Bitcoin And Ethereum Left In The Dust By XRP And Dogecoin Rival Shiba Inu Price Surge

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Cryptocurrency prices are soaring this morning, continuing their rally from the end of last week. The closely-watched Crypto Fear & Greed Index, after falling into the “extreme fear” zone last month, is now on the cusp of breaking out of “fear” altogether as positive sentiment returns.

The bitcoin price has climbed further over $40,000 today and is now up compared to this time last month. Ethereum and its biggest rivals are also climbing, all up between 2% and 5%.

However, it’s the smaller coins that are leading the market higher. Ripple’s XRP is up a staggering 15% since this time yesterday as its legal battle with the Securities and Exchange Commission drags on, while dogecoin challenger shiba inu is up 22%. Dogecoin itself has added 6%.

Now read this: They made millions on luna, solana and polygon—Crypto’s boom beyond bitcoin

Bored Apes unmasked 🕵️

BuzzFeed backlash: On Friday, the makers behind the Bored Apes Yacht Club (BAYC) were revealed by BuzzFeed as two men in their 30s from Florida, Greg Solano and Wylie Aronow, using the pseudonyms Gargamel and Gordon Goner, respectively. The report triggered an outcry from the crypto community who see this as “doxing,” (including Solano and Aronow) with many claiming there’s no journalistic or public interest need for the pair’s real-world identities to be known.

Sleuthing: However, BuzzFeed claims it merely reported information that was already public and found the pair by searching public business records for Yuga Labs, the company behind the BAYC. It discovered that Yuga Labs had an address affiliated with Solano and then uncovered other public records that connected Solano with Aronow.

Why it matters: “The backlash isn’t surprising but it betrays deep ignorance about the function of journalism and an entitled belief that crypto must be covered on its own terms,” wrote Los Angeles Times deputy business editor Jeff Bercovici in a Twitter thread.

Too big to hide: The BAYC collection has recently become the most expensive group of NFTs with the cheapest now going for almost $300,000 and giving the Bored Apes a market capitalization of $2.8 billion. It was last week reported by Axios Yuga Labs is in talks with venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz about an investment that would value it at $5 billion. Last month, celebrity socialite Paris Hilton showed off her Bored Ape on The Tonight Show with host Jimmy Fallon who himself bought one last year for around $216,000.

The bottom line: The crypto community and internet communities broadly place a high value on anonymity. However, the more you do, the more you’re worth and the more influence you have increases the level of interest in who you are. That Satoshi Nakamoto, bitcoin’s mysterious creator, has remained anonymous all this time is nothing short of a modern miracle and he only managed it by walking away. No one should expect to remain anonymous forever.

Now watch this: How Wall Street learned to love bitcoin

The C word 🤬

📛 Jamie Dimon, the long-time JPMorgan chief executive who’s antagonized the bitcoin and crypto community for years, has said he no longer calls cryptocurrencies “currencies.”

🗣️ “Currencies have rules of law behind them, central banks and tax authorities,” Dimon said in an interview with the Greek news outlet Ekathimerini. “I call them crypto-tokens.”

👨‍⚖️ Last year, during the huge October crypto boom, Dimon called bitcoin “worthless.” Dimon has repeatedly called for stricter crypto regulation and predicted most cryptocurrencies will eventually be made illegal in most countries.

Now read this: The corporate argument for bitcoin

The week ahead 🗓️

👀 Look out for these cryptocurrency and crypto-related events this week.

🎮 Take-Two Interactive Software, which publishes the Grand Theft Auto (GTA) series under the Rockstar Games label and last month bought mobile games maker Zynga, will post its fourth-quarter results today. Could GTA, an open-world pioneer, be about to enter the metaverse?

🐦 On Thursday, social media giant Twitter will report its fourth-quarter earnings, its first since Parag Agrawal took over as chief executive from bitcoin-believer Jack Dorsey. Last month, Agrawal added non-fungible token (NFT) support to the platform.

📈 Thursday will also see the latest U.S. monthly consumer price index report drop, will economists forecasting a rise of 0.5% over the last month and an eye-watering 7.3% over the past year.

🏈 On Sunday, the 56th Super Bowl will be played at the SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. Crypto ads are expected in abundance.

Now watch this: The next big short—The debt supercycle