Latest news with #smartcontracts
Globe and Mail
19 hours ago
- Business
- Globe and Mail
XRP (Ripple) and Ethereum Now Share This 1 Absolutely Critical Resource. Here's Why That's Bullish For XRP
Key Points XRP just launched a new sidechain. That sidechain can run smart contracts programmed for Ethereum. It's thus a way to potentially port a lot of talent from Ethereum to XRP. 10 stocks we like better than XRP › XRP (CRYPTO: XRP) and Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) have always been very different beasts. One is a payments chain with compliance baked into its DNA; the other is the original smart contract workhorse. Yet in late June, XRP gained access to a pool of one of Ethereum's most valuable resources -- its large population of developers. Let's explore why that crossover could send XRP's long-term growth prospects into overdrive. This new sidechain is a huge unlock For years, one key issue was that any developer who wanted to make smart contracts or decentralized apps (dApps) on XRP's chain would need to learn a different technology stack. But, with the latest update to the XRP Ledger (XRPL), Ripple, the company that issues XRP, answered this issue with the launch of its Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) sidechain. It went live on the mainnet on June 30, delivering full Ethereum-compatible smart contract support to the XRP universe. Out of the box, the sidechain lets coders deploy smart contracts on XRP with the same toolkit they use on Ethereum. That means that porting an existing decentralized exchange (DEX) or lending protocol to XRP is almost a copy-and-paste job. In such a situation, XRP itself serves as the native gas token to pay user fees, while a bridge protocol ferries assets between the sidechain and XRPL's main net, so the existing liquidity on the chain stays reachable. This solution is ingenious because it preserves XRPL's ultra-cheap, near-instant payment rails and compliance features, while insulating the core network from the heavier computation and potential exploits that come with generalized smart contracts. It also makes siphoning skilled smart contract developers from Ethereum extremely easy. So getting at least some of them to contribute to the XRP ecosystem instead of Ethereum is practically a given, especially if more capital is made available for their purposes. Still, no rose is without thorns. Bridges remain a favorite attack vector for hackers, and fragmenting liquidity across a sidechain can dull network effects if users refuse to hop over or if the friction of transiting capital from the main net to the sidechain or vice versa is too burdensome. Developers are the real story here The beneficial effect of XRP gaining access to Ethereum's developer community is hard to overstate. This is an enabler for XRP's ecosystem to grow over time, sending the chain's value skyward along the way. Numbers tell the story. As of late July, the Ethereum ecosystem boasted about 5,866 monthly active developers. In contrast, XRPL's community sat near 2,800 active contributors as of June. Assuming a modest 5% of Ethereum's builders decide that porting to XRPL EVM is worth a weekend hackathon to set up a new project, that's roughly 293 fresh minds working on the chain, or a significant 10% bump to XRPL's current monthly developer base. At least some of them will come back and build something again in the future, especially if there's another round of grants issued by Ripple that encourage them to do so. More realistically, if the sidechain matures and eventually captures 10% to 15% of Ethereum's developers, XRP could expand its builder cohort without spending a dime on recruitment. Why does that matter for investors? Developer activity correlates strongly with network value creation. More developers on the chain mean more apps, more users, more transaction fees, more innovative decentralized finance (DeFi) projects, and ultimately more demand for the native token used to pay those fees. There's also a competitive twist here. Every engineer tinkering on XRPL's EVM is one less full-time builder working on projects that would run on Ethereum. While Ethereum certainly enjoys tremendous inertia as well as deep liquidity, developers are famously pragmatic, chasing lower fees, easier onboarding, and fresh user bases. XRPL can now offer all three. None of this guarantees that XRP will go to the moon, of course. Ethereum is hardly standing still, and it's the single most popular destination for developers for more than one reason. Yet the upside here is hard to ignore. XRP currently trades at about 40% of Ethereum's market cap, but it just unlocked access to the same talent reservoir. If even a sliver of that talent shifts, the ecosystem's growth curve could steepen sharply, providing a fresh fundamental pillar for long-term bullish theses. For investors, the launch doesn't rewrite XRP's risk profile overnight, but it meaningfully improves its upside-to-risk ratio. Long-term holders now have a new catalyst to watch in the form of developer traction, while prospective buyers have a new and quantifiable reason to start nibbling. Should you invest $1,000 in XRP right now? Before you buy stock in XRP, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and XRP wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $624,823!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,064,820!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,019% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 178% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of July 29, 2025
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
XRP (Ripple) and Ethereum Now Share This 1 Absolutely Critical Resource. Here's Why That's Bullish For XRP
