Ripple (XRP) Claims Top Spot in Prestigious Ranking After Recent Price Rally: Details

The developers of the interoperability platform LayerZero have introduced the Quick Merkle Database (QMDB), a high-performance verifiable database designed for blockchain optimization.

It was developed to address the limitations of traditional databases, which often lack efficient verification mechanisms essential for data integrity in decentralized and trustless blockchain environments.

QMDB distinguishes itself from traditional databases by being optimized explicitly for solid-state drives and capable of scaling across consumer-grade and enterprise-grade hardware.

In a whitepaper, LayerZero developers claimed that QMDB achieves a performance advantage over other database products, offering up to six times the throughput of the commonly used verifiable database, RocksDB, and surpassing others like NOMT.

The developers detailed that QMDB could handle 2.28 million state updates per second and manage 1 million transactions per second for transfers.

It supports datasets of up to 15 billion entries, roughly ten times the size of Ethereum’s state in 2024. The developers explained that by conducting Merkle tree operations in memory, QMDB can reduce disk read and write operations, which improves processing speed.

Moreover, QMDB incorporates Merkle trees into its architecture, meaning each state update automatically enhances the Merkle tree, which is crucial for verifying data integrity within blockchain applications.

“QMDB’s promising results enable the ability to provide substantially higher throughput while increasing decentralization in many systems by lowering capital costs and reducing infrastructure barriers,” LayerZero developers said.

The database is available under the MIT and Apache-2 licenses and has been released as open source. LayerZero is a blockchain protocol that aims to make applications unified across different blockchains, a concept they refer to as “omnichain.” LayerZero Labs has raised $263.3 milion across its funding rounds, with the latest 2023 round valuing it at $3 billion.

Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.

© 2024 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

As the cryptocurrency market grapples with a broader decline, altcoins have faced significant challenges, with Ethereum (ETH) leading the way with losses nearing 20%.

This drop comes after Ethereum’s repeated failures to break through the crucial resistance level of $4,000, a barrier that has proven formidable in recent months also preventing the cryptocurrency to reach new record levels as Bitcoin (BTC) did to close 2024.

Mid-Cycle Correction For Altcoins: A Path To Recovery?

Market expert Ash Crypto has recently offered insights in a social media post on X (formerly Twitter), into the current state of altcoins, suggesting that they are undergoing a “mid-cycle correction.”

According to Ash Crypto, this phase is a natural part of the bull market cycle and may set the stage for a recovery of previously lost value and potentially even higher gains for these digital assets.

In his social media post, the expert highlighted historical precedents, noting that similar price actions were seen in January 2021, just before the onset of an altcoin season that captivated investors.

Despite recent fluctuations, Ethereum and other altcoins have shown slight signs of recovery, with ETH managing to surge above $3,200, rebounding from its nearest support level of $3,100.

This recent uptick prevented further losses and sparked hope among traders. However, Ash Crypto cautions that another dip may be on the horizon before a more sustained recovery can take hold.

Market Whales May Shake Out Retail Investors

In his analysis, Ash Crypto projected that altcoins could experience one final market correction before entering what he believes will be a full bull mode later this year.

The expert referenced a chart he shared, depicting the total market capitalization of altcoins excluding Bitcoin and Ethereum, which showed potential consolidation between the $926 billion and $930 billion levels.

This consolidation phase could precede a move towards a bullish cycle peak, estimated to reach as high as $3.39 trillion.

Adding to the intrigue, Ash Crypto remarked that Bitcoin’s dominance appears to have topped out, suggesting that an altcoin season is imminent. However, he warns that before this potential surge, market whales may attempt to shake out retail investors by manipulating prices.

At the time of writing, ETH is trading at $3,215, up over 3% in the 24-hour time frame. Other altcoins such as XRP, Solana (SOL) and Cardano (ADA) have also risen by 5%, 3% and 5.3% respectively in the same time frame.

Taking into account Ash Crypto’s analysis, it remains to be seen whether further consolidation or another correction will take place for altcoins before what could be the most notable gains for these digital assets in history.

Featured image from DALL-E, chart from TradingView.com

Thailand’s top financial authority is considering allowing bitcoin exchange-traded funds to list on local exchanges.

Pornanong Budsaratragoon, Secretary-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission, said on Tuesday that the regulator is contemplating permitting individual and institutional investments in local bitcoin ETFs that would offer direct exposure to bitcoin, according to Bloomberg.

Thailand’s SEC previously permitted asset management firms in March 2024 to launch funds for investing in U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs available for institutional investors. In June, One Asset Management launched a fund-of-funds — limited to professional and institutional investors — offering exposure to overseas bitcoin ETFs.

Budsaratragoon said in the news report that the country has to “move along with more adoption of cryptocurrenices worldwide,” and that the regulator must adapt and ensure that investors “have more options in crypto assets with proper protection.”

The SEC did not immediately respond to The Block’s request for comment.

The regulator previously said in January 2024 that it was monitoring the development of overseas spot crypto ETFs but had no plan to allow such products in the country.

