TL;DR: Welcome to In Case You Missed It (ICYMI), a daily crypto news update. The CIA could be manipulating cryptocurrency’s potential through BTC, according to Roger Ver. Grayscale attracted more than $600 million in crypto investment. Blockchain is among the most needed skill by companies in 2020. Bitwise withdraws its Bitcoin ETF application. Crypto exchange Kraken hires former CoinDesk Editor-in-Chief, and Voyager will offer interest for stablecoins.

The CIA is Manipulating Crypto

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) could be involved in the manipulation of BTC, according to Roger Ver of Bitcoin.com. Ver declared in a recent interview how “it would be naive to think the CIA has not been involved in disrupting cryptocurrencies.” He also stated cryptocurrencies can diminish the power of government fiat, and so “they’re going to do whatever they can to disrupt it, and delay the adoption,” using how former BTC maximalist Richard Heart admitted he and others “lied, cheated and stole” to get Segwit and Lightning Network accepted.

Grayscale Gained More Than $600 Million in Crypto Investments

Grayscale, a cryptocurrency investment fund, announced they raked-in more than $600 million dollars across their cryptocurrency investment products last year. The best performing investment instrument was their Bitcoin Trust, attracting more than $400 million dollars, amounting for more than 60% of the company’s investment portfolio, beating last year’s volume. Grayscale also improved customer numbers, bringing aboard 25% more customers to invest in their products.

Blockchain a Most Demanded Skill in 2020

Blockchain has become the most sought skill for enterprises this 2020, according to an article by Linkedin, a workplace and job-based social network. This year, blockchain has exploded as a solution for more than financial or crypto-related problems, and the job market reflects that. IBM, Oracle, JPMorgan Chase, Microsoft, Amazon, and American Express are actively seeking employees that can fulfill and adapt systems to transform them into decentralized ledger technologies such as blockchain. Blockchain is now the most sought skill in United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Australia.

Bitwise Withdraws Its ETF Application

Bitwise, a cryptocurrency fund and index, has withdrawn its application to get approval to issue a Bitcoin-based ETF instrument. Bitwise’s original application was rejected last year, but the company pushed on and re-registered a new application this year. However, Bitwise convened to withdraw that new application in order to be “consistent with the public interest and protection of investors.” Several applications for a Bitcoin ETF have been presented, but not even one has been approved due to several worries that the Commission has over volatility and custody of the underlying market.

Pete Rizzo, Former CoinDesk Editor-in-Chief, Goes to Kraken

Kraken, a US-based cryptocurrency exchange, hired cryptocurrency journalist Pete Rizzo, former Editor-in-Chief at Coindesk, a leading cryptocurrency news site. Rizzo will be directing the team whose objective is to drive new content about products and services the exchange offers at an international scale, with the charge of Editor-at-Large. “Kraken has a great reputation with industry veterans and experts, which really isn’t very common,” he declared in an introductory interview he offered to the staff of KrakenFX.

Commission Free Broker Voyager to Offer Interest for Stablecoins

Voyager, a commission-free brokerage and trading app in the vein of RobinHood, announced it will offer a percentage interest for supported stablecoins like Tether (USDT), Circle USD (USDC), and True USD (TUSD). While the company did confirm they were going to announce interest rate specifics in two weeks, the interest rate was not divulged. The platform supports 33 cryptocurrencies, and is still ” looking to expand as we investigate adding a few other coins over the near future,” declared Steve Ehrlich, CEO of Voyager, pointing out also they are working to offer digital currency, equity, option and futures markets.

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