The blockchain/crypto week in numbers

8,000…More than 8,000 attendees swarmed to a little island in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea for this week’s Malta Blockchain Summit.

10…On 31st October 2008, Satoshi Nakamoto published the world-changing whitepaper ‘Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System’, and with it launched Bitcoin to the world.

To celebrate its 10^th birthday, CoinCorner shared its predictions for the cryptocurrency over the next 10 years.

$1.8 billion…Bitfinex’s native stablecoin, USD-Tether, has confirmed a banking arrangement with Bahama-based Deltec Bank & Trust.

Rumours of insolvency have been rife over the past month, with Tether’s price crashing to as low as $0.89 at the start of October as a result. However, it has moved to rule out such concerns, including issuing a signed letter from Deltec Bank, confirming that it had $1.8 billion in its portfolio.

2,000…About half of Americans think Satoshi Nakamoto first explained the idea for Bitcoin on a bar napkin, not a whitepaper, according to research by Circle involving 2,000+ people.

$5 million…Digital billboard advertising platform, Bidooh, has launched the Initial Coin Offering of its cryptocurrency, DOOH token.

This follows the raise of a $5 million soft cap during a pre-sale period.

“John McAfee has previously stated that Bitcoin will reach $1 million by the end of 2020 and if he’s wrong, he will eat his… you know what… on national television. As much as we would all love this prediction to come true, it’s unlikely that Bitcoin will hit $1 million so soon”

$8 billion…US crypto exchange and wallet provider Coinbase has raised $300 million in a Series E equity round that brings its post-money valuation to $8 billion.

25 stablecoin issuers from 16 countries came together last week for an inaugural industry event at The Reform Club in London.

$30 million…Cryptography startup StarkWare has closed a $30 million equity round, led by Paradigm.

100…Russia’s Alrosa has joined the Tracr blockchain platform.

This is currently in pilot phase with the aim of creating a tamper-proof, immutable record of a diamond’s journey throughout the full value chain. The platform is being developed by De Beers Group with support from BCG Digital Ventures and is expected to launch later this year. In May, De Beers Group announced an industry first, successfully tracking 100 high-value diamonds along the value chain on Tracr.

£80,000…A 25-year-old British man who fell into drug-dealing and selling Bitcoins, has been convicted in connection with the death of transgender woman Naomi Hersi. A court heard that Jesse McDonald made £80,000 from mining Bitcoin after dropping out of the London School of Economics.

12…Breaker recently went undercover to see if crypto news outlets would take money and pass sponsored articles off as legitimate journalistic content. More than half (12) of those contacted said yes.