Executive brief
Bitcoin remains pinned below the $70,000 mark as a significant divergence emerges between aggressive institutional accumulation and cautious macro sentiment. Major corporate treasuries continue to expand their positions regardless of price volatility; Michael Saylor’s Strategy recently acquired a further 2,486 BTC for $168m, while Bitmine increased its Ethereum treasury to 4.37 million ETH. This institutional appetite is further evidenced by Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth funds, which held over $1b in BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF at the close of last year. This trend suggests a strong directional floor provided by professional capital, even as retail sentiment according to some indicators has hit four year lows.
Regulatory developments are providing a mixed backdrop for the market. South Korea has officially lifted its nine year ban on corporate crypto participation, a move that could significantly broaden the buyer base. Conversely, the Netherlands has approved a proposal to tax unrealised gains at 36%, posing a potential liquidity risk for long term holders. Security concerns have also intensified following a home invasion targeting a Binance executive in France, highlighting the rising threat of coordinated physical attacks on high profile figures. Despite these risks, tokenised real-world assets on Ethereum have surged 300% over the past year to reach $17b, indicating that the shift toward on-chain financial infrastructure remains a primary opportunity for the sector.
1) Top 20 news headlines
- Strategy acquires 2,486 Bitcoin for $168m; total corporate holdings have reached 717,131 BTC;.
- BitMine expands Ethereum treasury to 4.37m ETH; the firm projects $252m in annual staking revenue;.
- Abu Dhabi funds held $1b of BlackRock BTC ETF; Mubadala and Al Warda held over 20 million shares in Q4;.
- BlackRock begins ETH acquisition for staking ETF; an affiliate purchased 4,000 seed shares for $100,000;.
- South Korea ends 9-year corporate crypto ban; the policy shift includes stablecoin legislation and potential spot ETFs;.
- Netherlands approves 36% tax on unrealised gains; the Box 3 overhaul targets annual price changes in liquid assets like BTC;.
- Binance executive targeted in French home invasion; the botched attack reflects a 75% increase in global physical coercion incidents;.
- Dragonfly closes $650m fourth venture fund; the raise focuses on real-world assets and financial infrastructure;.
- Aave DAO proposes $100m annual revenue capture; the framework would direct 100% of product revenue to the treasury;.
- Ethereum RWA market cap exceeds $17b; tokenised real-world assets grew by 315% year over year;.
- Gemini shakeup sees exit of three top executives; the COO, CFO, and CLO are departing the exchange;.
- Logan Paul sells Pokémon card for $16.5m; the record breaking auction sale was made to A.J. Scaramucci;.
- Starknet integrates EY Nightfall for privacy; the tool enables confidential institutional transactions on Ethereum rails;.
- Nakamoto to acquire BTC Inc in $107m deal; the all-stock transaction consolidates Bitcoin media and asset management;.
- Polygon daily fees surpass Ethereum; the flip occurred amid a surge in prediction market activity on Polymarket;.
- DeFi lender ZeroLend shuts down; the protocol faced a 98% drop in TVL to $6.6m before winding down;.
- CBO projects US debt to reach $64t by 2036; annual interest payments are expected to reach $2.1t;.
- Metaplanet revenue 95% tied to crypto; the firm recorded a net loss of $620m due to BTC valuation hits;.
- CFTC chair defends prediction markets; the regulator filed a brief against state led litigation of the sector;.
- SBI Holdings targets majority stake in Coinhako; Japan’s SBI signed a letter of intent for the Singapore exchange;.
2) BTC and ETH ETF flows
| Metric | BTC | ETH |
|---|---|---|
| Net inflow | $15,202,870.6 | $10,264,680.4 |
| Value traded | $3,690,646,781.3 | $1,104,192,298.0 |
| Net assets | $87,037,845,395.8 | $11,719,185,082.8 |
| Cumulative net inflow | $54,328,741,241.8 | $11,647,855,441.9 |
3) X trending news
- Mubadala BTC ETF increase; UAE wealth fund increased its spot Bitcoin ETF holdings by 45% to $630m.
- US debt estimate; CBO estimates federal debt will reach $64 trillion in 2036, doubling from 2023 levels.
- CFTC future-proof regulation; the CFTC Chair stated intent to future-proof crypto rules to prevent them being dismantled.
- Gold call option surge; an investor is accumulating $15,000/$20,000 gold call spreads with open interest near 11,000 contracts.
- American Bitcoin holdings; Eric Trump’s American Bitcoin now holds 6,000 BTC worth over $400,000,000.
- S&P 500 reversal; the index erased all daily losses, adding $600b in market value in 30 minutes.
- Softbank sells Nvidia; Q4 portfolio data shows Softbank sold 32,110,456 shares of NVDA.
- Goldman Sachs AI use; the bank is reportedly using AI to limit future growth in its staff headcount.