YM Lee

Today's rally of Bitcoin (BTC) surpassing $100,000 was driven by the buying power of Binance whales. On the 5th (local time), Dan, an analyst from the on-chain analysis platform CryptoQuant, explained, "When Bitcoin reached $100,000, the transaction records show that a whale on the Binance exchange made large purchases twice." According to the data, the Binance whale initially pushed Bitcoin close to $100,000 with their first purchase, and shortly after, surpassed $100,000 with their second purchase. He stated, "This can be seen as a deliberate move, with Coinbase whales from the U.S. and Binance whales, used by investors worldwide, taking turns supporting Bitcoin's rally."

Global cryptocurrency exchange Binance announced on the 5th that it will start offering six new spot trading pairs, including CHZ/USDC. The newly listed trading pairs are CHZ/USDC, PYTH/USDC, RSR/USDC, RSR/FDUSD, W/USDC, and XTZ/USDC, with trading set to begin at 8:00 AM (UTC) on the 6th.

The government of El Salvador is currently holding 5955 BTC. According to Arkham Intelligence wallet data on the 5th (local time), the El Salvador government wallet is still purchasing 1 BTC daily, holding a total of 5955 BTC. The current value of Bitcoin held by the El Salvador government amounts to $607 million.

It has been reported that 11 states within the United States are preparing to introduce legislation to adopt Bitcoin (BTC) as a strategic reserve. According to a report by CoinPedia on the 5th (local time), Dennis Porter, CEO of the Satoshi Action Fund, stated, "More U.S. states and countries are preparing to enact laws for strategic Bitcoin reserves, with up to 11 states and 2 countries already finalizing their preparations." If U.S. states or countries adopt Bitcoin as a reserve, it is expected that Bitcoin will serve as a neutral financial layer between the U.S.-backed SWIFT ecosystem and the BRICS financial ecosystem.

Cathie Wood, known as the 'Money Tree Sister', emphasized that Paul Atkins, appointed as the new Chairman of the SEC, will have a positive impact on the digital asset market. On the 5th (local time), Cathie Wood, CEO of Ark Invest, stated on her X (Twitter) account, "Paul Atkins, appointed as the SEC Chairman, will liberate the digital asset world from the pressure of former Chairman Gary Gensler and protect free property rights." She also predicted that the full-fledged market uptrend is about to begin. Cathie Wood mentioned, "Today, Federal Reserve Chairman Powell referred to Bitcoin as the digital version of gold. However, the current market cap of gold is $15 trillion, while Bitcoin is $2 trillion. Even if Bitcoin surpasses $100,000, we are still in the early stages."

The global cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has added 5 new cryptocurrencies to its flagship index, the Coinbase 50 Index. On the 5th (local time), Coinbase announced through its official channel that "five cryptocurrencies, including Axie Infinity (AXS), Blur (BLUR), JasmyCoin (JASMY), Kusama (KSM), and MultiversX (EGLD), will be included in the Coinbase 50 Index." The Coinbase 50 Index is calculated by weighting cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Ripple (XRP) according to their market capitalization.

Global cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has added GIGA and TURBO to its market roadmap. Since July 2022, Coinbase has been officially listing determined assets and tokens on its public channel. Typically, after adding to the roadmap, the market schedule is announced.

MicroStrategy reportedly purchased 15,000 BTC last November. On the 4th (local time), Michael Saylor, the chairman of MicroStrategy, announced via his Twitter that "MicroStrategy has purchased 14,9880 BTC through a total fund of 13.5 billion dollars, at an average price of 9,231 dollars per Bitcoin. The current Bitcoin profitability rate is 38.7%, and approximately 9,750 BTC of net profit has been provided to shareholders. The daily return profitability rate is about 3.5 million dollars," he stated.

Ripple's US dollar stablecoin, Ripple USD (RLUSD), is expected to launch on the 4th. On the 4th (local time), the virtual asset (cryptocurrency) specialized media Cointelegraph reported, "Ripple is expected to launch RLUSD on the 4th following approval from the New York Financial Services Department. Currently, RLUSD listing information can be confirmed on major virtual asset data provision platforms such as CoinGecko and CoinMarketCap." RLUSD is a fractional reserve public blockchain platform on the XRP Ledger and conducted a beta test on the Ethereum mainnet, with plans to expand to additional public blockchains and DeFi protocols in the future.

Global virtual asset exchange Binance announced on the 4th that it has started perpetual contracts for KAIA/USDT and AERO/USDT. The perpetual contracts for KAIA/USDT and AERO/USDT will each start trading at 14:00 (UTC) on the 4th, and the settlement asset is Tether (USDT), with a maximum leverage of 75x.

