Category: Articles

After TEA order, here’s how Austin ISD is overhauling its special education: ‘I am hopeful’  Austin American-Statesman
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XRP ranked top among the most traded altcoins in December after a period marked with mixed movements. The asset price spiked to new highs not seen in three years before dropping nearly in two weeks. Despite this trend, it ranked above major altcoins in several metrics.
Recent data shows XRP became the most traded altcoin on Binance in December. With days left to the new year, the asset’s volumes continue to soar alongside its institutional funds. On the Binance futures market, the asset’s trading volume hit a staggering high of $116.6 billion with slight periods of sideways trading.
According to Maartum, XRP has shown signs of recovery above other assets in the past 48 hours. This follows high sell pressure that plagued Bitcoin and the wider market, with some coins posting double-digit outflows.
“XRP is the most traded altcoin on the Binance Futures market, with a trading volume of 116.6B already, and the month isn’t over yet. It’s important to track the top-traded coins on Binance, as they should be your main focus when trading altcoins. In the past two days, both Bitcoin and altcoins have experienced large declines. XRP seems to be one that could recover quickly.”
Trading volumes on Binance are closely monitored to give traders a general sense of the market. Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volumes, is a major driver due to major whale and retail activity.
The activities of traditional and large stakeholders bolstered investor confidence in crypto assets. After the United States election, investors dominated the scene, setting sights on new gains. New flows sent the price of Bitcoin above $90K before hitting higher levels. This sparked a similar momentum in altcoins, with XRP and Solana being the biggest gainers.
XRP jumped to a three-year high, temporarily outpacing Tether by market cap. Trading at $2.6, its market cap topped $130 billion alongside surging trading volumes. Institutional investors flooded XRP for two reasons; its utility in cross-border payments and anticipated clear rules in the United States.
Over the years, Ripple has tapped several central banks and organizations towards cross-border payments and Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) architecture. The company also faced headwinds after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a lawsuit against the firm for offering unregistered securities. Donald Trump’s win promises clearer rules in the U.S., driving traction back to the asset.

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Are We Rolling the Dice on Bird Flu?  New York Magazine
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The nerves on display, the backstabbing, the usual representatives seeking the spotlight, the reporters running through the narrow halls, the last-minute commitments and the more or less happy ending… Almost nothing that happened in the Capitol on Friday, a frantic day that ended with the approval of a temporary spending measure to avoid a government shutdown, was a surprise for the veteran spectators of the great theatre of Washington. And yet the negotiations between both parties to avoid the spending tap being cut off at midnight ― which would have left some 875,000 federal workers without their Christmas pay ― offered valuable clues about the difficulties that await Donald Trump and his government of billionaires to push through their agenda in a hurry with a Congress that Republicans control only by a narrow margin.
It also served as a dress rehearsal for the enormous political influence that Elon Musk, the richest man on the planet, is likely to have for at least the next four years, provided he retains the position of Trump’s First Buddy. Using nothing more than his expensive toy, the social network X, which he bought in 2022 for $44 billion, the tech tycoon was able to knock down a bipartisan agreement that had been negotiated for months. He did so with online posts, about 150 of them, and threats like this one: “Any member of the House or Senate who votes for this outrageous spending bill deserves to be voted out in 2 years!”
Not only did he cause a legislative nightmare before Christmas and ruin the quiet week that Democrats and Republicans had been counting on, expecting to go home on Thursday as usual; Musk also inaugurated an era in the not-so-new relationship between oligarchy and political power in a country where wealth is usually virtuous in principle. With evident haste to begin governing ― the cliché would say from the shadows, if it were not for the fact that he does everything in full view of his more than 200 million followers ― Musk pushed the third authority in the country, House Speaker Mike Johnson, to the edge of the abyss and managed to make even Trump dance to his tune.
The president-elect has entrusted the tycoon with the joint leadership of the Department of Government Efficiency. In what could be seen as the first item on the agenda of a job that in theory does not begin until the inauguration on January 20, Musk apparently decided that the bipartisan spending deal was another wasteful expression of what is wrong in Washington, so he forced a review… and then another. And all this, while the billionaire showed his support for the far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD) in the next elections in that country, and raised questions about whether the success of his investment of more than $260 million in the campaign that brought Trump to the White House will not in fact be the first step in a plan for world domination (and right-wingization).
