hodler

20 May 2026, 11:13

XRP Price Barely Moves: CNBC Places Ripple Above Revolut

CNBC just ranked Ripple the 16th most disruptive company on the planet, beating out Revolut, Perplexity, Kalshi, Polymarket, and Canva. But its token, XRP, has been falling from its price high of mid last year. CNBC’s updated Disruptor 50 list for 2026 names Ripple as the sole crypto or blockchain firm to make the cut, labeled as “new money.” The company climbed from 38th place in 2021 to 16th today, steadily overtaking fintechs and deep-tech firms alike. Distruptor 50, CNBC Santiment Intelligence followed the announcement with a post citing XRP’s “ long-term role in cross-border payments versus replacement by stablecoins or alternative rails ” as the core thesis driving social volume. Total implied valuation across all 50 Disruptor companies hit $2.4 trillion, up from $798 billion last year as capital is chasing disruptive infrastructure plays right now. Discover: The best pre-launch token sales Can XRP Price Hit $5? At the moment, support sits in the $1.30–$1.35 zone, where recent lows have held on major aggregators. Resistance layers are around $1.40-$1.42, an area that has capped upside since forever. Until XRP closes and holds above $1.50 on volume, the structure reads as consolidation inside a multi-week range. The XRP spot ETF has been showing a healthy flow despite the big outflows that Bitcoin and Ethereum are experiencing. Community projects XRP to reach $5 by late 2025 with growing institutional flows. That target sits above XRP’s all-time high of $3.84. Xrp (XRP) 24h 7d 30d 1y All time Right now, XRP bulls want ETF flows to continue their green streak, and a price break above $1.50 with volume targets the $2.50–$300 range. Consolidation could also continue between $1.35 and $1.45 as the market waits for macro news. XRP is doing well; it just needs to hold, or a loss of $1.30 support could reopen a retest of sub-$1.00 levels. The Clarity Act remains a wildcard that could accelerate either scenario. Discover: The best crypto to diversify your portfolio with LiquidChain Targets Early-Mover Upside as XRP Tests Key Levels XRP’s CNBC ranking validates the cross-chain payments thesis, but at the current spot price and a market cap already in the tens of billions, the asymmetric upside window has narrowed considerably. For traders watching XRP stall at resistance while the institutional narrative builds, the trade-off becomes clear: established recognition versus early-stage entry. LiquidChain ($LIQUID) is a Layer 3 infrastructure project building what it calls the cross-chain liquidity layer. Liquid is developing a single execution environment that fuses Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana liquidity simultaneously. Three Thrones for Three Kings. All wrapped in the world's greatest L3. ⟁ https://t.co/vqvBcdSQYC pic.twitter.com/j6dG8ZoHZd — LiquidChain (@getliquidchain) May 19, 2026 The architecture eliminates the multi-step bridging problem that fragments DeFi capital across ecosystems, or something that XRP’s payment rails still can’t solve at the smart contract layer. With Liquid, developers deploy once and access all three ecosystems. The presale is live at $0.01461 per $LIQUID , with $780K raised to date, and a bonus of 1400% APY staking for early buyers. Explore the LiquidChain presale here. The post XRP Price Barely Moves: CNBC Places Ripple Above Revolut appeared first on Cryptonews .

20 May 2026, 11:12

Bitcoin rebounds above $77,000. Analysts weigh in on whether the bounce has legs.

Your day-ahead look for May 20, 2026

20 May 2026, 11:07

Bittensor (TAO) And Render (RNDR): With AI‑Network And GPU Marketplace Deals Expanding, Do TAO And RNDR Drive The Next AI‑Infra Leg Or Show That The AI Trade Is...

