Coinbase Derivatives, LLC has launched CFTC-regulated futures contracts for XRP, adding to the growing list of crypto derivatives available under U.S. regulatory oversight.
This move could pave the way for a spot XRP exchange-traded fund (ETF)—a product the crypto industry has long been pushing for. Historically, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has pointed to the existence of a regulated futures market as a key requirement for approving spot crypto ETFs. Bitcoin and Ethereum followed a similar path, with futures-based products hitting the market before their respective spot ETFs received the green light.
Until now, many of these structured products were only available through offshore exchanges, which often raised concerns about trust and counterparty risk. With Coinbase offering these tools in the U.S., institutions now have a safer and more reputable option for trading and structuring investments.
This development follows the recent launch of Solana futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) and comes amid a backlog of 72 crypto-related ETF applications currently awaiting SEC review. Several of those applications include XRP and Solana among their proposed holdings.
XRP Price Action: Dip After the News
Despite the positive news, XRP’s price has dipped slightly following the announcement. As of press time, XRP is trading at $2.0736, down 2% on the day. The cryptocurrency failed to hold above the key $2.10 resistance level and has since pulled back, retesting broken support as new resistance.
However, XRP remains above the crucial $2 psychological support, a level traders and analysts are watching closely. If maintained, the broader bullish sentiment around the futures launch and ETF momentum could fuel a rebound in the near term.
On March 7, 2025, the White House will host its first-ever Crypto Summit. President Donald Trump will chair the summit, and David Sacks will serve as moderator.
With Trump’s recent moves, many investors are anticipating positive changes. Below are three things that BeInCrypto thinks will be key agenda in the summit.
Progress Toward Regulatory Clarity
For years, regulatory ambiguity has been a headache for cryptocurrency investors. The previous Biden administration took a heavy-handed approach with SEC lawsuits targeting companies in the industry. This was seen as excessively stifling the market, preventing its growth in the US.
Trump’s crypto-friendly stance could change that. The summit might outline a simpler legal framework for digital assets, addressing issues like exchange compliance, DeFi regulations, and stablecoin management.
David Sacks, a supporter of stablecoins strengthening the dollar’s position, could push for policies legitimizing USDC or USDT without stifling innovation.
Evidence of this shift includes the recent dismissal of several SEC lawsuits against Uniswap, Kraken, Coinbase, and other crypto companies.
Most importantly, the Summit will reportedly have a very short guest list, and several major crypto leaders have already been invited. This suggests that the White House wants to engage in direct conversation with these leaders, which could lead to more policy suggestions.
“More attendees are confirming attendance at Friday’s White House Crypto Summit. Confirmations so far from: Michael Saylor, David Bailey, Matt Huang, JP Richardson.” FOX journalist Eleanor Terrett said.
More Details On The US Crypto Reserve
President Trump recently announced plans to establish a strategic reserve with Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), XRP, Solana (SOL), and Cardano (ADA). This has already had a positive short-term impact on their prices. As a result, investors holding these coins are particularly interested.
However, the market lacks detailed information about this strategic reserve. Where will the funding come from? Will it use seized assets or existing Treasury authority?
Additionally, the size of the fund and which assets might be added to the list might also be discussed at the White House Crypto Summit.
The Commerce Secretary also says President Trump will unveil the Bitcoin reserve strategy at the Summit. Other crypto assets will be treated positively but differently.
“The President definitely thinks that there’s a Bitcoin strategic reserve. Now there will be the question of, how do we handle the other cryptocurrencies? And I think the model is going to be announced on Friday when we do that.” Secretary Lutnick told The Pavlovic Today.
At least, for now, this strategic reserve could reinforce the legitimacy of cryptocurrencies, serving as a morale boost for long-term holders.
Crypto Tax Policy
Another potential topic of discussion is likely to be crypto tax reform. For a while now, Trump has been hinting at eliminating capital gains taxes on cryptocurrencies.
Lower taxes would reduce costs and increase profits for individual investors, potentially leading to reinvestment and boosting market activity.
In reality, completely eliminating capital gains taxes is unlikely due to potential opposition from Congress. However, a smaller adjustment, such as extending holding periods to reduce taxes, might be more feasible.
