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POWER UP: Bitcoin's hash rate reached record highs this week amid rising prices and anticipation of the miner reward halving later this year. Based on a seven-day average, the hash rate has risen sharply from approximately 93 exahashes per second (EH/s) on Dec. 30 to more than 106 EH/s on Jan. 5. Full story

INSTITUTIONAL TIE-UP: Crypto banking competitors Prime Trust and Signature Bank have partnered in a bid to appeal to institutional clients. Signature announced Monday it would be linking its Signet payments platform to Prime Trust's multi-asset settlement platform, creating a new service offering "real-time" settlements for digital asset trades. Full story

REAL CHANGE? For the first time in nearly 40 years, the SEC is lowering barriers to investing in private securities with an update to the definition of what makes an “accredited investor.” How much lower is unclear, though, writes Nikhilesh De. Full story

EXAGGERATED NUMBERS: Fake volume became one of crypto's leading narratives of 2019, as research showed that as much as 95 percent of reported bitcoin trading volume might be false. So do we really know how much bitcoin is actually being traded? CoinDesk Senior Research Analyst Galen Moore investigates. Full story

INTO THE MAINSTREAM: A powerful presidential advisory committee in South Korea says firms should be allowed to bring crypto-tied financial products such as derivatives to market. The body, formed in 2017, said in a recent report it's no longer possible to stop crypto trading, and local firms should meet the demand to avoid becoming dependent on foreign custodians. Full story

HAVEN CURRENCY: Bitcoin has risen almost 10 percent since Friday, possibly due to haven demand amid the U.S.-Iran tensions. Market experts expect bitcoin to continue gaining altitude amid geopolitical tensions. A convincing move above key resistance at $7,580 would signal a short-term bullish breakout. Full story

ANALYZING IRAN: CoinDesk's Adam B Levine and Brad Keoun react to bitcoin's four days of gains and digest the slew of news following President Trump's targeted killing of a high ranking Iranian official in today's Markets Daily podcast. Full story

WHO WON #CRYPTOTWITTER

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