There’s never a dull moment on the blockchain. Here’s what you need to know this week:

Bitcoin

$95,124.17



2.49%

Ethereum

$3,282.84



2.28%

Tether

$1.00



0.06%

XRP

$2.21



2.01%

Solana

$180.63



0.61%

Dogecoin

$0.31



3.16%

See the latest prices

MARKET BYTES

Bitcoin hits new highs as crypto’s post-election rally marches on

Crypto’s post-election rally rolled on this week, with bitcoin reaching above $94,900 on Wednesday morning — notching yet another all-time high. Meanwhile, crypto’s total market cap hit a new all-time high above $3.2 trillion, as a wide variety of tokens surged. 

ETH continued to lag behind BTC, falling around 5% for the week. 

Helping boost BTC’s rally this week was the launch Tuesday of options trading for BlackRock’s spot BTC ETF, which saw almost $2 billion in volume on its first day (more on this below). “$1.9 billion is unheard of for Day One,” Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas posted on X. 

Here are three market stories to know about…

Bitcoin ETF options begin trading

This week, Wall Street giant BlackRock cleared the last regulatory hurdle and began to offer options trading on its leading iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) ETF via the Nasdaq stock exchange on Tuesday. (Options are a kind of derivative that allow traders to purchase the option to buy or sell an asset at a specific price and time in the future.)

Pro traders typically use options to hedge their bets, to magnify their trades using leverage (borrowed capital), or both.

• Analysts say… The launch of BTC ETF options “marks a monumental shift,” noted 10x Research, that “could attract significant trading volumes, potentially driving sharp price rallies in bitcoin.”

Are NFTs bouncing back?

During crypto’s last bull run, in 2021 and 2022, one of the biggest storylines was the rise of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) — from Beeple’s $69 million artwork to Bored Ape Yacht Club’s expanding billion-dollar monkey-themed universe, and much, much more.

By September of 2023, however, as many as 95% of all NFT collections had entirely lost their value. For much of this year, even as crypto prices rebounded, NFT sales remained slow — and a survey of crypto users this summer found that less than 20% expected NFTs to ever recover.

But now, with crypto breaking records again, NFTs appear to be making a comeback, with weekly sales up 94% as of Monday to $181 million. Even McDonald’s is making NFT moves, partnering with the NFT collectible series Doodles on “McCafé x Doodles Holiday cup[s]” and online content.  

• Punks rock… Leading the charge was OG collectible NFT project CryptoPunks, which saw more than $23 million in weekly sales, up 665% over the previous week.

XRP hits three-year high

A large number of cryptocurrencies have rallied since this month’s U.S. election, but among major tokens, few have seen gains as big as XRP, which hit a three-year high on Saturday and remains up more than 100% over the beginning of the month.

• Back to the futures… Alongside XRP’s price rally, open interest (OI) —  a metric that can offer insight on market trends and liquidity — in XRP futures spiked over the weekend. As CoinDesk put it, “An increase in both OI and prices typically indicates that new money is entering the market — indicative of a bullish trend.”

WHALE STREET

How bitcoin helped MicroStrategy become the best-performing stock on Wall Street

Before 2020, few people outside of the financial world had heard of the publicly traded business-intelligence software company MicroStrategy. But that was before the Virginia-based firm adopted a unique, and then-controversial, strategy of buying bitcoin for its corporate treasury.

How did it turn out? In the years since the firm started buying bitcoin in August of 2020 — eventually purchasing billions of dollars’ worth — its stock has surged an astonishing 2,500%, making it the best performing major U.S. stock in that period. And this week, MicroStrategy entered the top 100 U.S. companies by market cap, reports CoinDesk. 

The company’s $30-plus billion in BTC is worth more than the cash holdings of corporations including Nike and IBM. “Only about a dozen companies, led by Apple Inc. and Alphabet Inc., hold more assets in their corporate treasuries,” notes Bloomberg.

At the same time, MicroStrategy chairman Michael Saylor has become one of the most prominent voices in crypto. Under his leadership, the firm has repeatedly doubled down on BTC, including its latest plan to raise $42 billion over the next three years to acquire even more.

Here’s what you need to know about the firm’s bitcoin strategy, and why it matters. 

What is MicroStrategy?