The watered-down spending text was ultimately supported by 366 of the 435 representatives, and received 34 votes against, all from Republicans. Late on Friday it was approved by the Senate and signed by President Joe Biden on Saturday. It includes, in addition to the guarantee of government funding until March 14 (the day on which a new installment of this recurring drama in Washington is expected to unfurl), the updating of a law to fight poverty and encourage agriculture and a budget of $110 billion in subsidies to farmers and aid to victims of natural disasters.
Along the way, measures to reduce the cost of medicines, money to promote medical research and limits on investments in China were left out. Also, in what was a disappointment for Trump, his express request to take advantage of the opportunity to raise or suspend the debt ceiling had to be sacrificed. In an earlier vote, the unthinkable had happened: 38 Republican representatives, apparently more fanatical about cutting public spending than he was, voted against a deal supported by the president-elect, who may have the GOP at his feet, but is facing an ideologically divided party when the issue is public spending.
In a desire that may seem paradoxical for someone who campaigned on a promise to slim down government, the president-elect wants to end the spending limit by any means necessary. He needs it to carry out two of his main promises: the mass deportation of illegal immigrants and tax cuts. Extending that ceiling until 2027 is a debate that falls to the new Congress, which will be formed on January 3, but, as with everything else, Trump ―who has been in practice holding power for weeks, with Biden half gone― was in a hurry. The moment he takes office, he will do so with an expiration date; the law, unless he changes it, does not allow him to run again in 2028.
The events that transpired last week also indicate once again that there is an unbridgeable discrepancy between the elastic way in which the president-elect interprets reality and reality itself. He clearly won at the polls, in the electoral vote and in the seven decisive states, but it was not the overwhelming victory that he proclaimed on election night, long before the end of the vote count. And it was not, above all, an all-out victory in the House of Representatives, where the Republicans have gone from having 222 seats to 220 (compared to 215 for the Democrats).
Trump said in an interview with Time, in the magazine issue that crowned him “Person of the Year” for the second time, that he believes he has received “a huge mandate” from the American people. Republicans control both chambers, albeit with small margins, and in a country that, as seen again in recent days, knows nothing about party discipline, he is not guaranteed smooth governability.
Trump’s first big test, which is above all a test of Johnson’s leadership, is just around the corner. On January 3, the House will vote to elect its speaker, and the ultra-conservative congressman from Louisiana needs all the votes he can get. Thomas Massie, a libertarian from Kentucky, has already told Johnson not to count on his support. Two years ago, it took 15 rounds of voting and a good handful of concessions to the hardline wing of Trumpism to elect his predecessor, Kevin McCarthy. After going through such humiliation, McCarthy only lasted 10 months in the post, from which he was ousted by a no-confidence vote.
On Friday night, Johnson appeared before Capitol Hill reporters after saving face, unable to contain a chuckle of relief. He was proud of having passed “America First” legislation and, in further evidence of how quickly the extraordinary is normalized in Trump’s America, unabashedly acknowledged that less than an hour earlier he had spoken to Musk about the challenges of his job. “We talked about the extraordinary challenges of this job. I said, ‘Hey, you wanna be Speaker of the House? I don’t know.’ He said this may be the hardest job in the world. I think it is.”
Chaos and legislative paralysis have defined Johnson’s time leading the House Republicans. It’s hard to believe that the return of Trump, an unpredictable politician who instigated an insurrection, will change that, coupled with the disruptive element posed by Musk, who recently showed up to meet with conservative senators with his four-year-old son on his shoulders. In the spectacle society of American politics, Capitol Hill has been populated in recent years by quirky figures whose egos are fueled by social media and their presence in the endless news cycle of cable television networks. Many of them are Republicans, and many came to Washington with the mission of containing public debt, which has skyrocketed in the last decade, especially since the pandemic. Such personalities do not guarantee a smooth term, even if this time the president will be enjoying much greater support, at the polls and within his own party, than he had in 2016.
