Texas regulator adds crypto to threat list / Crypto consultant kidnapped / Akon's crypto city

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Presented by Subscribe | View in browser Market Watch: The price of Bitcoin has risen by over 7 percent in a two-month high and follows the launch of CME's Bitcoin options. The rest of the market has benefited from an increase in Bitcoin's price, while Bitcoin SV is steaming ahead with an increase of nearly 100 percent in a 24-hour period. Bitcoin: $8,695 (⬆️ 7.09%) // $157.9 billion market cap. Ethereum: $159 (⬆️ 11.04%) // $17.4 billion market cap. XRP: $0.233 (⬆️ 10.48%) // $10.1 billion market cap. Bitcoin Cash: $326 (⬆️ 23.29%) // $5.9 billion market cap. Top 100 Winner: Bitcoin SV: $327 (⬆️ 94.84%) // $5.9 billion market cap. Top 100 Loser: ABBC Coin: $0.106 (⬇️ 7.22%) // $59 million market cap. Prices are as of 12:45 p.m. ET.       1. The Texas Securities Board has included cryptocurrencies in its latest guide of top threats to investors. In its 10th anniversary edition titled the "Texas Investor Guide: Strategies for Investing Wisely and Avoiding Financial Fraud," the regulator stated that cryptocurrencies are something that raises a red flag and requires careful consideration. It further outlined that cryptocurrencies are incredibly volatile and can be hard to understand for a non-professional trader. Supposed threats from the market include initial coin offerings (ICOs) and mining pools aimed at seniors and retirees. -COINTELEGRAPH       2. Singaporean crypto consultant Mark Cheng was kidnapped in Thailand recently and tortured for a $740,000 ransom in Bitcoin. Cheng had been on a business trip to Thailand with associate Kim Lee Yao Wei when a group of masked men grabbed them before putting them in a waiting truck. However, it was only after he transferred $46,000 - the money he had available - that he then made a daring escape as the kidnappers prepared to kill him. According to Cheng, it was due to his skills in martial arts that enabled him to escape. Thai police were later able to identify Kim as the mastermind behind the kidnapping and he has been charged with several felonies. -SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST       A MESSAGE FROM CATALINA CRUNCH Did you know that most smoothies contain up to 45g Sugar? Whoa! Hi, I'm Krishna, Founder of Catalina Crunch. As a kid, I loved smoothies, but @ 17 I was diagnosed w/ T1 diabetes–SMH. It forced me to look at ingredient labels, and what I found in smoothies scared me, SUGAR BOMBS. I was duped! I wanted Smoothies again, but without all the Sugar. So I made my own. Shop Now 3. Musician and entrepreneur Akon has been given the green light to build his crypto city in Africa. Taking to Twitter yesterday, the rapper tweeted that he "just finalized the agreement for Akon City in Senegal" and is "looking forward to hosting you there in the future." Over a year and a half ago, Akon first revealed his plans for his futuristic city, which reportedly would be built on a 2,000-acre land plot that had been gifted to him by Macky Sall, the president of Senegal. The city will be built in the seaside village of Mbodiene, five minutes from Senegal's new international airport. Akon has his own cryptocurrency called AKoin. -@AKON       4. Fidelity Digital Assets, the crypto arm of investment manager Fidelity Investments, has launched itself into Europe as it attempts to bring digital money into mainstream investing. It's reported that the crypto arm will act as a custodian for Bitcoin that is held by the London-based crypto investment company Nickel Digital Asset Management. It's thought that a lack of custody offered by major firms like Fidelity is one of the main reasons why there has been a low amount of investment from large investors. According to Fidelity Digital Assets' Europe head Chris Tyrer, the conditions to take part in the market by institutional investors was getting better. -REUTERS       5. CHO, an olive oil producer in the southern Mediterranean, has said that it will be using IBM's blockchain technology to trace its Terra Delyssa extra virgin olive oil. By doing so, CHO can track the oil across eight checkpoints, including the orchards where the olives are grown and the facilities where the oil is filtered, bottled and distributed. CHO is the latest company to join IBM's Food Trust Network. -COINTELEGRAPH       6. A U.S. court has ordered instant messaging company Telegram to hand over its bank records to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The SEC had recently requested a court order to get Telegram to produce the required documents, which would inform the commission on how the company had spent the $1.7 billion it raised during its initial coin offering (ICO). -TOKEN POST       7. Asset manager WisdomTree is reportedly intending to launch a regulated stablecoin in the U.S. By doing so, WisdomTree hopes to get ahead of the likes of BlackRock and Fidelity in the crypto space. The company is hoping to launch a digital currency that is backed by a basket of assets such as gold, fiat currencies or government debt. -FNLONDON       8. Hotel booking company Travala is now accepting payment from Tether (USDT). In an announcement, CEO Matt Luczynski said that the acceptance of Tether is part of the company's mission, which "is to provide our users with a wide choice of the most well known and used cryptocurrencies" to its 2 million linked properties. As well as Tether, the hotel booking firm also accepts Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Litecoin, Binance Coin, Bitcoin Cash, Stellar, and Cardano, and its own coin, AVA. -TRAVALA       9. Visa announced that it has acquired fintech company Plaid for $5.3 billion. Visa Chair and CEO Al Kelly called Plaid "a leader in the fast-growing fintech." When combined with Visa, it will help the financial services company provide "more value for developers, financial institutions and consumers," he said. -TECHCRUNCH       10. A new study has found that blockchain will be the most in-demand hard skill in 2020. That's according to social network LinkedIn. A blog post from the company predicted that blockchain will surpass artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud computing this year, along with UX design and analytical reasoning. -THE LEARNING BLOG       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 The first Keto-friendly, Zero Sugar, Low Carb Cereal brand. Get 10% off today with code INSIDE10.

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