What happened this week in the world of blockchain and cryptocurrencies? The most relevant local and international events, along with engaging background reports, concisely summarized in the weekly review.
Selected articles of the week:
The NASDAQ-100 is a stock market index that tracks the performance of the 100 largest non-financial companies on the US Nasdaq stock exchange. As the second most important US index, the NASDAQ-100 serves as a benchmark for growth-oriented and technology-intensive investments. Passive exchange-traded funds (ETFs) based on the index manage around 250 billion US dollars. Now, the software company MicroStrategy is also part of the NASDAQ-100. In concrete terms, the change means billions in passive inflows through index funds. MicroStrategy will use this in turn to raise debt capital and invest in Bitcoin. The next step is inclusion in the world’s largest stock index, the S&P 500.
According to the stock exchange operator, software manufacturer MicroStrategy will be included in the Nasdaq-100 (NDX) tech stock index this week.
IMF loan instead of Bitcoin nation
In the summer of 2021, El Salvador became the first country in the world to officially recognize Bitcoin as legal tender. Criticism immediately grew from all sides. Leading the way, the IMF warned of risks to financial stability, consumer protection and the fight against money laundering. The world’s largest fiat organization seemed to see El Salvador’s Bitcoin plan as a threat. Shortly thereafter, the IMF included a new clause in loan agreements that curbed the adoption of cryptocurrencies. El Salvador is now subjecting itself to this clause in order to receive a further liquidity injection of $1.4 billion. The world’s largest Bitcoin experiment is showing cracks.
After two and a half years, El Salvador is scaling back its bitcoin experiment to secure a loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Santa rally or Santa correction?
With just over a week to go before Christmas, there is hope of a year-end rally in the crypto markets. The so-called “Santa Rally” is well known in traditional markets and usually takes place between the last five trading days of the year and the first two of the new year. In the case of digital assets, the picture is not quite as clear. A look at past price patterns around Christmas.
A summarizing review of what has been happening at the crypto markets of the past week. A weekly report in cooperation with Kaiko.
When will altcoin season arrive?
On December 5, Bitcoin reached a historic milestone by breaking through the USD 100,000 barrier for the first time. The total market capitalization of cryptocurrencies rose to more than USD 3.89 trillion, while market sentiment turned euphoric. However, a broad altcoin season – i.e. the outperformance of alternative cryptocurrencies – has not yet materialized. This usually occurs in the final phases of a market cycle.
Bitcoin reached a historic $100K milestone, altcoin season, and record liquidations take place, while institutional demand increases.
NFTs are not dead?
In addition: The NFT market is experiencing a significant upturn, with total sales of over $800 million from more than 5 million transactions in the last month. This boom was triggered, among other things, by a meme coin announcement by the popular NFT collection Pudgy Penguins. The euphoria soon spread to other collections. However, NFTs are still far from their historic highs. Will the upturn last?
The NFT market is rebounding with $800M in monthly sales and positive sentiment, led by Pudgy Penguins’ memecoin PENGU.
