The crypto industry is no stranger to overnight skyrocketing of prices, and overnight wipeouts as well. However, some instances stand out, and the latest is Paragon Coin. The crypto made unbelievable gains today, opening the new year in pomp and color. Paragon gained an incredible 9,690 percent in just 24 hours to hit $10 today, up from 10 cents yesterday. The rise comes at a time when the entire market is experiencing slow movements, making it all the more spectacular.
Paragon is a crypto and blockchain project that focuses solely on the cannabis industry. The project uses Paragon Coin to facilitate payments as well as for funds transfers within the network. The company also operates a co-working space for businesses in the cannabis industry, referred to by many as the ‘WeWork For Weed.’
Unbelievable Overnight Gain
As the year came to a close yesterday, Paragon was trading at $0.105. The currency wasn’t making any major headlines and was flying under the radar for most investors. However, just hours later, it made one of the most incredible and memorable price rises of all time in the crypto industry’s ten-year history.
From $0.105, the currency quickly gained 1,500 percent to hit $1.68. This was already quite noteworthy given the very slow movements in the rest of the industry for the past three days. However, it was just warming up for its breakthrough.
After a quick correction to drop back to $0.39, the currency then stepped on the gas pedal and skyrocketed to $10.28. From its lowly value of $0.105 hours earlier, Paragon had gained 9,690 percent.
The new price however didn’t hold for long and soon gave way. Within two hours, the price had dropped and stood at $5.21, almost 50 percent down. A brief fightback saw the currency hit $8.32, only to drop all the way to $0.44 three hours later.
And it wasn’t done, it then fought back to rise to $3.11 where it stood at press time.
Interestingly for Paragon, all the activity emanated from one market, the little-known STEX crypto exchange. STEX ranks 72nd by CoinMarketCap by daily trading volume. In the last 24 hours, the exchange facilitated $4.4 million worth of trades. Of this, $3.9 million was Paragon, accounting for 88 percent of the entire trade volume.
Courting Controversy
Naturally, when a cryptocurrency is designed primarily for the cannabis industry, it’s bound to grab headlines every now and then. However, for Paragon, it’s gone the extra mile and courted controversy at every possible opportunity.
In November this year, the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission issued a cease and desist order to the company. This was pursuant to the Securities Act of 1933, under which Paragon Coins were determined to be securities. The SEC ordered the company to issue claim forms to their investors, informing them that they had the right to have their investment refunded should they so desire.
Paragon isn’t one to shy from controversy however and twisted the row with the SEC to fit its narrative. Jessica VerSteeg, the CEO of Paragon stated that the company had been working on the settlement and that by mutual consent, the company would refund its investors. She described the settlement as a “trailblazing deal that we expect will serve as the model for compliance for ICOs going forward.”
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