We‘re Not Tired of This 🐂
Plus, 🤑 The tokens Trump’s sons are buying, 💥 Coinbase squares off with BiT Global, 🌟 MicroStrategy joins an exclusive club, and more!
I’m Juan Aranovich, managing editor of Unchained.
In today’s edition:
🚀 The rise and rise of BTC
💰 Trump’s sons lead $45M crypto spree
⚖️ Coinbase faces $1B antitrust suit for delisting WBTC
⚠️ Ripple CTO warns: Don’t FOMO our stablecoin
🌟 MicroStrategy enters ranks of Nasdaq-100
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What’s Poppin’?
By Tikta and Juan Aranovich
Bitcoin Hits New All-Time High
Bitcoin surged to a fresh record of more than $106,480 late on Sunday ET amid growing optimism around a so-called “Santa rally” for the broader crypto sector ahead of Christmas.
The rally triggered nearly $120 million in derivatives position liquidations in bitcoin alone, with $103 million of those liquidated betting on a lower price.
Institutional demand for the OG cryptocurrency, evident from net inflows into Bitcoin ETFs throughout last week, likely contributed to the most recent flurry of positive price action.
Bitcoin has surged 16% over the past month and more than 55% since the U.S. presidential election on Nov. 5.
Trump’s Crypto Project Spent Nearly $45M Onchain in 2 Weeks
U.S. president-elect Donald Trump’s DeFi crypto project, World Liberty Financial (WLF), has been buying up crypto tokens worth millions of dollars.
Data from blockchain analytics platform Lookonchain estimates that WLF spent close to $45 million between Nov. 30 and Dec. 15.
Its purchases include $30 million of ETH, $10 million of Coinbase’s wrapped bitcoin token, cbBTC, and some $4 million split between Chainlink’s native token, LINK, and Aave’s native token, AAVE.
WLF also acquired $500,000 of Ethena Labs’ ENA, and, more recently, $250,000 of Ondo Finance’s ONDO.
WLF is spearheaded by two of Trump’s sons — Eric and Donald Trump Jr. — and it names their father as its “chief crypto advocate.”
BiT Global Sues Coinbase for $1B Over WBTC Delisting
Digital asset custodian BiT Global has filed a $1 billion lawsuit against Coinbase for delisting WBTC, alleging anti-competitive practices.
BiT Global recently assumed custody of WBTC following a partnership agreement between WBTC’s original custodian, BitGo, and Tron founder Justin Sun.
Coinbase announced plans to delist WBTC on Nov. 19, citing a periodic review of its listing standards. That came around a month after Coinbase launched its own competing wrapped bitcoin product, cbBTC.
In the complaint, BiT Global claims that it stands to lose more than $1 billion in market valuation as a result of Coinbase's actions.
“Having decided to copycat WBTC with its own product, Coinbase resorted to unfair and deceptive tactics that have long been used by tech giants to crush their competition,” BiT Global said.
The corporate registry for BiT Global Trust Ltd. lists five shareholders, all based at the same address in the British Virgin Islands, one of which is named "Global Ayn Ltd.," likely a reference to ultra-libertarian writer Ayn Rand, of whom Sun is known to be a fan.
Expect RLUSD Shortage at Launch, Ripple CTO Warns
Ripple CTO David Schwartz expects the early days of trade for RLUSD, the company’s new U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin, to be fairly volatile.
In a post on X, he said: “There actually is someone willing to pay $1,200/RLUSD for a tiny fraction of one RLUSD.”
RLUSD was recently approved by the New York State Department of Financial Services.
The stablecoin, issued on both the XRP Ledger and Ethereum, is designed to facilitate cross-border transactions, increase liquidity, and provide seamless on-ramps and off-ramps for crypto and fiat currencies.
“If you want to spend a lot of money to get a tiny bit of RLUSD before anyone else does, you can. But please don't expect the price to stay over $1 once things stabilize, which I expect they will do very quickly,” Schwartz said, warning users not to “FOMO into a stablecoin.”
RLUSD is expected to be listed on crypto exchanges in the near future, with blockchain data showing that 13 million of the coins have been minted by the RLUSD treasury.
MicroStrategy Joins Nasdaq-100, Expanding Bitcoin Exposure to Billions
MicroStrategy is set to join the Nasdaq-100 following its annual reshuffle, making Michael Saylor’s company the first Bitcoin-centric firm included in the index and positioning it alongside tech giants such as Apple, Tesla, and Microsoft.
The move, effective Dec. 23, will also incorporate MicroStrategy into ETFs tracking the Nasdaq-100, such as the $300 billion Invesco QQQ Trust.
The index inclusion could expose MicroStrategy’s stock to billions of dollars of passive investment flows, further linking it to bitcoin’s performance. The company currently holds $42 billion of bitcoin, making its shares a proxy for the original cryptocurrency.
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💸 Cantor Fitzgerald, a Tether-linked broker, paid a $6.75 million U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission penalty after being charged with misleading special purpose acquisition vehicle investors. It neither admitted nor denied the allegations and claimed no investor was harmed.
❌ Crypto exchange Gate.io denied widespread rumors of a security breach, confirming that its operations remain unaffected and assuring users of the platform’s security as asset movements remained stable
The $$$ Corner…
⚡ Blockchain developer MegaLabs raised $10 million in under three minutes via Cobie's Echo platform, attracting more than 3,200 investors and maintaining a $100 million valuation to prioritize community ownership over insider supply.
What Do You Meme?
📈 Your Market Update 📉
BTC is up 0.8%, trading at $103,604
ETH is up 0.6%, trading at $3,896
BTC dominance: 53.68%
Crypto market cap: $3.82T
*All data as of today, 08:00 am ET. Source: CoinGecko
Recommended Reads
December 2024 Newsletter: The Rise of Digital Assets by Lyn Alden, founder of the eponymous investment strategy firm
WSJ: These Five Wall Street Titans Thought Bitcoin Was a Fad. Here’s What They Say Now.
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