Business

Microstrategy, through its CEO Michael Saylor, has currently 70,470 bitcoins which were acquired at an aggregate purchase price of approximately $1.125 billion and an average purchase price of approximately $15,964 per bitcoin, inclusive of fees and expenses.
Morgan Stanley has purchased 792,627 shares (10.9%) of MicroStrategy.

Morgan Stanley Buys 10% Stake in MicroStrategy to Up Bitcoin Exposure - Decrypt

Morgan Stanley filed an SEC form on December 31 disclosing that it had upped its stake in Saylor’s company by 455%.

DecryptTim Hakki

HSBC is blocking fiat gains their clients withdraw from crypto exchanges.

Bitcoin holders barred from depositing profits in UK banks

Bitcoin has surged to record highs this week but anyone who wants to take profits might struggle to cash in their gains.Some banks will not accept transfers from bitcoin exchanges. HSBC, one of the

The TimesKatherine Denham

BlackRock Financial Management Inc., the $ 7.8 trillion asset manager, appears poised to expand its presence in blockchain and digital assets.

BlackRock is looking to hire blockchain VP with experience in crypto assets | The Bharat Express News

BlackRock Financial Management Inc., the $ 7.8 trillion asset manager, appears poised to expand its presence in blockchain and digital assets. According

The Bharat Express NewsThe Bharat Express News

SkyBridge’s Bitcoin Fund Crashes the Internet as 6,000 Scramble for Zoom Call - Decrypt

SkyBridge’s Bitcoin fund is attracting swathes of investors with its promise of Bitcoin as the new gold.

DecryptTim Hakki

Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (ICE) will take its cryptocurrency venture public by merging it with a special-purpose acquisition company, a deal that will further its goal of launching a consumer app for trading and making payments with digital assets.

• The venture, called Bakkt, is expected to have a valuation of $2.1 billion after completing the merger with VPC Impact Acquisition Holdings.
• The deal brings together two of the hottest plays in today’s markets: crypto and SPACs. Bitcoin, the biggest digital currency, last week surged above $40,000 for the first time, and SPACs had their biggest year ever in 2020, raising a record $83 billion in new listings.
• As part of the deal, Bakkt will raise an additional $532 million from VPC’s funds and a concurrent capital raise. That will support development and marketing of the Bakkt App, which is envisioned as a tool to let people manage their holdings of various digital assets.

Bakkt to go public via merger with SPAC VP Impact Acquisition in deal with $2.1 billion enterprise value

Bakkt Holdings Inc., the digital asset marketplace that was launched in 2018 by Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE), said Monday it is going public via a...

MarketWatchCiara Linnane

Analysis

Crypto Chart 03

bitcoin short term chartLast time we said : > ‘Remain long or buy on a break of 35726 the wave iii top. It appears from thecurrent wave count that we should have one more push to new highs ( noprediction where that will be ) before a more meaningful correction.’’ We traded to 41933 before a sha…

The AssetsRomain Braud

A price manipulation might have been orchestrated by Guggenheim

Stories

Wallet Recovery Services, a business that helps find lost digital keys, said it had gotten 70 requests a day from people who wanted help recovering their riches, three times the number of a month ago.

People have lost roughly $140 billion in Bitcoin because they forgot their passwords or got locked out of accounts, and would-be millionaires are struggling to access their wallets

People are watching Bitcoin prices rise as some struggle to recover millions of the cryptocurrency, according to The New York Times.Those who lost...

Business Insider FranceFatma Khaled

Regulations

Last week, The OCC announce they may participate in Independent Node Verification Networks (INVN) and use Stablecoins for payment activities.
In a nutshell, it will increase financial services settlement speed and non-stop availabity (24/7/365), a potential major competitor that could led SWIFT payments obsoletes.

A better US payment infrastructure enabling crypto-ready institutions to gain competitive advantage.

Big step for financial services, comparable as FTTH with internet.

USD-C is a one of the stable coin that might unleash a panel of new financial services possibilities.

OCC Says Banks Can Issue Payments Using Stablecoins - CoinDesk

Banks can act as nodes on a blockchain or conduct payments using stablecoins, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency said Monday.

CoinDeskKevin Reynolds

As FinCEN’s comment window on crypto wallet rule comes to a close, uncertainty on path forward remains

FinCEN’s deadline for public commented on its proposed crypto wallet regulation ends just before midnight at January 4.

The Block

UK’s Ban on Crypto Derivatives Goes Into Effect Today - CoinDesk

The FCA ban on the sale of derivatives and exchange-traded notes (ETNs) which was passed in October comes into effect today.

CoinDeskDavid Hoffman

Opinions

Bitcoin Is ‘Less Risky the Higher It Goes,’ Says Investor Bill Miller

Bill Miller was an early investor in Amazon and invested heavily when most analysts were skeptical. He has also invested heavily in Bitcoin.

• The famed value investor said he believes the digital coin’s price could rise 100% within the next 12 to 18 months.

Bill Miller says bitcoin becomes less risky the higher the price goes

“It gets less risky the higher it goes. That’s the opposite of what happens with most stocks,” Bill Miller said of bitcoin.

CNBCKevin Stankiewicz