Crypto Market Cap Passes $3 Trillion as Bitcoin Implements Taproot Upgrade

In a week where the total cryptocurrency market capitalization made a groundbreaking push above $3 trillion, Bitcoin finally implemented its long-awaited upgrade – Taproot. Bringing significant improvements in functionality, discover what the upgrade may mean for the leading crypto. Elsewhere, Binance failed Dogecoin holders, XRP developers launched a new Liquidity Hub product, and New York City entered the crypto space with NYCCoin.

• Bitcoin implements Taproot upgrade
• Total crypto market cap makes groundbreaking move above $3 trillion
• Binance loses favor with DOGE holders as withdrawals are suspended
• XRP developers launch Liquidity Hub product
• New York City launches its own native cryptocurrency – NYCCoin

Market bullish as Bitcoin implements Taproot upgrade

Bitcoin prices continued to push higher last week as the market factored in the imminent Taproot upgrade. Taproot, which was approved and locked into the system in June 2021, brings with it some of the greatest changes the Bitcoin network has ever experienced. Approval in June meant that Taproot was locked into block number 687,285 – which occurred on Sunday, November 14. Unlike the 2017 SegWit upgrade, the long-anticipated Taproot was universally supported and will improve many aspects of the bitcoin infrastructure. 

One of the biggest changes lies within the network’s digital signature system. Digital signatures are what individuals leave on every bitcoin transaction – best thought of like digital fingerprints. Taproot will implement Schnorr Signatures, which allow for multi-signature transactions that are indistinguishable from regular transactions. As a result, it will improve users’ privacy, security and also lower transaction costs. 

More importantly, however, Schnorr Signatures will also bring an increased level of smart contract functionality to the bitcoin blockchain – an element that has been lacking in comparison to development blockchains like Ethereum. 

Although a significant upgrade to the system, and one that was backed by developers worldwide, the update will be implemented as a soft fork. Users will have to opt-in to utilize the new functionality, just like the 2017 SegWit upgrade. Unlike SegWit, developers are hoping that based on the universal acceptance of the proposal, adoption should be much higher. 

Due to the significance of the upgrade, Taproot has been a huge discussion point for much of the cryptocurrency community. Many experts believe the upgrade is incredibly bullish for bitcoin price and that successful implementation will push the coin towards new ATHs.

Crypto market cap pushes above $3 trillion

As Bitcoin and Ether secured new ATHs, the cryptocurrency market cap pushed above $3 trillion for the first time ever last week – a figure unimaginable by many only a couple of years ago.

The rise above $3 trillion occurred on November 8th, as bitcoin rallied to $66,000 and ether positioned above $4,700. The market, which is only just over a decade old, has shown immense growth over the last year. In November 2020, the total market cap of all cryptocurrencies was sitting at approximately $500 billion. Since then it has experienced a six-fold increase.

To put the immense growth into perspective, the highest stock market capitalization is currently held by Microsoft. The company currently sits at $2.52T. However, it took 33 years from its first listing to reach $1 trillion. A level that cryptocurrencies have completed and surpassed in a little over 10 years.

While Bitcoin and Ether still make up the bulk of cryptocurrency investment, other cryptocurrencies continue to gain market share, thanks to the success of their associated networks. The top 10 coins by market capitalization are now Bitcoin, Ether, Binance Coin, Tether, Solana, Cardano, Polkadot, Dogecoin, and USD Coin.

Binance upgrade causes suspension of DOGE withdrawals

DOGE holders were left unable to reach cryptocurrency assets on Binance last week as the exchange suspended all Dogecoin network transactions. According to an internal report, an upgrade was carried out on the cryptocurrency exchange, which highlighted issues with regard to the Dogecoin network. As a result, the exchange had to suspend all withdrawals for affected customers. 

Many in the crypto community delved deeper into the issue, with many finding clarification via the Dogecoin Foundation. According to the foundation, the issue was caused by a series of ‘stuck transactions’ – transactions stuck in the blockchain due to insufficient processing funds. Advice was given from the foundation to Binance, that these transactions should have been replaced with new transactions but using the same input data – thus, canceling out the old ones. However, it is now believed this was not completed properly, and the stuck transactions were automatically executed when processing fees were reduced. This has left Binance trying to recover the costs of the mistake.

The error has left many questioning the control that an exchange like Binance has over digital assets. Although one of the key characteristics of cryptocurrencies is to provide users will control and autonomy, when digital assets are deposited onto an exchange platform such as Binance, it is ultimately Binance who has control. This problem is simply not possible on exchanges such as Xcoins as Xcoins users retain full custody of their digital assets.

Ripple to launch Liquidity Hub

Although continuing to battle the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC), Ripple, the company behind the XRP Ledger and the associated XRP coin, announced plans that it will be launching a new product – Ripple Liquidity Hub. According to Ripple, the Liquidity Hub will target enterprise-level end users and will focus on the exchange of liquidity across multiple global venues.

The Liquidity Hub is a platform that Ripple has been using for the past two years to manage internal liquidity. According to Asheesh Birla, General Manager of RippleNet, the Liquidity Hub has been used “as part of our On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) service for nearly to years, sourcing XRP on-demand to power millions of transactions, worth billions of dollars.”  However, it now wants to offer the system to enterprises worldwide. 

Enterprises will be able to find liquidity across a broader range of cryptocurrencies. The initial list will include XRP, Ethereum, Bitcoin, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, and Ethereum Classic. The hope is to then expand the platform to include NFTs and improve functionality so that it can offer staking and yield farming. 

Often finding liquidity can be one of the most difficult challenges for enterprises. According to Birla, Ripple believes that as more institutions realize integration with crypto is required, the need for a product such as Liquidity Hub will continually grow.

Not only was the new product announced, but Ripple also confirmed that its first customer would be the cryptocurrency cash network, Coinme. Coinme has thousands of locations across the U.S. which it hopes can leverage the Liquidity Hub technology. 

NewYorkCityCoin launches after backing from Mayor-elect

New York City will soon have its own native cryptocurrency as part of the vision theorized by incoming Mayor, Eric Adams. Adams wants to transform New York into a truly crypto-friendly city and a hub for cryptocurrency innovation.

The new coin, called NYCCoin, was launched by an open-source protocol called CityCoins. CityCoins is a platform that helps cities generate native digital assets which investors can use to support local communities. The coin will help to expand the cities crypto treasury and also offer earning potential for residents. The creation of NYCCoin follows closely behind MiamiCoin, which was launched in August 2021. The MiamiCoin has so far made $21.3 million for the city.

Welcoming CityCoins to the ‘Big Apple’, Adams tweeted news of the collaboration on Monday. “We’re glad to welcome you to the global home of Web3! We’re counting on tech and innovation to help drive our city forward.”

CityCoin is powered by the Stacks Protocol, which brings smart contract functionality to Bitcoin. Users will be able to mine NYCCoin by sending the native token, STX, into a smart contract wallet. 70% of the STX tokens used in the mining process will then be sent to existing NYCCoin holders. The remaining 30% will be sent to the city’s treasury reserve.

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