SEC requests Telegram bank details / CME Group's Bitcoin futures / Chinese crypto manual's second printing

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Presented by Subscribe | View in browser Market Watch: Monday trading sees Bitcoin back over $8,000. Bitcoin Cash is once again ahead of Tether, replacing it in fourth position; however, the market cap between them is marginal. Bitcoin: $8,086 (⬇️ 1.00%) // $146.8 billion market cap. Ethereum: $143 (⬇️ 1.15%) // $15.6 billion market cap. XRP: $0.210 (⬇️ 2.28%) // $9.1 billion market cap. Bitcoin Cash: $263 (⬇️ 1.31%) // $4.7 billion market cap. Top 100 Winner: DxChain Token: $0.001 (⬆️ 26.74%) // $56 million market cap. Top 100 Loser: MaidSafeCoin: $0.097 (⬇️ 8.29%) // $42 million market cap. Prices are as of 1:20 p.m. ET.       1. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is asking for Telegram to provide bank details regarding its Gram initial coin offering (ICO). The request from the SEC comes at a time when new evidence has surfaced which alleges that underwriters requested commission fees for the sale of the Telegram tokens. According to Philip Moustakis, attorney at Seward & Kissel LLP and former SEC counsel, he believes "that the court will eventually require Telegram to turn over the bank records that the SEC seeks." The SEC started its investigation into Telegram's token offering in October. The SEC is arguing that the token sale was an unregistered sale of securities. -COINTELEGRAPH       2. Bitcoin futures provider CME Group has shared data that shows that its futures contracts saw open interest almost 70 percent higher than at the end of 2019. Showing the data on Twitter, it indicates that open interest was among the highest ever last week, lagging slightly behind highs from June. At the time of the June interest, the price of Bitcoin was trading around $13,800; however, in the last week, the crypto asset has risen from lows of $7,000 to over $8,000. -@CMEGROUP       A MESSAGE FROM ANDELA Scaling your engineering team in 2020? Here's (nearly) everything you need to know about hiring [e-book]. Hiring new talent is a challenge for all companies. It's even more difficult to hire talented engineers, who will also mesh well with your company culture. Read this guide to learn (nearly) everything there is to know about hiring developers. Read it Now 3. A digital currency manual for Chinese officials has entered its second printing following high demand. The 200-page handbook, titled "Digital Currency: A Reader for Cadres," entered its second printing this month. The handbook, which was first released in November, contains 23 articles focusing on everything from the basics of cryptocurrencies to the impact that they have on the financial economy. The second printing comes amid China's confusing stance on crypto assets, and is reportedly a "one-stop shop" for officials to get their heads around the idea of it. -COINTELEGRAPH       4. OneCoin, a precious metals company, is reported to have brought in $50 million worth of cryptocurrency since it teamed up with BitPay, a blockchain service provider, in 2017. In a bid to make it even easier to use cryptocurrency, OneCoin has launched a mobile app that enables users to buy, sell, and redeem gold and silver with the coins it currently accepts: Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Bitcoin Cash, as well as "various stablecoins." Users can do this on any iOS- and Android-based phones. -DECRYPT       A MESSAGE FROM SALESFORCE The Best of Dreamforce: get how-to resources to help you drive digital transformation with the Customer 360 Platform. Whether you're trying to connect every customer, empower every employee, or create a company culture of innovation, Dreamforce-in-a-box will show you how the Customer 360 Platform can help you reach your biggest goals. Learn More Here 5. Crypto analytics firm CipherTrace is reportedly training students to detect crypto scams. It has launched a program called the Defenders League, which is designed to provide students with training and the necessary skills to investigate crypto-related scams. CipherTrace's chief financial analyst, John Jefferies, said that the goal is to make the crypto economy safer for the community. -COINTELEGRAPH       6. Crypto platform Huobi has partnered with fäm Properties, a tech-driven real estate agency based in Dubai, to enable real estate investors to pay in crypto. The partnership allows the real estate company to accept Bitcoin, Ether, XRP, and other crypto assets, including stablecoins. According to fäm Properties CEO Firas Al Msaddi, this will make it easy to invest in the UAE, in addition to adding value to the market. -AMEINFO       7. Fundstrat's co-founder Tom Lee has said that Bitcoin can deliver 100 percent returns to investors in 2020 and that its price will rise in the next five months before the May block halving event. Taking to Twitter, Lee said that there are "several possible convergences" that will boost the use case and economic model for the crypto space. -@FUNDSTRAT/TWITTER       8. Crypto derivatives exchange FTX has launched Bitcoin trading options. FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Friend announced the news via a tweet stating that the options were listed on the platform. He went on to say that in two hours, the options trading volume on the exchange had reached $1 million. -@SBF_ALAMEDA/TWITTER       9. The Association of Cryptocurrency Enterprises and Start-ups, Singapore (ACCESS) has announced that it has successfully introduced a blockchain solution for on-site voting. Several trials were conducted during 2018 and 2019, but this is the first blockchain voting in the new year that goes beyond the pilot phase. -FINEWS.ASIA       10. Lightnet, a Thailand-based fintech company, has raised $31.2 million in a Series A funding round. The company is aiming to replace SWIFT by providing a blockchain-based remittance service. With the money, Lightnet will boost its Stellar blockchain-based platform and help billions of unbanked migrant workers in Southeast Asia. -THE BLOCK       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 Scaling your engineering team in 2020? 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