Crypto custody $250k bounty / Over 1,000 crypto mining licenses in Iran / Tim Draper's advice to millennials

Inside Bitcoin.

Presented by Subscribe | View in browser Market Watch: Coin prices are in the green during Monday trading, starting the week off on a positive note. Bitcoin: $8,660 (⬆️ 3.15%) // $157.4 billion market cap. Ethereum: $168 (⬆️ 3.61%) // $18.4 billion market cap. XRP: $0.229 (⬆️ 3.27%) // $10.01 billion market cap. Bitcoin Cash: $361 (⬆️ 13.91%) // $6.5 billion market cap. Top 100 Winner: Quant: $3.73 (⬆️ 16.85%) // $44 million market cap. Top 100 Loser: V Systems: $0.032 (⬇️ 1.87%) // $61 million market cap. Prices are as of 1:35 p.m. ET. 1. Russian government-backed corporation Rostec is planning to cut its spending on blockchain development by around 50 percent. According to the company, it intends to spend $453.2 million on blockchain technologies in Russia by 2024. This is compared to the original $877.8 million to $1.3 billion. The use of the technology in product labeling will cost $10.3 million, the healthcare system will require $18.6 million, the tracking of counterfeit and pharmaceuticals consumption will see the need of $9.1 million, and the blockchain in housing services will require $7.5 million. -KOMMERSANT 2. Israel-based crypto custody startup GK8 is offering a reward of up to $250,000 in Bitcoin to someone if they can successfully hack their cold wallet. The 24-hour program starts at 9 a.m. EST on February 3, according to the company. The wallet contains around $125,000 worth of Bitcoin; however, GK8 will be giving an extra $125,000 reward. GK8 has said that their wallet is "totally unhackable" as it uses "ultra-secure" multi-party computation (MPC) cryptography technology. Lior Lamesh, co-founder and CEO of GK8, said: "We dare the hackers of the world to take a stab at cracking it, but they won't be able to." -THE BLOCK 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. More than 1,000 licenses have been issued to crypto miners in Iran, which have been provided by the nation's Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade. Last June, Iran legalized crypto mining, which has been an attractive location for miners because of its cheap power. For one kilowatt-hour (kWh) of energy, for instance, miners are charged around $0.11; however, from June to September, charges are higher at $0.46 per kWh. According to Amir Hossein Saeedi Naeini, an official at the ministry, the crypto mining industry has the potential to add $8.5 billion to Iran's economy. -FINANCIAL TRIBUNE 4. Billionaire investor Tim Draper has said that millennials should buy Bitcoin. Draper, the founder of Draper University among other associations, made his comments during an interview with Fox Business. According to the venture capital investor, Bitcoin is important to millennials who are seeking to set money aside for their retirement, adding that setting money aside like the older generation won't cut it in today's economy. "I think if you really want it to work, I think you go Bitcoin or crypto," he said. -FOX BUSINESS 5. Research shows that U.S. regulatory uncertainty is the biggest issue for crypto companies. The Block Genesis's Digital Asset Human Capital Trends Report found that 91 percent of organizations interviewed cited "regulatory uncertainty" as a hurdle. According to Michelle Bond, global head of government and regulatory affairs for Ripple, it's a "real fear", which is why it's "hard to rely on and set up businesses." -THE BLOCK 6. Crypto exchange Binance is one company that has pledged money to help victims of the coronavirus in Wuhan, China. In a tweet posted on Saturday, CEO Changpeng Zhao stated that the platform had promised to donate $1.5 million. The company has also bought 8,000 medical masks to assist but Zhao confirmed, at the time, that they were "having difficulties" sending them to Wuhan. He added: "If you know of logistics channels that still work, please do share." -ASIA TIMES 7. India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi has awarded crypto app developer Harshita Arora with the Bal Shakti Puraskar 2020, despite the country's uncertain stance on cryptocurrencies. The award comes at a time when India's Supreme Court is hearing cases involving crypto. Last week, the nation's central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), stated that it hadn't banned cryptocurrencies in the country. -CRYPTOPOLITAN 8. Research shows that there are now nearly 80,000 registered blockchain firms in China. That's according to information from crypto firm LongHash. It found that as of January 26, there were 79,556 blockchain companies in the country; however, it also highlighted that 57,257 had lost their legal status or their licenses had been canceled. -COINTELEGRAPH 9. Following Sunday's death of National Basketball Association (NBA) player Kobe Bryant, the Tron Foundation has said that it will dedicate its 2020 niTROn Summit to him. Bryant, who has taken part in Tron events in the past, died yesterday, along with his 13-year-old daughter and others, in a helicopter crash near Los Angeles. The niTROn Summit will be held from February 29 to March 1. -@TRONFOUNDATION/TWITTER 10. South Korea's Military Manpower Administration has teamed up with Raonsecure, a cybersecurity company, to upgrade its biometric ID solution using the blockchain. Soon-Hyung Lee, CEO of Raonsecure, said that there is a growing demand for connected identity and Fast Identity Online (FIDO) authentication with the aid of the blockchain. The blockchain-ID solution will be jointly developed with blockchain startup ICONLOOP. -TOKENPOST 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 If you want to invest better, you want The Motley Fool.

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