The narrative surrounding decentralized artificial intelligence is facing a critical technical test. While the fundamental landscape continues to expand—with major enterprise integrations scaling decentralized GPU rendering and AI agent networks—the price action for sector leaders Bittensor (TAO) and Render (RNDR) suggests a market that is deeply exhausted. Following the broader early-summer market flush, both TAO and RNDR are hovering near the bottom of their respective 30-day ranges. The question for traders is no longer about the underlying technology, but about market structure: Are these critical AI infrastructure tokens establishing a healthy base for the next leg up, or is the "AI Trade" officially entering a prolonged, low-volatility summer consolidation? Bittensor (TAO): Sitting In Lower Half Of 30‑Day Range Source: tradingview Bittensor represents the ambition of a truly decentralized neural network, but its price chart currently reflects an asset that has lost its short-term momentum. The Compression: Looking at the last 30 days, TAO swung from a low of $244.49 up to $320.37. Currently trading near $260.89, it sits about 18.6% below that recent peak and is trading firmly beneath its short-term moving average proxy (~$278.41). The Fibonacci Trap: TAO is currently stuck under the lowest major Fibonacci retracement level. The 23.6% level sits at $262.40; until TAO can reclaim and hold this price on a daily closing basis, it remains structurally weak in the short term. The Make-or-Break Floor: The immediate support band is $244–$250. As long as TAO stays above the $244.49 swing low, the current 30-day structure can be viewed as an extended retrace inside a larger macro uptrend. However, a clean break below $244 argues that the AI-network trade is entering a deeper correction, not just a shallow reset. Render (RNDR): Grinding Sideways Just Above First Fib Support Source: tradingview Render , which powers decentralized GPU marketplaces, is showing slightly more resilience than TAO but remains in a tightly coiled, precarious position. The Coiling Setup: RNDR swung from a 30-day low of $1.72 to a high of $2.05. Currently trading at $1.82, it is sitting just above its 23.6% Fibonacci retracement level ($1.80) and slightly below the 38.2% level ($1.85). The Mean Reversion Target: The $1.85 level is critical because it aligns perfectly with the short-term SMA proxy. Reclaiming the $1.85–$1.89 cluster would be the first sign of a genuine mean-reversion bounce. The Breakdown Risk: The $1.80–$1.82 band must hold. If RNDR slips below this, it opens a direct path to retest the $1.72 swing low. A daily close beneath $1.72 would break the 30-day structure entirely, signaling a deep cooldown for AI-GPU infrastructure. Do TAO And RNDR Signal The Next Leg Or Deeper Consolidation? The technical data is unambiguous: both assets are currently in a consolidation phase, pinned below their short-term moving averages. The distinction between a "healthy reset" and a "dead summer" will be decided by how they interact with their Fibonacci support levels over the coming days. They Signal the Next AI-Infra Leg If: TAO successfully defends the $244–$250 floor and grinds back through the $273–$282 supply zone. RNDR bounces cleanly off the $1.80 support and pushes through the $1.85–$1.92 resistance band. This would indicate that institutional buyers are treating these lower prices as accumulation zones before the next wave of AI agent deployments requires massive on-chain compute. They Signal a Deep Summer Consolidation If: TAO breaks the $244 floor and stalls in the low-$200s. RNDR slips under $1.72 and fails to immediately reclaim it. This scenario tells us that regardless of fundamental adoption, the speculative capital that drove the massive AI run earlier this year is exhausted, and the market is content to let these assets drift sideways while broader risk-fatigue sets in. Final Verdict: The AI trade is not dead, but it is deeply fatigued. The charts suggest we are at the bottom edge of a holding pattern. Buyers must step in here to preserve the structural uptrend; otherwise, the AI sector is headed for a quiet, grinding off-season. Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

20 May 2026, 11:07

Bitcoin Developer Who Worked With Satoshi Just Released A Tool That Changes Online Privacy Forever

Martti Malmi, one of Bitcoin’s earliest developers who worked directly with Satoshi Nakamoto in the protocol’s founding years, has released a new version of Nostr VPN — an open-source mesh VPN that discards the entire trust model underlying conventional virtual private network services and replaces it with cryptographic keys, decentralized relay infrastructure, and user-operated exit nodes. The release was flagged by TFTC (@TFTC21) on X on May 19, describing Nostr VPN as a fundamental departure from the architecture that has defined commercial VPN services for decades. Malmi — known in Bitcoin’s early history as Sirius, the developer who received the first-ever Bitcoin transaction from Satoshi and later maintained bitcoin.org — built Nostr VPN using the Nostr protocol as its signaling and coordination layer, per the TFTC post and the project’s open-source repository on git.iris.to. The Problem With Every VPN You’ve Ever Used The structural flaw at the center of commercial VPN services is straightforward. When a user connects to NordVPN, ExpressVPN, ProtonVPN, or any equivalent service, all internet traffic routes through servers owned and operated by that company. The user trusts the provider not to log, analyze, sell, or hand over that traffic to third parties — including law enforcement. That trust has been violated repeatedly across the industry. Multiple VPN providers marketed as no-log services have subsequently been shown to maintain logs when compelled by legal process, per documented cases cited in the TFTC post. The promise of privacy in a conventional VPN is only as strong as the company behind it — a company with employees, legal addresses, server infrastructure, and obligations to comply with the jurisdictions they operate in. What Nostr VPN Does Differently Nostr VPN eliminates the central server entirely. The architecture operates as a peer-to-peer mesh network — devices connect directly to each other rather than routing through a corporate intermediary. The Nostr protocol handles signaling between nodes using public-key cryptography, the same cryptographic framework that secures Bitcoin transactions, per the project’s repository. Each user’s identity on the network is a cryptographic key pair, not an account or email address tied to a real-world identity. The exit node model is where the practical privacy advantage becomes concrete. A user designates one of their own devices — a home server, a rented VPS from a provider like Hetzner, or any machine they control — as the exit point for their internet traffic. Websites and services see only the IP address of that exit node, not the device actually being used. The critical distinction from a commercial VPN is that the user is the operator. There is no third party between the user and the exit node who could be compelled to produce logs, because no third party holds them, per the project documentation cited in the TFTC post. Why A Bitcoin Developer Built This Malmi’s involvement is not coincidental. The philosophy underlying Nostr VPN maps directly to the same sovereignty argument that animated Bitcoin’s original design — the elimination of trusted intermediaries from a system where that trust represents both a single point of failure and a single point of control. Bitcoin removed trusted third parties from money. Nostr VPN applies the same logic to internet privacy infrastructure. The Nostr protocol itself was built by and for the Bitcoin community from its earliest days, using the same public-key cryptographic primitives and attracting developers who share a specific set of convictions about censorship resistance, self-custody, and the dangers of centralized infrastructure that can be pressured, subpoenaed, or shut down. The release arrives as governments across multiple jurisdictions — including the United Kingdom, per recent legislative developments — move to tighten controls over VPN usage and expand surveillance capabilities. For the nascent sector’s community of privacy-focused users, developers, and holders for whom financial privacy and internet privacy are inseparable concerns, Nostr VPN represents a meaningful step toward infrastructure that cannot be compelled to betray its users — because there is no operator left to compel. Cover image from Grok, BTCUSD chart from Tradingview

