WTFBitcoin Week 44, 2023
A supply shock in Bitcoin's way.
TLDR:
Tether & MicroStrategy stacked 15% of last quarter’s Bitcoin issuance.
ETF applications are refiled, speculation indicates high probabilities of approval.
Exchanges volumes surpassed $24 billion
More banks around the world preparing to offer bitcoin services.
Welcome back to another issue of WTFBitcoin! As per time of writing, the Bitcoin price is hovering over $35,000 and it seems to be holding on strong with the increasing chances of the Bitcoin spot ETF being accepted.. So let’s jump straight in!
ADOPTION
Tether increased their Bitcoin holdings by 6619 bitcoin in the last quarter.
MicroStrategy acquired an additional 155 bitcoin for $5.2 million and now holds 158,000 bitcoin.
With Blockstream’s Greenlight, developers can seamlessly integrate Lightning nodes into their apps, giving users full control of their funds.
LN Markets achieved a milestone of $140 million trading volume in the past month, more than double than any other month of their operations up to date.
Stacker News just hit another all-time high of 610,000 monthly pageviews.
Brad Mills, put some $100 Rise wallet bitcoin cards in his Halloween box, and captured the moment trick-or-treaters found them. “DUDE I JUST GOT BITCOIN!”
Relai shared a total of 2.1 bitcoin pay outs from user referrals.
VanEck has refiled a spot Bitcoin ETF application with the SEC. This reaffirms its dedication to providing a regulated Bitcoin investment avenue for both retail and institutional investors, amid rising competition from firms like BlackRock.
MARKETS
Spot exchange volumes surpassed $24 billion, reaching an 8-month high amid expectations of an imminent Bitcoin ETF approval.
Kasikornbank, Thailand’s 2nd largest bank, is aquiring a 97% stake in a local Bitcoin and crypto exchange.
Zodia, bitcoin and crypto firm owned by banking giant Standard Chartered, is launching in Hong Kong.
St. Galler Kantonalbank, Fifth-largest Swiss cantonal bank, to partner with SEBA Bank for Bitcoin trading services
MINING
Biggest European Bitcoin mining firm Northern Data AG acquires €575 million in a loan agreement with the Tether group of companies
Bitcoin Miner Marathon tests bitcoin mining with methane gas from waste landfill.
A BoredMiners customer, runs a full immersion bitcoin mining heat recovery setup in North Dakota achieving to heat water, garage and house.
Riot Platforms is building a second bitcoin mining facility in Texas. It will probably be the biggest in the world.
100AcresRanch is using his bitcoin mining rig to control the temperature for his turtles’ habitat, a new alternative approach to maximize the benefit of mining.
FUNDAMENTALS
As bitcoin continues to be mined, block by block, the asset is continuously becoming scarcer with relation to its issuance. About 93% of the 21 million have already been claimed, and now people will be fighting to get ahold of the remaining supply.
The number of whale transactions (at least $100,000 worth of #Bitcoin) hit a YTD high of 23,400 last week.
Additionally, the activity among small bitcoin investors continues to be on the rise. It seems that whales, shrimps and the entire ecosystem are heavily accumulating at a wild pace.
BAM’S TAKE
It has been an incredible last couple of weeks. I usually do not talk about the price, but let’s be honest, it has not disappointed lately. We are in the early innings of a bull market, which could be massively sparked by big inflows of money from institutions. The probability of an ETF approval is already very high, and on parallel we see GBTC’s premium being reduced month after month since its lows of -40% a year ago, to approximately -12% nowadays. If I was BlackRock, I would probably be taking the advantage of accumulating bitcoin at a discount in this shape and form, and who knows potentially even acquiring Grayscale in the future.
On another front, we have Tether results which were nothing but impressive. In Q3, they accumulated 6K bitcoin. If we consider both MicroStratergy and Tether’s accumulation, they took about 15% of the period’s bitcoin issuance. As the halving approaches, and if they continue their accumulation as they’ve intended to, just the two companies could be scooping up 30% of all newly mined bitcoin. This of course would influence the supply shock the system is seeing, as ~88.5% of the total bitcoin issuance, hasn’t move in the last 3 months, in hopes higher prices.
Enjoy the weekend!
With love, Bam.
Want to share some love? (☕ 🥩)
But more importantly, buy some sats for yourself.
Lightning Address:
bamthemexican@blink.sv