The cryptocurrency exchange Gemini, backed by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, plans to move into a Miami-area office space, as US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) enforcement case may have reached its end.

According to a March 31 post from Sterling Bay Properties, Gemini signed a lease for an office in Miami’s Wynwood Art District. The move would expand the exchange’s offices from Europe and New York to Florida, where some crypto companies are headquartered.

Bloomberg reported Gemini was expected to move into the Miami office by May. Cointelegraph reached out to the exchange for comment but did not receive a response at the time of publication.

Wrapping up regulatory issues?

The move to Florida came amid a federal judge ordering a 60-day stay on the SEC’s lawsuit against Gemini Global Capital “to allow the parties to explore a potential resolution.” The enforcement action, filed in January 2023, alleges the crypto firm offered and sold unregistered securities through its Gemini Earn program. 

Cameron Winklevoss said in February that the regulator had closed an investigation into a separate matter involving Gemini. The firm also agreed in January to a $5 million penalty imposed by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission over alleged “false and misleading” statements related to its 2017 bid to offer Bitcoin (BTC) futures contracts.

Related: Crypto PAC-backed Republicans win US House seats in Florida special elections

Gemini reportedly filed confidentially for an initial public offering (IPO) earlier this year. The exchange may have pursued an IPO as early as 2021 before shares of many US-based crypto firms were publicly traded. 

Several crypto firms have regional offices in Miami, possibly due to Florida’s seemingly favorable regulatory environment and the lack of state income tax for residents. Ripple Labs has an office in the Wynwood neighborhood, not far from Gemini’s future location, and BTC miner MARA Holdings is headquartered in Fort Lauderdale.

Magazine: Crypto City: The ultimate guide to Miami

EigenLayer plans to start “slashing” restakers on April 17, resulting in the Ethereum restaking protocol’s “first feature-complete iteration,” it said in an April 2 announcement. 

Implementing slashing will mark EigenLayer’s final step toward establishing the protocol as “infrastructure for a new generation of verifiable apps and services built on the Verifiable Cloud,” it said in a post on the X platform.

In 2024, EigenLayer started distributing rewards — including emissions of its native EIGEN token — to incentivize restakers. However, slashing has so far been limited to EigenLayer’s testnets.

Once slashing is live, node operators and restakers will be able to voluntarily “opt-in,” resulting in a gradual transition for users, EigenLayer said in a blog post.

Slashing starts on EigenLayer’s mainnet soon. Source: EigenLayer

Related: EigenLayer eyes consumer adoption post EIGEN unlock, founder says

Gradual roll-out

Launched in 2023, EigenLayer secures third-party protocols — dubbed actively validated services (AVSs) — against a pool of “restaked” cryptocurrencies used as collateral. 

Restaking involves taking a token that has already been staked — posted as collateral with a validator in exchange for rewards — and using it to secure other protocols simultaneously. 

Slashing is the primary method for securing proof-of-stake protocols — including Ethereum as well as “restaking” protocols such as EigenLayer — and involves penalizing a network’s node operators for poor performance or misbehavior.

“If Operators do not meet the conditions set, the AVS may penalize them. But, if the Operator runs the service successfully, AVSs can reward the Operator’s performance and incentivize specific activity,” EigenLayer said in an April 3 blog post. 

This “allows for a free marketplace where Operators can earn rewards for their work and AVSs can launch verifiable services,” the post said. 

EigenLayer’s total value locked (TVL) over time. Source: DeFILlama

Growing ecosystem

Upward of 30 AVSs are already live on EigenLayer’s mainnet, and dozens more are being developed.

They include EigenDA — run by EigenLayer developer Eigen Labs — and ARPA Network, a protocol specializing in trustless randomization.

In October, EigenLayer unlocked its native token, EIGEN. It is designed as a more flexible option for securing consensus-based protocols than other proof-of-stake tokens, such as Ether, according to EigenLayer.

EigenLayer is prioritizing onboarding crypto-native apps in segments such as decentralized finance (DeFi) and gaming before expanding beyond Web3, founder Sreeram Kannan told Cointelegraph in October. 

