Strengths
- Of the cryptocurrencies tracked by CoinMarketCap, the best performer for the week was Fart Coin, rising 65.08%.
- Intesa Sanpaolo SpA has made its first spot Bitcoin purchase, buying roughly 1 million euros ($1 million) worth of the original cryptocurrency, as Italy’s largest banking group pushed deeper into the asset class. Intesa bought 11 Bitcoin, according to the investment head of digital trading and reported by Bloomberg.
- Bitcoin appears to be back on track toward record highs with the second presidential inauguration of pro-crypto Donald Trump. Bitcoin has climbed around 12% since Sunday putting it on pace for the biggest weekly gain since election week, writes Bloomberg.
Weaknesses
- Of the cryptocurrencies tracked by CoinMarketCap, the worst performer for the week was ai16z, down 22.37%.
- Bitcoin slumped to an almost two-month low as investors dumped riskier assets following a sharp rise in bond yields. Bitcoin dropped as much as 4.4% to $90,199 on Monday, reports Bloomberg, the lowest since November 18. Stronger than expected U.S. jobs data on Friday prompted traders to curtail bets that the Fed may cut interest rates soon.
- The NFT market faced its most challenging year since 2020, according to a new report from blockchain analytics platform DappRadar, which noted a 19% drop in trading volumes. The report revealed that NFT sale counts dropped significantly in 2024, falling to 49.8 million from 60.6 million in 2023, according to Bloomberg.
Opportunities
- Bitcoin climbed past $100,000 again after softer-than-expected U.S. inflation helped to rekindle demand for riskier assets ranging from equities to cryptocurrencies. The correlation between Bitcoin and a gauge of U.S. technology stocks has hit a two-year high, writes Bloomberg, as the equity market’s reaction to U.S. inflation data on Wednesday helped set a stronger tone for digital tokens.
- Swiss state-owned bank PostFinance AG expanded its digital asset offering by introducing staking, allowing holders of the second-biggest cryptocurrency Ether to earn passive income. Post Finance will add staking for other tokens soon, according to Bloomberg.
- Komainu Holdings, a cryptocurrency custodian backed by Nomura Holdings, has raised $75 million from Blockstream Capital Partners. Pending regulatory approvals, the funding will be used to support Komainu’s global expansion as well as to integrate technologies.
Threats
- Singapore and Thailand have moved to block prediction markets platform Polymarket, adding to the regulatory hurdles facing the venue that surged in popularity during the U.S. election. Singapore’s Gambling Regulatory authority blocked access to Polymarket in December as it was deemed to be providing unlawful gambling, writes Bloomberg.
- Prediction market Kalshi Inc. and the CFTC head back to court on Friday to argue whether trading on political markets should be banned. Election-themed derivatives contracts like Kalshi’s catapulted to public prominence ahead of the November U.S. elections, where they accurately predicted that President Donald Trump would win a second term, writes Bloomberg.
- NFTs sold by Tennis Australia for nearly 1.5 million euros have tanked in value amid reports the organization has walked away from its NFT project. More than 9,000 of the NFTs have shed up to 90% of their value since the launch in 2022 by Tennis Australia, writes Bloomberg.
