Crypto.com has unlocked a major milestone in Europe, a license that allows it to offer derivatives and securities within the European Economic Area (EEA.) The company shared on Wednesday, May 21, that it has secured a Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) license after receiving regulatory go-ahead for its acquisition of Cyprus-based investment firm A.N. Allnew Investments Ltd. This approval came directly from CySEC, Cyprus’ financial watchdog. What does this mean for Crypto.com? The new license means Crypto.com can now offer crypto derivatives, securities, and other investment products to eligible users within the EU. The move opens up the European market for the exchange, allowing it to operate without legal repercussions. The license also reflects Crypto.com’s commitment to improving ties with regulators. Earlier this year, the trading platform received its Market in Crypto Assets (MiCA) license, which allowed it to offer its services to European customers. While MiCA governs crypto… Read More at Coingape.com
Justin Sun is rumored to be attending President Trump’s exclusive dinner next month. An HTX cold storage wallet registered for the TRUMP holder leaderboard currently occupies the first place.
Sun himself posted a cryptic message on social media, possibly suggesting he wishes to attend. Whether or not the rumor is true, a spot on the leaderboard is well within his means if he wants it.
Rumors have been circulating about many different aspects of the stunt, but a new one is gaining traction. Some users believe that Justin Sun is currently the largest TRUMP holder on the official leaderboard.
Arkham Intelligence first promulgated this claim. Specifically, it noticed that a cold wallet was added to the leaderboard.
Arkham flagged this wallet as belonging to HTX, an exchange associated with Sun, and it now holds more TRUMP than any registered user.
The wallet itself has been transferring TRUMP for the last three months. Its TRUMP holdings only increased once since the announcement, and its portfolio includes hundreds of different cryptoassets.
In other words, it’s quite plausible that this is an exchange’s ordinary cold wallet. After all, registering for the TRUMP leaderboard won’t compromise its actual tokens.
Users quickly began claiming that Sun was behind this wallet, as this would give him a guaranteed spot at the dinner. He and President Trump have a history together, and Sun invested $30 million in WLFI shortly after the last election. Since then, the SEC moved to settle a civil fraud case against him.
The Tron founder himself posted a cryptic message after the rumors began:
This could be interpreted as a sign that Sun indeed plans to attend Trump’s dinner. Regardless of the rumor’s veracity, this goal is quite achievable for a man of Sun’s means.
Yesterday, some users claimed it would require $400,000 worth of TRUMP coins to make the cut, but this was inaccurate.
As the leaderboard clearly shows, users must manually register to be considered. This has dropped the price floor considerably. Still, this plan would guarantee Sun a spot at Trump’s table, and potentially a private White House tour.
In a massive development, Ripple allegedly offered to buy USDC issuer Circle, although the deal didn’t fall through as the stablecoin issuer rejected the amount that the crypto firm offered. A potential acquisition would be a huge move for the crypto firm, considering that it already issues the RLUSD stablecoin, which is gaining market share.
Ripple Offered To Buy Circle For $5 Billion
According to a Bloomberg report, Ripple offered to buy Circle for $4 to $5 billion, but the stablecoin issuer rejected the bid because it was too low. The report further revealed that the USDC issuer is more focused on following through with the initial public offering (IPO) it filed earlier this month. Meanwhile, the RLUSD issuer has yet to decide whether to make another offer to Circle.
This development comes just as the Brad Garlinghouse-led company agreed to acquire prime broker Hidden Road for $1.25 billion earlier this month. It is worth mentioning that Ripple already issues the RLUSD stablecoin, which is the 12th largest by market cap. Meanwhile, USDC is the second-largest by market cap.
As such, an acquisition of Circle would undoubtedly have expanded the crypto firm’s dominance in the stablecoin industry. The RLUSD stablecoin recently surpassed the $300 market cap milestone, but is still playing catch-up to other stablecoins.
Interestingly, Circle recently launched its payment services for cross-border transactions. This move puts the firm in competition with Ripple, which already offers payment services centered around cross-border transactions.
Circle has also been making moves to expand its services beyond the US, as the USDC stablecoin issuer secured in-principle approval from Abu Dhabi’s financial regulator to operate a money service business in the region.
Pro-XRP lawyer John Deaton commented on Ripple’s proposal to acquire Circle. In an X post, he questioned if both firms might move to buy or become a bank next. He also questioned how high Brad Garlinghouse will go as part of his vision for the company.
XRP price has formed a highly bearish chart pattern and is at risk of having a strong bearish breakdown, which could see it hit $1 in the near term. On top of this, a popular crypto analyst has warned that the Bitcoin bull cycle has ended, which could hurt altcoins like Ripple. So, what should you do if Ripple price crashes below $1?
XRP Price Could Crash to $1 Soon
Ki Young Ju, the founder of CryptoQuant, and a popular crypto analyst, has warned that the Bitcoin bull market is over. He warned that all on-chain metrics were signaling a bear market as liquidity continues to dry up.
BTC PNL Index Cyclical Strengths
Such a drop, coupled with the fear sentiment in the market, means that Bitcoin and XRP prices may be on the verge of more downside. He said:
“I’ve been calling for a bull market over the past two years, even when indicators were borderline. Sorry to change my view, but it now looks pretty clear that we’re entering a bear market.”
Meanwhile, the daily chart below shows that the XRP price is forming a rare bearish pattern known as head and shoulders. This pattern forms when an asset is in an uptrend and is a sign of a bearish reversal.
In XRP’s case, the head is at the year-to-date high, while the shoulders are at $3 and the neckline is at around $2. In this case, a bearish breakdown will be confirmed if the coin drops below the neckline at $2.
A drop below the support at $2 will point to further declines to the next psychological point at $1. This price also coincides with the 78.6% Fibonacci Retracement level. That would be a 55% crash from the current level.
XRP Price Chart
What to Do If Ripple Price Crashes Below $1
One of the best approaches to handle the XRP price crash is to do dollar cost averaging (DCA). DCA is an approach where an investor buys an asset in small quantities during its downtrend.
The main reason for this is to buy more tokens over time, and possibly benefit when the price bounces back.
In XRP’s case, there are signs that the price will bounce back over time, helped by numerous catalysts. There are some bullish catalysts that will push the XRP price higher in the long term.
Odds of the SEC approving XRP ETFhave continued rising after Donald Trump won the presidency in November. A spot ETF will likely lead to more inflows and boost the price.
The SEC has already ended lawsuits against other companies in the crypto industry like Coinbase, Gemini, and Kraken. As such, there is a likelihood that the agency will end the Ripple lawsuitlater this year.
Ending the lawsuit would be a positive thing for XRP price because it will allow Ripple to ink deals with other companies, link banks, and money transfer firms.
XRP price could also benefit from the potential crypto bull run triggered by the Federal Reserve interest rate cuts and end of quantitative tightening.
(@justinsuntron) 
