Dec 19, 2023

Altcoins led gains on Tuesday, with NEAR Protocol (NEAR) climbing 15% and Avalanche (AVAX) and Solana (SOL) adding 8% over the past 24 hours while bitcoin rose by around 5%. After reaching a daily low of $40,000 on Monday, bitcoin has picked up and is now trading around $43,000. Traders are looking to the next levels for the cryptocurrency, with Matteo Bottacini, a trader at Crypto Finance AG, seeing a break through $45K occurring only if there’s unexpected news or an equities rally. “A BTC breakthrough above $45k should be attributed to either unexpected positive news or an equity rally,” said Bottacini. “Conversely, a dip below $41K, in the absence of negative news or a risk-off sentiment in traditional markets, presents a buying opportunity and is indicative of a potential short squeeze.” 

On Monday, Blackrock (BLK) filed a revised spot bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF) proposal in a bid to appease regulators, likely boosting its odds of securing a first-of-its-kind approval in the U.S. Under the updated proposal, Blackrock’s ETF will feature cash creation and redemption mechanisms, the model favored by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The world’s largest asset manager is the latest of several firms to update its proposal amid speculation the SEC could approve a swath of spot bitcoin ETF applications as early as January. Blackrock first applied for its iShares Blockchain and Tech ETF last month, proposing an in-kind redemption model.

Bankrupt crypto lender Genesis won a bid to block parent Digital Currency Group (DCG) from selling or reducing its ownership of the company until Chapter 11 proceedings come to a close. By barring any changes to ownership, Genesis sought to secure certain tax benefits, a court order issued on Monday shows. The benefits are applicable only if Genesis remains part of the tax-consolidated group of which DCG is the common parent. Should DCG’s stake fall below 80%, Genesis stands to lose benefits on around $700 million worth of “federal net operating loss carryforwards,” a motion requesting the block from November shows.

Bitcoin (BTC) miners enjoy windfall profits as transaction fees spiked to the highest since April 2021 due to rising Ordinals inscriptions.

The average price of transactions on the Bitcoin blockchain surged over $37 Sunday, a level last seen in April 2021, at the height of the bull market peak, data by BitInfoCharts shows, up from an average of $1-$2 in September and early October.

The surge is mainly driven by the resurgence of Ordinals, a protocol that allows users to store non-fungible tokens (NFTs) called inscriptions on the Bitcoin blockchain.