Crypto Market Trends: Ripple Endorsement, Shibarium Milestone, and Bitcoin Projections

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse recently endorsed Brian Quintenz for CFTC chair, emphasizing the CFTC's vital role in maintaining strong U.S. markets. Garlinghouse also supported the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act (FIT21), which seeks to make the CFTC the primary crypto industry regulator. Quintenz, currently leading policy at Andreessen Horowitz’s crypto division, will replace Rostin Behnam, who exited in January. The crypto community, including leaders like Matt Hougan and Luis Rincon, welcomed Quintenz’s nomination, citing his potential to advance DeFi and streamline blockchain regulation.

Meanwhile, Shibarium, Shiba Inu’s layer-2 solution, nears one billion transactions, with current totals at 947,341,650 and an average of 4.5 million daily transactions. With this pace, the milestone is expected in 14 days. Since launching in August 2023, Shibarium has achieved 9,464,034 blocks and 2,111,447 hosted wallets. Analysts suggest rising usage could boost SHIB's price, which is currently at $0.0000167, up 3.20% in 24 hours according to CoinMarketCap.

Additionally, Samson Mow, CEO of JAN3, outlined six potential drivers for Bitcoin to reach $1 million, calling them the "6 Paths to Omega." He highlights institutional buying from ETFs, governments adopting Bitcoin as reserves, and the U.S. rebasing the dollar to sats. He also points to potential nation-state FOMO and a shift from gold to Bitcoin as a store of value. Mow believes these catalysts could spark a massive Bitcoin price surge.