虛擬貨幣分析︳XRP暴跌之啟示（李穎懿） ｜ 蘋果日報
加密貨幣瑞波幣（XRP）價格暴跌，源於上星期美國證券交易委員會對區塊鏈公司Ripple提出訴訟，指控其發行了13億美元未經註冊的XRP證券。及後，加密貨幣交易平台Coinbase也宣佈從1月4日起限制XRP交易，並將於1月19日全面暫停交易。
政府介入顯然會對加密貨幣的發展有重大影響，但立法規管又無可避免。區塊鏈雖然將加密貨幣的所有交易記錄在案，但是這些公開的記錄只包含某個地址（如錢包地址）的交易情況，而每個交易者都可以擁有多個加密貨幣錢包，這些錢包亦可生成多個地址。這種匿名性令加密貨幣被不法份子利用，作為進行犯罪活動的工具。加密貨幣與犯罪活動掛勾的訊息常在新聞上出現，或令大眾對加密貨幣有一種負面觀感。
事實上，區塊鏈分析公司Chainalysis剛發佈的2020加密犯罪報吿指出，2019年只有1.1%的加密貨幣交易與犯罪活動有關；加密貨幣情報公司CipherTrace在2019年11月的報告指出，加密貨幣盜竊、黑客攻擊和欺詐造成的總損失從2019年的44億美元下降到2020年首10月的18億美元，犯罪活動的普遍下降是交易所及使用者增加安全措施所得的結果。不過，去中心化金融（DeFi）的黑客事件有明顯增長。
加密貨幣是一種金融工具，是好是壞取決於擁有者如何使用。加密貨幣的優點是無容置疑：加快交易速度、提高交易的安全性和有效跟蹤交易；利用區塊鏈技術可通過智能合約執行協議，透過公共賬本跟蹤付運流程等，所有活動不需要銀行或其他金融機構等第三方參與，節省時間和成本，實現跨地域即時交易。
上個月的G7會議認同加密貨幣支付能改善金融服務、降低成本並提高效率，但前提是必須進行適度監管。適當的管制能避免虛擬資產破壞金融穩定性，也可以協助履行納稅、制定資產安全措施、保護網路隱私等；反之，可能引發洗錢、恐怖主義融資等風險。
總的來說，立法監管加密貨幣（虛擬資產），是無可避免的。筆者認為加密貨幣和DeFi的發展與應用，未來將繼續擴大其影響力，但開發者需要更著重於安全問題，中心化的安全驗證系統也許能令政府安心，投資者也較為放心。
各國對加密貨幣的監管仍不斷改變，香港亦然。有傳香港對加密貨幣的監管會跟隨內地的模式，這與美國現行的有何分別？我們下回探討。
加密高市場部李穎懿
免責聲明：本文內容僅代表作者個人觀點，不能作為投資建議。文章內容僅做參考，讀者不應以本文作為任何投資依據。
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Ripple Responds to SEC Lawsuit Over XRP Sales
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is ignoring that the XRP cryptocurrency has utility, fintech startup Ripple alleged in its response to a securities complaint filed by the regulatory agency.
In a Friday filing, Ripple Labs pushed back against the SEC’s allegations, which claim the San Francisco-based firm violated U.S. securities laws for over seven years by selling $1.3 billion worth of XRP tokens.
“The functionality and liquidity of XRP are wholly incompatible with securities regulation. To require XRP’s registration as a security is to impair its main utility,” the response said.
Related: Market Wrap: Bitcoin Bumps to $38.6K While DeFi Exchanges Hit $50B
In a 93-page filing, Ripple responded to each of the SEC’s paragraphs. In its affirmative defenses, Ripple stated that XRP is not a security or investment contract, and the firm’s sales or distributions of XRP are likewise not investment contracts.
Ripple rebuttal
The SEC sued Ripple in December 2020, alleging the company, CEO Brad Garlinghouse and Chairman Chris Larsen sold over $1 billion in XRP, promoted the token and paid third parties to support the cryptocurrency.
Parts of Ripple’s response seem to focus on what XRP actually does, in the company’s view, saying the SEC complaint ignored that XRP is open source and claiming that its price has correlated with the price of bitcoin and ether.
“The Complaint mischaracterizes advice that Ripple received in 2012, from which a reasonable reader actually would have concluded that Ripple Credits (a past name for XRP) were not a security,” the filing adds a few paragraphs down.
Related: After GME, Dogecoin and Bitcoin, Chinese Traders Are Betting What Will Pump Next
Ripple is also claiming that the SEC did not provide fair notice that its sales of XRP might be violating the law.
It pointed to its settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network in 2015, which registered XRP as a convertible virtual currency and allowed for sales and secondary market transactions.
Story continues
“Upon information and belief, Plaintiff knew of that 2015 settlement and yet, for years after, Plaintiff provided Defendants with no clear notice that, in Plaintiff’s view, Defendants’ prospective XRP sales as permitted by the agreement would nevertheless constitute a violation of another federal law,” the response said.
Commodity clarity
In addition to filing its response, Ripple filed a Freedom of Information Act request for documents from the SEC on how it determined that bitcoin and ether, the top two cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, are not securities.
“To date, they have offered no guidance for that determination, hindering responsible players like Ripple from being able to innovate in the U.S. to bring faster, cheaper and more transparent global payments to consumers who need them the most. As we have said for many years, we’re simply asking for the rules to be clearly stated and applied consistently,” a spokesperson said in an emailed statement.
XRP is up nearly 10% over the past 24 hours, joining a broader spike across the crypto market that saw dogecoin jump over 700% on Thursday.
Read the document:
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Ethereum, Litecoin, and Ripple’s XRP – Daily Tech Analysis – January 30th, 2021
A mixed start to the day saw Ethereum fall to an early morning intraday low $1,286.56 before making a move.
Steering clear of the first major support level at $1,248, Ethereum rallied to an early afternoon intraday high $1,442.88.
Ethereum broke through the first major resistance level at $1,391, before a late pullback.
Coming within range of the second major resistance level at $1,449, Ethereum slid to $1,332 levels and into the red.
Finding late support, however, Ethereum bounced back to $1,410 levels before ending the day at sub-$1,380 levels.
At the time of writing, Ethereum was up by 1.57% to $1,401.59. A bullish start to the day saw Ethereum rise from an early morning low $1,379.61 to a high $1,402.72.
Ethereum left the major support and resistance levels untested early on.