SnapShot 185

BTC hit $108,000, CRO golf purse awarded — and are crypto Christmas rallies common?

Hello SnapShotters,

On Tuesday, Bitcoin rallied to another all-time high, breaking $108,000 for the first time. Yet, after the U.S. Federal Reserve rate cut was announced on Wednesday, Bitcoin briefly dipped below $100,000 — and with it Ethereum and stock markets. What happened? 

Fed Chair Jerome Powell announced simultaneously that the Fed will likely enact fewer rate cuts in 2025 than initially planned, which dampened markets.

Does this mean crypto Christmas is cancelled? Not quite. Nasdaq has confirmed MicroStrategy’s spot on the Nasdaq-100 index, BlackRock suggested Bitcoin allocation for investment portfolios in a new report, and Crypto.com’s co-founder and CEO, Kris Marszalek, met with President-elect Donald Trump this week to discuss the future of crypto.

Read on for the details.

Market Spotlight

Note: Market prices captured in USD at the time of sending. Explore more on Crypto‌.com/Price. 

Want more? Get weekly Market and DeFi Updates from Crypto.‌com’s Research Team.

News Snaps

⛳ First Crypto Purse Awarded

Scottie Scheffler, the world’s No. 1 golf player and recently crowned PGA Tour Player of the Year, won the Crypto.com Showdown at Shadow Creek in Las Vegas with Rory McIlroy. They split the first-ever golf purse awarded in cryptocurrency.

📈 MicroStrategy Joins Nasdaq-100

MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin-buying strategy appears to have paid off after Nasdaq announced that the company will join the Nasdaq-100 index. To date, MicroStrategy has reportedly accumulated over 439,000 bitcoins in its reserves, causing the company’s stock to skyrocket by 547% as the price of BTC crossed the $100,000 mark.

🎅 Are Post-Christmas Rallies Common? 

Does Santa deliver green candles? A report by CoinGecko suggests so. The report states that from 2014 to 2023, the crypto market saw eight post-Christmas rallies in the last 10 years, with gains topping at 11.87%. 

🎄 Christmas Meme Coins Bag Mixed Performances

The meme coin mania on Solana is going strong thanks to Pump.fun, and you can get into the festive spirit with Christmas-themed coins like RIZZMAS and SANTAWIFHAT. The tokens’ performances are a mix of reds and greens, with some seeing upward gains after BTC’s recent all-time high of $108,000.

🏁 Avalanche Upgrade Goes Live

The Avalanche ecosystem went ahead with its Avalanche9000 upgrade this week, bringing with it many new features, such as lower transaction costs and customized blockchain creation. Prior to the upgrade, the Avalanche Foundation conducted a $250 million raise and unveiled a $40 million grant program.

What’s Ahead

Restaking Beyond Ethereum

Wormhole is working with restaking protocol developers Nuffle Labs on a solution to expand EigenLayer’s restaking functionality beyond the Ethereum ecosystem, according to an announcement on Tuesday. 

The partnership with Wormhole will make all the tokens provided through Nuffle’s infrastructure available on EigenLayer’s shared security framework. The announcement did not stipulate a target date.

Number of the Week

Chart of the Week

Research & Insights

In 2024, the crypto industry witnessed more impressive milestones than in the previous year. In this report, we curate the top crypto events and trends of 2024, followed by our outlook for 2025.

Read the report.

Crypto Trivia

When is altcoin season?

A) When Bitcoin’s price reaches an all-time high, causing altcoins to lose value

B) When all cryptocurrency prices drop due to seasonal market trends

C) When altcoins consistently outperform Bitcoin over a period of time

Find the correct answer at the end of this newsletter.

NFT Spotlight

Digital artist Fran Rodriguez returns to Crypto.com with ‘Quantum Cryptonauts V2’, the fourth collection of the Cryptonauts saga. Based in Spain, Rodríguez is known for his “striking images” depicting his interpretation of humanity’s place in the universe, “deeply inspired by his early fondness of surrealism and psychedelia.”

