Quick Take

• 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 spot bitcoin 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% probability of 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.

Check price

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.

Notable Token Updates

Newly Listed Tokens in the Crypto.com App

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 App launched Crypto Basket, a feature that allows eligible users to purchase multiple thematic coins at once. Users can purchase coins in a category (e.g., Solana ecosystem, AI, Meme) without buying each coin individually, with added functions including auto-rebalancing and targeted performance tracking.

• 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.

Investment Vehicles

• Grayscale filed with NYSE Arca to convert its existing Solana Trust (GSOL) into an ETF. It is now the fifth asset manager that has filed to launch a Solana ETF.

• WisdomTree submitted an S-1 filing for a spot XRP ETF with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). It is now the fourth company to submit such a filing.

Adoption

• 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.

Regulation / Policy

• US President-elect Donald Trump nominated former SEC commissioner Paul Atkins as the new SEC Chair, pending Senate confirmation. In addition, Trump appointed venture investor David Sacks as “White House AI and Crypto Czar”, who will work on a legal framework for the crypto industry.

• 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.

• Circle’s USDC became the first stablecoin to meet the Canadian Securities Administrators’ (CSA) Value-Referenced Crypto Asset (VCRA) regime. Stablecoins listed on Canadian-registered crypto platforms will need to be delisted if they are not compliant by 31 December 2024.

Recent Research Report

• 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.

Recent University Articles

• 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.

• What Is Crypto.com’s Wrapped Bitcoin (CDCBTC) and How Does It Work?: CDCBTC is Bitcoin wrapped by Crypto.com that allows you to unlock DeFi opportunities with BTC. Here’s how it works.

• What Are XRP ETFs — Plus What to Know About the Pending SEC Applications: The first Ripple ETF proposals were filed in October 2024. Here’s what to know about a potential XRP ETF.

Catalyst Calendar

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