Today we have a Daily Token Review and three really awesome cryptocurrency news segments to share with you. When it comes to today’s news, first up we have Ripple, that has reached another significant milestone in its journey towards mainstream adoption, as Nasdaq, the world’s second-largest stock exchange by market capitalization, has just launched the XRPLX Index, a real-time reference rate for XRP. Second up, barely 48-hours after getting adopted by Jaguar Land Rover, IOTA (MIOTA) has inked another juicy partnership deal with The City Austin, TX, the primary transportation agency of the U.S city of Austin, Texas, in a bid to revolutionize its transportation system. Thirdly, BitPay, the world’s leading bitcoin (BTC) payments processor has joined forces with Refundo to enable U.S citizens to seamlessly get their tax refunds in bitcoin!
As seen on CoinMarketCap, we’ve got a pretty positive and healthy market, with a majority of greens across the board. The world’s flagship cryptocurrency, bitcoin (BTC) has increased by 2.69 percent. Ether (ETH) still maintains its “second in command” status, with modest gains of 3.76 percent. Ripple’s XRP maintains the number three position as usual, and it’s currently gaining by 4.68 percent. Other considerable movements in the market include Bitcoin Cash which is soaring with a 12.95 percent increase. We know that there will be a hard fork on May the 15th, as part of the scheduled upgrade, but interestingly what I found was that according to CryptoSlate 25 percent of mined Bitcoin Cash Blocks are currently tagged with Satoshi Nakamoto. Could the tagging be a miner signaling a 51 percent attack? I’m not too certain, and not certain whether this is also the contributing factor to the price increase.
Now, if I scroll down to the top 20, we’re also looking at a pretty lush and green market, with both Tezos and Cosmos increasing by 7.26 percent and 7.58 percent.
Now onto the news! According to a report by Cryptoglobe, Nasdaq, the second-largest stock exchange in the world by market cap has now launched a real-time XRP “index level information” on its Global Index Data Service (GIDS). Specifically, the new index, which is tagged the XRP Liquid Index (XRPLX), is formulated to “provide a real-time spot or reference rate for the price of 1 XRP, quoted in USD, and based on the most liquid ends of their markets,” declared Nasdaq.
Now, what does this mean for XRP and its supporters? Reportedly, the XRPLX index was designed by Brave New Coin (BNC), a New Zealand-based Data and Research firm, whose primary area of focus is in distributed ledger technology (DLT) and it would allow XRP enthusiasts to track the price of XRP in a more transparent manner, devoid of data manipulation by crypto exchanges. BNC claims that the XRPLX provides users with a reliable source of information for the real and fair USD price for XRP, based on real-world trading of the altcoin. Importantly, the BNC team has made it clear that the entire data that makes up the XRPLX is gathered from highly reputed exchanges and its methodology has been independently audited, so it complies with the requirements of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO).
“The XRPLX sources data from only the most liquid exchanges by volume and order-book depth. Given that exchanges are third-party organizations operating in a volatile and competitive marketplace, BNC reviews its constituent mix and index methodology every quarter to ensure the quality of its indices,” noted BNC, adding “Current constituent exchanges for the XRPLX include Bitfinex, Bitstamp, Poloniex and Kraken with Coinbase to be added in the next review.”
Now, onto the second news item for today! Per a report by Invest In Blockchain these are exciting times indeed for IOTA (MIOTA), as it has inked another important partnership deal barely 48-hours after its technology got integrated into the processes of Jaguar Land Rover. In the latest development, IOTA and the Austin Transportation Department, have signed a deal that will see the former integrate its cutting-edge technology into the transport system of Austin, Texas and potentially transform it.
Interestingly, ATX Transportation, the official transport body of the state took to Twitter to announce the exciting initiative. “We’re partnering with the nonprofit 
Now, onto the third news item for today! According to a Yahoo! Finance report, citing a Business Wire press release, BitPay, the largest global bitcoin payments service provider, has partnered with Refundo, a highly reputed provider of tax-related financial products and services, to make it possible for taxpayers to get their federal and state tax refunds in bitcoin, via Refundo’s CoinRT platform.
For those who are unaware, a tax refund or tax rebate is the difference between taxes paid and the exact amount owed by a taxpayer. In other words, it’s a refund on taxes when the tax liability is less than the taxes remitted. Now, what does the BitPay-Refundo alliance mean for bitcoin-savvy taxpayers? Roger Chinchilla, CEO of Refundo, has said that taxpayers in the United States will now be able to receive their tax rebates in a safer, faster and more convenient way. He also reiterated that: “Adding Bitcoin was a natural fit for our customers who often do not have traditional checking accounts, pay high check cashing fees and regularly send money internationally. CoinRT enables them to get Bitcoin quickly and easily for one flat fee.” Undoubtedly, this represents another excellent use case for Satoshi Nakamoto’s Bitcoin (BTC), and at this rate, it’s only a matter of time before we hit the moon once again!
So what are your thoughts on this situation?
Are you confident about Ripple’s progress? Do you think that the latest XRP Index by Nasdaq is a forward-thinking initiative? Will IOTA’s new partnership with ATX boost adoption for IOTA’s Tangle technology? And how do you see the BitPay-Refundo alliance?
Let me know what you guys think below. If you liked the content, please subscribe and watch our latest videos.
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Disclaimer: Cryptopig content is written by a team of blockchain passionate people. We are not registered as investment advisors. Don’t take the information in this post as investment advice and make sure you do your own research before investing. Cryptocurrencies are a very risky investment, never invest more money than you can afford to lose.