The Quantum Cryptonauts, also known as the “dark knights of the cosmos,” are everywhere at once, feeling and knowing everything. Dropping on Monday, December 23, the collection is “full of psychedelia and cosmic surrealism” and, for the first time, fully animated avatars.

There’s a Cryptonaut for you. They are everywhere.

Product Updates

The 2024 Year in Review Is Back!

Get your recap of personalized highlights, top market trends, Missions achievements, and more. Check out your stories now. To celebrate our best moments, we’re giving away tickets to various sporting events from our partners to 33 eligible lucky users. Until January 8, 2025, share your Year in Review stories on social media for a chance to win. For more details on how to participate, visit the blog. 

Unlock New Possibilities With Your Bitcoin Using CDCBTC

Crypto.com Wrapped Bitcoin (CDCBTC), a tokenized version of BTC, is now available in the Crypto.com App and on the Exchange. Backed in a 1:1 ratio by BTC held in Crypto.com’s audited custody solution, CDCBTC allows you to engage with decentralized applications (dapps), offering services like collateralized lending, asset swaps, and yield generation. 

Convert Crypto to ALL, Accor Loyalty Program Reward Points

A first in the market, Crypto.com Pay has partnered with ALL, the Accor Live Limitless loyalty program, to enable you to convert crypto into Reward points. Crypto.com App users can convert more than 20 supported tokens and get up to 10% back in CRO. Spend your points in over 5,400 hotels and resorts worldwide. Learn how here. 

Get Apple Products or Emirates Tickets With Your Crypto.com Card

In a first-of-its-kind promotion, users in Bahrain, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates can receive Apple products or Emirates tickets to a destination of their choice. Until January 13 2025, apply for a Crypto.com Card or upgrade your existing one and meet the CRO Net Buy requirement. Terms and conditions apply. Learn more here. 

New Token Listings

Vana (VANA)

Vana is an EVM-compatible Layer-1 blockchain network designed to empower users with ownership and control over their data. 

Pudgy Penguins (PENGU)

PENGU is the official token of the Pudgy Penguins NFT collection.

This is informational content only and should not be considered as an investment recommendation. Some Crypto.com products may not be available in some jurisdictions.

Crypto Learn

Three Reasons to Use Crypto Basket

Building a crypto portfolio this Christmas? Crypto Basket offers preselected bundles of coins designed to make purchasing multiple coins easier for you. 

Diversify: Purchase multiple similar tokens with one click.

Rebalance: Automatically maintain a pre-specified ratio between the coins in a basket, and potentially benefit from price changes by applying the ‘buy low, sell high’ strategy. 

Customize: Buy or sell (partially or fully) or exchange baskets for an individual coin.

From GameFi and DeFi to Cronos and Featured 10, these themed baskets offer a convenient way to diversify your portfolio in one click.

Unwrap the full article here.

CryptoIRL

Kris Marszalek, CEO of Crypto.com, met with President-elect Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago earlier this week.

Security Tips

Last-Minute Holiday Shopping? Watch Out for Crypto Scams. 

Phishing losses reportedly fell 53% in November to $9.3 million from October’s $20.2 million. However, attacks may surge this month, as hackers target holiday online transactions, warns Deddy Lavid, co-founder and CEO of Web3 security platform Cyvers. 

Here’s how to stay safe:

1. Check before signing transactions: Use transaction simulators or blockchain explorers to preview your authorizations.

2. Stay vigilant: Be cautious of unexpected messages, links, or pop-ups.

3. Secure your wallets: Use hardware wallets for an extra layer of protection and avoid storing keys online.

Crypto Trivia Answer

C) It is altcoin season when altcoins consistently outperform Bitcoin over a period of time.

That’s it for this week’s SnapShot. Want more? Find out what’s trending in the crypto world.