Thiel's new investment

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October 15, 2019 FUTURES GROWTH: CME Group, the Chicago-based exchange operator, said its bitcoin futures contracts grew in popularity with institutional investors last quarter, with the number of open contracts up 61 percent year to year. Despite bitcoin's 25 percent drop in price this quarter, the volume of CME contracts fell just 1 percent from Q2 levels. Full story TO THE MOON? Is the next programmed reduction of the miners’ rewards – or halving – going to send bitcoin’s price skyrocketing? It depends who you ask. At the recent World Digital Mining Summit in Frankfurt, Jihan Wu, co-founder and ex-CEO of Bitmain, said any gains might already be baked in to the price. But Matthew Roszak, chairman of the blockchain software company Bloq, expected the price to reach “somewhere between $15,000 and $100,000,” and for the halving to kick off “a decade-plus of rising.” Full story GETTING REAL: Twenty-one organizations – including crypto companies Coinbase and Xapo – have signed the Libra Association charter, days after a slew of high-profile defections from the Facebook-led cryptocurrency project. Following a meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, the Libra Association also named its board of directors and formalized the consortium’s executive team. Facebook remains a key player in the project with Calibra CEO and former Facebook blockchain lead David Marcus taking a seat on the five-person board. Full story RENEWABLES APPEAL: Layer1, a crypto startup bringing wind-powered bitcoin mining rigs to West Texas, raised $30 million from investors including Peter Thiel. CEO Alexander Liegl said bitcoin is not likely to crowd out other uses for clean energy reflects a misunderstanding of the market: “Renewable energy is still primarily under-utilized so you don’t actually have a zero-sum game,” he said. Full story BINANCE ETP: Binance’s native cryptocurrency will serve as the underlying asset to a new exchange traded product (ETP). The crypto exchange said it has partnered with fintech firm Amun to develop the USD-denominated ETP, which is being listed on the Switzerland’s principal stock exchange SIX under the ticker ABNB. Amun CEO Hany Rashwan told CoinDesk the ETP will be backed initially by $20 million worth of Binance coins (BNB), representing nearly a quarter of the firm’s total crypto assets under management. Full story BULL CROSS: Bitcoin is struggling to gather upside traction despite the most bullish crossover of long-term averages seen in March 2016. While historical data indicates consolidation may continue for a few weeks, the shorter duration charts are calling a retest of recent lows below $7,800. The bearish case would weaken if prices rise above the 200-day average at $8,740. Full story BACK AGAIN, LAZARUS? North Korea’s notorious hacking group Lazarus is likely behind fake cryptocurrency trading software used to breach Apple computers, independent U.S. researchers revealed last week. As reported by Korea JoongAng Daily, the app comes loaded with malicious tools that allow the possibly state-led cybercriminals to gain remote access to MacOS devices on which it’s installed. The group has also reportedly set up a fake crypto business called Celas Trade Pro and a related website to help fool victims. WHO WON #CRYPTOTWITTER   Copyright © 2019 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