From new details on the expansion of XRP as a base pair on Binance to a unique auction on the Bitcoin Lightning Network, here’s a look at some of the stories breaking in the world of crypto.
Ripple and XRP
After revealing it will add XRP as a base pair, Binance has announced the first two coins that will be paired with the second largest cryptocurrency by market cap. According to Binance’s official Twitter account, Tron and Zcoin are now paired with XRP.
Meanwhile, Ripple is ringing in the new year with a series of tweets touting the growth of cross-border payments and XRP in 2018. Ripple, which holds about 60% of the total supply of XRP, utilizes the digital asset in its payment solution xRapid.
Bitcoin
In what could be the world’s cheapest auction, a piece of art has apparently been sold to the lowest bidder using Bitcoin’s Lightning Network.
Reddit user Cryptograffiti says he auctioned off a small piece of art piece called “Black Swan” for $0.000000037.
The Lightning Network is a second layer solution designed to dramatically increase the speed at which users can transfer Bitcoin, as well as make it possible to send super small micropayments in high volumes.
Ethereum
Bloomberg is taking a closer look at a project to tokenize an entire building in Manhattan.
The $36.5 million building is being divvied up into digital shares so that “investors around the world can own as much or little as they can afford.”
Cardano
Charles Hoskinson just hosted a new surprise holiday ask-me-anything.
The Cardano founder talks about the future of the platform, new job hirings and what’s happening at his blockchain company IOHK.
China Rankings
China has just released its last cryptocurrency rankings for 2018.
EOS and Ethereum are still in first and second place, respectively. GXchain replaced BitShares in third. Komodo, Ontology, NULS, Nebulas, BitShares, NEO, and Steem shared the fourth through 10th spots. Bitcoin is in the middle of the pack, ranking 18th.