Daily News | MicroStrategy Once Again Acquired 14,620 Bitcoins; Ethereum Layer 2 and LSD Ecosystem Projects Generally Rise; METIS Rose by Over 20% Within the Day

Crypto Daily Digest: MicroStrategy once again acquired 14,620 Bitcoins, Ethereum Layer 2 and LSD Eco projects boost generally

The known largest whale of Bitcoin, MicroStrategy, has increased its holdings again.

Michael Saylor, utive Chairman of MSTR, revealed on the X platform that MicroStrategy has once again acquired 14,620 Bitcoins for $615.7 million, with an average price of $42,110. As of December 26, 2023, MicroStrategy currently holds 189,150 BTCs and is acquiring them for approximately $5.9 billion, with an average price of $31,168.

With harmonious singing, Cathie Wood expressed a positive and optimistic attitude towards the passage of the Bitcoin ETF.

According to Benzinga, Cathie Wood, founder and CEO of Ark Invest, recently gave an interview to CNBC. Regarding the spot Bitcoin ETF “ARK 21SHARES BITCOIN ETF” jointly launched by ARK Invest and 21 Shares, she stated that the US Securities and Exchange Commission has improved its “knowledge depth” of cryptocurrencies and may approve its submitted spot Bitcoin ETF before January 10, 2024.

In addition, Wood also emphasized the importance of ETFs in stimulating institutional interest in the crypto field. Once institutions and investors establish themselves, they will seek ways to diversify their investment portfolios. When discussing the impact of spot ETF approvals on the price of Bitcoin, Wood stated that this will be a short-term impact. However, she believes that the promotion of institutional Bitcoin will have a significant impact on the prices of leading cryptocurrencies.

In response to this, Max Keiser, senior advisor to the President of El Salvador, refuted Cathie Wood’s statement on social media that “if Bitcoin spot ETFs are approved, they will attract more institutions to enter,” stating that this statement is misleading. All Bitcoin spot ETFs created by cash are just proxy tools for investors to track BTC prices and cannot obtain actual BTC.

Regarding this, Bloomberg ETF analysts have stated that in fact, if Bitcoin ETFs can only be created in cash, rather than BTC (created in physical form), then most non-crypto individuals (especially wealth management institutions that control $33 trillion in assets) will not have much to do. In fact, they prefer to earn dollars from it, they just want to be exposed.

On December 28th, according to Bloomberg citing insiders, as of mid-December, Pantera Capital’s liquid token fund has risen nearly 80% this year after falling 80% in 2022. Pantera Capital’s mobile token fund hopes to use Altcoins (tokens other than Bitcoin and Ethereum) to achieve an increase next year.

Cosmo Jiang, a portfolio manager at Pantera, said in an interview that after the rise of Bitcoin, Altcoins have always performed better than the market in the second stage of rebound, and the choice of token is actually important. Its limited partners are seeking us to divest assets outside of Bitcoin.

And Pantera’s core argument is that if we believe this industry will develop, we must focus on protocols that can truly generate revenue. Currently, one of Pantera Capital’s largest positions is dYdX, with Bitcoin and Ethereum accounting for less than 40% of the fund’s total.

Recently, at the Guangdong Hong Kong Macao Greater Bay Area Digital Economy Development Conference, Li Haolong, Chairman of the Greater Bay Area Capital Group, stated that the Greater Bay Area Capital Group (GBA Capital) will announce the launch of a $10 billion yuan asset Web3.0 industry fund to invest in globally related tracks in the fields of yuan assets, metaverse, NFT, RWA, etc., helping the Guangdong Hong Kong Macao Greater Bay Area become the “world’s capital of yuan assets.”

It is reported that multiple signing ceremonies were also held at the conference, with Greater Bay Area Capital Group, the conference organizing committee, and multiple partners signing contracts. In the future, cooperation will be carried out in fields such as digital economy, meta assets, Web 3.0, and metaverse.

On December 28th, Grayscale officially posted on social media that ETH generated strong returns (over 80%) in 2023, but its performance lagged behind BTC and some other smart contract blockchain tokens. The ratio between ETH and BTC price indices has recently reached its lowest level since mid-2021.

In fact, the growth rate of most smart contract platform tokens this year is lower than that of Bitcoin, and ETH is basically consistent with this similar group. The CryptoSector index of FTSE’s grayscale smart contract platform rose by approximately 94% in 2023, only slightly higher than ETH’s increase. Although ETH lags behind Bitcoin and some other crypto assets in 2023, it still surpasses traditional asset classes. Therefore, we believe that the rebound of ETH should be seen as evidence of the expansion of crypto recovery.

On December 28th, according to the latest Gate.io market, Ethereum briefly hit $2,400 and is now quoted at $2,399.55, with a 24-hour increase of 7.63%.

According to L2BEAT data, the Metis Andromeda network TVL may be affected by the rise in coin prices, reaching $695 million, with a 7-day increase of 560%. It is currently ranked third in the Ethereum Layer 2 network TVL, with a gap of less than $1 million compared to the third-ranked Base network TVL ($696 million).

