Treasury Sec. Janet Yellen defended the Biden administration’s economic performance in her last official policy speech, arguing the U.S. has outperformed rivals as she outlined the trade-offs that would’ve been required to keep inflation stable.
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Corporate Bitcoin Adoption Forges Ahead as More Listed Firms Ride the Wave
Bitcoin (BTC) adoption by U.S.-listed public companies continues in full steam.
The latest purchase comes from NYSE-listed Genius Group (GNS). On Jan. 10, GNS reported increasing its bitcoin holding to $35 million, which was ahead of its scheduled target of $120 million. In the process, it acquired 372 BTC at an average price of $94,047 per bitcoin. The first announcement came on Nov. 12, when it announced its “Bitcoin-first” strategy.
On Tuesday, GNS also reported a rights offering, allowing shareholders to purchase additional shares at discounted prices. If fully subscribed, the rights offering could generate $33 million. GNS founder and CEO Roger Hamilton intends to buy join in the rights offering and buy 500,000 shares.
The firm is also pursuing loan finances to accumulate bitcoin. Shares of GNS closed 7% higher on Tuesday.
Apart from GNS, Nasdaq-listed Ming Shing Group (MSW), a wet trades works service provider, also purchased 500 BTC at an average price of $94,375 per bitcoin. MSW shares were up 43% higher year-to-date.
The new wave of bitcoin treasury adoption surges ahead with four publicly traded companies announcing bitcoin buys and seven companies announcing a strategy, but no acquisition.
Disclaimer: This article, or parts of it, was generated with assistance from AI tools and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy and adherence to our standards. For more information, see CoinDesk’s full AI Policy.
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Stalled Stablecoin Supply Casts Doubt on BTC’s Bullish Recovery as U.S. Inflation Report Looms
Bitcoin’s (BTC) rapid recovery from below $90,000 since Monday hints at bullish prospects. However, one factor casts doubt on the sustainability of these gains, indicating scope for significant downside volatility if the impending U.S. inflation data comes in hotter-than-expected on Thursday.
That factor is the supply of major stablecoins, which has stalled, indicating the absence of fresh capital inflows into the market. Data tracked by Glassnode shows that the supply of the top four stablecoins by market value – USDT, USDC, BUSD and DAI – has stabilized around $189 billion, representing a 30-day net change of just 0.37%.
Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies with values pegged to an external reference like the U.S. dollar. These tokens are widely used to fund cryptocurrency purchases and acted as a safe haven during the 2022 bear market.
The latest slowdown in new liquidity via stablecoins, which suggests a weakened buying environment while heading into the U.S. consumer price index (CPI) release, starkly contrasts the expansion of stablecoin liquidity observed during the November-December rally and early last year.
“The fact that the late-2024 rally required almost 2x the capital inflow for a smaller price gain underscores the speculative demand and liquidity-driven momentum that has since cooled,” Glassnode said in a Telegram note.
The data due at 13:30 UTC Wednesday is expected to show the cost of living rose 0.3% month-on-month in December, matching November’s pace. The year-on-year figure is seen printing at 2.9%, up from November’s 2.75. The core figure, which strips out the volatile food and energy component, is forecast to have risen 0.2% month-on-month and 3.3% year-on-year.
An above-forecast headline/core figure will likely bolster recent concerns about the central bank being less aggressive in cutting interest rates than expected. These concerns, bolstered by Friday’s blowout jobs report, were partly responsible for BTC falling below $90,000 on Monday.
The latest drying up of stablecoin liquidity, often touted as dry powder waiting to be deployed for crypto purchases, starkly contrasts the $27.3 billion in inflows registered in November and December that partly greased the BTC bull run from $70,000 to over $108,000.
Meanwhile, a much lesser stablecoin inflow of $14.68 billion was seen during the first quarter of 2024, when prices rose nearly 70% to over $70,000.
Deribit CEO Confirms Strategic Investment Inquiries, Rules Out Takeover Report
Crypto derivatives platform Deribit, has received potential acquisition interest, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday, citing sources.
The report added that the firm is working with Financial Technology Partners to review the opportunities.
Deribit CEO Luuk Strijers told CoinDesk that the options platform had appointed FT Partners as an advisor for general advisory services and potential secondaries, back in 2023.
“The interest in Deribit is due in part to the fact that we have continued to be the overwhelming market-leading exchange for digital asset options trading,” Strijers said.
“In short, Deribit has not been put up for sale. Over time, we have received interest in strategic investments from a variety of parties, which we will not disclose,” Strijers added.
The firm may valued at $4 billion- $5 billion or more, the report said, citing a person with knowledge of the matter. The report also added that crypto exchange Kraken had reviewed buying Deribit, but did not proceed with an offer.
Kraken did not immediately respond to CoinDesk’s request for comment.
The current bull run in the crypto market seems to have reignited M&A activity with major players like Moonpay and Chainalysis having announced two large acquisitions this week.