CyprusOne hit by ransomware / Microsoft's NFTs / Crypto mining company files for bankruptcy

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Presented by Subscribe | View in browser Market Watch: Industry prices remain down today as we get closer to the end of the week. Lesser-known coin Enjin Coin, however, has risen in price by over 50 percent. Bitcoin: $7,421 (⬇️ 1.05%) // $134.2 billion market cap. Ethereum: $148 (⬇️ 1.09%) // $16.1 billion market cap. XRP: $0.216 (⬇️ 1.87%) // $9.3 billion market cap. Tether: $1.00 (⬇️ 0.08%) // $4.1 billion market cap. Top 100 Winner: Enjin Coin: $0.091 (⬆️ 50.80%) // $72 million market cap.  Top 100 Loser: Fetch.ai: $0.052 (⬇️ 11.87%) // $34 million market cap. Prices are as of 2:15 p.m. ET.       1. Texas-based data center provider CyrusOne has reportedly been hit by REvil (Sodinokibi) ransomware. The attackers warn that if the company, which is one of the biggest data centers in the U.S., doesn't comply with its demands, they will remove the affected data which they claim they have a private key to. A source has said that not all of CyrusOne's data centers have been impacted but that restoring servers and customer data will be a long process. It's not known how much is being demanded. –ZDNET       2. Microsoft's blockchain-enabled cloud platform Microsoft Azure teamed up with gaming platform Enjin to launch a new incentive scheme called Azure Heroes. According to the webpage, Microsoft describes the platform as "a new and fun way to earn digital collectibles for meaningful impact in the technical community." The tokens, which represent badger-like cartoons, aim to reward individuals for verifiable acts of impact on the Azure network. Each badger has a limited supply of units ranging from 100 to 10,000. After the announcement, Enjin Coin rose over 50 percent in value. –COIN DESK       A MESSAGE FROM THE MOTLEY FOOL 5 Stocks That Could Set You Up For Life Whether you're an experienced investor or not, having time to research stocks can be a challenge. That's where The Motley Fool comes in. We've put together an exclusive report with five stocks for building wealth, and we're offering it for free to Inside.com readers. That's right: completely free. Click here to claim your free copy of 5 Stocks For Building Wealth! 3. Throwback Thursday: PBoC bans Bitcoin On December 5, 2013, China's central bank, the People's Bank of China (PBoC), prohibited financial institutions from using Bitcoin. At the time, the PBoC and four other agencies stated that while Bitcoin didn't pose a threat to China's economy, it still carried risks. A further statement on the central bank's website said that the government would take action to prevent money laundering risks with Bitcoin. Following the news, the price of Bitcoin fell to around $420 compared to $1,250 in late November. Prior to the ban, Chinese interest in Bitcoin was increasing. However, after the news, many people started panic selling fearing that regulations could come out of the country which would see the coin's value drop even further.       4. Canada-based crypto mining company Great North Data has filed for bankruptcy. The company, which operated out of Labrador City and Happy Valley-Goose Bay, is reported to have filed for bankruptcy last month, listing $10 million in liabilities, with just $3.5 million in assets. Great North Data reportedly owes the Newfoundland and Labrador government's Business Investment Corporation over $238,000, which enabled it to secure building, land, machinery, and equipment. According to a report, the company's website is now offline. –CBC       5. Venture capital investor and crypto bull Tim Draper has called for the release of Silk Road creator Ross Ulbricht, arguing "that we need entrepreneurs like that guy." Ulbricht is currently serving two double life sentences without parole plus 40 years for creating and operating the dark web marketplace. So far, he has served six years of his sentence. Now, though, Draper is calling for his release, adding that the industry needs people like Ulbricht because of "their energy [and] their life force." –COINTELEGRAPH       6. The Bank of France confirmed that it is planning to pilot a central bank digital currency (CBDC) for financial institutions in 2020. François Villeroy de Galhau, the governor of the central bank, said that testing will take place at the end of the first quarter. According to reports, the CBDC will only target private financial players and won't involve retail payments made by individuals. –LES ECHOS       7. Ethereum decentralized exchange protocol AirSwap is running a bug bounty program and is offering rewards of up to $20,000 in altcoin Dai. Beginning now and running indefinitely, the team said that the reward will depend on the severity of the bug found, which will be determined by the AirSwap team and the OWASP risk rating model. Low bounty payments start at 250 Dai, with high ones up to 2,000 Dai. If a critical level has been reached, up to 20,000 Dai will be rewarded. –AIRSWAP TEAM/MEDIUM       8. Decentralized payment solution Dash has announced that Dash Explorer will update to Insight on January 7, 2020, at 2 p.m. GMT. In a blog post, Michael Seitz, managing director, said that the current explorer.dash.org, which is based on the Abe application programming interface (API), is "outdated." Seitz further stated that compared to Insight, Abe has "limited functionality." Once changes have been made, the Abe block explorer API will only be available at abe.dash.org. –DASH/MEDIUM       9. South Korea's telecoms provider, KT Corporation, is targeting the blockchain technology and 5G roaming with a partnership with China Mobile. According to a report, the companies are working on a blockchain system known as the B.Link to "self-analyze roaming data from the two carriers [that] can process roaming charges on a real-time basis." –THE KOREA HERALD       10. Senior U.S. financial regulators have warned the public that the adoption of stablecoins and cryptocurrencies can impact the wider economy. In its annual Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) report, it stated that financial regulators "should review existing and planned digital asset arrangements and their risks, as appropriate." Doubts over the distributed ledger technology (DLT) were also expressed, with regulators stating that the success of it "is not yet certain." –COINTELEGRAPH       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. Edited by Sheena Vasani, Inside Dev editor. Follow her on Twitter.       Ad If you want to invest better, you want The Motley Fool.

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