The disputes with Congress were constant during his first term in the White House. The most notorious one led to the longest government shutdown in history in 2018. It was when legislators refused to support him in his efforts to build a wall on the border with Mexico. It lasted 35 days, and ended with the declaration of a national emergency so that the president could find funds through other means. Trump is still obsessed with the wall, although the cost of that project pales in comparison to his star promise on immigration: the mass deportation of undocumented immigrants, the cost of which is not yet quantified but could amount to tens of billions of dollars. To pay that bill, he will need the support of Capitol Hill and a Republican Party whose obsession with the border may only be surpassed by the fixation with containing public spending.
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‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,’ ‘The Penguin,’ ‘The Substance’ and ‘The Deliverance’ Lead Make-Up Artists and Hair Stylists Guild Awards Nominations  Yahoo Entertainment
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On a bitter cold day in late November, Sherri Daniels and Ronnie Morris found a welcoming place to be at the NAMI Hope Center in downtown Springfield. 
Sitting in a conference room, the couple laughed and were affectionate with each other.
Thanks to music therapy happening in an adjacent room, the sound of Whitney Houston belting out “Greatest Love of All” made for fitting background music.
“I love them so much,” said Stephanie Robinson, who was sitting nearby. “They find joy in everything. They are always laughing.”
But the scene was short lived, and neither Sherri nor Ronnie could hear each other’s laughter or Houston’s powerful vocals.
Soon the couple was back on the street, dragging their suitcases and worried about finding a safe place to spend the evening.
Sherri and Ronnie, who are both deaf, have been together for more than 15 years. They’ve been homeless since 2019.
As Springfield’s homeless population continues to grow, the city has lost several resources this year — including dozens of shelter beds during the winter months. As the weather turned cold in late fall, Sherri and Ronnie agreed to let the Daily Citizen follow them as they navigate life on the streets — hoping to raise awareness about the issues facing a segment of the population that often feels invisible.
Robinson, NAMI’s executive director and a longtime advocate for the unsheltered, spent hours that day in late November helping Sherri and Ronnie fill out forms and make calls, trying to get copies of their identifications and birth certificates — important paperwork that had been stolen from them along with their disability debit cards while they slept a few nights prior.
Being targeted by thieves is a common occurrence, they explained via passing a notebook back and forth with a reporter. Since they can’t hear when someone is approaching or digging around in their things, Sherri and Ronnie try to take turns sleeping so one can keep watch. But that gets hard after a while. 
Sherri, 58, and Ronnie, 64, both said they are tired and have many aches and pains. 
If they had their disability debit cards, they might have enough money left from their Social Security to pay for a motel. But instead, the two had been sleeping under a bridge a few blocks from NAMI.
They’d been warned the overnight temperatures would be below freezing and that the emergency cold weather shelters would open that night. 
Worried someone would steal what little they had, they chose to stick it out under the bridge again. When they returned to their “spot” for the evening, a police officer had just stopped by to tell them to vacate.
The officer soon left, and Sherri and Ronnie decided they’d take their chances and hunkered down for the night under the bridge. It was probably too late for them to get to the shelter sign-up location in time anyway, and they didn’t know of anywhere else to go. 
With cold wind whipping under the bridge, they began to lay out their bedding and extra layers of clothing.
Ronnie motioned for the reporter’s notebook and pen. His cracked, shaky hands wrote one question:
“Do you know any church may help us to pay motel?”
Sherri and Ronnie are among the hundreds of Springfield’s ever-growing unsheltered community. They are, by HUD’s definition, chronically homeless. 
The Daily Citizen contacted Robinson a few days later to see if the couple had returned to NAMI and if they’d speak to the reporter again. Robinson agreed to ask the couple if they minded.
“They’ve gone so long feeling invisible,” Robinson said. “It’s nice to have them feel special.”
With the assistance of an American Sign Language interpreter, Sherri and Ronnie spoke at length with the Daily Citizen on Dec. 3.
Ronnie and Sherri seemed to enjoy having an ASL interpreter there for the interview. It gave them an opportunity to more fully share their stories with Robinson, who has grown close to the couple in recent weeks. 
