Dear subscribers, Welcome to your Wednesday edition of Inside Cryptocurrency. Today's issue is filled with the latest and best news taking place in the crypto space - enjoy! For readers who want more content, consider signing up for the premium version of the newsletter. By doing so, you'll receive all the news straight to your inbox for just $10 per month, or $100 for the entire year. Here's what you'll get: - Q&A with crypto experts
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The market has seen a downturn in prices during mid-week trading. Bitcoin appears to be showing support for the $6,700 range — Will it go lower or climb before the week ends? - Bitcoin: $6,721 (⬇️ 3.04%) // $123.1 billion market cap.
- Ethereum: $156 (⬇️ 2.42%) // $17.2 billion market cap.
- XRP: $0.183 (⬇️ 2.37%) // $8.07 billion market cap.
- Tether: $0.99 (⬇️ 0.65%) // $6.3 billion market cap.
- Top 100 Winner: Enjin Coin: $0.096 (⬆️ 5.69%) // $78 million market cap.
- Top 100 Loser: Chainlink: $3.16 (⬇️ 6.78%) // $1.1 billion market cap.
Prices are as of 2:30 p.m. ET.
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Atomic Loans, a blockchain startup that's focused on building DeFi infrastructure around Bitcoin, has raised $2.45 million during a seed round that was led by Initialized Capital. Other participants included management company Morgan Creek Capital and blockchain startup Bison Trails, among others. An announcement from Atomic Loans says its protocol enables a two-sided marketplace for Bitcoin-backed lending. Through its protocol, users can lock their Bitcoin natively in a non-custodial escrow on the Bitcoin chain and borrow Etherum stablecoins such as DAI or USDC. Atomic Loans notes that this process means that users can leverage their Bitcoin to pay for expenses without creating a taxable event or losing exposure to the Bitcoin price upside. Last year, Anthony Pompliano, a co-founder and partner at Morgan Creek Digital, questioned whether DeFi would come to Bitcoin's ecosystem. In his opinion, there are two ways this can be achieved: by finding a way for Bitcoin to be useable in Etherum, or by creating DeFi services around Bitcoin. ATOMIC LOANS BLOG 
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A study by the World Bank has demonstrated the potential of blockchain-related ideas such as crypto assets, stablecoins, and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) when it comes to financial inclusion in the fintech era. The 80-page report, which was issued by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), points out a select number of advanced technologies that are considered important to the payment sector... To continue reading the report and others in this newsletter, sign up to Inside Crypto Premium for just $10 per month, or $100 per year. UPGRADE TO INSIDE CRYPTO PREMIUM  | | | |
Vitalik Buterin gives his view regarding crypto mining on one's phone. The co-founder of Ethereum has given a low opinion on the idea of using a phone to mine for crypto. Taking to Twitter, Buterin stated that it was a "fool's game," referring to the fact that mobile manufacturer HTC will grant its users the ability to mine privacy coin Monero via its blockchain phone Exodus. 
Announced last week, HTC revealed that it was teaming up with Midas Labs to bring users a mining app called DeMiner. It's expected to launch this quarter. However, in Buterin's opinion, this is likely to give users a false sense of hope rather than help them. @VITALIKBUTERIN/TWITTER
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A new report by PwC has found that the number of crypto merger and acquisitions (M&A) in 2019 saw a 76 percent drop in value to 451, totaling $17.2 million, and a 40 percent decline in deal count to 114. The average deal size saw a drop... To find out more from the report, which includes stats, graphs, and more, upgrade to Inside Crypto Premium for $10 per month or $100 per year. UPGRADE TO INSIDE CRYPTO PREMIUM | | | |
Google removes fake browser extensions targeting crypto users. Harry Denley, director of security at cryptocurrency wallet startup MyCrypto, explained how the removed extensions included owners of hardware wallets produced by Ledger, Trezor and KeepKey... | |
 Peter Schiff believes that those who have bought Bitcoin ahead of its halving event face a risk because people will want to cash in by selling their coins. Next month, Bitcoin will undergo its third halving event. Expected to take place between May 12 and 13, it will see the number of Bitcoin rewards drop from 12.5 Bitcoins per block to 6.25. Talking about this on Twitter, gold buff Schiff stated that this is an anticipated event in Bitcoin's development, which usually sees the price of the coin rising as a result. Because of this, though, Schiff believes that those who have already bought into it face a risk because people hoping to make money will be cashing out. David Schwartz, CTO at Ripple, responded by questioning the fact that Schiff believes the bullish effect of the halving is priced in, but the sell pressure after it isn't, adding that while the reverse seems plausible, it's also implausible as well. @PETERSCHIFF/TWITTER
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Jimmy Song calls Bitcoin the "monetary red pill." Song, a Bitcoin educator and developer, has that the current monetary system is not democratic. In his opinion, it's authoritarian. He believes the answer lies in... | |
 Ross Ulbricht, founder of Silk Road, thinks Bitcoin will drop to $3,200. Ulbricht, who is serving two life sentences plus 40 years without parole for creating the e-commerce website, posted his prediction on his Medium account over the weekend. In his opinion, the recent crypto volatility will lead to a bear market that will last until June or July 2020. However, he also stated that it could last into 2021. Turning to his price prediction of $3,200, Ulbricht referred back to a prediction that he had made last December, where he highlighted that a drop below $4,200 could lead to a bear market. In his latest post, he noted that a decline past $3,200 would further confirm this, which will bring "extreme pessimism" toward Bitcoin before any optimism is felt. ROSS ULBRICHT/MEDIUM
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 |  | 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. | | | | Editor | Beth Duckett is a former news and investigative reporter for The Arizona Republic who has written for USA Today and other publications. A graduate of the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism, she won a First Amendment Award and a Pulitzer Prize nomination for her original reporting on problems within Arizona's pension systems. | |
