UK's FCA increases crypto crackdown / Venezuela adds Bitcoin ATM / McAfee launches exchange

Inside Bitcoin presented by Keeps.

Presented by Subscribe | View in browser Market Watch: The start of the week hasn't off well with Bitcoin dropping below $8,000 for the first time since June. XRP, however, has risen over five percent. Bitcoin: $7,963 (⬇️ 0.89%) // $143.1 billion market cap. Ethereum: $174 (⬇️ 0.55%) // $18.8 billion market cap. XRP: $0.267 (⬆️ 5.40%) // $11.5 billion market cap. Tether: $1 (⬇️ 0.66%) // $4.1 billion market cap. Bitcoin Cash: $228 (⬆️ 2.87%) // $4.1 billion market cap. Top 100 Winner: Chainlink: $2.24 (⬆️ 12.31%) // $784 million market cap. Top 100 Loser: Aurora: $0.007 (⬇️ 10.24%) // $47 million market cap. Prices are as of 4:52 p.m. EDT.       1. The U.K.'s financial regulatory body has increased its crackdown on cryptocurrency companies by 74 percent, according to data from law firm Pinsent Masons. Freedom of information requests show that the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) had 87 active investigations into crypto firms as of September 2019. This was a rise of 74 percent from last October. According to David Heffron, a partner at Pinsent Masons, the increase reflects the FCA's "hands-on and no-nonsense approach" to ensuring that the law is enforced within the crypto market. –FINANCIAL NEWS       2. Venezuela's largest retail chain has opened its first Bitcoin ATM. Traki, which has already taken steps to accept crypto payments, processing over 1,000 in August, is now going one step further. Located at the Traki store in the El Recreo mall, the Bitcoin ATM went live on Friday. It will be managed by the Venezuelan exchange platform VEINTE and, at present, users will only be able to buy Bitcoin and other crypto assets from the machine. They won't be able to trade them for fiat. –DECRYPT Why It Matters: Venezuela already has two Bitcoin ATMs, but the addition of a third highlights the country's push toward the acceptance of crypto. Interestingly, Traki's ATM will only accept U.S. dollars rather than the country's sovereign Bolivar. This is unsurprising given the fact that Venezuela has a weak economy and is battling global sanctions. In a bid to answer this, President Nicolas Maduro launched sovereign crypto, called the Petro, last year, which has largely fallen flat. Now, Maduro has said that the government is turning toward the use of crypto for payments to help his country's economy.       A MESSAGE FROM KEEPS Get 50% off hair loss treatments that actually work. Bad news: 2 out of 3 guys start losing hair by 35. Good news: Keeps makes it easy and affordable to keep (and even regrow) your hair. Get hair loss treatments that work delivered to your door for less than $1/day. The sooner you take action, the more hair you'll keep. Get 50% off your first 3 months 3. Bitcoin advocate John McAfee has launched a decentralized exchange on the Ethereum blockchain. Launched in Beta, the McAfee DEX will require no Know Your Customer verification, will block no jurisdictions and will charge a single platform fee of 0.25 percent for takers. In a tweet, McAfee said that users should "play with it." If they are patient, he added, in time enough users will join to make it real. Not only that, but it will remove the control governments have on societies, he wrote. Most important, McAfee states, his exchange can't be shut down. –COINTELEGRAPH       4. Samson Mow, chief strategy officer at blockchain firm Blockstream, had said that Bitcoin's block size may already be "too big." According to Mow, progress with the Lightning Network scaling solution means that there will be less need for on-chain capacity. Going further, Mow said that if transactions that use Segregated Witness are included, then Bitcoin's block size is around four megabytes. In Mow's opinion, for the future, this may mean that it's too big. This, however, is in contrast with others who have said that Bitcoin needs to scale to handle future demand. –DECRYPT       A MESSAGE FROM AUDIBLE Start listening with a 30-day Audible trial and your first audiobook plus two Audible Originals are free. Explore all the ways listening on Audible can help improve mind, body, and soul with entertainment, information, and inspiration. Sign up at audible.com/insidenews for your 30-day Audible free trial.   5. PayPal has become the first company to withdraw its support for Facebook's Libra currency. PayPal was one of the founding members of the Libra Association; however, it said in a statement that it had decided to "forego further participation" in the association as it continues to focus on its business priorities. Other founding members that are wavering their support for the project include Mastercard and Visa. –THE GUARDIAN Why it matters: Facebook has announced big plans for Libra but has not yet had much to show for it. PayPal's decision on Friday to leave the project is a public show of concern for the project. Facebook admitted there would be rough patches ahead, but also there could be big rewards for those that stick around. The immediate question, though is more straightforward: Will anyone else follow PayPal ot the door?       6. TipJar, a crypto service built on the Ethereum blockchain, is closing its doors. According to an announcement on Reddit, the platform said it had seen "very little activity" lately, which brought about it's decision. The TipJar Reddit bot will shut down immediately. The website will close April 10, 2020. At that point, the notice reads, TipJar won't be accessible and refunds can't be transferred. –THE BLOCK       7. Walmart and IBM are teaming up so that they can track shrimp exports from India to the U.S. on the blockchain. It's hoped that the use of the technology will help to improve the quality of information and boost consumer confidence in what they are buying. Walmart will also fund smallholders in India to gain their BAP certification. It will also support them to explore new market opportunities. –INC42       8. A UN-backed chocolate bar comes with a blockchain-based token. The Other Bar pitches itself as a social experiment and will initially run as a pilot. Those who purchase the chocolate can either donate the token back to cocoa farmers in Ecuador, which will support them to plant more trees and earn a living wage, or can be redeemed on another chocolate bar purchase, which will bring more business their way. There will be a limit of 20,000 dark and white chocolate available from October 14. –FAST COMPANY       9. Olaf Scholz, German's finance minister, has said that he is "very, very skeptical" of Facebook's Libra currency and that it should stay away from the issuance of money. However, Scholz has indicated that he sees the use of an electronic version of the euro. In his opinion, the issuance of currency shouldn't be left to private organizations. –COINTELEGRAPH       10. NBA's Sacramento Kings has unveiled a crypto token for rewarding fans. The Kings Token will be given to fans once they have sufficient "engagement." It is developed by crypto startup Blockparty and is exchangeable for "unique events, signed merchandise or courtside tickets." The King's are planning to launch their token October 25. –COIN DESK       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).       Ad Stop your hair loss before it's too late. Get 50% off your first 3 months of Keeps today. Start listening with a 30-day Audible trial and your first audiobook plus two Audible Originals are free. Visit audible.com/insidenews

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