BITCOIN BOX SCORE

Exchange Rate: $51,670

Market Capitalization: $1.01T

Hash Rate (90 days): 522.0 EH/s

Transactions (30 days): 11,823,175

Network Fees (day): 24 sat/vB

Bitcoin Dominance: 53.73%

What do these numbers mean?

Welcome in.

This week, we're riding the wave of optimism sweeping the bitcoin ecosystem. 

All positive indicators are aligning – from the nascent entry of spot bitcoin ETFs to the market's voracious appetite outstripping the supply of newly mined coins.

How many bitcoins have the ETF issuers already accumulated? Estimates place the figure at roughly $11 billion in dollar terms. For context,

Still, ETF issuers only hold a few percentage points of total ownership. Individuals own the rest, and many aren't selling anytime soon. This decentralization of ownership tells the story of a resilient and widely distributed asset.

The current pace of buying dwarfs the daily new supply from mining, and with the halving on the horizon, set to slash block rewards in half, this imbalance between supply and demand could send shockwaves through the market.

The climate is electric. Bitcoin's dollar exchange rate has passed $50,000, with the market capitalization once again breaching $1.0T. 

New narratives are emerging, too. A leading asset manager writes, "While it has long been heralded as digital gold, recent developments suggest that bitcoin is evolving into something even more significant."

With institutional and individual support swelling, the path ahead is paved with the promise of growth, innovation, and a renewed understanding of bitcoin's potential.

With that, let's dive into the news.

NEWS

U.S. bitcoin miners and exchanges look abroad

Marathon Digital, North America's largest publicly-traded bitcoin miner, is expanding globally, with recent ventures in the UAE and Paraguay, and a strategy to extend into Africa. The company aims to leverage underutilized power sources across the African continent to increase output and support local energy infrastructure development.

Meanwhile, crypto exchange Kraken is expanding into the Netherlands, capitalizing on a friendlier fintech environment than that of the U.S.

Such trends will continue.

U.S. companies will seek to establish footholds overseas until lawmakers and regulators in the U.S. stop resting on their laurels and compete to win business from this important industry.

🏆 Gold funds see outflows – into bitcoin?

Since their debut on January 11, the spot bitcoin ETFs have seen billions in inflows, in contrast to significant outflows from gold ETFs, notably the SPDR Gold Shares and the iShares Gold Trust, which lost around $2.6 billion and $507 million respectively. This shift may be occurring because investors view bitcoin as digital asset that shares many of the qualities of gold. The exchange rate of bitcoin has risen 23% year-to-date, while gold's price has declined by about 2%. 

Bitcoin flips silver, then gold?

While a direct correlation has not been proven, the moves could signal a change in investor preferences. Bitcoin's market capitalization, which stands at about $1 trillion as of this writing, is approaching the market capitalization of silver, which is about $1.3 trillion. Bitcoin has a long way to go until it overtakes gold, whose market cap is about $13.5 trillion.

🤨 Did Biden endorse bitcoin?

Earlier this week, President Joe Biden posted a photo to X with the caption "Just like we drew it up," featuring an image of the President sporting bitcoin laser eyes.

On the heels of Franklin Templeton changing the firm's X profile picture to include laser eyes, some speculated that the President had turned the corner regarding his stance on bitcoin.

It is worth noting that the "laser eyes" meme originated with bitcoiners on X including it in their profile pictures until bitcoin's dollar exchange rate hit $100,000. The turn of phrase they used was "laser eyes until 100K."

That said, the President's team likely posted the content without realizing it could be interpreted as a bitcoin endorsement in an attempt to perpetuate the "Dark Brandon" meme.

⛏️ Another government starts mining bitcoin

The Ethiopian government has partnered with Hong Kong's West Data Group to develop a $250-million project focused on creating infrastructure for data mining, artificial intelligence operations, and bitcoin mining. This collaboration, highlighted by a Memorandum of Understanding between Ethiopian Investment Holdings and Data Center Service, a subsidiary of West Data Group, marks a significant step for the sovereign state of Ethiopia commencing bitcoin mining operations.

Although trading bitcoin and crypto are prohibited in Ethiopia, the country has allowed mining since 2022 and is exploring the potential of digital assets within a government sandbox.

Another one bites the ASIC.

First Bhutan, now Ethiopia are making public statements about mining bitcoin. Do larger countries also mine bitcoin covertly? There’s no way to know for sure, but studying the Bitcoin Network’s behavior, it does seem likely. As QTR recently put it, 

"The network is like a slippery fish someone tries to hold onto — the harder you hold it and the more you try to control it, the quicker it slips from your grasp...bitcoin works if people want it to work. And, philosophically, I can’t think of too many things I’d rather bet on than giving power to the people."

BITCOIN ADOPTION CONTINUES

"There's ten times as much demand for bitcoin coming into these ETFs as there is supply coming from the natural sellers who are the miners," says MicroStrategy co-founder Michael Saylor in a CNBC interview.

FutureBit collaborates with U.S. universities, with Rutgers being one of its first partners, to integrate bitcoin hardware into academic settings, enhancing education on decentralized systems through hands-on learning experiences. 

Bitcoin Magazine and White Rock Management announce the opening of a new office in Lugano, Switzerland, marking a strategic expansion to promote global bitcoin adoption and education, capitalizing on Switzerland's pioneering role in bitcoin integration. 

Founders Fund, led by Peter Thiel, has invested $100 million in bitcoin, signaling a renewed institutional interest.

HOW BITCOIN WORKS

Learn one key idea about bitcoin each week. This week:

Bitcoin is an outlet.

In the wake of repeated financial crises, the disenchantment with the current system has reached a fever pitch.

For years, the narrative has been dominated by the bailouts between big banks, governments, and central banks, each cycle further eroding the purchasing power of government currency and inflating financial assets at the expense of the middle class.

This has led the masses to feel powerless, metastasizing into resentment.

Historically, the only recourse available to express dissent or seek change was through the ballot box. Today, there is widespread skepticism that voting makes much of a difference, as the U.S. government seems to buck prevailing public opinion at every turn, on critical issues from immigration to war.

Enter bitcoin – a readily available tool that can be used to protest the status quo and directly drive change. Unlike traditional financial assets, bitcoin operates on a decentralized network impervious to policymakers' whims – and beyond the reach of central banks.

Bitcoin's availability and usefulness are determined by the collective will of its users, supported by a planet-wide network of nodes that guarantees its operation regardless of local, or even global, geopolitical maneuvers or economic sanctions.

The growing adoption of bitcoin signifies a shift towards financial sovereignty, where individuals can transact, save, and invest without fear of devaluation or confiscation by state entities.

Protests and uprisings like Occupy Wall Street and the GameStop Saga provided temporary outlets for people to channel their anger. However, each failed to produce long-term change.

What happens when everyone realizes they can effect change while protecting their wealth?

Capital that moves out of fiat and into bitcoin permanently moves out of the purview of the central planners.

As we stand at the precipice of more turmoil in the traditional system, bitcoin is an outlet for peaceful protest as well as wealth protection.

The Bitcoin Adviser simplifies the process of moving your coins off exchanges safely and securely. Get one month free when you sign up with this link!

COIN CHECK

When did bitcoin’s dollar exchange rate first surpass $1,000?

1. November 28th, 2013

2. December 31st, 2013

3. January 3rd, 2009

4. February 14th, 2010

Check your answer at the end of the page.

FROM THE MEME POOL

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ANSWER

1. On November 28th, 2013, bitcoin’s dollar exchange rate passed $1,000 on the now defunct exchange, Mt. Gox.

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