The Bitcoin network has now processed over half a billion transactions since it was launched. The milestone was hit at a time where BTC's price is closing in on $10,000 and its hashrate keeps hitting new all-time highs.

The Libra Association has lost several founding members, but its Vice Chair and Head of Policy and Communications, Dante A. Disparte, has made it clear the organization wasn’t discouraged by these setbacks and has been seeing “quite a lot of engagement.”

The parent company of Bakkt, ICE, has agreed to acquire a loyalty program provider to improve Bakkt’s soon-to-be-launched consumer app.

Top stories in the Crypto Roundup today:

• Half a Billion Transaction Have Been Processed on the Bitcoin Network to Date
• Facebook-led Libra Association Wasn’t Discouraged by Early Setbacks
• ICE Acquires Loyalty Program Provider to Boost Bakkt’s Consumer App

At the time of writing, bitcoin (BTC) is trading at $9,634.42 (4.26%) with a daily Top Tier volume of $2.71 billion. As for ether (ETH), it is trading at $209.48 (9.64%) with a daily Top Tier volume of $920.10 million. The MVIS CryptoCompare Digital Assets 10 Index is currently tracking at 3,638.14 (2.18%).

Half a Billion Transaction Have Been Processed on the Bitcoin Network to Date

Blockchain data shows that the total number of transactions processed on the Bitcoin network surpassed half a billion, at a time in which the flagship cryptocurrency ’s price moves towards the $10,000 mark.

The figure quickly started spreading on social media as cryptocurrency users commemorated the milestone. CryptoCompare data, via IntoTheBlock, confirms the 500 millionth transaction was processed yesterday.

Given BTC’s price performance so far this year, various analysts have started taking a bullish approach, with some like Wall Street analyst Tom Lee predicting significant gains for the cryptocurrency, as Lee believes that if bitcoin breaks its 200-day MA, it could see gains of nearly 200% in the next six months.

It’s worth noting that bitcoin’s hashrate recently hit a new all-time high above 123 million TH/s. Its hashrate has been rising ahead of the halving, which is expected to occur in May, as miners are competing for block rewards before they drop from 12.5 BTC to 6.25 BTC per block.

Facebook-led Libra Association Wasn’t Discouraged by Early Setbacks

The Libra Association’s Vice Chair and Head of Policy and Communications, Dante A. Disparte, revealed in an interview in Davos, Switzerland the organization wasn’t discouraged by the setbacks it has been facing so far.

In the interview, conducted with CoinDesk’s Chief Content Officer Michael Casey, Disparte revealed the even though some of the Association’s founding members have left the organization – namely Mastercard, Visa, eBay, PayPal, and Vodafone – it’s still seeing “quite a lot of engagement.” He said:

“We've demonstrated over the last six months that we're not dogmatic in terms of our project structure and our approach and that we are very much taking on board the type of feedback we've heard from regulators and policymakers.”

Disparte added the “gap is narrowing” when it comes to the issues the Libra Association has to address before launching the Libra stablecoin. Addressing organizations’ participation in the project, he clarified the technology standard being built is open, allowing organizations that are and are not a part of the Association to develop on top of the network.

When it comes to the organizations that have left the group, he said the door was left “wide open for future opportunities to engage in collaboration.” Per his words there’s “zero love lost and we very much believe that open technology permits future engagement at a later stage.”

ICE Acquires Loyalty Program Provider to Boost Bakkt’s Consumer App

The Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the parent company of Bakkt, has announced it agreed to acquire loyalty solution provider Bridge2 Solutions to boost Bakkt’s upcoming consumer app. Bakkt will be using funds from its ongoing Series B fundraising round to acquire the loyalty solution provider and use its tools.

The company will reportedly take advantage of Bridge2’s relationships with banks and merchants to launch products. In a statement, Bakkt CEO Mike Blandina wrote:

“With the launch of the Bakkt app, we will, for the first time, offer consumers a robust platform to consolidate and use all of their digital assets, from crypto to loyalty points to in game tokens, in one user-friendly wallet.”

Bakkt announced its plans to launch a consumer app in October to make it “easy for consumers to discover and unlock the value of digital assets.” The firm’s initial launch date was for the first half of this year.

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