Ethereum Founder Says It's Time for the Cryptocurrency Community to Grow Up

The biggest news coming out of the crypto world today came from Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin.

The leader of the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization clarified statements made earlier this week that suggested he would quit cryptocurrency. He warned that people in the space need to "grow up."

Buterin has expressed warnings in the past about the massive rise in cryptocurrency values but the limited amount of social value extracted from blockchain projects so far.

This week, he expressed outrage over the immaturity of the cryptocurrency community for showing off their newfound wealth instead of developing positive applications from blockchain technology for society.

Yesterday, he said he would still work on crypto as long as there's also "real social value" that the ecosystem is working towards.

Below is a recap of the top cryptocurrency prices at 12:00 p.m. EST...

• Bitcoin: $14,880.70, +2.32%
• Ethereum: $769.21, +4.66%
• Ripple: $1.81, +24.00%
• Bitcoin Cash: $2,865.40, +10.64%
• Litecoin: $254.12, +2.05%

Now that we know all of today's price movements, here's what has been moving these cryptocurrencies...

Cryptocurrency Markets Today

On Thursday, the market capitalization of the global cryptocurrency sector hit $605.46 billion. Bitcoin now comprises 41.2% of the global cryptocurrency market.

Today's top performer in the market was a cryptocurrency called ETHLend, which climbed more than 173%. The blockchain project is designed to expedite loan processing.

Other top performers from the largest 50 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization included RailBlocks (up 47.9%), VeChain (up 32.27%), Stellar (up 26.67%), Siacoin (up 25.68%), Verge (up 24.59%), Veritasium (up 24.46%), and Ripple (up 24.00%)

The worst performers from the top 50 largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization included Nxt (down -6.50%), Tether (down -0.92%), and Bitcoin Gold (down -0.41%).

Just seven of the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization were in the red on Friday afternoon.

Bitcoin Finishes 2017 with Volatile Trading Week

The total market capitalization of Bitcoin hit $259 billion Friday after the cryptocurrency wrapped up an incredible year for its investors.

While 2017 saw the price pop from under $1,000 to as much as $20,000 in a year, one prominent name in finance thinks that 2018 will be a far more important year for the digital currency.

Must Read: Never Miss Our Cryptocurrency Reports

Roger McNamee, a venture capitalist who took an early stake in Facebook Inc. (Nasdaq: FB), says that next year will be a make-or-break one for Bitcoin.

In an interview with CNBC, McNamee said that Bitcoin's rise in 2017 was driven mostly by speculation.

"[Bitcoin] is still a very small market in the context of the larger financial world, but it has had a huge year and we've done it around a speculative mania," he said during the interview.

"The thing that people forget is that if a mania goes on long enough, it becomes self-fulfilling. So that even after the crash that follows, there is a real industry," McNamee said.

XRP Prices Climb Closer to $2

XRP prices surged 24% on Friday, aiming to finish the year up 5,200%.

The price has surged on news that Japanese and South Korean financial firms are exploring the company's underlying technology to test transaction processing.

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Garrett Baldwin

About the Author

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Garrett Baldwin is a globally recognized research economist, financial writer, and consultant with degrees from Northwestern, Johns Hopkins, Purdue, and Indiana University. He is a seasoned financial and political risk analyst, with a focus on stocks, hedge funds, private equity, blockchain, and housing policy. He has conducted risk assessment projects for clients in 27 countries, and consulted on policy and financial operations for some of the nation's largest financial institutions, including a $1.5 trillion credit fund, a $43 billion credit and auto loan giant, as well as two of the largest Wall Street banks by assets under management.

Garrett joined Money Map Press as an economist and researcher in 2011, specializing in alternative strategies with an emphasis on fundamental and technical analysis.

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