📌 Twitter's Blockchain Future, The Crypto Holiday Surge, and BTC Goes Anti-Nuclear

MUST READS  A Decentralized Twitter? Twitter and Square founder and dual CEO, Jack Dorsey went on a tweet storm today to announce a new project dubbed @bluesky, which aims to be a new independent effort to develop a decentralized standard for social media. As Ryan Selkis from Messari put it: "Here's to hoping that Jack's motives are good, and this isn't a publicity stunt. It would be incredible for the future of free speech and censor-resistant information..."   Bakkt Rolls Out Cash-Settled Bitcoin Futures As CEO Enters U.S. Senate Last month, Bitcoin futures platform Bakkt announced plans to offer cash-settled Bitcoin futures contracts, as opposed to only offering a physically-settled product. The news was initially met with skepticism as cash-settled Bitcoin futures neither transact any Bitcoin nor hold Bitcoin in custody. Yet with Bakkt CEO Kelly Loeffler as the recently announced Senator-designate for the U.S. state of Georgia, many have returned to an optimistic perspective in terms of Bakkt's future...    SPONSORED  Is Washington on the Verge of a Massive Announcement? This top financial expert just returned from a private meeting with members of the Senate Financial Services Committee… And he's got his hands on a major announcement. He says, "In 3 decades, I've NEVER seen anything like this. Every retiree and investor in America should be alert." Click here to watch the full briefing.    DEEP DIVE  Lessons from the Russian Ruble Collapse and What it May Tell us About Bitcoin When a crisis hits, what does an investor do? Weep and accept their fate or learn from the mistakes of the past? Our friend Chris Macintosh of Capitalist Exploits penned this recent article comparing the collapse of the Russian Ruble in 1998 (and the markets subsequent pivot to the USD)... to what populations will move to in future market uncertainties now that the USD is a manipulated monster. Hint: It's Bitcoin.   Bitcoin Price Increases During Holidays Again, But Not Because of FOMO New research from SFOX suggests that increased BTC price movement may still correlate with holidays — in which case, the crypto market may want to watch BTC closely in the coming weeks.   Cryptocurrency 101 in the South Bronx A public-school teacher in Morrisania, the poorest congressional district in the country, has gone on a crusade to help "the unbanked."   Crypto Funds Are Closing While the Biggest Investors Stand Aside "Just wait until institutional investors jump in" has long been a rallying call for crypto enthusiasts... Unfortunately, it looks like we'll have to keep waiting... Nearly 70 crypto-focused hedge funds that largely cater to institutional investors, such as pension funds and family offices, have closed this year. Additionally, the number of new funds launched is less than half the amount started in 2018, according to U.S.-based Crypto Fund Research.   2019 Was The Year of DeFi (and Why 2020 Will be Too) So far in the story of blockchain, every year can be distilled to one overarching trend. In 2009, the narrative was Bitcoin. In 2015, it was Ethereum. 2017 brought the world Initial Coin Offerings. The answer for 2019 is unmistakable... The decentralized finance (DeFi) movement was by far the most impactful trend within the crypto and blockchain ecosystem. Here's why... along with some 2020 predictions.   A Look at Innovation in Bitcoin's Technology Stack So much is happening at the many layers of Bitcoin's tech stack, that it's incredibly difficult to keep track of... This beautiful diagram (not exhaustive) is an attempt to map all relatively new initiatives and showcase a more complete picture of Bitcoin's evolving infrastructure. At the end of the day, it's impressive to see that innovation is being pushed on all fronts. This is a perfect post for any of those who claim "BTC is old technology."    SPONSORED  Do You Own Gold?   Somebody just decided to buy a LOT of gold. And we think we know why... it's all about a meeting that's scheduled for January 20.   If you own gold (even just a few ounces of it) you've got to see what's happening.    The big announcement is just days away. Click here now.    REGULATORY FRONT  🇫🇷 Report: Bank of France to Test Digital Currency in 2020 In a conference last week hosted by the French Prudential Supervision and Resolution Authority (ACPR), the central bank's governor François Villeroy de Galhau said that the bank will start testing digital currency soon and "will launch a call for projects before the end of the first quarter of 2020." It's just a matter of time before every central bank pursues this strategy...   Denuclearization, but on the Blockchain Worried about nuclear war ending human civilization? Bitcoin fixes this.    TWEET OF THE WEEK  Other Articles You May Enjoy Ticketmaster wants to use smart contracts to support millions of ticket sales   Lithuania will offer the world's first collectible crypto token in 2020 🇱🇹   U.S. based bitcoin mining farm raises $70M   Crypto Credit Report Q3 2019   Three men arrested for running alleged 722 million crypto ponzi scheme   Mark Cuban says 'no chance' for bitcoin to become a reliable currency   Huobi US Is abruptly halting exchange operations   Crypto lender BlockFi rolls out zero-fee trading for bitcoin, ether, GUSD   Brave passes 10M monthly active users and sees 19% growth since 1.0 launch   Power efficient hardware dominates bitcoin mining in Q3 as hardware arms race unfolds   The total number of bitcoin addresses that hold any amount of BTC has hit an all-time high   Are you more optimistic or pessimistic for crypto in 2020? 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