[PRESS RELEASE – London, United Kingdom, May 9th, 2025]

Vector Smart Chain (VSC), a Layer 1 blockchain protocol, has announced two strategic developments: the implementation of a fixed $4 gas fee model and the appointment of Peter Ritchie, former Chief Financial Officer at CitiGroup Finance, as Strategic Finance Executive Consultant. These initiatives mark a shift in VSC’s operational and leadership structure, aiming to support network scalability and financial oversight.

These developments signal VSC’s growing influence at the intersection of blockchain innovation and institutional-grade finance.

Breaking the Mold: VSC Introduces Fixed $4 Gas Fee

In a space dominated by volatile transaction fees and scalability challenges, VSC’s flat-rate $4 gas fee provides predictable costs, greater accessibility, and enhanced user confidence.

“The $4 gas fee isn’t arbitrary—it’s carefully designed to balance network security and accessibility,” said a VSC spokesperson. “We’re removing the guesswork from blockchain.”

VSC’s hybrid consensus mechanism ensures high throughput and near-instant transaction finality, making it ideal for enterprise adoption and real-world applications such as asset tokenization.

Backed by this innovation, major platforms are already moving. Notably, BESC Exchange recently announced its migration from Solana to VSC.

“We believe VSC’s infrastructure and economics offer the highest upside,” said Brian, Executive at BESC LLC.

Strategic Leadership: Peter Ritchie Joins VSC

To support its rapid growth and sustainability-focused vision, VSC has welcomed Peter Ritchie—former CFO of CitiGroup Finance—to help drive global financial strategy.

Ritchie brings decades of institutional finance experience and will play a pivotal role in:

• Designing blockchain-based sustainable finance frameworks
• Advancing VSC’s carbon initiatives
• Guiding enterprise and institutional integration

“This isn’t just about blockchain—it’s about building a transparent, resilient financial future,” Ritchie said. “VSC is uniquely positioned to lead that evolution.”

Next-Gen Blockchain with Real-World Utility

With transparent network operations via VSC Explorer, deflationary tokenomics (including a $1 buy-and-burn per transaction), and a mission to bring blockchain to mainstream finance, VSC continues to build a robust, accessible, and sustainable ecosystem.

About Vector Smart Chain

Vector Smart Chain (VSC) is a Layer 1 blockchain protocol designed to deliver cost predictability, transparency, and institutional-grade performance. Its fixed $4 gas fee and hybrid consensus mechanism power next-generation decentralized applications, real-world asset tokenization, and carbon market integrations.

Users can learn more at vsgofficial.com

This week, we examine Ethereum, Ripple, Cardano, Solana, and Hype in greater detail.

Ethereum (ETH)

In an impressive reversal, Ethereum saw its price increase by 32% this week as it crossed above $2,000. At the time of this post, buyers are trying to confirm the $2,400 level as a key support. If successful, then ETH has a clear path towards $3,000 next.

This rally has surprised the market that was rather pessimistic about Ethereum. However, since the bottom at $1,400, the likelihood of a relief rally was high and is now materializing.

Looking ahead, Ethereum appears determined to follow Bitcoin which has recently crossed above $100,000. A pullback after such a rally is likely, but the momentum remains bullish with a good chance for higher highs later.

Ripple (XRP)

XRP’s volatility continues to remain lower compared to competitors, but still managed to book a respectable 6% price increase this week. This took it above $2.3 which is now acting as a support.

If buyers can sustain and increase this momentum, then they can aim for $2.6 in the coming days, where sellers returned in the past. Hopefully, a second attempt will be successful so that XRP can challenge the resistance at $3 in the future.

Looking ahead, this cryptocurrency has been consolidating between $2 and $3 since November 2024. Whenever the price will leave this range the volatility will explode and see it move much faster.

Cardano (ADA)

Cardano had a great week and closed with a 12% price increase. This allowed it to get closer to the $0.9 resistance. Another push can see buyers attempt a breakout towards $1 in the future.

The momentum is in a clear uptrend with higher lows and higher highs. The indicators such as the MACD and RSI are also mirroring this and support continuation of this price action.