On December 27th, according to Gate.io market data, METIS broke through $90 and is now quoting $90.7, with a daily increase of 20.8% and a 4-day increase of 155%.

Impacted by Vitalik’s article proposing three methods to simplify the message side of Ethereum’s POS mechanism, on December 27th, the Layer 2 project token saw a general upward trend, with OP increasing by 19.38% in 24 hours and now being quoted $3.92; MATIC has a 24-hour increase of 18.34% and is currently quoted at $1.06; METIS has a 24-hour increase of 17.1% and is currently quoted at $86.71; ARB has increased by 10.74% in 24 hours and is now quoted at $1.48.

On December 28th, LSD protocol governance tokens also saw a general upward trend, with LDO currently quoting $2.83, a 24-hour increase of 16.8%; PENDLE is currently quoting $1.2706, with a 24-hour increase of 14.37%; SSV is currently quoting $26.4, with a 24-hour increase of 12.74%; and RPL is currently quoting $32.3, with a 24-hour increase of 12.2%.

Today’s Main Token Trends

BTC

This week has seen continued high volatility, with another upward movement towards key levels this morning. Resistance levels above include $45,345 and $47,990, while support levels below are at $41,450 and $40,280. Signs of convergence at the high point suggest a possible market decision by mid-next month.

ETH

A short-term four-hour inverse head and shoulders pattern has formed, indicating a bullish trend. In the short term, holding above $2,489 is crucial, with the strategy showing sustained profits from $2,180. The downside support has shifted to a key level of $2,381.

GT

The weekly chart marks the beginning of the second stage of a bullish market, with a clear upward trend. The short-term four-hour chart continues to show convergence, anticipating an early bullish breakout in the platform coin sector. Target prices are $12.877, $18.977, $28.58, and $44.99. Long-term positioning is recommended.

Macro: The US dollar index has fallen to a new low, can 2024 become the year for interest rate cuts?

On Wednesday, the US dollar index accelerated its decline during the US market and fell below the 101 level, reaching a new low since July this year. It ultimately closed down 0.6% at 100.94; The yield on US Treasury bonds has sharply declined, with the 10-year yield falling below the 3.8% mark and ultimately closing at 3.789%. The yield on two-year Treasury bonds, which are more sensitive to the Federal Reserve’s policy interest rates, closed at 4.240%.

Spot gold continued its upward trend, breaking through the 2080 level during the US market and reaching an intraday high of $2084.49, reaching a new high in nearly three weeks. However, it failed to stabilize above the 2080 level and ultimately closed up 0.47% at $2077.07 per ounce; Spot silver rose 0.18% to close at $24.27 per ounce.

As global shipping companies are about to return to the Red Sea, the two oil companies have almost wiped out yesterday’s gains. WTI crude oil plummeted significantly from the European market, falling below $75 and dropping to an intraday low of $73.78, ultimately closing down 2% at $73.78 per barrel; Brent crude oil failed to stabilize above the $80 mark and ultimately closed down 1.72% at $79.24 per barrel.

The major US stock indexes closed slightly higher, with the Dow Jones up 0.3%, the S&P 500 up 0.14%, and the Nasdaq up 0.16%. Digital currency concept stocks led the market up, with MicroStrategy (MSTR. O) closing up over 11% due to positive factors from MSTR’s increased holdings in Bitcoin.

Recently, surveys by several regional Federal Reserve banks, including New York and Dallas, have shown that US employers expect to reduce recruitment in 2024, which is expected to constrain wage growth and ease inflationary pressures. The data shows that the Federal Reserve’s measures aimed at slowing economic growth and curbing inflation are affecting the economy, which means a slowdown in employment but not a direct contraction.

As time goes on and we enter 2024, interest rate cuts have become a key keyword in the Federal Reserve’s policy. Meanwhile, as we enter the new year, the list of officials with voting rights at the Federal Reserve’s FOMC meeting will also change.

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) of the Federal Reserve is composed of twelve members and holds eight meetings annually to discuss economic and financial conditions and vote on appropriate monetary policy to achieve the tasks of maximizing employment and stabilizing prices.

During their tenure, the seven members of the Federal Reserve Board of Directors have permanent voting rights and can cast a crucial vote at each meeting; As the financial center of the United States, New York is the most economically developed and financially active place in the country, so the Chairman of the Federal Reserve of New York also has permanent voting rights. The remaining 11 regional Federal Reserve chairpersons share 4 voting rights and rotate annually. Officials without voting rights are also required to attend meetings and participate in discussions.

In 2024, in addition to officials with permanent voting rights, the rotating voting committee consists of Atlanta Fed Chairman Bostic, San Francisco Fed Chairman Daley, Cleveland Fed Chairman Mester, and Richmond Fed Chairman Barkin. The list of rotating voting committee members changes annually, thus having the greatest impact on voting.

Overall, among officials with permanent voting rights, Waller’s attitude has shown a clear shift towards a “dovish stance,” while in the 2024 rotating voting committee, the trend of a “dovish stance” seems to be even louder. Entering the year of interest rate cuts, such a “hawkish and dovish combination” may make the Federal Reserve more adept.