“I have dealt with unsheltered for over a decade and I’ve met a lot of people,” Robinson said, making sure Sherri and Ronnie paid attention to what she was saying and the translator was signing.
Nobody, I can honestly say, has touched my heart like these two. I feel like they came at a time in my life when I was struggling and I needed that unconditional love, too. So I get just as much from them as they get from me. You guys are absolutely filling my heart with so much love and I’m so thankful for you.”
stephanie robinson
“I feel like you have just welcomed us,” Ronnie responded, signing “thank you.” 
“You are all our favorite family,” Sherri said of Robinson and the staff at NAMI. “You are our friends.”
Over the next two hours, Sherri and Ronnie reflected on their childhoods, their families, past relationships and their hopes for the future. 
Sherri spoke at length about her love for her late father. She lost her hearing when she was 2 and was raised mostly by her mother and an aunt. But her dad was kindest to her and would pass notes back and forth to communicate. Her dad wanted her to be prepared for a challenging life.
“My dad taught me to be fierce,” she said, proudly. “He taught me to be tough. He wanted us to not just shirk back from things as they happen. He taught us to fight through what we have to. Now I realize why. That helped my life.”
Her aunt pushed her to look people in the eyes, study their faces, learn to read lips, their facial expressions and body language — even though the then-young and shy Sherri was uncomfortable doing so.
“I loved her. She was a Christian woman,” she said of her aunt. “But at the same time, I really wanted to be with my dad. That was the strongest relationship in my life.”
Sherri and Ronnie talked about feeling misunderstood as a young child who could not hear and struggled to communicate with their hearing parents.
Ronnie was born deaf and his family didn’t realize he was deaf until he was at least a year old.
“I didn’t really understand who I was and how to communicate. I was wild,” he said. “I just didn’t understand. My mom couldn’t handle me.”
Something both Ronnie and Sherri recalled fondly was their time at the Missouri School for the Deaf in Fulton. The two did not meet there, but both attended and lived at the school for periods of time when they were children and again when they were teens. 
Ronnie recalled being frightened and crying for his mother when his family first brought him to the deaf school. He was about 7. But after a few months, Ronnie said he began learning how to sign, how to read and do math.
“It was tough. Sometimes I didn’t understand what was going on so I would have to follow people in what they were doing,” he said. “I learned a lot there. It was wonderful.”
Sherri agreed, saying she flourished at the deaf school and struggled whenever her family would try to put her in a mainstream school. 
“The teachers would write on the board and their backs were to me. They were facing the board,” she said of her time in mainstream schools. “I didn’t understand what was going on.”
Ronnie and Sherri want to get married. It will be the second marriage for them both. They both have grown children from previous relationships.
They used to have a home together, but became homeless almost five years ago. They get Social Security benefits. But Robinson thinks Ronnie isn’t getting all he’s qualified for with his disability. This is one of those things Robinson wants to help him with, as soon as they get all their necessary paperwork.
“Right now we are on the streets. We are homeless,” Sherri said. “It’s a tough life. It’s frustrating.”
“The two of us together, we have to move from place to place in order to be safe,” Ronnie said. “I have to stand up for her and defend her.”
Sherri grinned and signed, “He is a good man.”
Because her aunt taught her to read people’s lips, faces and body language, Sherri said she’s usually better at assessing the situation and people’s intentions. 
“So I do that for him,” she said. “He is older and I’m watching out for him. I’m supporting him because I cherish this relationship. I cherish him.”
Sherri and Ronnie said they feel welcome at the NAMI Hope Center, which is open during the day Monday-Saturday.
Robinson has been learning ASL and always makes sure the closed captioning is turned on the television for them. 
“Finally, I feel like we have someone who is working to communicate with us,” Sherri said. “We are so appreciative of the services here. It’s like family.”
But when they leave NAMI, they are not always treated so well.
“People are cold with us,” Sherri said. “Being homeless is different. They label us. We have to just accept things.”
“We try to be good people, but sometimes people ignore us or steal our things and we have to speak up,” Ronnie said. “If they are not respecting us, sometimes we will use bad words and walk away.”
They said they often feel overlooked or ignored at the other drop-in center for unsheltered people. 
