Tales from the crypto… part II

The biggest ICO in history is going down, there’s a new player in the exchange ring, and 50 Cent is rich again.

Yeah, we know. The Hustle’s been pretty going pretty hard on the cryptocurrency news lately.

Tales from the crypto… part II

But what can we say, there’s just just too much going on in the coin world to ignore…here’s a quick rundown of what’s goin’ down.

Telegram is planning a $2B ICO

The encrypted messaging app is launching an absolutely massive initial coin offering this month, and they’re assuring investors that they’ll “solve some of the blockchain world’s thorniest problems.”

Like any good ICO offerer, Telegram’s got a nice little white paper on their plans, and they’ve reportedly already locked down $500m from big firms like Benchmark Capital. Their grand plan: to create a new blockchain platform, as well as their own currency.

Robinhood is throwing their feathered cap in the ring

Launched in 2013, the commission-free, mobile-based stock app already has 2m users; now, it wants to add Bitcoin, Ethereum, and 14 other cryptocurrencies to its marketplace.

Founders Baiju Bhatt and Vladamir Tenev think that people are being price gouged on platforms like Coinbase (which charge from 1.5 to 4% per transaction), and they’re promising “zero-fee” trading.

50 Cent forgot he had $8m in Bitcoin

When rapper 50 Cent released Animal Ambition back in 2014, he decided to “stay with the times” by letting his fans buy the album with Bitcoin.

Back then, a Bitcoin was worth a measly $660 (a far cry from its current $11k-plus value), and the sum of the fractions fans paid with amounted to around 700 coins. For more than 3 years, the half-dollar man completely forg0t about them — he even filed for bankruptcy in 2015.

But recently, he rediscovered his trove — and those 700 coins are now worth around $8m.  “I’m a keep it real,” he wrote of the discovery, in an Instagram post. “I forgot I did that sh*t.”

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