Thailand has attracted some global crypto exchanges, such as Binance, to set up shop in the country. In January 2024, Binance announced that Gulf Binance — a joint venture between Binance and Thailand’s Gulf Innova — launched crypto exchange services to the general public in Thailand.

Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.

© 2024 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

On Jan. 15, the Chainlink team announced that the Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol v1.5 upgrade was now live on mainnet for all developers.

The upgrade empowers developers to take their tokens cross-chain “in a self-serve manner” and deploy Cross-Chain Tokens (CCTs) across more than twenty blockchains in minutes, it added.

CCIP is a secure and easy-to-use protocol for transferring tokens and messages across various blockchains.New Chainlink CCT Standard

The CCIP v1.5 introduces the Cross-Chain Token (CCT) standard, explained Chainlink. The new standard offers developers “full control and ownership, enhanced programmability, and zero-slippage transfers,” it added.

“CCIP v1.5 marks a major upgrade to the CCIP developer experience, making it easier than ever to onboard new or existing tokens to the CCT standard and integrate CCIP into cross-chain applications.”

It stated that CCTs do not require developers to inherit any CCIP-specific code within their token’s smart contract, and they can deploy pre-audited coin pool contracts to turn any ERC-20-compatible asset into a CCT.

The upgrade also includes a CCIP Token Manager which provides a streamlined user interface for developers to launch and manage CCTs.

The Chainlink CCIP v1.5 upgrade is now live on mainnet for all developers.

This release empowers devs to take their tokens cross-chain in a self-serve manner, deploy Cross-Chain Tokens (CCTs) across 20+ blockchains in minutes, & much more.

Full details ↓ pic.twitter.com/9xzahbZVzb

— Chainlink (@chainlink) January 14, 2025

Developers can also manage CCT deployments with “Smart Accounts,” which will require approvals from multiple owners to authorize transactions, it added.

CCIP will also help increase access to bridged USDC to “help prevent liquidity fragmentation and accelerate DeFi adoption across the multi-chain ecosystem,” it stated.

Chainlinkcommunity ambassador Zach Rynes tested out the system, reporting that he created a Cross-Chain Token called CLG in a couple of minutes and transferred it between layer-2 networks Base and Arbitrum.

Chainlink CCIP v1.5 is awesome

I just created a Cross-Chain Token called $CLG in a couple minutes and transferred it between @base and @arbitrum

Fully permissionless and no coding required, just used the new CCIP Token Manager to create the token and @transporter_io to… pic.twitter.com/ptpLlVWd17

— Zach Rynes | CLG (@ChainLinkGod) January 14, 2025

In early January, Chainlinkpartneredwith Ripple to accelerate the adoption of the cross-border payments firm’s stablecoin, Ripple USD (RLUSD).LINK Prices Up

The protocol’s native token, LINK, gained around 6% on the day to reach an intraday high of $20.60 during early trading in Asia on Wednesday.

Like most altcoins, LINK has taken a beating over the past month, falling around 30% from its mid-December high of just over $30.

According to Santiment,whaleshave bought 1.35 million LINK over the past 24 hours, pushing its price back to resistance at $20 following a dip to $18.24 on Monday.

The next resistance zone to overcome is around the $24 level, where LINK last tapped on Jan. 6.

The crypto market has entered 2025 with a bullish momentum, fueled by a number of global developments. Recently, Bitcoin touched the $100,000 mark for the first time, driven by the appointment of Paul Atkins, a pro-crypto advocate, as SEC Chair under the Trump administration. This move marks a significant regulatory shift towards fostering innovation in the digital asset market in the US.

As the market continues with its bull run, the Crypto Market Sentiment Index climbed to 63, which reflects the growing optimism of investors. Popular altcoins like XRP and Solana closely follow the growth trajectory of Bitcoin, surging 5.8% and 7.3%, respectively.

Naturally, investors looking to diversify their portfolios and ride the crypto wave are exploring the hottest crypto presales in January 2025. With the market poised for further evolution, here are the top 5 presales you should be looking at.

1. Wall Street Pepe ($WEPE) – Overall Best Crypto Presale in January 2025

Having raised over $48M during its ongoing presale, Wall Street Pepe ($WEPE) continues to dominate the list of most sought-after crypto assets in 2025. Interestingly, it blends entertainment and innovation.

Crypto derivatives platform Deribit, has received potential acquisition interest, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday, citing sources.

The report added that the firm is working with Financial Technology Partners to review the opportunities.

Deribit CEO Luuk Strijers told CoinDesk that the options platform had appointed FT Partners as an advisor for general advisory services and potential secondaries, back in 2023.

"The interest in Deribit is due in part to the fact that we have continued to be the overwhelming market-leading exchange for digital asset options trading," Strijers said.

"In short, Deribit has not been put up for sale. Over time, we have received interest in strategic investments from a variety of parties, which we will not disclose," Strijers added.

The firm may valued at $4 billion- $5 billion or more, the report said, citing a person with knowledge of the matter. The report also added that crypto exchange Kraken had reviewed buying Deribit, but did not proceed with an offer.

Kraken did not immediately respond to CoinDesk's request for comment.

The current bull run in the crypto market seems to have reignited M&A activity with major players like Moonpay and Chainalysis having announced two large acquisitions this week.