STORY: This is crypto weekly with your top stories on alternative currencies…

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Tesla revealed it converted 75% of its bitcoin stash into regular cash over the latest quarter.

That helped shield it from the token’s big tumble in value.

Company boss Elon Musk says don’t take it as a verdict on bitcoin.

But Hennion & Walsh president Kevin Mahn says it’s yet another factor adding to uncertainty over Tesla:

“Right now, there's just so much going on with the company and with the founder. It's really hard to disentangle all of those elements to feel good about putting more money into that company, at least for the time being.”

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The Central African Republic started selling its first digital coin.

But it all got off to a slow start.

Hours after the so-called Sango Coin was launched, only around 5% of the target amount had been bought.

Experts are baffled by the plan, which has drawn a warning from the IMF.

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But not all investors are chilled by the crypto winter.

New figures from PitchBook show venture capitalists putting $17.5 billion into digital currency and blockchain startups over the first half of the year.

That puts investment on track to top last year’s record of almost $27 billion.

By contrast, general activity by VC investors declined over the same period.