Key Points XRP just launched a new sidechain. That sidechain can run smart contracts programmed for Ethereum. It's thus a way to potentially port a lot of talent from Ethereum to XRP. 10 stocks we like better than XRP › XRP (CRYPTO: XRP) and Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) have always been very different beasts. One is a payments chain with compliance baked into its DNA; the other is the original smart contract workhorse. Yet in late June, XRP gained access to a pool of one of Ethereum's most valuable resources -- its large population of developers. Let's explore why that crossover could send XRP's long-term growth prospects into overdrive. This new sidechain is a huge unlock For years, one key issue was that any developer who wanted to make smart contracts or decentralized apps (dApps) on XRP's chain would need to learn a different technology stack. But, with the latest update to the XRP Ledger (XRPL), Ripple, the company that issues XRP, answered this issue with the launch of its Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) sidechain. It went live on the mainnet on June 30, delivering full Ethereum-compatible smart contract support to the XRP universe. Out of the box, the sidechain lets coders deploy smart contracts on XRP with the same toolkit they use on Ethereum. That means that porting an existing decentralized exchange (DEX) or lending protocol to XRP is almost a copy-and-paste job. In such a situation, XRP itself serves as the native gas token to pay user fees, while a bridge protocol ferries assets between the sidechain and XRPL's main net, so the existing liquidity on the chain stays reachable. This solution is ingenious because it preserves XRPL's ultra-cheap, near-instant payment rails and compliance features, while insulating the core network from the heavier computation and potential exploits that come with generalized smart contracts. It also makes siphoning skilled smart contract developers from Ethereum extremely easy. So getting at least some of them to contribute to the XRP ecosystem instead of Ethereum is practically a given, especially if more capital is made available for their purposes. Still, no rose is without thorns. Bridges remain a favorite attack vector for hackers, and fragmenting liquidity across a sidechain can dull network effects if users refuse to hop over or if the friction of transiting capital from the main net to the sidechain or vice versa is too burdensome. Developers are the real story here The beneficial effect of XRP gaining access to Ethereum's developer community is hard to overstate. This is an enabler for XRP's ecosystem to grow over time, sending the chain's value skyward along the way. Numbers tell the story. As of late July, the Ethereum ecosystem boasted about 5,866 monthly active developers. In contrast, XRPL's community sat near 2,800 active contributors as of June. Assuming a modest 5% of Ethereum's builders decide that porting to XRPL EVM is worth a weekend hackathon to set up a new project, that's roughly 293 fresh minds working on the chain, or a significant 10% bump to XRPL's current monthly developer base. At least some of them will come back and build something again in the future, especially if there's another round of grants issued by Ripple that encourage them to do so. More realistically, if the sidechain matures and eventually captures 10% to 15% of Ethereum's developers, XRP could expand its builder cohort without spending a dime on recruitment. Why does that matter for investors? Developer activity correlates strongly with network value creation. More developers on the chain mean more apps, more users, more transaction fees, more innovative decentralized finance (DeFi) projects, and ultimately more demand for the native token used to pay those fees. There's also a competitive twist here. Every engineer tinkering on XRPL's EVM is one less full-time builder working on projects that would run on Ethereum. While Ethereum certainly enjoys tremendous inertia as well as deep liquidity, developers are famously pragmatic, chasing lower fees, easier onboarding, and fresh user bases. XRPL can now offer all three. None of this guarantees that XRP will go to the moon, of course. Ethereum is hardly standing still, and it's the single most popular destination for developers for more than one reason. Yet the upside here is hard to ignore. XRP currently trades at about 40% of Ethereum's market cap, but it just unlocked access to the same talent reservoir. If even a sliver of that talent shifts, the ecosystem's growth curve could steepen sharply, providing a fresh fundamental pillar for long-term bullish theses. For investors, the launch doesn't rewrite XRP's risk profile overnight, but it meaningfully improves its upside-to-risk ratio. Long-term holders now have a new catalyst to watch in the form of developer traction, while prospective buyers have a new and quantifiable reason to start nibbling. Do the experts think XRP is a buy right now? The Motley Fool's expert analyst team, drawing on years of investing experience and deep analysis of thousands of stocks, leverages our proprietary Moneyball AI investing database to uncover top opportunities. They've just revealed their to buy now — did XRP make the list? When our Stock Advisor analyst team has a stock recommendation, it can pay to listen. After all, Stock Advisor's total average return is up 1,019% vs. just 178% for the S&P — that is beating the market by 841.12%!* Imagine if you were a Stock Advisor member when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $624,823!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,064,820!* The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of July 29, 2025 Alex Carchidi has positions in Ethereum. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Ethereum and XRP. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. XRP (Ripple) and Ethereum Now Share This 1 Absolutely Critical Resource. Here's Why That's Bullish For XRP was originally published by The Motley Fool Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Associated Press
6 days ago
- Business
- Associated Press
Bitcoin Swift Launches Stage 3 Presale With AI-Driven Proof-of-Yield Rewards System
