BTC Weekly: Week 1 (2025)
Key Events from 12/29/24-1/4/25
Franklin Templeton ($1.6T AUM): “Bitcoin will solidify its position as a global financial asset acting as a digital store of value, accelerated by sovereign and institutional adoption. We expect to see strategic BTC reserves added by several nations.” (Franklin Templeton)
El Salvador’s strategy of purchasing 1 Bitcoin per day has now brought its total to 6,000 Bitcoins, with unrealized profits of more than $344M according to President Nayib Bukele. (DLNews)
Switzerland initiative launches campaign seeking 100,000 signatures to require the Swiss National Bank to hold Bitcoin as part of its reserves. (Reuters)
Legislative council member, Wu Jie, suggests Hong Kong should consider a Bitcoin reserve. (CryptoSlate)
Africa now accounts for 3% of global Bitcoin mining hashrate using renewable energy, with Ethiopia leading at 2.5%. (Forbes) Bitcoin mining difficulty hits all time highs, crossing 100T for the first time. (CoinDesk)
Blackrock’s IBIT is the fastest growing ETF of all time, with more than $50B assets in just 11 months since launch. (Bloomberg) The fund finishes 2024 with the 3rd most inflows out of all ETFs, topping VTI, QQQ, and SPY. (@EricBalchunas)
Tether (USDT), stable coin giant, adds 7,629 Bitcoins (over $700M) to its reserves, bringing its total to 82,983 Bitcoins. (@OnchainLens)
Monday, Microstrategy (MSTR) purchases another 2,138 Bitcoins for ~$209m, bringing its treasury to 446,400 bitcoins for $27.9B. (@saylor) Friday, MicroStrategy targets $2B in perpetual preferred stock offering to boost Bitcoin holdings. (Microstrategy)
Janover (JNVR) announces it will begin accepting payments in Bitcoin and is considering adding it to the company’s treasury reserve. (Bezinga)
HIVE Digital Technologies (HIVE) relocates HQ from Vancouver to San Antonio, TX, aims to tap into $40T US market and boost blockchain/AI innovation. Will switch to US GAAP reporting by 2025. (Bezinga)
Bit Digital (BTBT) has acquired a site in Montreal for a 5MW Tier-3 data center, aiming to expand their data center capacity to 32MW by 2025 to accommodate a new customer using next-gen Nvidia GPUs. (Bit Digital)
FTX begins paying back $16B to its customers on January 3, 2025 following the exchange’s collapse in 2022. (CoinPedia)
Summary:
Franklin Templeton predicts Bitcoin will become a key global financial asset, with several nations expected to add strategic Bitcoin reserves. Following in El Salvador’s footsteps, lawmakers in Switzerland and Hong Kong are considering Bitcoin reserve legislation. Bitcoin mining with renewable energy is growing in Africa, coinciding with a new all-time high in mining difficulty. BlackRock's IBIT has become the fastest-growing ETF ever. Tether has added to its Bitcoin reserves, and MicroStrategy continues its aggressive acquisition strategy. Janover is exploring Bitcoin for payments and possibly its treasury. HIVE Digital Technologies and Bit Digital are expanding in North America with new data centers. Finally, FTX is set to repay $16 billion to customers this week.