“The people there, they don’t pay attention. There’s a lot of talking back and forth,” Sherri said. “And they use big words and I don’t know what they mean. They are just really dismissive. I tried to get in and participate there. I’ve asked for an interpreter but they’ve been resistant to that.
“They are just focused on hearing people and their needs. They are not focused on us,” she said. “I really feel demeaned when we are there.”
Communicating and accessing services elsewhere is often difficult for them. 
“I think the problem is they are expected to do the same things that everybody else is,” Robinson said. “Other agencies sometimes don’t acknowledge the disability and the extra barriers they are facing. They are often dismissed and discarded, and it’s a perpetual cycle for them.”
Sherri agreed. “It feels like you are banging your head against the wall,” she said. “That makes me sad. The way he and I communicate can be very different.”
Having been unsheltered for the past four or five years, it comes as little surprise the couple has had numerous encounters with law enforcement, mostly stemming from being homeless. Sherri and Ronnie said communicating with officers can be difficult. Sometimes officers will pass notes back and forth with them. 
Online court records show that between the two of them, they have at least 12 trespassing charges and five illegal camping charges in the past four years. 
In addition to the costs associated with police time and resources, having Sherri and Ronnie in and out of the court system comes with an unusual cost. Each time they appear in court (or fail to appear, as is sometimes the case), the court is supposed to have an ASL translator present. The Office of State Court Administrator usually reimburses the courts for this, but the minimum cost for a translator ranges from $60 to $120 per hour — for a minimum of two hours. 
Many of the docket entries do not say if an interpreter was present at the hearing. It’s not clear if Sherri or Ronnie left the hearings with clear understandings of what they were supposed to do. 
A recent docket entry for one of Ronnie’s illegal camping charges noted the judge ordered a probation officer be assigned to help connect Ronnie with housing services. According to online court records, Ronnie has not yet reported to the probation officer.
The day after the interview with the ASL translator, the Daily Citizen stopped by the NAMI Center for Hope looking for the couple. Around 4 p.m., the photographer found a distressed Sherri sitting alone on the sidewalk. She was sorting and searching through a backpack and duffel bag.
Where’s Ronnie?
Sherri shook her head and shrugged.
You don’t know where he is? 
Sherri nodded. Her head swiveled north. Then south. North. South. 
Another unsheltered woman, Chrissy Stafford, and her dog Mischief approached. Stafford is Sherri’s friend. Stafford began to sign with Sherri, which brought a smile to Sherri’s face. 
Very few among Springfield’s unsheltered community know ASL. Being able to talk with another person without having to pass notes or text is a rare pleasure for the gregarious Sherri. Stafford said she knows “a little” sign language. “I’ve been teaching myself so I can talk with her,” Stafford said, both shyly and proudly.
After a few minutes, Stafford moved on and Sherri continued sorting and digging through her bags. It was apparent Sherri was worried about her partner.
She seemed on the verge of tears when Ronnie finally appeared at 4:40 p.m. He trudged slowly up Boonville, wearing insulated coveralls and carrying a bright yellow plastic bag over his shoulder. He carried a piece of an old fishing rod in the other hand — a tool he uses to pick up cans so he doesn’t have to bend over. 
He’d been picking up cans for hours, he later revealed. That’s how he earns money. He collects cans to sell at McCoy’s Metal on Fort Avenue. On this day, he collected 10 pounds of aluminum and earned $5.50.
At first, Sherri hid her relief to see Ronnie well. She pretended to ignore him as he approached. 
But soon her fingers began to fly. Even to someone who can’t read sign, it was obvious she wanted to know where he’d been and that she was worried. He signed back an explanation, to which she gestured at him dismissively.
Sherri then stood to struggle into her coveralls. They continued signing to each other at the same time — perhaps a lovers’ quarrel. 
But from the tears in Sherri’s eyes, it seemed likely she told Ronnie how worried she was.
The sun was setting fast by the time Ronnie showed up, and soon the emergency cold weather shelters would open. In order to get a spot, they needed to sign-up at 5:30 p.m. at the Veterans Coming Home Center, about two blocks away. 
Springfield’s Crisis Cold Weather Shelter program has anywhere from 150-175 cots available on nights when temperatures are predicted to dip to 32 or colder. But the program is down about 50 beds from last winter and some shelters have already been at capacity and turned people away. 
