Ripple slumps 5% to eight-month trough on crypto selloff

Ripple fell over five percent, or $0.01 on Monday to December 12 lows on a selling spree that continues to engulf cryptocurrencies amid concerns over US regulatory limitations, and after Saudi official warnings from the risks of trading or investing in cryptocurrencies. 

As of 06:35 GMT, Ripple plunged 5.03% to $0.28312, with an eight-month low at $0.28020, and a session-high at $0.30998, with Ripple's market value now receding to $28.8 billion. 

Saudi Arabia: Cryptocurrencies Are Illegal 

Saudi Arabia has reiterated warnings that trading cryptocurrencies is illegal in the kingdom amid a resurgence of promotions and ads for crypto trading. 

Officials asserted that all websites who claim a government license to offer crypto trading are fraudulent and fraught with fake promises of monetary gain and quick wealth. 

World Bank Announces First Ever Blockchain Bond 

The World Bank is partnering up with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia to set up the world's first blockchain bond, which was priced by the markets as clear international support for the technology that underpins cryptocurrencies. 

It's expected the bonds will carry 100 million Australian dollars in value, to be called bond-i, an acronym standing for Blockchain Offered New Debt Instrument, with an ethereum-based blockchain to be used in these bonds for its suitability. 

SEC Delays Crypto ETF Decision 

In other recent news, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has delayed its final decision on requests to set up bitcoin exchange-traded funds to late September, in another development that upset crypto enthusiasts in the States. 

The Path of Ripple 

It's worth mentioning that Ripple was first launched on March 7, 2015, to start trading at $0.015, with the virtual currency losing nearly two thirds of its value by early 2016 to $0.0059, before rising 5% during 2016 to $0.0063, and then skyrocketing 28,000% to $1.748 by the end of 2017, before marking unprecedented highs in January at $3.30, then losing 85% of value rapidly in the last few months, and finally closing the first half of the year below $0.5.