The following article is adapted from The Block’s newsletter, The Daily, which comes out on weekday afternoons.
Robinhoood shares jumped 13% in early trading Thursday after fourth-quarter earnings beat estimates.
Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino told The Block that JPMorgan analysts "don't understand either Bitcoin nor Tether."
JPMorgan analysts estimate that only 66%–83% of Tether's reserves comply with proposed U.S. stablecoin regulations, potentially requiring asset restructuring.
Total crypto market cap increased 8% to about $3.4 trillion last month, the report said.
The blockchain's native token ether has underperformed bitcoin and other altcoins in recent months, the report noted.
Analysts attribute ether's underperformance to growing competition from Solana and Layer 2s, and its lack of bitcoin's store-of-value appeal.
Mining difficulty fell 2% from the previous month, which is relatively uncommon, the report said.
The correlation tends to peak during periods of strong tech market performance or sell-offs, JPMorgan analysts said.
Digital asset projects are increasingly turning to community-driven platforms to raise money, the report said.
Crypto VC funding is expected to rise in 2025 but likely won't reach the highs of 2021-2022, according to JPMorgan analysts.
The combined hashrate of miners tracked by the bank has doubled in the last year to roughly 30% of the global network, the report said.
Some tokenholders are expressing doubts about the proposal’s profitability for the DeFi lending protocol.
Bitcoin's dominance over ether and altcoins is expected to persist through 2025, according to JPMorgan analysts.
XRP’s price surged amid broader uncertainty in the crypto market, driven by aggressive whale accumulation and speculation about a possible ETF listing in the US, according to crypto analysts.
Under the new regulations only compliant stablecoins can be used as trading pairs in regulated markets, the report said.
The network hashrate rose 54% in 2024, slower than 2023's 103% gain, the report said.
The worst regulatory environment for crypto markets is behind us, the report said.
The hashprice, a measure of daily mining profitability, rose 5% from the end of November, the report said.
This week’s Crypto Biz also explores Microsoft’s board’s stance on Bitcoin, JPMorgan’s revision of mining stocks, MARA’s new BTC purchase and upcoming listings of crypto firms.
The strategic shift to a bitcoin accumulation model is due to pressure on profitability following the reward halving, the report said.
The bank updated estimates for a number of mining stocks in its coverage following third quarter results and recent gains in bitcoin and the hashrate.
Total crypto market cap jumped 45% in November, in the best monthly return to-date, the report said.
Leveraged MicroStrategy ETFs attracted $3.4 billion of inflows in November, the report said.
The Mastercard Multi-Token Network is connecting with JPMorgan’s ambitious Kinexys Digital Payments for faster settlement.
The total market cap of the miners the bank tracks grew 33% since the end October, the report said.
After leaving crypto liquidity firm GSR in 2023, former Millennium and Pimco executives are coming back to crypto by launching a dedicated advisory firm.
The banking giant was one of the early leaders in applying blockchain tech to traditional financial activities, executing over $1.5 trillion of transactions since its inception.
The network's monthly average hashrate surged to a record high, the report said.
According to JPMorgan analysts, a win for the Republican US presidential candidate Donald Trump could further fuel Bitcoin (BTC) price momentum. Retail Investors Turn To Bitcoin For ‘Debasement Trade’ In a recent client note, analysts at JPMorgan suggested that a Trump win might provide ‘additional upside’ for both BTC and gold, as retail investors increasingly view Bitcoin as a ‘debasement trade.’ Related Reading: Bitcoin Makes ATH Against Euro Due To Change In Dollar Strength, Details Inside In simple terms, a debasement trade is a strategy to protect purchasing power against the steady erosion of fiat currencies due to extensive money printing. Notably, the M2 money supply – a measure of total money in circulation – sharply rose during the coronavirus pandemic. This surplus in money supply led to heightened inflation, forcing the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) to raise interest rates to contain it. By purchasing BTC, retail investors aim to maintain their money’s value, hoping Bitcoin will act as a hedge against currency depreciation. The JPMorgan note states: Retail investors appear to be embracing the ‘debasement trade’ in an even stronger manner by buying bitcoin and gold ETFs. The retail impulse is also seen in meme and AI tokens the market cap of which has outperformed. Data from SoSoValue shows that Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETF) have attracted a whopping $1.3 billion in inflows over the past two days alone. As of October 30, the cumulative net inflow to US-based spot BTC ETFs is $24.18 billion. October’s total ETF inflows alone amount to $4.4 billion, marking it the third-highest month for BTC ETF inflows since their launch earlier this year. However, institutional investors appear to have slowed down on BTC futures activity recently, with analysts noting that Bitcoin futures have entered overbought territory, potentially introducing vulnerability for BTC’s near-term outlook. The client note highlights that credit and prediction markets lean toward a Trump win, unlike equities, foreign exchange (FX), and rates markets. The analysts conclude: Overall, to the extent a Trump win inspires retail investors to not only buy risk assets but to also further embrace the ‘debasement trade’, there could be additional upside for bitcoin and gold prices in a Trump win scenario. Where Is BTC Headed? Analysts Share Their Outlook Bitcoin is trading within 2% of reaching a new all-time high (ATH), driving renewed optimism among crypto analysts. Related Reading: Bitcoin Retail Demand Rises 13% In 1 Month: Time For Q4 2024 Rally? For instance, crypto analyst Timothy Peterson recently posited that BTC could surge to as high as $100,000 by February 2025. Meanwhile, crypto options trading data indicates that traders remain confident BTC will hit $80,000 by the end of November 2024, regardless of the election outcome. Veteran trader Peter Brandt, however, has urged caution, advising BTC bulls that a daily close above $76,000 is critical for confirming a true breakout. At the time of writing, BTC is trading at $71,798, down 0.1% in the past 24 hours. Featured image from Unsplash, Charts from FRED and Tradingview.com