TRUSTLESS STATES: It’s Super Tuesday and CoinDesk's new Post-Trust Election package is here to explore a world in which voters have lost faith in democracy and how tech might help fix the problems it's created. The series gives a sense of where the 2020 candidates stand on questions like Libra, regulation and CBDCs. We will also explore issues like fake news, blockchain voting and crypto campaign finance, pointing to their perils and talking to experts about potential solutions. See our roundup here and find all the articles here
KEY SHIFT: IBM’s cloud service is secure enough to attract crypto custodians. Singapore-based Onchain Custodian’s latest version of its hardware-based vault is hosted entirely on Big Blue’s banking-grade public cloud. Full story
NBA SHARES: An initiative by NBA basketball player Spencer Dinwiddie to tokenize the value of professional athletes' contracts has engaged a FINRA-registered investment bank and broker-dealer. DREAM Fan Shares has brought in Tritaurian Capital to manage an upcoming offering of tokenized shares in sports stars earnings. Full story
LOSING STEEM: Justin Sun has seized control of the Steem blockchain, a takeover that cuts to the core of the problems of decentralized governance. Steem stakeholders initiated a soft fork to disempower the controversial creator of the TRON blockchain in mid-February, following Sun's purchase of Steemit, making him a major STEEM token holder. Full story
LAUNDRY LIST: The U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Asset Control has added 20 new bitcoin addresses associated with two individuals to its list of sanctioned individuals. The pair, said to be from China, are accused of laundering funds for Lazarus, a hacking group possibly affiliated with the North Korean government. Full story
FRAUD WARNING: Scammers have been sending fake versions of CoinDesk's daily newsletter to try to trick recipients into visiting a suspicious "XRP giveaway" site. If you received this message, which copied our logo and design and even used our executive editor's name in the "from" field, know that it did not come from us. (Note that the actual sender's address is not a CoinDesk.com domain.) Please forward to fraud@coindesk.com and nik@coindesk.com, and block the sender if received.
NEW BOTTOM: Bitcoin seems to have found a bottom at $8,400, according to a bullish pattern seen on the daily chart. Prices are up over a 24 hour trading period, although the bullish case would weaken if sellers succeed in penetrating the recent low of $8,400. Full story
POST-TECH? PRO-PEOPLE: CoinDesk travelled to South Carolina to check in with voters in the third statewide contest of the 2020 election cycle. Speaking with Bernie supporters and campaign staffers, we learn that the democratic socialist Senator from Vermont's campaign is about people, not tech. Read and watch here
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