“We’re starting with the inside-out approach, focusing on high-throughput consumer apps like DeFi and gaming, but once we grow a little bigger and have critical mass, we’ll go outside and start targeting broader consumer markets,” Kannan said.

Magazine: XRP win leaves Ripple a ‘bad actor’ with no crypto legal precedent set

XRP (XRP) stabilized near its $2 support after today’s marketwide sell-off sent the altcoin and several other cryptocurrencies close to their swing lows.

Data now shows the XRP/USD pair exhibiting early signs of a bullish breakout. 

Ripple’s RLUSD integration could boost XRP price

Ripple’s integration of its RLUSD stablecoin into its cross-border payments system, Ripple Payments, could significantly boost XRP’s price by enhancing its utility and liquidity. 

On April 2, Ripple, the company behind XRP, announced that it had integrated its stablecoin into the company’s cross-border payments system to boost adoption for Ripple USD (RLUSD).

RLUSD, a USD-pegged stablecoin launched in December 2024, complements XRP by providing stability for transactions, while XRP serves as a fast, liquid bridge currency. This dual-asset strategy targets the $230 billion cross-border payments market, and ims to increase demand for both assets. 

Source: X / Ripple

RLUSD’s market cap now stands at $244 million, with 87% growth in March alone, according to data from rwa.xyz. As adoption grows, financial institutions using Ripple Payments may rely more on XRP for liquidity, especially in volatile corridors. 

Pairing RLUSD with XRP on the XRP Ledger (XRPL) and exchanges could drive trading volume and activity on XRPL’s decentralized exchange, tightening XRP’s supply. 

Positive sentiment from RLUSD’s success could also lift XRP’s value, with analysts suggesting increased adoption might push XRP toward $3.50 or higher.

“Ripple’s $RLUSD integration is a pivotal move for cross-border payments,” said crypto market insights provider Alva in an April 3 post on X.

As a result, “optimism around $RLUSD soaring, with eyes on its ripple effect on XRP,” Alva said, adding:

“Overall: A solid play for strengthening Ripple’s ecosystem and pushing stablecoin adoption forward. Get ready for potential shifts!”

Related:  How many US dollars does XRP transfer per day?

XRP pattern points to $3.51 target

XRP’s price action between Jan. 16 and April 3 has led to the formation of a symmetrical triangle pattern on the daily chart. The price is retesting the lower trendline of the triangle at $1.98, suggesting that a rebound could be in the making.

Note that the price has successfully rebounded from this trendline two to three times in the past, with each retest leading to a significant price recovery.

If a similar scenario plays out, XRP could recover from current levels and with good volumes, it may break above the triangle’s descending trendline at $2.40 (embraced by the 50-day SMA).

The target is set by the distance between the triangle’s lowest and highest points, which would bring XRP price to $3.51, an approximate 73% gain from the current price.

XRP/USD daily chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

Several analysts also share similar bullish outlooks for the altcoin, citing XRP’s adoption, chart technicals and the end of Ripple’s long-standing case with the SEC as the reasons. 

Citing a chart similar to the one shared above, XRP investor Steph Is Crypto said the price was “heavily compressing” before a massive breakout.

 “This breakout will create many new millionaires!”

Using Elliott Wave theory, crypto analyst Dark Defender shared an optimistic price prediction for XRP, saying that the token’s correction in the monthly timeframe “will be over within weeks.”

His targets remain between $5 and $18 in the medium and long term.

When #XRP hit $3.3999, we set a 5 Elliott Wave Structure and explained that XRP completed the Monthly 3rd Wave and entered into correction, Wave 4.

We set the Wave 4 dip with a precision of $2.02.

B is in action; we also have precise levels for B Wave.

While everybody… pic.twitter.com/CVlrkaVged

— Dark Defender (@DefendDark) April 2, 2025

According to CasiTrades, the XRP’s relative strength index shows a bullish divergence on multiple timeframes and this signals a price bottom, and an upside target of $3.80.

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.