LUXEMBOURG , Aug. 02, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bitcoin Swift, a blockchain protocol combining Proof-of-Work (PoW), Proof-of-Stake (PoS), and an AI-powered Proof-of-Yield (PoY) mechanism, has officially entered Stage 3 of its presale. The platform is offering tokens at $3 during this limited 64-day window, with a scheduled increase to $4 in the next stage and a confirmed launch price of $15. At the core of this phase is the introduction of the PoY system—an AI-governed, smart contract-based rewards framework that adjusts dynamically based on network activity, participation, and energy efficiency. What's New in Stage 3 Bitcoin Swift's third stage introduces participants to a live APY of 121%, with staking and on-chain participation integrated directly into the protocol's smart contracts. Token holders can access the BTC3 protocol, gaining eligibility for governance, programmable rewards, and smart contract-based incentives. Unlike traditional static rewards systems, PoY leverages real-time oracles and adaptive smart contracts to determine yield distribution. These are governed on-chain, with oversight provided by AI agents that also evaluate security proposals, energy metrics, and user participation trends. Core Architecture and Hybrid Consensus Bitcoin Swift is structured on a hybrid consensus model that integrates: The PoY model is designed to align long-term sustainability with user incentives, enhancing energy efficiency while maintaining a robust reward economy. AI and Smart Contract Integration The protocol operates on a WASM-compatible smart contract engine that supports multiple languages and AI enhancements. Its smart contracts can adjust based on live data inputs, enabling intelligent allocation of rewards and seamless evolution of protocol rules. Real-time AI oracles aggregate both on-chain and off-chain data to guide contract behavior and validate governance changes. This ensures decisions are made based on updated network conditions and user input. Privacy and Compliance Features Bitcoin Swift incorporates privacy features through zk-SNARKs and decentralized identity frameworks. Participants can validate compliance requirements such as KYC and residency without disclosing personal data publicly. Shielded transactions are supported, enabling confidential yet compliant financial activity. Governance features include quadratic voting and decentralized reputation scoring to encourage fair participation while limiting the influence of large token holders. Audits and Community Security and transparency are foundational to Bitcoin Swift. The project has completed audits with Spywolf Audit and Solidproof Audit, confirming the integrity of its smart contracts and governance processes. An active community is engaging in discussions on the platform's roadmap, governance direction, and yield models, contributing to the project's ongoing development and decentralization. Also, Bitcoin Swift continues to capture attention from big voices in the space, with Crypto League and Crypto Nitro both pointing out why this project is standing out from the noise. About the Bitcoin Swift Presale Stage 3 is live for a limited 64-day period. The current token price is $3, with Stage 4 priced at $4 and the final launch set for $15. Participants in this round can access programmable rewards and governance capabilities through the BTC3 protocol. For more information, visit: Contact: Luc Schaus [email protected] Disclaimer:This content is provided byBitcoin statements, views, and opinions expressed in this content are solely those of the content provider and do not necessarily reflect the views of this media platform or its publisher. We do not endorse, verify, or guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of any information do not guarantee any claims, statements, or promises made in this content is for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial, investment, or trading advice. Investing in crypto and mining-related opportunities involves significant risks, including the potential loss of is possible to lose all your capital. These products may not be suitable for everyone, and you should ensure that you understand the risks involved. Seek independent advice if necessary. Speculate only with funds that you can afford to are strongly encouraged to conduct their own research and consult with a qualified financial advisor before making any investment decisions. However, due to the inherently speculative nature of the blockchain sector—including cryptocurrency, NFTs, and mining—complete accuracy cannot always be guaranteed. Neither the media platform nor the publisher shall be held responsible for any fraudulent activities, misrepresentations, or financial losses arising from the content of this press the event of any legal claims or charges against this article, we accept no liability or responsibility. Globenewswire does not endorse any content on this page. Legal Disclaimer: This media platform provides the content of this article on an 'as-is' basis, without any warranties or representations of any kind, express or implied. We assume no responsibility for any inaccuracies, errors, or omissions. We do not assume any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information presented herein. Any concerns, complaints, or copyright issues related to this article should be directed to the content provider mentioned above. Photos accompanying this announcement are available at:
Yahoo
31-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Got $1,000? 3 Cryptocurrencies to Buy and Hold For Decades
Key Points Bitcoin's 16-year track record and $2.34 trillion market cap make it the cornerstone of any crypto portfolio. Ethereum's smart contract technology powers everything from NFTs to stablecoins, with massive growth potential ahead. Without Chainlink's real-world data connections, Ethereum's contracts would be worthless. 10 stocks we like better than Bitcoin › Some cryptocurrencies can be fun and exciting for a little while. The hottest new idea or cutest meme coin logo writes headlines for a while. The crypto's price soars as long as the news coverage continues -- and then it's over. The hottest coin or token isn't so great anymore, people moved on to the next Next Big Thing, and the chart starts to droop. And then there are the cryptocurrencies that were made to last. This is where you should start your crypto journey. A $1,000 investment spread across these dependable crypto names should serve you well. Good old Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) has been around since 2009, and many investors expect it to be relevant forever. Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) changed the crypto game with the first smart contracts -- another innovator with long-term plans. And Chainlink (CRYPTO: LINK) provides a unique and necessary service to the crypto community. If any of these three cryptocurrencies go out of style and lose value in the long run, the whole crypto market would crumble. These are the building blocks that the broader set of digital currencies were built around. So I wouldn't buy some Bitcoin for a bit of summer fun, or speculate in Chainlink and Ethereum over a couple of weeks. They are long-term investments, made to hold for years and years. Bitcoin believers think it's digital gold The first Bitcoin was mined on January 3, 2009. The subprime mortgage meltdown was in full swing and banks didn't look like particularly safe places to store your wealth at the time. It's no surprise that a new form of digital currency was invented and launched in that era. More than 16 years later, Bitcoin is still going strong. With a total market value of $2.34 trillion and an inflation-proof limit to the creation of new coins, it's the largest name in the crypto sector. So-called Bitcoin maximalists, like Strategy (NASDAQ: MSTR) chairman Michael Saylor, expect Bitcoin to replace old-school currencies like the dollar and the euro over time. From that point of view, Bitcoin could be the only cryptocurrency or currency worth owning in the long haul. That's an extreme view and I certainly wouldn't recommend copying Saylor's Bitcoin-binging tactics. He has converted nearly all of Strategy's cash reserves into Bitcoin holdings. Then, he took out loans and sold stock to buy even more coins. His approach looks brilliant when Bitcoin's price is going up, but could end in financial disaster in the opposite scenario. But I do recommend having some Bitcoin exposure in your nest egg. You could buy some of the cryptocurrency directly, or pick up shares of a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) like the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (NASDAQ: IBIT). You could even invest in a company that owns a lot of Bitcoin, such as Strategy or a leading Bitcoin miner. Either way, a modest amount of this robust digital coin belongs in any crypto-friendly investor's holdings. Ethereum actually does something useful Ethereum is a much smaller asset, with a market value of $455 billion today. It's still a big fish in the crypto pond, though. Other than Ethereum and Bitcoin, no other coin is worth more than $200 billion. It's a very different idea. Bitcoin creates value for its owners by providing a secure currency with strict supply side limits. It's rare on purpose, and it's expensive to create new coins because the mathematical difficulty keeps increasing. Things are different in the Ethereum camp. There's no hard cap on the Ethereum supply. The number of coins has held steady since the fall of 2022. The balance is regulated by staking rewards and the partial removal ("burning") of coins that are collected as transaction fees. And those fees are the keys to the Ethereum castle. This cryptocurrency can manage and execute smart contracts, generating transaction fees in the process of actually doing things. So far, Ethereum has mainly been used to power non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and certain stablecoins. One of these days, you may find your personal finances managed by blockchain-based apps on your phone, kicking banks out of the process. Ethereum will almost certainly play a role in that revolution, generating fees with every money transfer, account balance review, and digital ID presentation. Millions of active users could add a ton of Ethereum value. This sea change hasn't happened yet, and it might be fairly invisible when it comes. Still, the influx of active usage will boost Ethereum's price. There are fewer investment options here, since very few companies hold Ethereum on their balance sheets and you can't mine the currency. But you still get to choose between direct Ethereum holdings or spot-priced Ethereum ETFs, led by the iShares Ethereum Trust ETF (NASDAQ: ETHA). After getting your cryptocurrency feet wet with some Bitcoin, a bit of Ethereum exposure should be next on your long-term investment list. Chainlink feeds real-world info to Ethereum Finally, Ethereum's smart contracts rely on real-world data. Chainlink's job is to deliver that data in a form that makes sense to smart contract developers. Chainlink isn't the only so-called oracle coin on the market, but it's miles ahead of the competition. With a $12.1 billion market cap, Chainlink dwarfs Bittensor's (CRYPTO: TAO) $3.6 billion and Pyth Network (CRYPTO: PYTH) at $724 million. Even so, Bittensor and Pyth don't really copy Chainlink's broad portfolio of real-world data feeds. Bittensor helps artificial intelligence systems rate each other. Pyth provides high-speed access to a handful of financial data points. Without Chainlink's input, Ethereum would grind to a halt. Smart contracts without data access can't get any work done. As such, I highly recommend grabbing a few Chainlink coins. There are no ETFs or indirect investments to consider here, just the basic cryptocurrency itself. Should you buy stock in Bitcoin right now? Before you buy stock in Bitcoin, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Bitcoin wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $638,629!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,098,838!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,049% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 182% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of July 29, 2025 Anders Bylund has positions in Bitcoin, Chainlink, Ethereum, iShares Bitcoin Trust, and iShares Ethereum Trust-iShares Ethereum Trust ETF. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin, Chainlink, and Ethereum. The Motley Fool recommends Bittensor and Pyth Network. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Got $1,000? 3 Cryptocurrencies to Buy and Hold For Decades was originally published by The Motley Fool
Yahoo
30-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Companies Are Buying This Crypto — and No, It's Not Bitcoin: Should You Invest Too?