20 May 2026, 11:04

Trump opposes CBDC as US quietly advances digital dollar

🚨 Trump confirmed he will not allow a US CBDC if elected. Active digital dollar research continues within the Fed despite political opposition. 🕵️‍♂️ Key point: Global projects like Project Agora push the US toward rapid blockchain innovation in $BTC. Continue Reading: Trump opposes CBDC as US quietly advances digital dollar The post Trump opposes CBDC as US quietly advances digital dollar appeared first on COINTURK NEWS .

20 May 2026, 11:02

FedNow Contributor Explains How Banks Could Use XRP

Crypto analyst STEPH IS CRYPTO has shared comments from FedNow contributor Jess Cheng that described how banks could reportedly use XRP to facilitate cross-border settlements without relying on traditional intermediary banking relationships. In a recent tweet, STEPH IS CRYPTO described the remarks as significant, writing that Cheng explained “how banks could use XRP for cross-border settlement” in what was described as an “off-the-record” video. The post focused on Cheng’s explanation of how financial institutions could use XRP as a bridge asset between two separate banking systems. The comments centered on a hypothetical scenario involving two institutions, Alphabank and Betabank. According to Cheng, banks often rely on a common account holder or intermediary institution to move funds across borders. However, she said there may be another option that removes the need for that arrangement. CRAZY: FedNow contributor Jess Cheng reportedly explained in an “off-the-record” video how banks could use $XRP for cross-border settlement. pic.twitter.com/b7IubtW1Qx — STEPH IS CRYPTO (@Steph_iscrypto) May 18, 2026 XRP Presented as a Bridging Tool Between Banks During the explanation, Cheng said banks could use XRP as a “bridging tool” to connect payment systems directly. She described XRP as a digital asset native to the Ripple Consensus Ledger and explained that it could help bridge settlement gaps between financial institutions operating in different jurisdictions. Cheng contrasted the XRP-based process with traditional fiat-based payment chains, where every stage of a transaction depends on national currencies and intermediary relationships. In her example, Alphabank and Betabank could instead use virtual currency only at the settlement layer, while customers continue transacting in local fiat currencies. The scenario involved a Brazilian company, Alphacorp, making a payment to a Thailand-based company, Betacorp. Cheng explained that the Brazilian real would be withdrawn from the sender’s bank account while the Thai baht would be deposited into the receiver’s account. The challenge, according to her explanation, is how the two banks would settle obligations when they do not share a direct banking relationship. Example Focuses on Emerging Market Transactions Cheng stated that this type of system could be particularly useful for banks supporting emerging markets. She explained that it may be difficult to find institutions with correspondent accounts in both Brazil and Thailand, especially when handling less common currency corridors. According to the explanation, Alphabank could hold XRP while Betabank agrees to accept XRP as settlement for the transaction. The balances would then be recorded on a distributed ledger associated with the Ripple Consensus Ledger. We are on X, follow us to connect with us :- @TimesTabloid1 — TimesTabloid (@TimesTabloid1) June 15, 2025 She further stated that both banks could agree commercially that payment is completed once a certain amount of XRP is transferred from one institution to the other. Cheng added that the banks would effectively determine an exchange rate between XRP and the fiat currencies involved in the transaction. XRP’s Banking Use Case Continues to Draw Attention The video excerpt shared by STEPH IS CRYPTO has gained attention within the digital asset community because it discusses XRP in the context of institutional settlement and international banking operations. Supporters of XRP have long argued that the asset’s primary utility lies in helping financial institutions move value quickly across borders while reducing reliance on pre-funded accounts and multiple intermediaries. Although the comments referenced a hypothetical example rather than an announced implementation, the clip has renewed interest in XRP’s potential role in cross-border payment infrastructure and bank-to-bank settlement systems. Disclaimer : This content is meant to inform and should not be considered financial advice. The views expressed in this article may include the author’s personal opinions and do not represent Times Tabloid’s opinion. Readers are advised to conduct thorough research before making any investment decisions. Any action taken by the reader is strictly at their own risk. Times Tabloid is not responsible for any financial losses. Follow us on X , Facebook , Telegram , and Google News The post FedNow Contributor Explains How Banks Could Use XRP appeared first on Times Tabloid .