Ripple raises $200m / Armstrong's Bitcoin email patent / Crypto-Currency Act of 2020

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Presented by Subscribe | View in browser Market Watch: In a reversal from yesterday's prices, the market has made a rebound with most coins in the green during trading today. Bitcoin: $7,212 (⬆️ 0.98%) // $130.6 billion market cap. Ethereum: $128 (⬆️ 0.95%) // $14 billion market cap. XRP: $0.194 (⬆️ 3.18%) // $8.4 billion market cap. Tether: $1.01 (⬆️ 0.23%) // $4.1 billion market cap. Top 100 Winner: Matic Network: $0.015 (⬆️ 22.32%) // $39 million market cap. Top 100 Loser: Centrality: $0.110 (⬇️ 8.93%) // $118 million market cap. Prices are as of 12:30 p.m. ET.       1. Blockchain payments company Ripple has reportedly raised $200 million in a Series C funding round. Led by Tetragon, a closed-ended investment company, others who were involved in the funding include SBI Holdings and venture capital firm Route 66 Ventures. According to an announcement from Ripple, 2019 has been its "strongest year of growth to date," which has seen its global payments network RippleNet grow to more than 300 customers worldwide. Ripple further highlighted that the network has customers in over 45 countries and six continents, with payment capabilities in 70 countries. The money raised during the latest funding round will go toward boosting the company's global talent as it works to meet market demand. –RIPPLE       2. Brian Armstrong, Coinbase CEO, has patented a system that enables people to transact Bitcoin via email. It was reportedly first filed back in March 2015; however, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) only awarded the method on December 17, 2019. As a result, users can conduct Bitcoin payments - if they so wished - using email addresses that are tied to crypto wallet addresses. They can do this without incurring any transaction fees. The emails themselves serve as identifiers for users' wallet addresses that are stored in the system. One Twitter user, @Maiirye, isn't convinced, arguing that this "moves us one step closer to 'non anonymous' transactions." –COINTELEGRAPH       A MESSAGE FROM DIGITAL OCEAN A partner program that wants to reward its partners by bringing powerful cloud to SMBs. Partner with DigitalOcean as a Cloud Reseller or MSP. Managing your customers' infrastructure has never been more simple & affordable. Join today! Sign Up 3. Follow Friday: Pat Duffy Duffy is the co-founder of The Giving Block, a platform that makes it easy for nonprofits to accept cryptocurrency. He is also the director at the BlockShopDC, a blockchain hub in Washington, D.C. that's dedicated to building blockchain solutions. Prior to entering the crypto space, Duffy was a federal consultant for pharmaceutical companies, with a focus on collaborating with nonprofits. He then moved his intentions to the nonprofit industry, focusing on operations and fundraising. Merging his nonprofit experience with crypto trading, Duffy now designs initiatives that are focused on increasing nonprofit outcomes and crypto adoption. With fewer than 1,000 followers on Twitter, Duffy's posts have focused on topics like Bitcoin Tuesday and how donating crypto can lower a person's taxes.       4. U.S. Congressman Paul Gosar (R-Arizona) is reported to have introduced a draft bill that aims to bring regulatory clarity to the crypto market. Known as the Crypto-Currency Act of 2020, it was introduced to the U.S. House of Representatives and is seeking to clear up which federal agencies should regulate cryptocurrency. According to a report, the bill is divided into three parts: "crypto-commodities," "crypto-securities," and "crypto-currencies." Proposed to regulate crypto commodities is the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), while crypto securities would fall under the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) would regulate cryptocurrencies. –THE BLOCK       5. According to CNN, Bitcoin is the "star investment" of the past 10 years. Taking a report produced by the Bank of America Securities, if a person invested $1 into Bitcoin at the start of the decade, it would now be worth over $90,000. Not only that, but it did better than traditional investment choices such as commodities, bonds, and stocks. For instance, $1 in American stocks would now be worth $3.46, whereas the same investment in a 30-year Treasury bond would only bring in $2.08. Turning to gold, $1 would amount to $1.34, and if someone had invested in crude oil, their $1 investment would only be worth 74 cents. –CNN BUSINESS       6. Crypto platform Binance has invested an undisclosed amount in derivatives platform FTX as the two form a strategic partnership. According to a recent announcement, Binance has purchased equity in the company as well as long positions in the FTX token FTT. FTX founder and CEO Sam Bankman-Fried said that "the investment will help accelerate the growth of FTX." –COIN DESK       7. Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple, has predicted that 20 of the biggest banks will trade crypto in 2020. Not only that, but he believes that the market will see some "consolidation" within crypto companies, meaning that many will probably disappear, adding that "the world doesn't need 2000+ digital assets." –U TODAY       8. Italy is turning its attention to the blockchain to boost transparency and reduce fraud with its Silician blood oranges. The ROUGE project, which stands for the Red Orange Upgrading Green Economy, has been created by several stakeholders, including the Blood Oranges of Sicily PGI Consortium. The use of the blockchain comes after reports noted that batches of blood oranges from South Africa were being passed off as Silician blood oranges. –FOOD NAVIGATOR       9. As 2019 comes to an end, bringing with it the last 10 years in the crypto space, CNBC claims that Jamie Dimon's remarks on Bitcoin in 2017 still serve as a warning. Prior to Bitcoin attaining its all-time high of $20,000 in December 2017, the CEO of JPMorgan stated that Bitcoin was a "fraud" and that it was "worse than tulip bulbs." –CNBC       10. Brazil has had its first partnership notarized using the blockchain. Local startup Growth Tech carried out the process with its Notary Ledger platform, which provides services using IBM's cloud-based blockchain platform. A digital identity was created for Diego Vale and Guilherme Mesquita. A certificate was confirmed by two officers and digitally signed by the couple. A physical certificate was also produced by the registry office, which took 20 minutes to complete. –ZDNET       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.         Ad Deploy modern web apps faster for your clients with simple, predictable pricing.

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