Get crypto or die trying

 50 Cent filed for bankruptcy in 2015… but he forgot he had 700 bitcoin. [The Hustle]( Fri, Jan 26 Brought to you by [Skillshare]( learn from the best, anytime, anywhere. Tales from the crypto… part II Yeah, we know. The Hustle’s been pretty going pretty hard on the cryptocurrency news lately. 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 forgot 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 s***." I’ll take you to the crypto shop  CNN suits can’t cage Casey Neistat Back in November 2016, [CNN had dropped $25m]( on digital storytelling platform, Beme -- mainly to acquire its creator, celebrity vlogger Casey Neistat. Well, just over a year later, [CNN and Neistat are pulling the plug]( on the project, citing, in so many words, “irreconcilable differences.” At the time, the move seemed revolutionary: CNN planned to incorporate Neistat’s vlogging expertise into their [new digital strategy]( to reach ‘cord nevers’ (people who’ve never had a cable subscription). But, even Neistat couldn’t work his magic In an [interview with BuzzFeed News]( Neistat says he struggled to figure out a “viable strategy” for ‘Beme News’. Not to mention the good ol’ red tape that comes with working for a massive corporation: Beme’s 22-person team has [produced just 40 videos]( since the acquisition -- most less than 10 minutes long -- many of which have gained fewer than 100k views apiece (a fraction of the multiple millions Neistat’s personal vlogs get on a daily basis). So, like any frustrated creative, Neistat went rogue He started “disappearing” on CNN and producing videos on his [personal YouTube channel]( just to “be able to yield something.” Neistat acknowledges that neither party was benefiting from the partnership, and it’s a cautionary tale for big companies trying to harness web content: Solo creators are used to doing what they want, when they want -- the antithesis of big cable productions. And, at the end of the day, all the resources in the world can’t make a mismatched partnership productive. [Neistat out](  Cloud computing company Snowflake raises $263m — and it’s gonna need it Cloud-based data warehouse service Snowflake just announced a gigantic investment round today, bringing in [$263m]( on a unicorn post-money valuation of $1.5B. The round was led by a slew of high-profile VC firms -- and with total funds raised now topping off at [$473m,]( the company will likely set its sights on an IPO in the near future. So… what the heck is Snowflake? Simply put, the [5-year-old company]( is a digital warehouse service that uses cloud-based technology to store data for some of the largest companies in the world. While it might not be as sexy as, say, a “smart” doorbell or raw-water startup, Snowflake is actually [changing the world, man](... At least, in the B2B space. Now that most companies are at least somewhat familiar wIth the benefits of the almighty cloud, many are packing up the entire legacies of their companies and looking to move them to the cloud. And they need all that money behind them… Because they have some pretty stiff competition With their crazy funding and new unicorn street-cred, Snowflake has the opportunity to be one of the few startups in the space to go head-to-head with gigantic cloud computing competitors like Microsoft, IBM — even the company they were built on, Amazon Web Services. But Snowflake’s CEO, Bob Muglia, [believes]( the company is going to expand further than just storing legacy workloads. Like the expansion of the Salesforce platform, he foresees companies “building businesses on top of the data stored in their warehouse.” Talk about one giant hard-drive. [Data on data](  The league that nobody asked for: the XFL is back brotherrrr For months now, rumors have swirled that wrestling tycoon Vince McMahon wants to bring back the notorious sports dumpster fire that was The Xtreme Football League. Yesterday, suspicions were confirmed: According to McMahon himself, the XFL is [back]( babyyy -- it’s slated to debut in 2020, and McMahon’s touting it as “football reimagined.” Hmm, didn’t go too well the last time around... Billed as “smash-mouth” football back in 2001, the XFL was poised to be every barbed-wire-tatted, football-lovin’ bar brawler’s favorite thing on earth. With classic tidbits like bikini-clad women sloshing around in hot tubs behind end zones, and players donning cool nicknames like “He Hate Me” and “Big Daddy” on the backs of their jerseys, could ya blame them????? (Un)fortunately that’s not what happened. Despite putting up [monster ratings out of the gate]( and executing on their promised mix of sex, violence, and no holds-barred showmanship, the league swiftly failed.  At one point, one of their games was the lowest-rated prime-time show ever among the big three networks. But… here we are Say what you want about McMahon, he’s undeniably a businessman. And since it’s pretty terrible timing to bring in a more violent football league, he’s been outspoken about making the XFL as “safe as possible.” He was light on details during the press conference but did manage to outline a few [highlights]( - 10-game season - Two-hour game times - Players with criminal records banned from playing - Players not allowed to take a personal stance on social issues on the playing field Soo… just regular football? [Stop trying to make ‘XFL’ happen](   friday shower thoughts - If you are converting decimals to fractions, you are missing the point. - Your belly button is just your old mouth. - If highways have left and right shoulders, then we drive on the neck. - Chevy is greatly overestimating how much people care about JD Power awards. - If procrastination was an Olympic sport, I’d participate in the next one. - via [Reddit]( This edition of The Hustle was brought to you by We found a shortcut to mastering any skill... And the best part? It involves binge watching. [Skillshare]( one of the best online learning communities out there, makes mastering any skill easy by offering anyone unlimited learning. How does it work? It’s like [the Netflix of learning]( One monthly subscription gets you access to 18,000+ online courses taught by real-life experts (people who live and breathe their subjects). Learn skills like Photoshop, email marketing, productivity, entrepreneurship -- even how to mix your own beats. Any subject you want to master is yours for the taking, for just $15 a month.  And because you’re a member of The Hustle, you can get your [first 3 months for only $0.99](. But like all great things, this offer won’t last forever -- it ends January 31st. So [act now]( and get yourself a $1 degree of professional whoop-ass.  0 [SHARE THE HUSTLE]( REFERRALS Lindsey Quinn MANAGING EDITOR Zack Crockett WRITER Wes Schlagenhauf WRITER Sam "Seriously guys, what's blockchain?" 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