TL;DR: Welcome to In Case You Missed It (ICYMI), a daily crypto news update. North America received most crypto investment in 2019. HEX prices go under 1 satoshi. Jihan Wu is no longer the legal representative of Bitmain. Bitcoin not traded at a $24,000 price premium in Iran. Travala scores 33% growth in December with 60% of its payments received in crypto, and Akane Yokoo offers tips for meetup organizers.



North America Received Most Crypto Investment in 2019

Analysis from The Block found that, even with the ICO market downturn and most of the world preparing to regulate cryptocurrency and blockchain, crypto managed to pull $3.7 billion in investments in 2019. Surprisingly, even with all the lack of clarity when it comes to industry matters, North America accounted for $2 billion of those funds, leaving Asia and Europe in second and third place, respectively. North America was also first in the number of deals for the region, with 324.

HEX Price Drops Sub Satoshi

HEX, the controversial project based on “pumpamentals” and promoted by former BTC maximalist Richard Heart, is not doing so well in terms of price. Now, after a recent drop of more than 50% of its value in just a day, the cryptocurrency is worth less than a satoshi, the smallest measuring unit for bitcoin. Analysts have pointed out more than $6 million was invested in HEX since its early December launch. However, investors have lost almost 100% of value since its inception, and demand seems to be waning.

Jihan Wu No Longer Legal Representative of Bitmain

Jihan Wu, the current CEO of Bitmain, is no longer the legal representative of the company, according to public registration documents. Wu stopped being the representative of the company as of January 2 when he was substituted by Luyao Liu, the current CFO. This could be the consequence of the actions Micree Zhan, former CEO, who is attempting to recover control of the company, retaken by Wu last year.

Bitcoin is Not Traded at $24,000 in Iran

Last week there were rumors and even an image claiming that, under the threat of war after the assassination of Qasem Soleimani, bitcoin was being traded in Iran at a premium price of $24,000. According to citizens from Iran, this is far from the truth. The root of the confusion lies in the existence of several exchange rates. The official rate of exchange, rials per dollars, is greatly overvalued and does not reflect the real state of the market. The current real price of bitcoin is very close to the price on international exchanges.

Travala Scores +33%, Most Payments Made With Crypto

Travala, an online booking service, closed last year with a growth of 33% month-over-month in December. Over 60% of the bookings were paid using cryptocurrencies. BTC was the most used cryptocurrency with 28% of the sales, while AVA, the native token of the company, trailed with 9% of the purchases. Travala recently included the Gemini dollar as their first accepted stablecoin.

Want to Know What To Do During A Meetup? Akane Yokoo Has The Answers

Akane Yokoo, one of the most prominent BCH promoters, posted an article giving tips about organizing successful meetups. From receiving guests and decorating the place with BCH swag, to distributing a little bitcoin cash for everyone, Yokoo shared her experience about what she does to attract and keep attendees. If you want to organize a meetup in your area and need further assistance, send an inquiry to meetup@bitcoincashers.org.

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DYOR: CoinSpice is your home for just spicy crypto things. We’re not affiliated with any cryptocurrency project or token. Each published piece is intended for information purposes only, not investment advice and not in the hope of impacting speculative markets. There are plenty of trading sites and coin-specific advocacy journals out there, we’re neither. CoinSpice strives for rigorous accuracy in our reporting. Information presented here is contingent usually on a host of factors, and the ecosystem moves fast — prices change, projects change, and at warp speed. Do your own research.