Ripple tilted higher on Wednesday off June 29 lows hits yesterday after reports of a security breach into South Korean exchange Bancor, while notable US economics renew their attacks on cryptocurrencies. 

As of 05:55 GMT, Ripple rose 0.94% to $.44689 from the opening of $0.44286, with a session-high at $0.45163, and a low at $0.43908, with Ripple's market value now amounting to $44.4 billion.

In an interview made by Financial News with three world-renowned economists, Joseph Stiglitz, Nouriel Roubini and Kenneth Rogoff, all renewed their criticism at cryptocurrencies, believing they're destined for failure due to lack of intrinsic value and price volatility. 

Joseph Stiglitz, a Novel laureate, stated: "You cannot have a means of payment that is based on secrecy when you’re trying to create a transparent banking system"

Kenneth Rogoff, former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund, believes that cryptocurrencies would lose value rapidly in the next few years due to heavy regulation from governments. 

Nouriel Roubini, the New York University professor who predicted the financial crisis, focused on Bitcoin as a representative of cryptocurrencies, saying: “For bitcoin to be a currency it has to be a unit of account, a means of payment, and a stable store of value. It is none of these. Bitcoin is not even accepted at Bitcoin conferences, and how can something that falls 20% one day and then rises 20% the next be a stable store of value.”

Another Lawsuit 

A new class-action lawsuit was filed against the Ripple company in California, which lists Ripple Labs, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse and others as as defendants, claiming that XPR should be classified as a security with more control given to the clients, not as a token that the Ripple company uses "in order to fund its operations and the development of the XRP ecosystem."

The lawsuit joins two others with similar accusations, asking Ripple to compensate clients for some of the heavy losses sustained this year, and claiming that the company has full control over Ripple as a cryptocurrency, failing to be decentralized such as ethereum and bitcoin. 

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 closing the first half of the year below $0.5. 

Silver futures fell nearly three percent in American trade to July 2 lows, as the dollar index gained ground for the third straight session, following earlier inflation data from the US and ahead of speeches by Federal Reserve governors later today. 

As of 05:29 GMT, silver futures due on September 15 fell 1.63% to $15.83 an ounce from the opening of $16.09, while the dollar index rose 0.55% to 94.67 from the opening of 94.16, marking July 3 highs. 

Earlier US data showed producer prices rose 0.3% in June, slowing down from 0.5% in May and beating estimates of 0.2%, while core prices rose 0.3%, same as before and also beating forecasts of 0.2%. 

The final reading for wholesale inventories showed a 0.6% increase, up from 0.5% in the preliminary reading, and 0.1% in April. 

Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic is scheduled to speak at the Virginia Society of Certified Public Accountants, while Federal Reserve Bank of New York President John Williams is due to speak about the local economy at a town hall event, in Brooklyn later today. 

Crude futures slumped to two-week lows as the dollar index gained ground, shrugging off earlier data from the US, the world's largest energy consumer, which showed a larger-than-expected inventory drawdown, and after the US threatened a 10% tax on $200 billion worth of Chinese products. 

As of 05:02 GMT, US crude futures due on August 15 fell 2.67% to $72.13 a barrel from the opening of $74.11, while Brent futures due on September 15 flagged 3.59% to $76.03 a barrel from the opening of $78.86, as the dollar index added 0.32% to 94.46 from the opening of 94.16. 

Earlier US data showed producer prices rose 0.3% in June, slowing down from 0.5% in May and beating estimates of 0.2%, while core prices rose 0.3%, same as before and also beating forecasts of 0.2%. 

The final reading for wholesale inventories showed a 0.6% increase, up from 0.5% in the preliminary reading, and 0.1% in April. 

Sharp Drawdown 

The Energy Information Administration released its report on US crude stocks, showing an extensive drawdown of 12.6 million barrels in the week ending July 6, compared to a 1.2 million buildup in the previous reading, while analysts expected a 4.1M drop, with total stocks now down to 405.2 million barrels, 4% below the five-year average for this time of year. 

Gasoline stocks fell 0.7 million barrels, making them 6% above five-year averages, while distillate stocks, including heating fuel, rose 4.1 million barrels, still 12% below the five-year average. 

US-China Trade Dispute 

US trade representative Robert Lighthizer said a suggested 10% tariff on Chinese products will take up to two months for deliberation to allow public discussion before going into effect. 

China imposed tariffs ranging from 33.3% to 78.2% on US optical fiber products this week to counter flooding the market with these imports, up from 4.7% to 18.7% in previous rates. 

That comes after US imposed a 25% tariff on $34 billion worth of Chinese products last Friday, with China responding with similar ones. 

Global Demand 

In its monthly report, OPEC expected a drop in global oil demand next year as consumption slows down as supplies increase, forecasting 32.18 million bpd of demand on OPEC's output, down 760 thousand bpd from this year, while expecting OPEC's production to increase past estimated demand in June to 32.33 million bpd. 

US Oil Rig Count 

Baker Hughes, a US oil services company, reported an increase of 5 in the American oil rig count for the first time in three weeks to 863 rigs, the highest since March 2015. 

US output rose over 29% from mid-2016 levels to 10.9 million bpd, a record high, passing Saudi Arabia's 10.7 million bpd and nearing Russia's 11.1 million bpd. 

US stock indices traded lower in the third session of the week after the US threatened to impose tariffs on up to $200 billion worth of Chinese products, rekindling fears of an escalated trade dispute between the two economic giants. 

US trade representative Robert Lighthizer said a suggested 10% tariff on Chinese products will take up to two months for deliberation to allow public discussion before going into effect. 

China imposed tariffs ranging from 33.3% to 78.2% on US optical fiber products this week to counter flooding the market with these imports, up from 4.7% to 18.7% in previous rates. 

That comes after US imposed a 25% tariff on $34 billion worth of Chinese products last Friday, with China responding with similar ones. 

US Inflation 

Otherwise, earlier US data showed producer prices rose 0.3% in June, slowing down from 0.5% in May and beating estimates of 0.2%, while core prices rose 0.3%, same as before and also beating forecasts of 0.2%. 

Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic is scheduled to speak at the Virginia Society of Certified Public Accountants, while Federal Reserve Bank of New York President John Williams is due to speak about the local economy at a town hall event, in Brooklyn later today. 

Stock Performance 

As of 02:24 GMT, Standard and Poor's 500 fell 0.36%, or 9.98 points to 2,783.86, while Dow Jones declined 0.56%, or 140.27 points to 24,779.39. 

Tech-heavy NASDAQ slipped 0.21%, or 16.57 points to 7,742.62.