Novogratz: Bitcoin at $20,000 / McAfee posts jail photos / Bitcoin and 83% of Americans

Inside Bitcoin presented by TWiT Podcasts.

Presented by Subscribe | View in browser Market Watch: The market continues to re-adjust as Bitcoin drops below the $10,000 mark. Bitcoin: $9,863 (⬇️ 2.12%) // $175.9 billion market cap. Ethereum: $218 (⬇️ 1.96%) // $23.3 billion market cap. XRP: $0.317 (⬇️ 0.32%) // $13.5 billion market cap. Litecoin: $93 (⬇️ 1.39%) // $5.8 billion market cap. Top 100 Winner: Clipper Coin: $0.017 (⬆️ 13.37%) // $65 million market cap. Top 100 Loser: Aurora: $0.019 (⬇️ 19.07%) // $129 million market cap. Prices are as of 0850 EDT.       1. Bitcoin bull Mike Novogratz, founder, CEO, and chair of Digital Galaxy, has said that Bitcoin could hit $20,000 by the year's end. Speaking on Bloomberg, Novogratz, who has invested in crypto, said that with Bitcoin's move from $4,000 to $13,500 he expects the consolidation to continue. He added that the range this year could be between $10,000 and $14,000, with lows around $8,500; however, with institutions getting excited about Bitcoin again figures could go as high as $20,000. He previously said in May that Bitcoin prices would triple over the next 18 months. –BLOOMBERG       2. Crypto advocate John McAfee has posted photos of his recent four-day confinement in jail in the Dominican Republic on his Twitter page. The outspoken British-American computer programmer was arrested July 24 while docking his yacht in the city of Puerto Plata. Various ammunition was seized during his arrest. His wife Janice was also arrested and placed in the cell next to him. McAfee, who is wanted by the CIA and FBI for alleged tax evasion, is linked to the 2012 shooting of his Belize neighbor, which he denies. –CNET       A MESSAGE FROM TWIT PODCASTS 15 Tech Podcasts Covering Every Angle If you are into tech, check out the TWiT.tv podcasts. We cover the latest innovations, privacy, social media, security, plus reviews of smartphones, laptops, tablets, and wearables. If it has a chip, Leo Laporte and friends have a podcast for it. Find Your Next Favorite Podcast Here   3. Follow Friday: Maxine Ryan For this week's Follow Friday, let's turn our attention to Hong Kong-born Maxine Ryan, the co-founder of Bitspark, a stablecoin money transfer service for the unbanked and businesses. Founded in 2014 with George Harrap, the platform was the first to use cryptocurrency for money transfers without banks. Before founding Bitspark, 26-year-old Ryan was studying international relations at university in Australia. It was via a flatshare in Canberra, Australia that Ryan met Harrap. It wasn't long before the two started discussing Bitcoin after Harrap, an electrical engineer, explained the technology behind the coins he was mining in his room. Sold on the idea, Ryan dropped out of university six months before graduation, and the two got together to start a company that would help the unbanked. Even though Ryan comes from a non-tech background that hasn't stopped her from learning and embracing the crypto space. On Twitter, a pinned tweet states that the first rule of crypto is to learn about it, with the fourth stating that you should learn from your mistakes to make smarter decisions next time. With just under 5,000 followers, Ryan posts or retweets regularly. Some of her tweets include India's decision to ban crypto, the pump and dump of markets, and how Bitcoin is giving back the power to people.       4. The FBI suspects that the Long Island Iced Tea Corp.'s move to include the word blockchain may be guilty of inside trading that helped to boost stock prices up 500 percent in 2018. Now known as Long Blockchain Corp., a search warrant request is also looking into potential securities fraud linked to the Long Island Iced Tea stock. It has since been removed from the Nasdaq Stock Market. –QUARTZ       A MESSAGE FROM MAILCHIMP Your marketing's gaining traction! Now what? Give your audience more of what they love. Mailchimp's all-in-one Marketing Platform has the data and real-time stats you need to understand campaign performance, monitor trends, track marketing campaigns over time and understand your customers so you can market smarter.     Learn More 5. A crypto gaming company has been given the green light by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to issue blockchain tokens after it found they weren't securities. The game, Pocketful of Quarters (PoQ), received a reply from the SEC regarding its proposed Quarters tokens, stating that it doesn't "recommend enforcement." This, however, is as long as PoQ only sells the tokens to users for accessing and participating in games. –COINTELEGRAPH       6. The head of a Bitcoin escrow platform has been charged with cheating investors out of $7 million. Jon Barry Thompson, principal of Volatnis Escrow Platform LLC, is accused of making misleading statements regarding risks to investments and the custody and control of crypto assets. He is reported to have preyed on customers' lack of information. If found guilty he faces a maximum sentence of 40 years. –COIN DESK       7. An investigation asserts that it has uncovered a plan by Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his administration that appears to use a digital wallet app that turns airport taxes into cryptocurrency in a bid to avoid sanctions. According to Spanish newspaper ABC, it states that the funds were transferred to exchanges in China, Hong Kong, Hungary, and Russia before being converted and sent back to Venezuela. –COIN DESK       8. American grocery store chain Safeway is giving its customers 3.5 percent back in Bitcoin on all purchases across 894 locations in 17 states. Teaming up with Bitcoin rewards shopping app Lolli, customers will be rewarded in Satoshis – one hundred millionth of one Bitcoin, which is the smallest unit – giving them the chance to hold and own the cryptocurrency. –COINTELEGRAPH       9. A new report has found that 83 percent of Americans would consider an investment into Bitcoin as market prices go up. The study by digital asset management fund Grayscale Investments found that rather than being a male-dominated environment, 43 percent of women indicated their interest in investing compared to 57 percent for men. A further 80 percent of women said they were interested in Bitcoin's growth potential, just ahead of men at 78 percent. –COINTELEGRAPH       10. Norwegian Air Shuttle is to accept Bitcoin after businessman Bjørn Kjos and his family set up a cryptocurrency exchange. The platform, Norwegian Block Exchange, is projected to launch in August. The aim is to enable customers to pay for their flight tickets in the autumn. –DAGENS NAERINGSLIV       This newsletter was written and curated by Rebecca Campbell. She has been writing and reporting on various industries for the past 10 years, more specifically tech in the last three. Connect with her on Twitter. Editor: David Stegon (senior editor at Inside, whose reporting experience includes cryptocurrency and technology).

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