*By Jacqueline Corba*
Bitcoin soared back above the [$8,000 mark this week for the first time since May](https://cheddar.com/videos/reddit-co-founder-on-the-state-of-cryptocurrency). The surge comes as more institutional investors look to grab a piece of the still-emerging crypto market.
"From a stored value perspective I'm a Bitcoin maximalist," [Fin co-CEO and co-Founder Sam Lessin](https://cheddar.com/videos/tech-entrepreneur-sam-lessin-authors-childrens-book-on-bitcoin) told Cheddar's Crypto Craze Thursday. "If you look at the broader blockchain and crypto ecosystem, I don't think people fully appreciate how deeply big a deal it is to have an immutable ledger globally."
Lessin, who served as a vice president of product management at Facebook from 2010 to 2014, joins fellow Facebook alum Anthony Pompliano in his bullish outlook on Bitcoin, the largest digital currency by market cap.
"I've got a high degree of confidence that at some point in the future its going to hit $50,000. And I've got some degree of confidence that it will be by the end of this year," Pompliano, who now runs Morgan Creek Digital Assets, told Cheddar.
The factors driving the value up? Human psychology, speculation around a [cryptocurrency ETF](https://www.coindesk.com/bitwise-proposes-etf-for-top-10-cryptos/), and growing institutional interest, said Pompliano.
Facebook itself even wants in on crypto. In May, [Cheddar reported Facebook is developing its own digital currency](https://cheddar.com/videos/facebook-plans-to-create-its-own-cryptocurrency-2).
"I have a lot of respect for the Facebook team," said Lessin. "What they have is a fundamental networkーthe biggest one ever in the history of the world connecting people." He called a Facebook move toward crypto an "obvious play."
For full interview, [click here] (https://cms.cheddar.com/videos/VmlkZW8tMjExNzY=).
Instagram is ramping up its anti-bullying efforts with two new features that it hopes will protect users from hurtful and abusive content, the company announced this week.
The modern-day space race just took a major step toward maturity, with Sir Richard Branson's announcement that Virgin Galactic will go public. When it lists later this year, Virgin will become the first publicly traded space-tourism company.
The market for hemp-derived CBD is expected to hit $5.1 billion in 2019 and $23.7 billion by 2023, according to new research from CBD and cannabis-focused market research firm, Brightfield Group. Despite bullish projections from researchers, enthusiasm from the industry, and curiosity from consumers, however, legislation at the federal and local levels isn’t keeping pace.
Researchers at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and Temple University reported using gene therapy to eradicate HIV in mice. Now the team is considering how to turn that into a life-saving cure for humans.
The South Korean company reports that profits are likely down more than half of what they were at the same time last year.
From Wall Street to Silicon Valley, these are the top stories that moved markets and had investors, business leaders, and entrepreneurs talking this week on Cheddar.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Friday, July 5, 2019.
Companies like Nordsense, Ecube, and Bigbelly wager that public bins can serve as highly-efficient, environmentally-friendly, networked devices for our future smart cities, producing data on trash that has never before been available.
Tesla delivered 95,200 vehicles in the second quarter ー nearly double what it delivered in the second quarter of 2018. The production beat was a sliver of good news in an otherwise bad first half of the year for the company.
'Stranger Things' is everywhere as more brands are jumping on the supernatural trend. Coca-Cola, Tide, and Baskin-Robbins are just a few to team up with Netflix. The streaming service has avoided advertising for years, but are they ready to cash in on the opportunity? Cheddar senior reporter Michelle Castillo breaks it all down.