The White House Crypto Summit is taking place amid market uncertainty. The US trade war with other nations is heating up more than ever.
On Monday, Bitcoin dropped to $82,000 before recovering to its current level. Now, BTC retests $90,000 amid speculation of preferential treatment in Trump’s crypto reserve.
If the summit delivers positive news, it could reverse the downward trend. On the contrary, it could prolong the selling pressure, causing the market to continue falling further.
Therefore, investors should prepare for price volatility. This could be a “buy the rumor, sell the news” scenario, so users should avoid over-leveraging before the event. Consider your risk tolerance and investment goals.
In a recent development, North Korea has flipped Bhutan and El Salvador in crypto holdings, becoming the fourth largest Bitcoin holder. Reflecting on the development, Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) sparked speculations about North Korea’s Bitcoin reserve plans.
Significantly, North Korea’s ascend in Bitcoin holdings follows the notorious Lazarus Group’s Bybit hack. Though the hackers stole $1.4 billion in ETH, the latest reports reveal that the group converted most of the stolen funds to BTC.
CZ Teases North Korea’s Bitcoin Reserve Plans
As North Korea has become the fourth largest country in terms of Bitcoin holdings, Binance founder Changpeng Zhao hints at the country’s potential Bitcoin reserve adoption. In a playful manner, CZ shared an X post, commenting, “Different ways to build a strategic crypto reserve.”
Notably, the addition of an emoji of hysterical laughter in his post could convey his extreme surprise at the development. He humorously suggests that North Korea’s BTC accumulation is an unconventional yet effective way to build a strategic Bitcoin reserve. This could also imply the irony that a country like North Korea, often viewed as isolated, is actively building a significant Bitcoin reserve.
North Korea Accumulates Bitcoin: What Does It Mean?
According to Arkham Intelligence, Lazarus Group, the notorious hackers of North Korea, currently holds a total of 13,518 BTC. As of Bitcoin’s current price of $83,263, North Korea’s BTC holding is valued at a staggering $1.13 billion.
Notably, the US is the largest holder of Bitcoin with a total of 198,109 BTC ($16.47 billion). Closely following are China and the United Kingdom, boasting 195,000 BTC (16.18 billion) and 61,245 BTC ($5.1 billion), respectively.
Previously, El Salvador and Bhutan secured the fourth and fifth positions with Bitcoin holdings of 10,634 BTC ($886 million) and 6,118 BTC ($509.5 million), respectively. Following the $1.4 billion Bybit hack, North Korea jumped to the fourth place, overtaking Bhutan and El Salvador. Despite reportedly rising to third place, North Korea’s cryptocurrency holdings actually rank fourth, trailing behind those of the United States, China, and the United Kingdom.
This has sparked speculations of North Korea’s potential Bitcoin reserve strategy, further fueled by Changpeng Zhao’s comments.
Is North Korea Embracing Bitcoin Reserve?
Surprisingly, the coincidence in North Korea’s rise in BTC holdings and the US’ Bitcoin reserve adoption has raised speculations. The cryptocurrency community is puzzled as to why the Lazarus Group chose to convert the pilfered funds into BTC. Meanwhile, Changpeng Zhao’s comments intensified anticipations of North Korea’s possible Bitcoin reserve adoption.
Meanwhile, the Bank of Korea rejected the idea of adopting the Bitcoin reserve in opposition to South Korea lawmakers’ proposal. The BoK stated, “In the case of cryptocurrency market instability, transaction costs to cash out Bitcoins could rise drastically.”
Bitcoin is testing range lows, and Ethereum has tapped its lowest price since November 2023 today – so it’s a huge opportunity for traders to secure discounted prices before the next leg up.
But what are the best crypto to buy? This article reviews five promising projects that could have 100x potential this year.
Solaxy
Solaxy is building the first-ever Solana layer 2 blockchain. Using off-chain computation and transaction bundling technology, the project will eradicate Solana’s congestion issue.
It’s a huge leap forward for the Solana ecosystem, making it cheaper, faster, and more reliable. This will open Solana to new users and use cases, potentially creating billions of dollars in new value.
And right now, SOLX is undergoing a presale. It’s a way for investors to join from the start. The presale has raised $25.7 million so far. It’s currently priced at $0.001658, but this will rise throughout the campaign.
