cryptocurrency analyst A Chain of Blocks stated that XRP has regained people's interest after the BRICS countries decided to abandon the US dollar and adopt alternative payment systems. The popularity of BRICS countries has increased due to the severe economic situation in the United States, and now more countries are requesting to join. As of the last summit of the organization, more than 20 countries, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, have expressed interest in becoming members. Most member countries see XRP as a viable global payment option, which can facilitate transactions between member countries. 

Mastercard has launched a new program to collaborate with key players in the central bank digital currency (CBDC) space. The global value of CBDCs is expected to grow to over $200 billion by 2030, with most transactions being domestic. Mastercard is teaming up with companies such as Ripple, Consensys, and Fireblocks to learn from each other. The author discusses the potential of electronic cash to provide a platform for new products and services, and Mastercard is working with industry partners to address questions about CBDC issuance, security, privacy, and interoperability.

Whale Alert has announced that an address has transferred 29,300,000 XRP worth $15.13 million to the Bitstamp exchange. This information indicates that the address may be selling its XRP assets, as just a few hours earlier it transferred 14 million XRP to Bitso.

XRP has fallen 2.3% to $0.515 and is seeking support and liquidity before attempting to reach $1. The token is currently trading below major moving averages, but is being supported by a multi-month ascending trendline.

Pascale Guerrier, Richard Best, and Robert MacDonald Moye, lawyers for the US SEC, have withdrawn from the lawsuit against Ripple. According to court documents, Judge Analisa Torres has approved Pascale Guerrier's motion to withdraw as an SEC lawyer, and the other two lawyers have also filed motions to withdraw from the lawsuit. The US Securities and Exchange Commission has notified the court that Richard Best and Robert MacDonald Moye have withdrawn their lawsuit.

Solana's smart contracts token has bounced back and is trading at $21.74 with a trading volume of $412 million, possibly due to Solana Pay's adoption developments. The overall crypto market is trending upwards, with Bitcoin reclaiming $26,000. Solana is expected to make a significant recovery, with bulls aiming to push the price towards the psychological resistance of $30 to $32.

Emi Yoshikawa, Ripple's Vice President of Strategy and Operations, expressed her views on the preferred protocol for NFT creators in terms of usage fees. The Ripple executive stated that for XRP Ledger (XRPL), the creator's automatic royalty is built into the on-chain design of the digital collection function. With this type of arrangement, creators will not be subject to market fluctuations. On the other hand, XRPL has an unparalleled level of creator rights protection, promoting a more fair, decentralized, and democratic revenue sharing model in the industry. According to data from the XRPMarket tracker, the recent surge in NFT transactions on XRPL may be driven by NFT creators on the platform who believe in its advantages over OpenSea.

Crypto analyst Adam Cochran recently highlighted that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approving an Ethereum futures exchange-traded fund (ETF) implies the acknowledgment that Ethereum itself is not a security. Cochran argued that the SEC cannot simultaneously argue that ETH is an unregistered "crypto asset security" and approve an ETH Futures ETF.

The crypto market experienced a sharp decline after rumors circulated that Tesla had sold its $377 million Bitcoin position. Additionally, the Federal Open Market Committee's minutes indicated that interest rates would continue to rise to combat inflation, which further negatively impacted the market.

Following Ripple's partial court victory that boosted market interest, cryptocurrency exchange BIT has launched XRP options trading. This move provides advanced tools for XRP investors to manage portfolio risks and speculate on future prices. XRP becomes the sixth asset that can be traded as an options product on the BIT platform, following BTC, ETH, ADA, TON, and LADYS.

According to a report from Jinse Finance, Ripple lawyer John E Deaton strongly criticized the handling of the lawsuit between the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Ripple Labs. Deaton's comments were in response to Ripple's recent motion to intervene in the legal battle against the SEC. Deaton said that suing Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse would make the SEC pay a price. The focus of Deaton's criticism is the SEC's choice to charge specific defendants Brad Garlinghouse and Chris Larsen with aiding and abetting in a non-fraud case. Deaton claimed that this approach of increasing the burden of proof was poorly considered and blamed former SEC officials Jay Clayton and Bill Hinman for it. He claimed that this behavior deviated from legal norms.

That the cryptocurrency payment platform BitPay has launched a new initiative to support XRP worldwide. From now on, BitPay users can seamlessly purchase XRP, securely store XRP through self-custody in the BitPay wallet, participate in gift card transactions, execute XRP exchanges, and transact with BitPay merchants.

On August 16th, it was reported that Andrew A. Kunsak from the law firm Sidley Austin LLP has been granted permission to appear as an investment banker in the SEC's case against Ripple Labs, which will be presided over by Judge Analisa Torres. The banker stated that he hopes to protect stakeholders from the SEC's appeal of the summary judgment ruling.

Instarem, a payment solutions provider based in Singapore, announced that it will use Ripple Payments for fund operations and assist its small and medium-sized enterprise clients. By integrating Ripple's blockchain products, Instarem aims to shorten transaction processing time by at least 50%.

According to Coinmarketcap, Ripple is reportedly in talks with the Reserve Bank of New Zealand to develop a central bank digital currency (CBDC) on the XRP Ledger (XRPL). The discussions aim to explore the potential of using XRPL to develop CBDCs.

Several members of the cryptocurrency community on X (Twitter) have posted screenshots of a price malfunction for XRP on Gemini. The screenshots show that the displayed price of XRP on Gemini has repeatedly risen to over $1, and even spiked to $50 at one point. However, according to data from CoinGecko, the current market price for XRP is $0.63. Meanwhile, as of 1:25 AM UTC on August 11th, Gemini announced that it has conducted a comprehensive maintenance of its platform. 

Gemini has relisted XRP token after a three-year hiatus. Trading is now active for several pairs including USD, GBP, and EUR currencies, with support for the XRP Ledger blockchain. <br>

Gemini has announced that it will support XRP by allowing customers to deposit the asset on its platform. Trading support for XRP will follow, starting with dollars and later with other currencies. <br>

According to official sources, the cryptocurrency exchange Gemini has added support for XRP deposits and will launch XRP trading services. Gemini reminds users to upgrade their mobile app to version 23.808.0 in order to make XRP deposits.

he Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has recently announced the establishment of the Cross-Border Payment Interoperability and Expansion (PIE) Working Group, which includes Ripple, a blockchain-based digital payment network. BIS has announced the members of the PIE special working group, which will be dedicated to "strengthening cross-border payments and achieving G20-recognized quantitative targets for cross-border payments." The working group is part of the BIS Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI). Ripple will work with other working group members such as Mastercard and SWIFT to achieve the BIS's goal of increasing cross-border payment interoperability. (Cointelegraph)