Cryptocurrencies: 852,169
Exchanges: 1,031
Market Cap: $2,787,366,491,937
24h Vol: $107,586,501,464
BTC Dominance: 49.61%

Crypto Weekly Recap: Ripple Set on Brazil Expansion in 2020

The cryptocurrency market was relatively quiet this week due to the Christmas holidays. The week’s low trading volumes hasn’t deterred Ripple from its plans to expand in Brazil in 2020. Meanwhile, a recently released warning shows China’s crackdown on crypto trading continues.

Reuters reported that Ripple is set to announce its new partners in Brazil in early 2020. Ripple’s planned expansion is said to be fueled by the country’s clear regulations on digital banking. The San Francisco-based giant is reportedly already in talk s with several banks and regulators about how to use XRP for remittances.

According to Luiz Antonio Sacco, the Managing Director of Ripple, around 30% of the company’s transaction volume is moving through the Brazil. Ripple is also planning on expanding to Argentina, Chile, and Peru.

While these South American countries are opening themselves to cryptocurrencies, China is still firm against it. Four Chinese regulators have issued a new warning against crypto trading in Beijing.

The Beijing Banking and Insurance Regulatory Bureau, the Beijing Financial Supervision Administration, the Beijing Securities Regulatory Bureau, and the Business Management Department of the People’s Bank of China issued a joint warning that mentioned a recent increase in crypto activities in the country.

The four regulators emphasized that engaging in cryptocurrency trading or offering crypto products are “serious violations” of the crypto regulations that were released in 2017.

Chinese authorities also seized around 6,890 Bitcoin mining machines this week. Authorities investigated more than 70,000 households in the Kaiping District. Their leads led them to seizing the mining equipment and three high-powered transformers. The machines were reportedly stealing electricity from a nearby village as it operated 24/7.

The holiday week also saw Bitcoin (BTC) swinging from an upside of $7,700 to a downside of $7,000. Any recovery attempts have been limited. However, BTC’s market share went up by 68.9% even as the other altcoins struggled.

The capitalization of all cryptocurrencies was virtually unchanged this week. Tokens in circulation were registered at $190 billion this week. BTC remained flat on a week-to-week basis. Meanwhile, Ripple (XRP) lost 2% of its value while Ethereum (ETH) lost 3%.

It also wasn’t a good week for Facebook’s Libra. The proposed digital currency’s current form was deemed a failure by the president of Switzerland. According to Ueli Maurer, Switzerland’s outgoing president and finance minister, Libra needs to be reworked as no central bank would accept the basket of currencies backing it.

Libra is set to be supported by reserved assets like bank deposits and government debt. These will be held by a system of custodians in order to develop trust and prevent price swings.

Crypto Weekly Recap: Ripple Set on Brazil Expansion in 2020