Bitcoin News Weekly #28

Hey, it's Bam! My aim is to bring you up to speed on all the significant developments in Bitcoin. Haven't subscribed yet? Click below 👇

LATEST NEWS

🙌 Adoption:

• Bitcoin surpasses 1 billion confirmed transactions, averaging over 178,000 transactions per day since its launch in 2009.

• Bitcoin developer Super Testnet launches Emessbee - an unstoppable coinjoin platform that operates without the need for coordinators.

• Lightning Labs announces the first mainnet “multi-hop asset” payment with Taproot Asset channels, enabling stablecoins on the Lightning Network.

⚖️ Legal:

• The European Securities and Markets Authority, EU's financial supervisory authority, is considering to allow funds to invest in Bitcoin on the €12T investment market UCITS.

• Norwegian government looks into banning Bitcoin mining, “calling the power-intensive crypto-mining pointless.”

• New research, co-authored by a former Greenpeace activist, confirms that Bitcoin mining serves as a tool for environmental cleanup and mitigates methane emissions.

📈 Markets:

• Harvest Global Investment plans to expand the accessibility of its Hong Kong-based Bitcoin ETF to mainland China through the Stock Connect program.

• 13F filings reveal over 250 asset managers with exposure to spot Bitcoin ETFs, including:

  • Susquehanna International Group, with $481 billion AUM, is the biggest Bitcoin ETF holder with over $1.8+ billion in Bitcoin ETFs across 10 different issuers.

  • Bracebridge Capital, owning $434 million in Bitcoin exposure between the ARK, BlockRock and Grayscale ETFs.

  • Monolith Management in Honk Kong, with $252 million in AUM, owning $24.4 million of BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF

  • Edmond de Rothschild, owning $3.6m in Bitcoin ETFs.

  • PNC Bank owning $10m in Bitcoin ETF exposure across 6 ETFs.

  • Even JP Morgan (the biggest bank in America) & Wells Fargo (3rd largest) report exposure to Bitcoin ETFs

• Metaplanet, a Japanese firm, follows MicroStrategy’s playbook, appoints Dylan Leclair as head of Bitcoin strategy, and increases its total Bitcoin holdings to 117 by purchasing ~20 more BTC.

⛏️ Mining:

• Swan, in collaboration with Tether, introduces Managed Mining services tailored for institutional investors, aiming to achieve a hashrate of 100 EH by 2026.

• Genesis Digital Assets Limited partners with Argentina’s largest power company to open a new bitcoin mining facility operated using stranded gas.

• Canaan unveils the A1566 Bitcoin miner, boasting an industry-leading energy efficiency ratio of 18.5J/T alongside its impressive 185T of hashing power.

🗳️ Politics:

• Rep. Sean Casten proposes a bill banning financial institutions from dealing with cryptocurrency routed through mixers in the past, with penalties of up to $100,000 per violation.

• Senator Cynthia Lummis garners support from 30 GOP senators in the Senate to overturn the SEC's SAB 121, which imposes limitations on financial institutions holding Bitcoin.

• Bitcoin Magazine’s CEO, David Bailey, reports to be working with Trump’s campaign to develop their bitcoin and crypto policy agenda.

Bam’s 2 Sats:

After starting a newsletter a couple of years ago, I immediately sought out a Bitcoin meetup to connect with like-minded individuals and spare my friends from daily Bitcoin discussions. This led to two outcomes:

• I got my monthly dose of Bitcoin energy IRL

• Many of my friends became Bitcoiners as well

Naturally, between the meetup and the newsletter, I became heavily exposed to developments in the Bitcoin space. If you've been following along, you'd agree that Bitcoin in 2024 has seen significant evolution in terms of adoption compared to 2021. Here are some examples:

• Back then, the Lightning Network was a novelty, but now I'd say every Bitcoiner has either tried it or uses it as a daily driver.

• Public and private firms openly accumulate Bitcoin on their balance sheets.

• Bitcoin circular economies have flourished in many regions worldwide.

• TradFi/Bitcoin interoperable apps, like Strike, Pouch, and Bitnob, have increased in number, popularity, and availability across multiple countries. They enable people to send local currency across borders using the Bitcoin network as rails.

• Bitcoin ETFs have become a reality, with institutions officially gaining exposure to this novel asset class.

From this perspective, we can see that adoption has been growing massively, which is evident to all of us involved. Sometimes, it's so obvious that it's hard to understand why the price doesn’t move in only one direction: UP! 😅

However, this perspective isn't clear to everyone. If we liken Bitcoin's adoption to that of the internet in 1999, we might agree that it's still a very niche market.

In fact, during my recent month-long vacation rock-climbing in the south of France and meeting people from all over the world, I found that Bitcoin is still not a mainstream topic. Many still view it as purely speculative or even environmentally harmful.

What some perceive as obvious, but appears contrary to the majority, will likely be the greatest opportunity for our Millennial generation. Just as Millennials complain about Boomers having it easy due to the exponential price appreciation of housing, the next generations will likely criticize those in our generation who did not make the most of the Bitcoin "cheat code" over the last 15 years.

One thing I'm certain of is that I don't want to be the one their grandchildren ask,

"Why didn't you just buy Bitcoin?"

Stay Humble & Stack Sats,
Bam

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