Looking ahead, ADA’s first major challenge will be at the $0.9 resistance. If that level turns into a key support, then the price will have a clear path to challenge $1 and the previous high at $1.3.

Solana (SOL)

Solana’s price action is similar to ADA and managed to close the week with a 12% increase as well. This has placed SOL comfortably above $150 as it aims for higher highs.

With buyers in control, this cryptocurrency has a key target at $186. The support is at $152 and was not tested after its recent breakout. This makes a pullback likely before continuation.

Looking ahead, Solana is well on its way to returning to a $200 price. Sellers may make their presence felt on the way there, but the bullish momentum is strong enough to make a serious attempt in the coming weeks.

Hype (HYPE)

HYPE is the second-best performer on our list this week, with an impressive 21% price increase. The resistance at $21 was unable to stop buyers, who rushed to this cryptocurrency and pushed it towards $25 today.

The former resistance at $21 will now act as a key support and as long as HYPE’s price stays above this level, then the rally can continue towards new highs.

Looking ahead, the most important resistances on the chart right now are found at $24 and $28. At the time of this post, buyers and sellers are fighting around $24, and the winner will set the trend in the coming days.

TL;DR

• ETH surged by 23% in 24 hours to over $2,400, sparking bullish predictions of $4K to even $25K.
• XRP jumped 9% daily to $2.40 amid optimism from the settlement between Ripple and the SEC, with analysts eyeing a potential breakout past $2.80 toward new all-time highs.
• PEPE skyrocketed by more than 50% weekly, hitting its highest price since January, boosted by whale accumulation and a revitalized crypto market.

ETH’s Impressive Comeback

The second-largest cryptocurrency, which has been among the biggest disappointments this cycle, finally managed to reverse the negative trend. In the past several days, Ethereum’s price has been going through the roof, and currently, it is worth over $2,400 (per CoinGecko’s data). This represents a whopping 23% increase in just 24 hours and the asset’s best daily performance since 2021.

Somewhat expected, the rally infused enthusiasm across the crypto community, and many analysts believe the current levels could mark the beginning of a major bull run. 

The X user Lucky recently predicted a jump towards $4,000 in the following months. Shortly after, the analyst with over two million followers on X claimed that “the sleeping monster is finally waking up” and “is aiming for greater moves.”

Other popular industry participants who gave their two cents on the matter include Merlijn The Trader and KALEO.

The former saw an analogy between Ethereum’s price chart in the past three years and that of bitcoin formed between 2019 and 2021 to forecast a price explosion to $12,000 by the start of 2026. For their part, KALEO envisioned an even more optimistic scenario:

“In a world where Bitcoin is heading to $500K+, $25K+ ETH almost sounds too bearish.”

What’s Next for XRP?

Ripple’s native token is also well in the green on a daily scale, albeit charting less substantial gains than ETH. As of this writing, it trades at roughly $2.40, a 9% increase for that timeframe.

Its resurgence could be attributed to the booming crypto market as well as the recent developments in the Ripple v. SEC lawsuit. Just recently, the two entities agreed to a $50 million settlement, potentially ending the years-long legal battle that began in 2020 over alleged unregistered XRP sales. 

According to numerous analysts, Ripple’s cross-border token seems well-positioned for a further pump in the short term. The X user CRYPTOWZRD thinks a possible breakout of the resistance at $2.80 could push XRP toward a new all-time high.

Ali Martinez chipped in several hours later, predicting that a rise above the $2.26 mark might ignite a jump to $2.60. As mentioned above, the price managed to surpass that zone. 

How’s PEPE Doing?

Last but not least, we will touch upon the frog-themed meme coin PEPE, which has been among the top performers in the past week. It is up 52% for that period and over 42% for the day, currently trading at its highest point since January this year. 

Some of the elements supposedly fueling its staggering surge include the revival of the digital asset market and increased whale activity. As CryptoPotato reported, a certain large investor recently bought 500B PEPE, rounding up their total holdings to 2 trillion tokens.