By 
The crypto market continues to recover following an unprecedented market crash earlier this month. The price of Bitcoin briefly passed $10,000, taking the entire market cap to above $475 billion, which constituted a two-week high.
However, the flagship cryptocurrency has thus far been able to break through that barrier and it is now trading at $9,860 after rising as high as $9,946 earlier in the day. The volumes also considerably dropped soon after Bitcoin reached $10,000 mark.
The Ethereum price joined Bitcoin in its rally, although its advance could not quite keep pace. At the time of writing, Ethereum is trading at $935 on Bitfinex, representing a 24-hour increase of about 4% and a market cap of $91 billion.
Altcoins on the other hand, achieved positive movement against the dollar. However, these gains were uneven, and quite a few assets lagged the index.The Ripple price posted a top 10-best seven percent rally, which largely stemmed from the fact that money transfer giant Western Union has confirmed rumors that it is pilot-testing XRP integration in a new blockchain trial.
Regardless of ups and downs in the prices, analysts continue to stay bullish on the cryptocurrency market long term. For instance, Jesse Powell, founder and CEO of Kraken, believes that the market capitalization of cryptocurrencies will more than double from the current levels and reach the $1 trillion USD milestone by the end of the year.
Ripple’s CEO, Brad Garlinghouse believes that many will sink to zero because they don’t have anything worthwhile to offer.
From here on, If the BTC/USD pair breaks out of $9,500 and sustains for four hours, it confirms a breakout, so the price could test next resistance level which lies at about $11,780. If the price turns down from $9,500 and breaks below $7,800, a slide to $7,000 is likely.
Top Stories from the Crypto World
1. Western Union confirms XRP integration of Ripple Blockchain trial
Western Union confirmed rumors that its Ripple-based blockchain trial will include XRP integration, making the money transfer giant the largest firm to test XRP in its internal payment flows.
However, Ripple later issued a statement to media outlets making it clear that Western Union will pilot Ripple’s xRapid product, which uses XRP to provide real-time liquidity and reduce the capital requirements necessary for financial institutions to operate in emerging markets.
“We’ve been testing different products with Western Union for a while,” Ripple said. “We’re excited about our work towards a pilot implementation of xRapid, which uses XRP in payment flows.”
2. CFTC issues investor warning on cryptocurrency pump and dump scams
The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) issued a warning advising investors to avoid falling prey to cryptocurrency-based pump-and-dump schemes.
The Customer Protection Advisory, which was published by the chief US market regulator on Thursday, urges investors to conduct their own research before investing in cryptocurrencies, particularly ones that have small market caps and illiquid markets.
“Customers should not purchase virtual currencies, digital coins, or tokens based on social media tips or sudden price spikes. Thoroughly research virtual currencies, digital coins, tokens, and the companies or entities behind them in order to separate hype from facts,” the CFTC said.
3. Tether creates over 146 million new EUR, USD tokens based on Ethereum Blockchain
Tether has launched a fresh round of token creation, this month adding 86 mln euro-pegged EURT and 60.1mln dollar-pegged USDT to its issuance.
“Following the widespread success of their Bitcoin-based USDTether, issued via the Omni Layer Protocol, Tether have now collaborated with Ethfinex on the development of the first Ethereum-based Tether, compatible with the ERC20 standard,” the announcement read.
Deposits and withdrawals of the tokens began Jan. 22, but little more in terms of detail has surfaced regarding the scale of issuance now or for the future.