Ripple has applied for a US banking license, aiming to boost legitimacy in the cryptocurrency market. The company’s CEO confirmed on social media that it is pursuing the national bank charter from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).
Meanwhile, global bank Standard Chartered predicts Bitcoin will reach new highs of $135,000 by the end of Q3 and break $200,000 by the year-end. The bank’s digital asset research head cites increased investor flows and strong exchange-traded fund inflows as key drivers.
The FTX bankruptcy estate has asked a court to freeze payouts in countries with ambiguous or restrictive cryptocurrency regulations. In other news, a Solana bot scam on GitHub stole crypto from users, while WhiteRock founder Ildar Ilham is being extradited over a $30 million ZKasino case in the UAE.
Bitcoin currently trades at $108,193, while Ether (ETH) and XRP are at $2,526 and $2.22 respectively. The top altcoin gainers of the week include Pudgy Penguins, Bonk, and Fartcoin, with DeXe, Pi, and Kaia being the biggest losers.
The week’s most memorable quotations come from experts such as Peter Märkl, Vitalik Buterin, Paul Atkins, Daan Crypto Trades, Letitia James, and ZachXBT. A prediction by Trader Tardigrade suggests DOGE may rebound to $0.25, while a fake JD stablecoin scam has sparked concerns about scammers impersonating Solana devs.
In other news, the US Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration has recommended reforms to the IRS criminal investigation division’s handling of digital assets, citing repeated failures to follow established protocols. The SEC’s X account was also hacked, causing havoc in markets.
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Source: https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/dogecoin-rally-ripple-ceo-brad-garlinghouse-banking-us-standard-chartered-hodlers-digest