Lightning strikes $10M

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February 5, 2020 LIGHTNING COMMERCE: Lightning Labs has raised $10 million in Series A financing as it gears up to launch its first paid service for merchants looking to accept bitcoin payments. The aim? To be the Visa of bitcoin. Full story RIPPLE'S RETURNS: XRP, the third-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, will have another lackluster year in 2020, Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz recently told a roomful of financial advisers. What's more, he blamed Ripple – one of his firm's largest investments – for what he sees as XRP's underwhelming prospects. Full story BOND AMBITION: ConsenSys has purchased a U.S.-based broker-dealer in an attempt to overhaul the multi-trillion-dollar municipal bond market. The acquisition of Heritage Financial Systems may enable ConsenSys to offer tokenized municipal bonds through its ethereum-based operating system, Codefi. Full story GEARING UP: Intercontinental Exchange, parent firm of the bitcoin warehouse Bakkt, has agreed to acquire Bridge2, a loyalty solution provider for merchants and consumers. Full story COIN CORRIDOR: Ripple's technology will form the basis of a new XRP-based remittance service from International Money Express (Intermex) for cross-border payments between the U.S. and Mexico. Full story BACK ON TOP: Bitcoin rebounded above $9,400 earlier today, invalidating Monday's bearish candlestick pattern. With the bulls making their presence felt, the doors have opened for another attempt at recent highs above $9,600. A violation there could yield a quick move into five figures. Full story   LOVE LOST?  In a chat on the Davos Promenade during last month’s World Economic Forum, Dante A. Disparte, vice chair of the Libra Association, told CoinDesk's Michael Casey "there's zero love lost" between the companies that left the consortium after intense regulatory pushback. "The firms that have left, I think, have left with a door wide open for future opportunities to engage in collaboration," Disparte said. Watch now WHO WON #CRYPTOTWITTER   Copyright © 2020 CoinDesk, All rights reserved.  Our mailing address is:  250 Park Avenue South New York, NY, 10003, US  Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list