Bitcoin became the world’s tenth largest currency; Crypto.com Exchange took the top spot on Kaiko’s exchange ranking for Q4 2024; Crypto.com App launched Crypto Basket to enable the purchase of multiple coins within the same category at once; Crypto.com secured a principal licence with Mastercard.
US spotbitcoin ETFs had a weekly net inflow of US$2.7 billion last week. BlackRock’s IBIT surpassed 500,000 BTC holdings on 2 December and hit $50 billion in assets under management. The ETFs’ collective BTC holdings (1.1 million BTC) also surpassed that of Bitcoin’s creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, on 6 December. Spot ether ETFs saw a weekly net inflow of $837 million, the highest since the ETFs launched. The ETFs’ daily net inflow also peaked at $429 million on 5 December.
On the macro side, US nonfarm payrolls increased by 227,000 in November, higher than 36,000 in October and the Dow Jones consensus estimate of 214,000. Unemployment rate was 4.2% in November, higher than 4.1% in October. The latest CME FedWatch Tool showed an 83% probabilityof a December rate cut in the US, compared to 66% last week. Fed Chairman Powell commented that people use bitcoin as a speculative asset, and that Bitcoin is a competitor for gold, not for the US dollar.
Notable updates: Polygon’s (POL) Agglayer v0.2 testnet is scheduled on 9 December, with the mainnet launch in the coming weeks; Sonic Labs (previously known as Fantom) announced that its new network has successfully produced its genesis blocks; the Crypto.com App listed Zircuit (ZRC), AgentFun.AI (AGENTFUN), and Crypto.com Staked SOL (CDCSOL).
Notable events in the coming week: Interest rate decisions from Australia, Canada, the European Union, and Switzerland; US consumer price index.
Weekly Market Index
Price and volume indices were up by +5.32% and +39.81% last week, respectively, while the volatility index decreased by -31.30%.
Bitcoin witnessed a new milestone of reaching $100,000 on 5 December. Ethereum also surpassed $4,000 for the first time since March, up 6.3% last week.LINK led the price surge by +38.4%, a two-year high since January 2022. Chainlink partnered with 21X, a European fintech company, to facilitate 21X’s on-chain trading, matching, and settlement system. In addition, Chainlink, Backed, and Sonic collaborated to tokenise Australia’s Fortlake Asset Management’s Sigma Opportunities Fund.
Chart of the Week
On 5 December, bitcoin overtook the Australian Dollar (AUD) to become the world’s tenth largest currency after its price reached $100,000 to realise a $2 trillion in market capitalisation. Bitcoin hit this $2 trillion milestone within sixteen years of existence.
This coincided with US spot bitcoin ETFs seeing a $2.7 billion weekly net inflow last week, the second-highest week since the ETFs launched. In addition, US President-elect Donald Trump nominated former SEC commissioner Paul Atkins as the new SEC Chair.
Weekly Performance
BTC and ETH increased by +1.4% and +6.3%, respectively, in the past seven days. Most of the other selected top market capitalisation tokens increased in price. LINK led the rise.
All key categories increased in market capitalisation in the past seven days, with the DeFi category leading the rise.
Polygon Labs Co-founder Sandeep Nailwal provided an update on the Agglayer v0.2 mainnet. He stated that the testnet will be scheduled on 9 December with mainnet launch in the “coming weeks”. This version will include pessimistic proofs to unify EVM chains and enhance cross-chain interoperability.
Sonic Labs, previously known as Fantom, announced that its new network has successfully produced its genesis blocks. The company also hinted that the mainnet is expected to go live soon.
As of 8 Dec 2024 Sources: Crypto.com Research, Crypto.com Price, CoinGecko, protocols’ websites
AgentFun.Ai, launched on Cronos zkEVM, is a platform where users can create, nurture, and socialise their unique AI agents. Community-launched agents provide shared token-based governance. Agents can provide paid services like community moderation or on-chain investigations, sharing revenue with owners.
Zircuit is a Layer-2 (L2) ZK rollup blockchain platform for decentralised applications on Ethereum. Zircuit incorporates parallelised circuits and AI-powered security, enhancing scalability and transaction throughput while maintaining robust security of the network. ZRC serves as the governance and utility token. Holders can participate in protocol governance, stake through Zircuit’s Liquidity Hub, and receive gas rebates.
The CDCSOL liquid staking token is a tradeable representation of a user’s staked SOL on Crypto.com, allowing them to access market opportunities while earning staking rewards.
As of 8 Dec 2024 Sources: Crypto.com Research, Crypto.com Price, CoinGecko, Protocols’ websites
News Highlights
Crypto.com News
Crypto.com Exchange took the top spot on Kaiko’s exchange ranking for Q4 2024, up from third in Q3. The Exchange received a Kaiko Exchange Score of 90, measured against various aspects, including governance, business, liquidity, security, technology, and data quality.
Crypto.com has secured a principal licence with Mastercard, enabling the company to directly issue cards on Mastercard’s network, starting with a card launch in Bahrain before expanding the programme across Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. This programme will leverage Mastercard to enable Crypto.com users to use their cards at over 150 million in-store and online locations worldwide.
European Central Bank (ECB)published its second progress report on the preparation phase of the digital Euro, aiming at enhancing the payment infrastructure across the euro area. The ECB is expected to conduct tests on conditional payments and explore other innovative use cases for the digital Euro, with an outcome report expected to be published in July 2025.
Virgin Voyages will launch a new ‘Annual Pass; programme in 2025 and accept bitcoin as payment for the new service. The service has a standard upfront fee of $120,000 plus taxes applied per individual cruise.
Hong Kong has published a new stablecoin bill in the gazette. The proposed regime will require a prior license by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) before issuing fiat-referenced stablecoins, or tokens pegged to the HK dollar. Licenses are also required to actively market the issue of these tokens to the public. The bill will be introduced to the Legislative Council for a first reading on 18 December.
South Korea’s Democratic Party, which holds a majority in the National Assembly, agreed to delay the crypto capital gains tax in the country by two years to 2027. The tax was proposed by the government and the People’s Power Party (PPP) and was scheduled to take effect originally in January 2025.
Alpha Navigator: Quest for Alpha [November 2024]: Crypto led the rise, with BTC reaching an all-time high above $100,000 on 5 December. Fixed Income also increased while Equities had mixed performances. The US, UK, and New Zealand reduced interest rates; China kept interest rates unchanged.
Tokenised BTC: This report provides a comparative overview of tokenised BTC, examining the key benefits and challenges associated with different models, as well as the disruptive impact of new market entrants like CDCBTC.
AI Data Chains: As AI continues to grow, it needs more user data in model training, which raises concerns about one’s privacy. This report looks into the concept of AI data chain, using Vana and CARV Protocol as case studies.
What Are Crypto Baskets and How Do They Work?: Crypto Baskets in the Crypto.com App allow traders to diversify their portfolio with just a few clicks. Here’s how to set up a Crypto Basket.
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📈 Bitcoin is now the world’s 10th largest currency; Crypto.com Exchange took the top spot on Kaiko’s Q4 2024 exchange ranking
Bitcoin is now the world’s tenth largest currency; Crypto.com Exchange took the top spot on Kaiko’s Q4 2024 exchange ranking; Crypto.com secured a principal licence with Mastercard
