Decentral Block Post

Blockchain-based payments firm Ripple has obtained in-principle regulatory approval from Singapore’s financial regulator to offer digital asset payments and token products in the city-state.

Ripple confirmed the approval from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) in a June 22 statement. The approval will allow its subsidiary — Ripple Markets Asia Pacific — to further scale its On-Demand Liquidity (ODL). The ODL helps Ripple’s customers to move XRP around the world without the banks intervening as intermediaries.

The firm applied for the institutional payment license under Singapore’s Payment Service Act.

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse praised the Singaporean regulator for its “pragmatic, innovation-first approach” to cryptocurrency-related services, adding that the country will provide a “prominent gateway” for Ripple’s business operations in the Asia Pacific region.

Ripple’s chief legal officer, Stu Alderoty also noted that Singapore’s “early leadership” is paving the way for other regulators looking to develop a “clear taxonomy and licensing framework.”

BlackRock’s application for a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) has encouraged other financial firms to follow suit. First, it was the New York-based asset management fund WisdomTree, which made a new filing on June 21 for a Bitcoin (BTC) ETF. This was then followed by investment manager Invesco, which reactivated its application for a spot ETF.

These announcements boosted investor sentiment, resulting in a short squeeze and additional buying interest from traders who may have been waiting on the sidelines. The slew of events over the past few days has increased buying interest in Bitcoin, which sent its market dominance to above 50% on June 19.

The short-term traders who are expecting a quick rally to the all-time highs may be in for a shock. In the latest edition of its weekly newsletter, “The Week On-Chain,” analytics firm Glassnode warned investors that their patience could be tested for another eight to 18 months before the market hits a new all-time high.

Will Bitcoin’s rally continue to rise for a few more days, or is it time to book profits? Let’s study the charts of the top 10 cryptocurrencies to find out.

Bitcoin price analysis

Bitcoin broke and closed above the 20-day exponential moving average (EMA) of $26,934 on June 17. The bears tried to sink the price back below the level on June 18, but the bulls held their ground.

Ethereum has been the dominant smart contract and decentralized application (Dapp) network since its inception. An analysis based on Ether’s price (ETH), and its market capitalization, shows indisputable evidence that the blockchain has been gaining market share over time. 

As shown above, Ether’s dominance in market capitalization terms grew over the past couple of years, from an 18% average in July 2021 to the current 20%. Excluding Bitcoin (BTC) from the analysis, Ether’s market share presently stands at 40.6%, while the next competitor, BNB, holds a 7.2% share.

This shows the disparity from the leading Dapp-focused network to the incumbents, which is also evident when analyzing the total value locked (TVL) on each network’s smart contracts. Ethereum is the absolute leader with $24.6 billion in TVL, followed by Tron’s $5.4 billion and BNB Chain’s $3.3 billion.

The above chart depicts the Ethereum network’s TVL market share declining from 70.5% in June 2021 to 49.5% in May 2022. The movement happened while Terra and Avalanche gained a combined 20% market share in smart contract deposits. However, after the Terra-Luna ecosystem collapse in May 2022, which culminated with developers halting network activity, Ethereum quickly regained a 58% market share.

Despite the emergence of Dapps on the BNB and Tron blockchains, Ethereum’s leadership has remained unquestioned over the past 12 months. This data shows the irrelevance of the total number of unique active wallets interacting with smart contracts (UAW) per chain.

Ethereum has been the dominant smart contract and decentralized application (DApp) network since its inception. An analysis of Ether’s price (ETH) and market capitalization shows indisputable evidence that the blockchain has been gaining market share. 

As shown above, Ether’s dominance in market capitalization terms has grown over the past couple of years, from an 18% average in July 2021 to the current 20%. Excluding Bitcoin (BTC) from the analysis, Ether’s market share presently stands at 40.6%, while its next competitor, BNB (BNB), holds a 7.2% share.

The disparity between Ethereum and others is also evident when analyzing the total value locked (TVL) on each network’s smart contracts. Ethereum is the absolute leader with $24.6 billion in TVL, followed by Tron’s $5.4 billion and BNB Chain’s $3.3 billion.

The above chart depicts how Ethereum’s TVL market share declining from 70.5% in June 2021 to 49.5% in May 2022 as Terra and Avalanche gained a combined 20% market share. However, following the Terra ecosystem collapse in May 2022 — which culminated in developers halting network activity — Ethereum quickly regained a 58% market share.

Despite the emergence of DApps on the BNB and Tron blockchains, Ethereum’s leadership has remained uncontested over the past 12 months. This data shows the irrelevance of the total number of unique active wallets (UAW) interacting with smart contracts per chain.