, Santander and MoneyGram.

3.30pm: Ripple soars past $1.60 XRP’s surge looks set to continue into this evening as the cryptocurrency pushes past the $1.60 mark. Ripple has leapt by about 70 percent in the past 24 hours, with its coin market capitalisation currently sitting at more than $63billion. 3.15: Joe Tambini takes over live reporting from Sebastian Kettley. 2.46pm: Too early to tell if markets have bounced back, claims strategist Hussein Sayed, chief market strategist at FXTM, argued in a letter today that it is still too early to say whether or not bitcoin recovered from its two day slump. He said: "Most people who were buying bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies most recently, are not using them for transactions, but holding them in the expectation of profiting from the endless rising price. "Whether the animal spirits have already released their grip, remains to be seen and this cannot be ascertained from a two-day slump."

COINRAKING.COM Ripple price: XRP has just pushed past the $1.60 mark

1.50pm: An overheated market drove the market crash, says finance expert Thomas Bertani, CEO of crypto-wallet Eidoo, argued that the cryptocurrency crash was caused by unsustainable growth and not regulation threats in South Korea. He said: “The biggest factor driving the current crypto crash is the market overheating. Bitcoin rose by over 200% from October to December 2017 as huge numbers of new investors poured cash into it. “Other cryptocurrencies rose alongside bitcoin, and many market watchers argued that this created unsustainable bubble-like market conditions. The recent crash is just some of the air coming out of the bubble." Mr Bertani added: “The hypothesis of South Korea banning cryptocurrencies, more than a driving factor, is really just an excuse for the market to rest down for a little bit before continuing with its growth.” 1.15pm: Crypto price rebound is good news for investors, assures CryptoCompare founder Charles Hater, founder of the popular CryptoCompare tracker website, said that the markets have corrected themselves after this week’s crash. He said: "The market has been carnage and a lot of investors are starting to take a step back and breathe a sigh of relief as the price has stabilised. “"Trading volumes were extraordinarily frenetic across the exchanges yesterday. "The correction was expected and it has been a big one."

LIVECOINWATCH Ripple price LATEST: Analysts are arguing that the market is correcting itself after the crash

1.02pm: Visa hints at expanding into Ripple and bitcoin technology A job opening at Visa suggests that the credit card gains is looking to expand its operations into Ripple and bitcoin. Via posted on its career website: “We are working on Blockchain technology and want to add a highly motivated Engineer to our team in Foster City,CA. “We're seeking a strong developer experienced with Ethereum and blockchain architecture to be a part of team tasked with building distributed application. “Our ideal candidate has built and released distributed applications, has worked with the Ripple, R3, Ethereum and/or Bitcoin blockchain, and has experience with Solidity.” 11.30am: Ripple rally breaks through $1.53 XRP is up 43.94 percent over the past 24 hours and has now hit the $1.50 price tag. Bitcoin is also up by 12.67 percent and is trading at $11,634.50. Ethereal has also joined in the rally and has picked up the pace at 14.58 percent, and has once again broken above $1,000 per token. DailyFX contributor Nick Cawley said: “XRP currently trades around $1.40, a 60% gain on yesterday’s low trade. “Looking ahead, the downtrend channel should remain in place as trader sentiment has been dented by this week’s heavy losses. “The upper bound of the channel is around $1.53 and this should provide initial resistance today, ahead of the 61.8% retracement level at $1.75.”

COINMARKETCAP Ripple price LATEST: The XRP token is on the mend after crashing on the markets this week

10.32am: This is not the end for cryptocurrencies, claims analyst Iqbal Gandham, UK managing director at eToro, argued that virtual currencies are far from dying and the markets will correct themselves eventually. He said: “This continued volatility does not mark the beginning of the end for cryptocurrencies. "Many theories are circulating about the cause behind the fall, the but the reality is a correction in the market is to be expected given the rapid growth that cryptocurrencies have experienced in recent months. “With more investors likely to enter the market, particularly now there are lower entry points, we should expect further price volatility in the coming months. "But you just have to compare the price of one Bitcoin now with its price a few months ago to see that the long-term trend is positive.” 9.34am The cryptocurrency crash is here, warns finance columnist Taha Meli Arvas, a daily columnist at the Daily Sabah, is convinced that this week’s crash on the markets was “imminent”. He wrote: “As governments begin to jump on the regulation bandwagon, these cryptocurrencies will soon be stripped of their most appealing aspects. “While the ledger-keeping advantages of blockchain technology will still be kept intact, the point at which the currencies are exchanged for traditional currencies will be regulated. “At this point, governments will know who is exchanging their cryptocurrencies for domestic currencies. As anonymity disappears, so too will the allure of cryptocurrencies.” He added that the crypto bubble is eerily reminiscent of the 17th century “Dutch Tulip Mania” and f bitcoin crashes, it could become the biggest financial bubble in the history of bubbles.

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