Good morning and welcome to the stock market today! The Dow Jones Industrial Average is celebrating its birthday, the long weekend is getting closer, and Webkinz is trending on social media today. All of those things are clearly of equal importance. So with all of this in mind, what will the stock market do today?

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• The S&P 500 is up 0.15%
• The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 0.11%
• The Nasdaq Composite is up 0.47%

So what else will the stock market do today? Here are some of the top stories.

What Will the Stock Market Do Today? Make a Ripple.

There is perhaps no better illustration of the tricky regulatory landscape for cryptocurrencies than Ripple, the company behind XRP (CCC:XRP-USD). Over the last several months, Ripple has been going to bat with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. In question is whether its XRP is a currency or a security — and if Ripple participated in an illegal securities offering. Although judges have given XRP bulls a few positive indicators, the legal journey is far from over.

That is not stopping Ripple from gaining ground today.

The company, which itself is talking about coming public, is the center of a few positive headlines. Despite regulatory threats hanging overhead, it seems that partners, crypto investors and business experts are hot on the fintech company.

One show of this is that Ripple earned a spot on the Top 50 Disrupter list from CNBC, thanks to its focus on transforming cross-border payments. This is a key driver of interest in Ripple, and in its XRP cryptocurrency. It also good be a deciding factor in the ongoing lawsuit — its focus on these payments gives it status as a currency, and a use that is unique from Bitcoin (CCC:BTC-USD).

Additionally, Ripple and XRP are demonstrating that they can grow their financial and cryptocurrency ecosystem. Ripple announced just yesterday that Oman was signing onto its payments platform through its second-largest bank. As a result, customers will be able to send money at ultra-fast speeds between Oman and India.

So what is the bottom line? Ripple highlights that the threat of regulation is not always enough to cool the altcoin frenzy. As it continues to push ahead, look for XRP to regain some of its legitimacy.

You can read more about the latest Ripple crypto news here.

Pack Your Bags: Bitcoin Miners Are on the Move

Last week, the Chinese government threatened to crack down on Bitcoin miners in the country, causing a selloff in the cryptocurrency markets. Not only was this further evidence of changing regulatory sentiment, it raised real questions for Bitcoin bulls. In 2020, China was responsible for more than half of the new BTC mined.

However, just a few days after the headline shock, miners say they are ready to pack their bags. Talking with Reuters, executives from several prominent mining firms say they will face high demand elsewhere and are willing to relocate. BIT Mining (NYSE:BTCM), which is headquartered in Shenzhen, has already entered a deal to invest in a mining facility in Kazakhstan. Canaan (NYSE:CAN) says it is looking at similar markets.

According to these executives, other regions in the world offer more predictable stances on regulation and greater energy resources. This is one of the reasons Kazakhstan is appealing, and it is also driving talk of relocation to Canada, Afghanistan and North Europe.

Investors should note that this talk of relocation comes just days after Elon Musk said he spoke with North American BTC miners. This coalition is pushing forward with ESG goals, as Musk zeroes in on crypto energy consumption.

Bonus Story: Not everything in the mining world is peachy today. Iran has banned cryptocurrency mining for fourth months as the nation deals with ongoing power blackouts.

What Else We’re Watching

• Hot Vax Summer continues, and out-of-office season is officially starting. As American workers get ready to take some PTO this weekend, state and local officials are pushing Covid-19 vaccines. New York City is even encouraging beachgoers to get a shot on their way.
• Today marks the 125th birthday of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Read more here from the Wall Street Journal about the long life of the market bellwether.
• Meme stonk GameStop (NYSE:GME) continues to fuel its rise, this time with non-fungible tokens. The video game retailer is currently recruiting for a team to help build out NFTs. Rosie Perper writes for HYPEBEAST that the company has also launched its own GME Token.
• Metals miners are mourning a decision yesterday by President Joe Biden. In a push to embrace electric vehicles, Biden said the U.S. will source necessary metals from allied countries. Although this will likely create jobs for domestic companies that can process those metals, it strikes a blow to U.S. miners. One possible reason for this is that the White House does not want to raise environmental concerns by issuing new mining licenses.