The firm, which Saylor founded in 1989, creates software that helps businesses sift through their data. After a massive stock price crash in early 2000 during the dot-com bubble era, the company spent decades flying under Wall Street’s radar.

Its low-key status changed when the company disclosed its initial buy of 21,454 bitcoin (worth $250 million at the time) in 2020. With that purchase, MicroStrategy became the first publicly-listed company in the U.S. to add bitcoin to its balance sheet.

At the time, Saylor said the investment reflected “our belief that Bitcoin, as the world’s most widely-adopted cryptocurrency, is a dependable store of value and an attractive investment asset with more long-term appreciation potential than holding cash.”

Why has MicroStrategy bought so much bitcoin?

The company’s decision to use bitcoin as the main asset on its balance sheet was driven in part by its ability to be a “reasonable hedge against inflation,” according to Saylor, especially as the COVID-19 pandemic drove central banks around the world to adopt aggressive stimulus strategies.

Since the initial $250 million purchase, the company has acquired more bitcoin dozens of times, ultimately spending more than $16 billion to buy 331,200 BTC. 

Last week, the company disclosed a $4.6 billion purchase (its largest yet), bringing the value of its holdings above $30 billion, as of Tuesday.

Despite owning 1.5% of bitcoin’s total supply, the company plans to continue making massive purchases in the years to come. The most recent purchase was part of a recently announced three-year plan to spend $42 billion on bitcoin, using cash raised from a combination of equity sales and convertible debt raises.

How have investors responded?

The company’s bitcoin strategy has helped boost its market cap to roughly $100 billion — more than companies including PayPal and Airbnb — despite the fact that, per Bloomberg, “revenue from the software business has stagnated.” 

The lack of revenue growth hasn’t deterred Wall Street: More than 50% of the company’s shares are held by institutional investors, with heavyweights like Morgan Stanley and Vanguard increasing their MicroStrategy holdings by 23% and 13% respectively last quarter. 

Are other companies making similar moves? 

Yes, although it remains relatively uncommon. In 2021, Tesla bought $1.5 billion in bitcoin, and still has around $900 million worth of the asset on its balance sheet after selling a large amount of its initial position in the summer of 2022.

Metaplanet, a Japanese investment firm, began buying bitcoin this April and now owns 1,142 BTC, as of Tuesday. The company has also seen its stock rise by more than 500% in that same timeframe. 

And pharmaceutical firm Semler Scientific, which started buying bitcoin around the same time as Metaplanet, has spent roughly $88 million buying 1,273 BTC. Since reporting its first purchase on May 28, the company’s stock is up more than 50%.  

The bottom line… 

MicroStrategy’s ability to continue borrowing capital to increase its BTC reserve suggests the market is supportive of its approach — and if crypto continues to rally, more companies could adopt the strategy. And it might not end there: President-elect Trump has suggested that the U.S. government could even create its own strategic bitcoin reserve.

NUMBERS TO KNOW

$41 billion

Onchain trading volume that Solana recorded in the seven days ending on Nov. 17 — boosted by memecoin trading — eclipsing Ethereum in the same timeframe. This comes as Solana’s market cap has risen to all-time highs north of $110 billion.

$230 million

Size of hedge fund legend Paul Tudor Jones’ investment in BlackRock’s spot bitcoin ETF. A new filing from last week shows that Tudor Investment Corporation, which oversees more than $12 billion in assets, held over 4.4 million shares in IBIT. “I think all roads lead to inflation,” Jones told CNBC in October. “I’m long gold, I’m long bitcoin.”

150 million

Percent increase that one bitcoin holder saw after moving 2,000 BTC (about $179 million) for the first time in 14 years last Thursday. The person originally bought BTC in 2010 for $0.06 per coin ($120 total) and held all the way to $90,000.

SECURITY PSA

How to safely choose, and use, hardware wallets

Hardware wallets provide offline protection to crypto owners on the go. They are also recommended for those with large amounts of various coins.

With a growing number of wallet options, you need to pick wisely. It’s important to buy from an authorized seller and follow the device instructions carefully as a first step. 

Read our latest blog post for easy tips to follow when choosing and connecting your first hard wallet.

TOKEN TRIVIA

How many pro-crypto candidates were just elected to the Senate?

Find the answer below.

Trivia Answer