The cryptocurrency market never closes, and the industry itself is growing faster than ever. This means there’s more breaking news, and more vital information emerging than ever before. This Week in Crypto is Covesting’s weekly news recap aimed at providing the most complete coverage across the cryptosphere.

Ten Year Anniversary of the Bitcoin Genesis Block

January 3rd marked the 10th anniversary of the date Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto processed the first Bitcoin block, called the Genesis Block. The first ever block resulted in a reward of 50 BTC, or $190,000 at today’s prices.

Back then, Bitcoin didn’t yet have a value as it wasn’t being traded yet. The first ever recording of a Bitcoin trade price was months later, pegging its price at $0.003. The 50 BTC block reward at that price would amount to a mere 15 cents.

Bitcoin has come a long way since then, providing investors who go in at $0.003 a 666 million percent increase at the cryptocurrency’s peak price of $20,000. Bitcoin is currently trading at $3,800.

BitTorrent Plans to Launch Native Cryptocurrency on TRON Blockchain

Peer-to-peer file-sharing platform BitTorrent will soon be launching the BitTorrent Token (BTT) on the TRON blockchain, and is being developed by the teams at TRON. According to the token’s white paper, BitTorrent Token will be a TRC-10 token and the total supply will be capped at 990 billion BTT.

TRON founder Justin Sun acquired BitTorrent last year for an undisclosed sum. Since then, the company revealed a new crypto-powered file-sharing economy called Project Atlas, which may end up being powered by the new cryptocurrency token.

Stellar Founder Jed McCaleb Claims We’re Not in a Bear Market

Early cryptocurrency pioneer and the founder of the Stellar cryptocurrency, Jed McCaleb doesn’t think we’re in a bear market at all, and claims that the market is “just calming down.”

McCaleb, who also created the Mt. Gox exchange before selling it to Mark Karpeles, finds it “funny when people say crypto is down,” adding that “it’s still way way up. It’s down from the peak, but on the whole, it’s way way up.”

Crypto Lending Business Grows During Bear Market

According to Genesis Capital, an organization that lends cryptocurrency to institutional investors at varying rates as high as 12 percent annually, the bear market has “fueled” its growth, while others across the industry struggle to keep the lights on.

“We’ve been profitable from day one… We’ve certainly proven that there is market demand, that there’s product fit and that it’s time to invest even more in this side of the business,” Michael Moro, chief executive officer of Genesis Capital said.

Indian Police Warn Citizens of Investing in Crypto

Indian police have issued a public warning to its citizens in Jammu and Kashmir, urging them to avoid cryptocurrencies at all costs. “The general public is informed not to make any type of investment in cryptocurrencies, virtual currencies such as Bitcoin because there is a real and heightened risk associated with them,” the statement read.

India has imposed a ban on any financial services companies from doing business with cryptocurrency organizations. The Reserve Bank of India had been planning its own native cryptocurrency, however, those plans were delayed.

New York Assemblyman Reveals New York Crypto Task Force

New York State Assemblyman Clyde Vanel has announced via a Facebook post that the state has created a cryptocurrency task force as part of a new Digital Currency Study Bill signed into law by NY Governor Andrew Cuomo.

The new crypto task force will study cryptocurrency use cases, technology, and regulation surrounding the cryptocurrency market.

Hacking Group Demands Bitcoin or It’ll Release 9-11 Documents

The notorious group TheDarkOverlord is threatening to unleash some stolen information relating to the 9-11 terrorist attacks on the New York World Trade Center in 2001, unless a ransom in Bitcoin is paid.

The hackers claim to have in their possession 18,000 documents it stole from insurance firms it says would “provide answers” to “conspiracies” surrounding the 9-11 attacks.

US Senator Arrested Over Stolen Crypto Mining Equipment Insurance Fraud Allegation

Georgia State Senator Michael Williams has turned himself into authorities following allegations he committed insurance fraud. Williams is said to have lied about $300,000 worth of cryptocurrency mining equipment being stolen from his campaign offices.

Williams' lawyer denies the accusations on Williams’ behalf. Williams is a cryptocurrency supporter who helped introduce the bill that allowed the state’s taxes to be paid with cryptocurrency. The bill, however, has yet to pass.