It was imperative the couple make it to the center in time to sign up.
But first, they needed to tuck their belongings away with the hope and a prayer nothing would be stolen overnight. The couple has a secret spot where they’ve been putting their shopping cart and the bags they can’t bring to shelter.
After several minutes of meticulously packing and re-packing their belongings away, the couple headed to sign-up for shelter not a minute too soon. They arrived at the Vets Center at 5:32 p.m. and got on the list to go to the shelter site at the Unity of Springfield church on East Seminole Street.  
Another friend of theirs who knows some sign language, Jeff Ramage, spent several minutes talking with Ronnie. Ronnie explained to Jeff why the photographer and reporter had followed them to the Vets Center.
Ronnie then used a pen and the paper sack containing food to write a note, explaining how and where he met Jeff, that they’d become “fast friends” and that Jeff often checks on Ronnie and Sherri to make sure they are OK. 
Jeff had kind words to share about his friend, Ronnie.
“He is one of the coolest people here,” Jeff said. “He can feel your energy.”
According to Jeff, Ronnie is able to “keep a beat” by sensing the vibrations.
Jeff said Ronnie is “kind of a target” for thieves and bullies.
“He can read lips a little,” Jeff said, “but he doesn’t need to know what you’re saying to know what you’re about.”
As Jeff was talking, a volunteer announced it was time to board the bus headed to the Unity Church.
Ronnie and Sherri prefer this shelter site because volunteers provide a hot dinner and couples are welcome. 
Another bonus: the shelter’s co-coordinator Lacy Hudgens has taken a shine to Ronnie and Sherri and is learning some sign language.
Hudgens downloaded an application on her phone that shows her how to sign whatever it is she is wanting to say.
“I really want to learn so that I can talk to them and be able to communicate with them,” Hudgens said, “and they’re not always just by themselves and alone. Because it must be very lonely.
“When I told (Sherri) that I was learning some sign language, she got super excited. She is even helping me,” Hudgens said, holding her right hand out, palm up, and then pulling it toward her belly. “Like, ‘welcome.’ I didn’t know ‘welcome’ the other day, so she taught me ‘welcome.” And she’s very good to go slow with me and understanding that this is still foreign to me.”
When the couple arrived at Unity, they were greeted by another volunteer who knew sign language.
Volunteer Sara Perry was seated near the door to help guests sign in. Perry is a speech language pathologist and took an ASL class as a requirement for her master’s degree.
In Perry’s view, sign language is a “beautiful way to express words.”
“Like, using your hands and also, it’s a very full body and facial expression language because that’s needed,” Perry said. “You don’t have intonation the way you do with speech. So I find it interesting, beautiful. Even when you are arguing in ASL, you can tell the hand motions are different because it’s more intense. Or if you are asking questions, you have to really show those expressions. I find that really beautiful.”
Robinson, with NAMI, has been trying to help the couple figure out housing possibilities, but safe and affordable rentals in Springfield are scarce. They want to have special accommodations for people with hearing loss like a fire alarm and doorbell that come with flashing lights and shake their bed.
Sherri wants to get a service dog specially trained to alert her if someone is at the door, if the phone is ringing or if someone is approaching. 
But the thing Sherri most looks forward to is having her own bathroom.
“I’m so excited about that. I just want to take a bath,” she said. “I want to run to the bathroom, take a bath, sit in the tub.”
Robinson recently used some NAMI Southwest Missouri donation funds to take the couple shopping for cold weather gear. But she also encouraged them to shop for non-essential items. “The part I enjoyed the most was when they got to pick out things they wanted, like cologne or crayons,” Robinson said. “They got to remember they are still human and not just in survival mode. … I loved seeing that.”
“Sometimes I feel like we don’t get to do anything,” Sherri said. “We just sit around and we can’t color. When you are homeless, you don’t have those things. And that is for quality of life, just to be able to do those creative things.”
Ronnie said he looks forward to having a home where he can relax and enjoy life, rather than always being on the move and focusing on survival. “Sometimes, I don’t know what to do with myself. I don’t really have hobbies,” he said. “I want to have a home and be able to do those things again.
