Bitcoin (BTC), Ripple and XRP, VeChain (VET), Ethereum (ETH), Tron (TRX), Litecoin (LTC): Crypto News Alert

From Bitcoin vs. Visa to a new collaboration at VeChain, here’s a look at some of the stories breaking in the world of crypto.

Bitcoin

Fundstrat’s Tom Lee says stacking the number of Visa cards in existence compared to the number of Bitcoin wallets reveals a prime example of why it’s still “early days for crypto.”

Lee told CNBC, “I’m surprised people think Bitcoin can never reach its old highs. We have to remember today there are not even 50 million wallets that use Bitcoin today, but there’s four and a half billion Visa cards.”

Ethereum

Testing for Ethereum’s Constantinople upgrade just hit a snag.

According to Afri Schoedon, the release manager for the Ethereum client Parity, more miners are needed on the testnet to move the process forward.

It’s not clear if the hiccup will trigger a delay in this month’s expected roll out of Constantinople, which is designed to increase efficiency and lower transaction fees on the Ethereum blockchain.

Ripple and XRP

Ripple has released a new detailed breakdown on how RippleNet can help banks ease global liquidity bottlenecks. RippleNet is a network of more than 100 member banks that use Ripple’s technology to process cross-border transactions.

Ripple defines three ways its technology can be utilized by financial institutions:

• To boost typical bank-to-bank fiat relationships with existing relationships and accounts
• To improve third party fiat relationships, which are often created to overcome the high cost of liquidity in more expensive corridors.
• To lower the cost to reach lower volume corridors, using XRP to provide on-demand liquidity.

VeChain 

VeChain’s country manager in Singapore, Sarah Nabba, says the DHL Asia Pacific Innovation Center in Singapore is collaborating with VeChain.

The Innovation Center “develops game-changing logistics solutions and promotes collaborative innovation in the region,” and works on the “development of future logistics and supply chain solutions, leveraging self-driving vehicles, robotics, internet of things and augmented reality.”

Tron

Tron has released a new suite of tools for developers.

TronBox, TronGrid, TronStudio and TronWeb are all designed to help developers create decentralized apps on the platform’s new blockchain.

Litecoin

Litecoin is celebrating its seven year anniversary.

In 2011, Litecoin founder Charlie Lee first announced the coin’s creation, saying “Litecoin is the result of some of us who joined together on IRC in an effort to create a real alternative currency similar to Bitcoin.”

Lee says Litecoin is intended to move smaller amounts of money with lower fees than Bitcoin, which moves larger sums of money as a store of value.