Ever since Verge (XVG) hit an astonishing all-time price high of $0.25 USD on Christmas day 2017, things are starting to look shakier and shakier. And some in the cryptocurrency space are starting to spazz out accordingly.
So what's going on? Is the tumult from FUD (“fear, uncertainty, doubt”), or are the ongoing concerns well-founded?
We'll help you get caught up; get ready for another wild year in crypto, right?
Its the first day of 2018 and $XVG already got me confused af 😩😂 #vergenews #verge #wraithProtocol #Wraith pic.twitter.com/gBunjqnPcX
— YT | JordanGI (@jordangi99) January 1, 2018
Third deadline missed for Wraith?
Users on Reddit began sounding off as the XVG team apparently missed their third deadline in a row for the project's Wraith update, an optimization that's been billed as capable of bringing stealth sending features to Verge.
transactions are pushing the remaining balance into the transation fee, the stealth sending feature is working. once we fix this, we will mark the release and announce it.
— VergeCurrency (@vergecurrency) January 1, 2018
Indeed, many users saw the episode as a failed promise, or, in the very least, as an example of poor communication and management from the Verge team. This got everyone into a frenzy, critics and supporters alike.
Some are jumping ship.
In the hours since the botched announcement, the Verge team has finally released Wraith, commenting:
Wraith on OSX is released and working. Windows/Linux versions take longer than expected. We understand your feelings, but our priority is to release fully working software that provides security and anonymity. Other platforms will be released asap.”
A separate scandal brewing?
On the morning of January 1st, Reddit users posted a link to a site that appears to be a privacy user's nightmare: a list of IP addresses associated with specific XVG wallet addresses.
Now, in the absence of independent confirmation, let us be clear: the site aforementioned could be a fabrication of some kind. But it doesn't appear so. It looks like a legitimate outing of Verge users' IP addresses, though it's not immediately clear if the leak pertains to the clearnet or Wraith.
With this alleged leak being so fresh, it'll take more time to fully understand what exactly has happened.
But some have been spooked, and the XVG price is showing it. Over the last 24 hours, the crypto's price has sunk over 10 percent, and more sliding could come over the next few days.
Crypto mania in full swing
Whatever ends up happening with Verge — whether it goes on it to be the greatest privacy coin ever or it tanks into oblivion — what we're seeing now in the crypto community's fiery and disparate responses to XVG's entrance into the new year is really a mirror of the entire space as a whole.
John McAfee recently whipped Verge FOMO (“fear on missing out”) into a frenzy with his “Coin of the day” spotlighting. And that's brought pump and dumps to the fore of just about everyone's minds in the ecosystem.
Salvos are flying in every direction, people are making money, people are losing money, and praise and hate are coalescing.
Will cooler heads prevail in 2018? Probably not, with how much money appears to be on the line in what will likely turn out to be the most titanic year for cryptocurrencies yet.
Indeed, expect the manic responses only to increase in intensity in the coming months.
Featured Image via Fotolia