“Being homeless, if you look at me, I’m dirty,” Ronnie continued. “This isn’t who I am. I can’t bathe. I’m dirty all the time. When we are on the streets, it’s how it has to be. But this isn’t who I am.” 
Jackie Rehwald is a reporter at the Springfield Daily Citizen. She covers public safety, the courts, homelessness, domestic violence and other social issues. Her office line is 417-837-3659. More by Jackie Rehwald
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Saudi Delegation Meets Syria’s New Leader: Source Close To Government  Barron’s
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Priced at just $0.00433 during the presale, the 5SCAPE token represents a rare ground-floor opportunity for investors. With an official crypto exchange listing scheduled for January 2025, early buyers are positioned for an impressive 130% return from day one—a solid foundation for even greater long-term gains.
What sets 5thScape apart is its well-rounded ecosystem. It offers immersive VR games like Cage of Conquest and Immersive Kickoff, cutting-edge hardware such as a proprietary VR headset and SwiftScape gaming chair, and a decentralized marketplace for content creators to monetize their work.
The play-to-earn (P2E) model further enhances the platform, allowing players to earn 5SCAPE tokens by achieving in-game milestones. These tokens hold real-world value, enabling users to unlock premium content, buy exclusive in-game gear, or stake for annual returns as high as 365%.
The platform’s capped total supply of 5.21 billion tokens adds to the excitement, creating scarcity that is expected to drive up demand significantly post-listing. With the presale ending soon, the clock is ticking for investors to lock in their position before the limited circulating supply becomes a major factor in the token’s valuation surge.
For those looking to invest in the next big thing, 5thScape is more than just a cryptocurrency—it’s a gateway to the future of VR, gaming, and blockchain.
Act now, and you could be part of a transformative project that could potentially deliver life-changing returns. Don’t let this opportunity slip away!
Ripple is one of the most innovative projects in the cryptocurrency space, designed to revolutionize global financial transactions. Unlike traditional cryptocurrencies, XRP focuses on solving real-world problems, particularly in cross-border payments. Its primary objective is facilitating fast, cost-effective, and secure money transfers between banks and financial institutions, making it a strong contender for mass adoption.
What sets Ripple apart is its advanced blockchain technology, which eliminates the inefficiencies of traditional banking systems. XRP transactions settle in 3-5 seconds, with negligible fees that outclass traditional wire transfers and even most cryptocurrencies. This has positioned Ripple as a partner of choice for over 300 financial institutions, including Santander and American Express.
The XRP Ledger, Ripple’s decentralized blockchain, ensures robust security while maintaining scalability, capable of handling 1,500 transactions per second.
Moreover, Ripple is actively working towards regulatory clarity, leading to significant partnerships and adoption globally. With the recent partial victory in its ongoing legal battle with the SEC, Ripple is gaining renewed confidence from investors and institutions alike.
For 2025, XRP’s potential lies in its ability to capture an even larger share of the $156 trillion cross-border payment industry. As blockchain adoption grows, Ripple’s advanced infrastructure and real-world utility position it as a long-term winner.
For retail and institutional investors, XRP offers an opportunity to be part of a cryptocurrency that’s not just speculative but transformative in reshaping global finance.
Polkadot has emerged as a revolutionary blockchain protocol that addresses one of the most critical issues in the crypto space—interoperability. Designed by Dr. Gavin Wood, one of Ethereum’s co-founders, Polkadot enables multiple blockchains, or parachains, to operate together seamlessly. This creates a unified ecosystem where data and value can flow freely, unlocking unprecedented possibilities for decentralized applications (dApps).
Polkadot’s shared security model makes it unique, where all parachains benefit from the robust security of the main relay chain. This ensures that projects built on Polkadot remain both scalable and secure. Additionally, developers can create custom blockchains tailored to specific use cases without compromising interoperability, thanks to the Substrate framework.
The native token, DOT, plays a vital role in Polkadot’s ecosystem. It is used for governance, staking, and bonding, ensuring the network remains decentralized and community-driven. Investors can stake their DOT tokens to earn attractive rewards while contributing to the network’s security.
