Ripple, XRP, Bitcoin, Ethereum and Shiba Inu

Mastercard makes surprise XRP Ledger move

Mastercard has joined an upcoming XRP Ledger hackathon in New York as a sponsor.

The New York-headquartered firm will participate in the 36-hour XRP Ledger Hackathon that is scheduled for Oct. 24–25.  The event will bring developers to New York to build and launch projects on the XRP Ledger ahead of Swell. The much-awaited Ripple conference will take place the following week. 

The hackathon includes four tracks focused on protocol innovation, agentic finance, lending and borrowing. Teams with existing projects have also been encouraged to add XRPL functionality. 

Mastercard’s relationship with Ripple has gradually expanded over the past year.  In November 2024, Ripple announced a collaboration with Mastercard, WebBank and Gemini that revolves around Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin. The partnership came after Gemini launched an XRP edition of its Mastercard credit card last August. 

Legendary trader Brandt buys Bitcoin

Bitcoin jumps to $72,335 as a rare chart pattern forces Peter Brandt to ditch his bearish bias.

Legendary futures trader and head of Factor LLC Peter Brandt has opened a long position in Bitcoin, completely reversing his previous market outlook. The change in his trading strategy was prompted by a decisive technical breakout from a rare chart pattern that pulled the cryptocurrency out of a prolonged downtrend.

Recently, falling prices had dominated the market, and Brandt openly admitted that “there was a reason to have expected a downside move in Bitcoin.”

Because of the prolonged formation of the right shoulder, the trader believed that the chart pattern “has a 60/40 chance to be resolved to the downside,” especially considering that the broader “trend was down.”

As a result, on the daily chart of CME Bitcoin futures (BTC-056 contract), the price broke above the key neckline of the inverted head-and-shoulders reversal pattern. The completion of this pattern, which has been rare in the current market cycle, triggered a strong price acceleration.

During today’s trading session, the futures contract reached approximately $72,335, posting a net daily gain of $2,585.

Protest takes place outside Ripple co-founder’s home

A group of protesters gathered outside Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen’s San Francisco home on Friday as part of a nationwide campaign against automated license plate readers.

A group of protesters recently gathered outside the San Francisco home of Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen, according to a local media report. This was part of a nationwide campaign against automated license plate readers and the use of surveillance technology by law enforcement.

The demonstration, held Friday, was organized by members of the Sunrise Movement, a youth climate group. Protesters criticized Larsen over his financial support for San Francisco’s expansion of police surveillance infrastructure.

Demonstrators handed out brightly colored flyers warning residents about Flock cameras and displayed a mock surveillance camera with a message directed at Larsen: “Does this make you feel safer, Chris?”

Luc Bouchard, an organizer with Sunrise Movement Bay Area, said activists believe automated license plate readers have not been shown to significantly reduce crime. He argued that San Francisco would get better public-safety results by investing in housing instead of expanding surveillance. 

BlackRock records $1 billion Ethereum inflow

BlackRock’s ETHA has recorded more than $1 billion in net inflows over nine straight trading sessions, leading U.S. spot Ethereum ETFs.

BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHA) has attracted approximately $1.02 billion in net inflows over nine consecutive U.S. trading sessions between August 17 and August 27, according to SoSoValue data.

The fund recorded positive flows on every trading day during the period, avoiding the outflows that have periodically affected other products in the U.S. spot Ethereum ETF market.

Arkham Intelligence highlighted the streak after ETHA accumulated $889.8 million during its first eight sessions. That figure matched data compiled by Farside, providing another indication of the scale of demand flowing into BlackRock’s Ethereum product.

ETHA accounted for approximately 72% of total net inflows into U.S. spot Ethereum ETFs during the nine-session period. Across the broader group of funds, investors added roughly $1.42 billion.

The buying continued on August 28, when U.S. spot Ethereum ETFs collectively recorded another $102.1 million in net inflows. ETHA again led the group, attracting approximately $83.8 million.

SHIB’s Japanese status gets boost with Nomura-backed exchange listing

The recent development could further boost Shiba Inu’s visibility in Japan.

In a recent post, Shiba Inu community member Kuro highlights a development in Japan that could boost Shiba Inu’s status in the country.

According to Kuro, a new registration of a Japanese crypto asset exchange operator has occurred for the first time in four years.

Laser Digital Japan, the Japanese entity of Nomura’s digital assets subsidiary, Laser Digital, announced Friday that it has completed its registration and is now authorized to operate as a crypto asset exchange service provider under Japan’s Payment Services Act.

Laser Digital’s registration marks the newest entry into Japan’s crypto asset industry since 2022, following a four-year hiatus in new approvals. Within these four years, Japan has introduced major regulatory reforms, including around stablecoins, and institutional investors have increasingly come to view digital assets as an important diversification tool.