Bitcoin finished the week strong, briefly surging above $105,000 per coin just before Donald Trump—who cast himself as a crypto-friendly candidate in the presidential race—gets inaugurated for his second term on Monday.
It started off the week sluggish, however, selling at a two-month low—below $90,000—as traders were cautious over what the Federal Reserve plans for interest rates this year.
But new data dropped Wednesday showing that inflation indeed was up at the end of last year, with the Consumer Price Index up 2.9% in the 12 months through December. That, according to traders, made another Fed rate cut seem more likely.
Bitcoin tends to do well in a low interest rate environment—or has done in the past—so if the Fed sees more reason to lower the borrowing costs, then Bitcoin could become more attractive. The asset then broke past $99,000 before continuing on to retake the $100,000 milestone and continue flying.
News that Trump would issue crypto-related orders on his first week in office also helped push the coin to where it is now.
Donald Trump's Face Is Now Plastered on the Bitcoin Blockchain Forever
American Bitcoin miner MARA has put a portrait of President-elect Donald Trump onto the cryptocurrency's blockchain ahead of his return to the White House. In a Friday post on X (formerly known as Twitter), the publicly traded company said it had put the portrait of the soon-to-be-returning leader on the block to "honor" his impending inauguration on Monday. President-elect Trump has said he will help the digital asset industry and has been widely supported by Bitcoiners. The portrait of the Pre...
ETF flows
A lot of money—but not all—flowing into the Bitcoin space is coming via investors who buy shares in the new exchange-traded funds.
The world's biggest economy has the most financial might—and big flows into the products tend to swing market sentiment.
Bitcoin Smashes $99,000 as Inflation Rises to 2.9% in December
Consumer prices rose as expected in December, a potentially positive sign for risk assets battered by this month’s shifting outlook on Federal Reserve rate cuts. The Consumer Price Index (CPI), which tracks price changes across a broad range of goods and services, rose 2.9% in the 12 months through December, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Wednesday. “Markets had been losing some faith on the disinflation thesis and the idea of Fed rate cuts,” Grayscale’s Head of Research Zach Pandl told Dec...
At the start of the week—and end of last week—hundreds of millions left the funds as investors were apparently spooked about what the central bank would do next.
But then on Wednesday, the tide turned and a total of $755 million hit the funds, Farside Investors data shows. Thursday was also an epic day, with investors throwing another $626 million at the investment vehicles—but Friday topped 'em all with
Mining difficulty peaks
The price of Bitcoin wasn't the only thing that rose this week: The mining difficulty of the biggest cryptocurrency also hit a new high. It currently stands at 110.45 trillion, meaning it's harder than ever before to mine a new block.
In the world of mining, computers around the world race to solve complex mathematical problems in order for new blocks to be added to the blockchain. And if it gets harder for miners to complete that task, then the network is working as it should.
Bitcoin Mining Is Now More Difficult Than Ever Before
It’s the metric that many Bitcoin investors don’t know—or care—about. But they should, despite the biggest and oldest digital coin’s price taking a hit earlier Monday. Bitcoin’s mining difficulty has edged up again to touch a new high. Data from CoinWarz shows that the difficulty hit a new all-time high of 110.45 trillion on Sunday. That means it’s harder than ever before to mine a new block. In the world of Bitcoin, mining operations scattered around the world—typically large warehouses full of...
Bitfinex hack update
In other news, the Department of Justice said that the recovered Bitcoin that stolen in the notorious 2016 Bitfinex hack should be returned to the exchange.
The feds said there were no "victims" in the case where Ilya Lichtenstein stole about 120,000 Bitcoin (today worth over $12 billion), while his wife, rapper and social media personality Heather "Razzlekhan" Morgan, helped launder some of the funds.
DOJ Says $9 Billion in Bitcoin Stolen in 2016 Hack Should Be Returned to Bitfinex
Billions of dollars of Bitcoin swiped from crypto exchange Bitfinex in a 2016 hack should be returned to the platform, the Department of Justice said. In a court documents filed Tuesday, the U.S. government said that the recovered coins from the theft should go back to the exchange as there are no "victims" in the case. Hackers took nearly 120,000 Bitcoin—today worth nearly $12 billion—and other digital tokens from the exchange in the hack. Over $9 billion worth of that has been recovered, and i...
About 90,000 Bitcoin was ultimately recovered and could go back to Bitfinex, which said that it had made customers whole years ago via a repayment program. Not every customer agrees with that perspective, however, particularly with Bitcoin skyrocketing in value in the years since.
Gensler disses crypto—but not Bitcoin
Widely regarded as the bogeyman of crypto, SEC Chair Gary Gensler is on his way out and will soon be replaced. In an interview Tuesday, the regulator told CNBC that while he views many cryptocurrencies as unregulated securities, Bitcoin may in the future be traded like commodities such as gold.
Alluding to how gold had been traded for 10,000 years, he said: "We have Bitcoin. It might be something else in the future, as well."
Trump's executive order
Sources told Decrypt that the incoming president is planning to issue a crypto-related executive order to help the industry on his first day in office. A raft of reforms are being pondered, some not previously reported, which could include instructing regulators to establish a crypto working group to get on the same page about the industry.
The incoming president campaigned on a promise to help Bitcoiners and the space as a whole.
Trump’s Day-One Crypto Executive Order Likely First of Many: Sources
President-elect Donald Trump is poised to issue a crypto-related executive order within the opening hours of his second term, sources familiar with the matter told Decrypt—and it's likely just the first of many to come. Trump’s first crypto executive order is expected to establish a presidential crypto council, made up of around 20 industry leaders—likely all founders and CEOs, one source said. The order is also likely to instruct the SEC to ditch a rule known as SAB 121 that discourages America...
Coinbase Bitcoin loans
And America's biggest crypto exchange, Coinbase, has started Bitcoin-backed loans again—after discontinuing them two years ago. The loans allow investors to use their "digital gold" as collateral and borrow up to $100,000 in the USDC stablecoin instantly.
Coinbase Restarts Bitcoin-Backed Loans via Ethereum Network Base
Coinbase is rolling out Bitcoin-backed loans nearly two years after it discontinued its Borrow service, right as the world's oldest cryptocurrency is soaring to new heights. Customers can borrow up to $100,000 in USDC stablecoin instantly through the firm's centralized exchange platform, Coinbase said Thursday in a statement. The lending services will be powered by Morpho, a popular lending protocol on Base, the Ethereum layer-2 network that Coinbase incubated. The loans will be collateralized...
The new service will be powered by a third party: Morpho, a lending protocol on Base, the Ethereum layer-2 network that Coinbase incubated.
Edited by Andrew Hayward
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