The race for global cryptocurrency supremacy is hardly a race at all. The top player, bitcoin, is so big that its market capitalization is worth more than the combined market caps of the next 10 cryptos on this CryptoSlate list. That doesn't mean bitcoin is the only crypto worth investing in, though. Another name getting a lot of attention lately is ethereum, the No. 2 crypto with a price of about $3,780 and a market cap of roughly $456 billion. Read Next: Explore More: Although those numbers don't come close to bitcoin's — which boasts a price of almost $118,000 and a market cap above $2.3 trillion — ethereum still stands out because of its recent growth and potential as a winning investment. Company Investments Rising Much of ethereum's growth has been driven by corporate and institutional investors. As Yahoo Finance recently reported, some firms have been putting money into ethereum. Those firms include both large players like Coinbase Global and lesser-known names such as BitMine Immersion Technologies and SharpLink Gaming. Many investors are gravitating to ethereum because it lets them expand into the technology infrastructure behind digital assets and decentralized finance (DeFi), per Yahoo Finance. Check Out: 'More Utility Than Bitcoin' In case you're not familiar with ethereum, it's a decentralized, peer-to-peer network that enables the development of other cryptos. On it, developers can build and run applications, which are built using smart contracts, per Coinbase. Ethereum is the market leader in infrastructure that lets businesses and consumers transact among each other without banks, according to Yahoo Finance. 'Ethereum lets anyone … create their own token and thus their own community and incentivize communities with an economy basically,' Ray Youssef, CEO of NoOnes, a crypto marketplace, told Yahoo Finance. 'You could argue it has more utility than bitcoin.' Should You Invest In Ethereum? That utility helps explain why ethereum has been on a recent hot streak with investors. After touching a 2025 low of $1,387 in early April, its price has since risen more than 170%. Although ethereum still hasn't returned to its all-time high set in 2021, it recently hit its highest point in more than 3 1/2 years. Ethereum should keep trending higher as it draws interest from more companies, experts say. For example, digital asset platform Bit Digital recently announced that it moved its entire treasury from bitcoin to ethereum. 'We believe Ethereum has the ability to rewrite the entire financial system,' Bit Digital CEO Sam Tabar said in a press release. 'Bit Digital is aligning itself with Ethereum's long-term potential and positioning itself as a focused Ethereum treasury platform in the public markets.' Legislative Boost Ethereum has also gotten a boost from two new pieces of legislation. The Genius Act, which focuses on regulations for stablecoins, was signed by President Donald Trump in mid-July. The Clarity Act, which provides a regulatory framework for digital assets, is currently going through Congress. According to The Motley Fool, the combination of these acts 'might create a sort of 'perfect storm' for Ethereum's future development' because of its strong positions in both stablecoins and DeFi. Ultimately, ethereum has some tailwinds that could spell good news in the future, but investors should do their due diligence on ethereum before deciding to invest, as well as consider their own risk tolerance and financial goals. More From GOBankingRates 3 Luxury SUVs That Will Have Massive Price Drops in Summer 2025 7 Tax Loopholes the Rich Use To Pay Less and Build More Wealth Warren Buffett: 10 Things Poor People Waste Money On This article originally appeared on Companies Are Buying This Crypto — and No, It's Not Bitcoin: Should You Invest Too? Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
