Coinbase Criticism / Woz Interview / Empty Blocks / Roger Ver Investment

Subscribe | View in browser $BTC (1:42 p.m. EST): $3,85.65 (-0.03%) // 90-day high: $6,286.41 // 90-day low: $3,286.14 / / More… $BCH ABC (1:42 p.m. EST): $133.82 (-0.25%) // 90-day high: $432.88// 90-day low: $80.95 // More… $ETH (1:43 p.m. EST): $138.16 (0.82%) // 90-day high: $201.35 // 90-day low: $86.08 // More… $LTC (1:43 p.m. EST): $45.40 (0.28%) // 90-day high: $49.19 // 90-day low: $22.09 // More… $XRP (1:43 p.m. EST): $0.31 (-1.15%) // 90-day high: $0.52 // 90-day low: $0.28 // More…       1. Members of the cryptocurrency community have criticized Coinbase for its acquisition of Neutrino because of its founders ties to an infamous Italian surveillance company. Neutrino's CEO, CTO and chief research officer, were also leaders at Hacking Group, which was caught several times selling spyware to governments with questionable human rights records, such as Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia, and Sudan. Francis Pouliot, co-founder of Bull Bitcoin, said Hacking Team was "a pro-government mercenary hacker firm that gave Saudis tools/consulting to track/eliminate dissidents," adding, "run!" Coinbase said it "does not condone nor will it defend" the founders' previous actions. –VICE       2. Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak said bitcoin has seen "massive value creation" during a wide-ranging interview with Bloomberg. Wozniak, a co-founder of the blockchain-focused venture fund, EQUI Global, refuted the reporters statement that bitcoin has seen a large loss of value. Wozniak said he largely ignores the price of bitcoin as psychology can drive market dips. He said he sold all of his bitcoin last year at the height of its price, a statement he has made before. –COIN TELEGRAPH       Ad What's new in the entirely reimagined Jira Software? Just about everything. The next generation of Jira has arrived, featuring new roadmaps, more flexible boards, an overhauled configuration experience, and dozens of new integrations. And that's just the beginning. See what you're missing in the entirely reimagined Jira Software. Simpler and more powerful than ever before.      3. Bitcoin miners for ethereum, bitcoin cash, zcash, and litecoin have received millions of dollars over the past year for mining empty or "lite" blocks, according to the latest issue of Diar. The publication states these miners have been paid for "doing nothing," but that is not quite the case. These chains sometime feature empty blocks because of low use. The miners confirm and secure the blocks, receiving a reward for their trouble. Of course, the reward is small but it requires little work. Diar reports that miners receive on average about $5 million on each chain every month. Ethereum actually hast the most open blocks and paid miners $65 million in 2017 to mine them. –DIAR       4. The Pangea Blockchain Fund closed a $22 million seed round that included investment from Bitcoin.com CEO Roger Ver. Based in Switzerland, Pangea plans to invest in "transformative" blockchain startups around the world. The goal is to find companies with commercial industrial applications for blockchain. The fund has no plans to direct invest in cryptocurrency. The round also included investment from Copernicus Asset Management, a Swiss firm that is regulated by the country's Financial Market Supervisory Authority. –COINDESK       Ad Engineers Build Business with GitPrime Ship faster because you know more, not because you're rushing. GitPrime aggregates historical git data into easy to understand insights and reports, to help make engineering teams more successful. Debug your development process with objective data. Get started today. 5. With just two days left in the month bitcoin is on pace to end its six-month losing stream. The coin is trading about 10 percent higher now since the beginning of the month. If this price holds, bitcoin will have been in the green in February for the fifth consecutive year. –COINDESK                                          6. Tron CEO Justin Sun told Chinese cryptocurrency outlet Huoxing24 (English translation) that he believes bitcoin has reached its bottom but he is not optimistic a near-term breakout is coming. –ETHEREUMWORLD NEWS 7. Café Cryptoria plans to open next month in Las Vegas where customers can pay for their meal with bitcoin or ethereum. –EATER 8. Florida lawmakers introduced legislation that would create a working group to study practical uses for blockchain technology. –GOVERNMENT TECHNOLOGY 9. The Litecoin Foundation announced another fight-related partnership, this time with Glory Kickboxing. The foundation recently became a sponsor for the UFC, as well. –THE BODY LOCK MMA 10. Days after launching liquiding indices for bitcoin and ethereum, Nasdaq is in the final stages of doing the same for Ripple's XRP. –CRYPTO SLATE Correction: Yesterday we made two silly errors in our newsletter. Bitcoin transacted $1.3 trillion in volume, not $1.3 billion. Also, the largest bitcoin investors hold 2.29 million BTC coins, not 2.29 billion. I am sorry for the errors.       Written and curated by David Stegon. He has been a reporter for 15 years, the past 10 focused on technology. Follow him @davidstegon. Editing team: Kim Lyons (managing editor at Inside, a Pittsburgh-based journalist with recent bylines in the NYTimes and Columbia Journalism Review.) and Susmita Baral (senior editor at Inside, recent bylines in NatGeo, Teen Vogue, and Quartz. Runs the biggest mac and cheese account on Instagram).       Ad A reimagined Jira Software. Simpler and more powerful than ever before. 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