Following the Korean party's push for the president's impeachment, there is a forecast that the volatility of the virtual asset (cryptocurrency) market will continue. On the 4th (local time), the virtual asset specialized media Doublelog reported, "Although the impeachment motion became ineffective just six hours after President Yoon Suk-yeol announced the execution of martial law last night, the impeachment process is underway as citizens and the party react." Due to this, the prices of virtual assets such as Upbit and Bithumb plummeted, and the system was suspended due to a traffic surge. Although prices have since recovered, analysts see the impact on the market as continuing. Min Jung, a press analyst, predicted, "Additional risks like impeachment could bring volatility to the Korean market, but its influence is expected to be limited to short-term changes in Korea." Lee Seung-hwa, a Dispread Research official, also explained, "Ripple (XRP), which is particularly popular among Korean traders, saw a much larger drop than other virtual assets. The influence of Korean investors could also significantly impact the global market."

Decentralized Exchange (DEX) PancakeSwap (CAKE) has launched a platform that allows the creation of synthetic assets without coding expertise. According to a report by Cointelegraph on the 4th (local time), PancakeSwap announced that "the newly unveiled PancakeSwap Springboard provides users with the ability to create and launch synthetic assets based on Binance Smart Chain (BNB) without knowledge of coding." Chef Kidd from PancakeSwap explained, "The simplification of token issuance is gradually becoming important in the market," and "Springboard was created to meet such demand."

Interest in Bitcoin (BTC) among small-scale investors has been rapidly increasing. On the 4th (local time), CryptoQuant's Dark Forest analysis platform reported that the 30-day demand for small-scale investors conducting trades under 10,000 dollars has reached its highest level since 2020. It was stated that the interest of these investors continues to rise. Despite some long-term investors realizing profits, strong demand from new investors is emerging, creating a sustained positive momentum through the combination of institutions and retail investors. The Dark Forest analysis predicts that if Bitcoin continues to show bullish trends, the demand from small-scale investors may decrease, but if it surpasses 100K, a significant influx of buying pressure is expected.

Decentralized Finance (DeFi) protocol SynFutures (F) announced that it will officially conduct an airdrop claim starting from 10 AM (UTC) on the 6th. On the 4th (local time), SynFutures announced via its official X (Twitter) that "Season 1 airdrop will distribute 7,550,000 F, which is 7.5% of the total supply. More rewards are planned for Season 2 airdrop." This airdrop will include community contributions such as v3 oyster upgrade activities, and users are expected to receive more token distributions based on their contributions.

The virtual asset (cryptocurrency) market has not yet found a stable footing after experiencing a significant surge last month, according to analysis. According to a report by Cointelegraph on the 4th (local time), Michael Van de Poppe, a renowned virtual asset analyst and founder of MN Capital, predicted that "considering the current market situation, there is a high possibility of a large-scale adjustment, which could lead to a Flash Crash (a sudden price change causing a momentary price collapse)." He noted that such adjustments could become a turning point for market entry opportunities. Van de Poppe emphasized, "Investors should not be discouraged by this and should see it as an opportunity to enter the market."

Funds continue to flow into Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) products traded on the US securities market. According to Farside Investor data on the 4th (local time), daily inflows into Bitcoin spot ETFs on the 3rd amounted to $676 million, while Ethereum spot ETFs saw inflows of $132 million. This marks a continuous inflow trend for 4 and 7 consecutive trading days, respectively. The product with the largest inflow was undoubtedly BlackRock's IBIT. IBIT alone attracted $693 million in a single day on the 3rd.

For the Monad project to enter the global market, a 'Localize' strategy considering each country's regulatory environment and community is essential. At the Monad Growth Summit held on the 29th in Gangnam, Seoul, various projects such as Monad, Story Protocol, and LayerZero discussed strategies for entering the global market, focusing on the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. Alex Lim, Gaming Head of LayerZero, stated, "To onboard foreign companies' protocols into the South Korean market, 'Localize' that properly applies each country's situation is crucial. Due to different regulations and needs by country, a regional approach is necessary." There was also an opinion that a regional base is necessary even in community building. Park Sung-mo, Monad APAC Lead, explained, "Monad operates by segmenting communities by country, and builders from each country directly participate in community activities. By working based on the region and meeting in actual events, friendships form, leading to more active engagement." Nathan Tam, Story Protocol APAC Growth Manager, emphasized, "Even in IP onboarding, considering each country's cultural characteristics and language is essential," adding, "To quickly read trends and introduce popular IPs, a regional analysis is necessary."

An analysis has emerged suggesting that the market dominance of Bitcoin (BTC), which has shown a tremendous upward trend this year, may decrease in the short term. On the 29th (local time), the weekly representative of the online analysis platform CryptoQuant stated through their X (Twitter) that "while Bitcoin shows a 37%% growth, major altcoins have shown a 16%% and mid-small altcoins a 10%% increase." The season when mid-small altcoins could supplement Bitcoin's growth rate was only during the April bull market, and generally this year, altcoins have not been able to keep up with Bitcoin's growth rate.

Jeffrey Wilcke, a co-founder of Ethereum (ETH), has reportedly transferred 20,000 ETH to Kraken. According to data from Arkane Labs on the 28th (local time), Jeffrey Wilcke, a co-founder of Ethereum, transferred 20,000 ETH to the Kraken deposit address at 19:59 (UTC). This amounts to approximately 72.5 million dollars. Jeffrey Wilcke currently holds approximately 106,000 ETH, equivalent to about 358.4 million dollars.