Solaxy is at a rare juncture right now. Not only is it opening Solana to new possibilities, but it’s also available to buy from the ground floor. For SOLX presale participants, this setup could give 100x gains.
MIND Of Pepe
MIND Of Pepe is a new Pepe-themed AI agent that aims to make its holders money. The agent has a wide range of abilities, including trend analysis, launching tokens, interacting with dApps, and even writing social media posts.
It covers all angles, from identifying trading opportunities to creating them and then shaping social discourse around them.
But its bread-and-butter is trend analysis. MIND Of Pepe will consolidate social media and on-chain data into actionable insights to predict future trends, helping MIND holders know what to buy and when.
Moreover, it can also fill gaps in the market by launching its own tokens. Again, MIND holders will have first access, providing them with the best entry prices.
The project is undergoing a presale and has raised $7.2 million so far.
As MIND Of Pepe seeks to make its community more profitable, the project is positioned to amass significant adoption, which could make the MIND presale a highly lucrative opportunity for traders.
Mantra
Bitcoin, Ethereum, and XRP are all down today, as are many smaller altcoins. However, Mantra continues to push ahead in what’s becoming a running theme throughout the past year.
While the total crypto market cap is down 3.8% in the past 24 hours, Mantra is up 2.5% in the same window. It’s clear that investors see real value in the Mantra use case.
The reason is that Mantra is a real-world assets-focused layer 1 blockchain, providing a regulatory-adherent environment for institutions to tokenize their assets.
It’s a use case that veers outside the walled garden of normal crypto use cases and penetrates the traditional financial system. And it isn’t just today that Mantra has outperformed the market. Its price has surged by 2,000% in the past year.
Mantra has a $6 billion market cap, so it’s unlikely to give 100x gains this year. However, given its immense strength and focus on institutional adoption, there’s every chance it will become a top-five cryptocurrency and potentially rival XRP and Ethereum in the coming years.
Hedera
Hedera offers an alternative to traditional blockchain platforms with its Hashgraph distributed ledger technology. Unlike conventional blockchain systems, Hedera’s architecture provides improved efficiency in several key metrics.
The platform processes transactions with fees of approximately $0.0001 USD and confirmation times under five seconds. Hedera’s network can handle more than 10,000 transactions per second, which compares favorably to the 5-20 TPS typical of many proof-of-work blockchains.
HBAR, the network’s utility token, experienced significant price movement in late November 2024, rising from $0.04 to $0.37 before settling at around $0.20. This price activity reflects growing market awareness of the platform’s capabilities, with the recent downturn being attributed to the general crypto market.
According to crypto analysts at More Crypto Online, HBAR is looking for downturn confirmation between $0.09 and $0.016. However, its mid-term outlook is extremely positive, with potential targets at $0.4 and $0.6.
With a governance structure managed by the Hedera Governing Council and features designed to support enterprise applications, Hedera aims to address practical business needs while maintaining security and decentralization principles. As organizations continue to explore blockchain alternatives, Hedera’s focus on performance and regulatory compatibility may position it for increased adoption.
BTC Bull Token
BTC Bull Token is a Bitcoin-themed meme coin that pays its holders Bitcoin rewards. The idea is to increase Bitcoin ownership among meme coin fans and offset some of the volatility of meme coin investing through airdrops.
Users will receive free BTC and BTCBULL airdrops at key milestones on Bitcoin’s journey to $1 million. At the same time, Bitcoin-related cryptos tend to track Bitcoin’s price, so we can also expect the BTCBULL price to grow as Bitcoin rises.
Users also earn even more via the project’s staking mechanism, which is live now and offering a 123% APY.
BTC Bull Token also has a burn mechanism, which destroys a portion of the total supply at key price milestones.
The project is available to buy via an ongoing presale, which has raised $3.4 million so far.
With Bitcoin rewards at its core and multiple other community reward initiatives, meme coin fans are scrambling to buy BTCBULL. This positions it for significant growth in the coming months.
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Bitcoin is testing range lows, and Ethereum has tapped its lowest price since November 2023 today – so it’s a huge opportunity for traders to secure discounted prices before the next leg up. But what are the best crypto to buy? This article reviews five promising projects that could have 100x potential this year. Solaxy …