As blockchain technology moves toward mass adoption, Polkadot’s focus on scalability and interoperability gives it a competitive edge. By 2025, Polkadot is expected to become a hub for decentralized ecosystems, making DOT an asset with significant growth potential. Whether you are a seasoned investor or a newcomer, Polkadot offers a unique value proposition that combines innovation, utility, and sustainability.
Chainlink has established itself as the leading decentralized oracle network, a crucial component for connecting blockchain-based smart contracts with real-world data. In simple terms, Chainlink enables smart contracts to access external data feeds, APIs, and other off-chain resources, making it indispensable for industries like decentralized finance (DeFi), insurance, and supply chain management.
Chainlink’s robust infrastructure ensures data reliability and security. Its decentralized nature eliminates the risk of manipulation, ensuring smart contracts execute accurately based on real-world conditions. This unique capability has made Chainlink the go-to solution for significant blockchain projects, with integrations spanning Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain, Solana, and more.
The LINK token is central to Chainlink’s ecosystem, used as a payment mechanism for node operators and a staking tool to ensure data integrity. As the adoption of smart contracts grows, so does the demand for LINK, making it an attractive investment option.
Looking ahead, Chainlink is expanding its offerings with innovations like Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP) and staking, further enhancing its utility and security.
By 2025, Chainlink is poised to play a critical role in bridging traditional industries with blockchain technology. For investors, LINK offers a rare combination of strong fundamentals and market demand, making it one of the best altcoins for long-term gains.
Initially created as a joke, Dogecoin has evolved into one of the most popular cryptocurrencies globally. What started as a lighthearted meme coin has garnered a passionate community, mainstream attention, and real-world utility. With endorsements from high-profile figures like Elon Musk, Dogecoin has demonstrated its staying power in the volatile crypto market.
Unlike Bitcoin, which is limited to 21 million coins, Dogecoin has an unlimited supply, making it an inflationary currency. While this might seem a drawback, it ensures DOGE remains a practical medium for everyday transactions. Its low transaction fees and fast processing times make it an ideal choice for tipping, charitable donations, and microtransactions.
In 2025, Dogecoin’s growth potential lies in its ability to capitalize on mainstream adoption. Recent developments, such as its integration with Tesla’s payment system and collaborations with retail platforms, highlight its growing utility. Moreover, the Dogecoin Foundation has developed technological upgrades to enhance the network’s scalability and security.
For investors, DOGE represents a unique opportunity. While its speculative nature carries risks, its massive community support and increasing real-world use cases make it a coin worth watching. As the crypto market matures, Dogecoin’s ability to transition from a meme to a functional digital asset could lead to significant gains.
When searching for the best altcoins to buy now, it’s crucial to evaluate each project’s long-term utility, scalability, and growth potential. Cryptocurrencies like 5thScape, Ripple, Polkadot, Chainlink, and Dogecoin offer unique value propositions that make them standout investments for 2025 and beyond.
Each of these projects taps into a distinct niche, from revolutionary VR-blockchain integration to cross-border payments and decentralized oracles, offering multiple opportunities for substantial returns.
Among these, 5thScape (5SCAPE) shines as the top contender. Its innovative approach to merging blockchain and VR technology, coupled with its capped supply and staggering presale success of $8.3 million, makes it a once-in-a-generation investment opportunity. With a confirmed listing and the potential for high staking rewards, 5thScape could set the stage for transformative returns in the coming years.
Ripple’s focus on revolutionizing cross-border payments, Polkadot’s groundbreaking interoperability, Chainlink’s indispensable oracle solutions, and Dogecoin’s surprising transition into real-world utility also make them noteworthy picks.
While each of these altcoins has a specific value proposition, 5thScape’s holistic ecosystem and groundbreaking technology position it as the leading choice for investors aiming for maximum returns.
As always, investing in cryptocurrencies requires due diligence and a clear understanding of the risks. Diversify your portfolio wisely, and seize the opportunity to be part of these groundbreaking projects as they shape the future of digital finance and technology.
This is a sponsored article. Opinions expressed are solely those of the sponsor and readers should conduct their own due diligence before taking any action based on information presented in this article.
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