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- Bitcoin, Ethereum, Cosmos and more Week 49 2024
Bitcoin, Ethereum, Cosmos and more Week 49 2024
Keeping you updated on crypto, web3 and blockchain
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TL;DR
Bitcoin Hits $100K Amid Trump’s Praise
France Proposes Tax on Unrealized Crypto Gains
Ethereum Surpasses $4,000 Milestone
Layer N Shifts Focus to New Blockchain, N1
XION Mainnet Launch: A Walletless Web3 Revolution
Osmosis Launches Bitcoin Bridge
Trump Appoints Paul Atkins as SEC Chairman
South Korea's Martial Law Spurs Crypto Volatility
and much more!
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Bitcoin Highlights of the Week
Bitcoin has reached $100,000 for the first time, a historic milestone attributed to rising institutional interest and regulatory optimism. President-elect Donald Trump claimed credit, linking the surge to his pro-crypto policies and the nomination of Paul Atkins as SEC Chair.
Analysts project Bitcoin could reach $150K-$200K by 2025, fueled by demand from entities like MicroStrategy and U.S. Bitcoin ETFs. The 2024 Bitcoin halving and its expanding role in global finance are seen as key catalysts. While this highlights Bitcoin’s resilience and growing mainstream acceptance, experts caution against overexuberance, noting potential market corrections as prices continue climbing.
Virgin Voyages has become the first major cruise line to accept Bitcoin as payment, launching its 2025 Annual Pass for $120,000. This pass offers unlimited luxury cruises, including premium Sea Terrace cabins, internet access, and a $100 bar tab per voyage.
Available from January to March 2025, the pass can now be purchased with Bitcoin, attracting tech-savvy travelers. The decision aligns with Virgin's embrace of digital assets, following Richard Branson’s long-standing support for Bitcoin. Virgin Voyages’ bold move highlights the growing integration of Bitcoin into mainstream travel, paving the way for other companies to follow.
The French Senate has introduced a proposal to tax unrealized gains from digital assets like Bitcoin, replacing the existing real estate wealth tax with an 'unproductive wealth tax.' This policy targets dormant assets, emphasizing crypto holdings. Although the measure passed a preliminary vote, it remains in the early stages and is not yet law.
Meanwhile, political turmoil in France deepened as the government collapsed following a no-confidence vote in parliament, adding uncertainty to the proposal's future. This evolving situation highlights the potential impact of regulatory changes on both the crypto market and broader political stability in France.
Russia has officially recognized Bitcoin as property under new laws signed by President Vladimir Putin, effective November 29, 2024. This groundbreaking move introduces a taxation framework, legalizes Bitcoin trading, and incentivizes mining operations by exempting them from VAT.
Personal digital asset gains are taxed at 13% for amounts up to 2.4 million rubles and 15% for higher thresholds, while corporate mining profits face a 25% tax starting in 2025. The legislation also explores Bitcoin's use in cross-border trade to bypass sanctions. Despite environmental concerns and global scrutiny, Russia's move positions it as a key player in the digital economy.
MicroStrategy has acquired an additional 15,400 BTC for $1.5 billion, bringing its total holdings to 402,100 BTC, valued at over $38 billion. This latest purchase was funded by selling 3.7 million shares, with the average cost of Bitcoin acquired at $58,263 each. MicroStrategy's total BTC investment now exceeds $23.4 billion.
The company plans to raise $42 billion in capital to continue its Bitcoin strategy. By leveraging equity and debt, MicroStrategy strengthens its position as a Bitcoin pioneer, aligning its long-term goals with the asset’s scarcity. However, sustained success relies on Bitcoin's price appreciation.
Ethereum Highlights of the Week
Ethereum’s price has broken through the $4,000 mark, signaling strong market momentum and heightened investor confidence. The surge reflects growing interest from both retail and institutional investors, underpinned by ongoing network upgrades and the expansion of decentralized finance (DeFi).
This rally is fueling a positive market outlook for ETH, indicating a maturing ecosystem and reinforcing its position as a leading smart contract blockchain. With Ethereum’s scalability improvements and increasing adoption, the $4,000 milestone could be just the start of a more bullish trajectory for ETH.
EigenLayer, Ethereum’s largest restaking protocol, announced upgrades to its rewards program aimed at enhancing flexibility for protocols and restakers. The changes, set for release in January, allow third-party protocols (actively validated services or AVSs) to distribute rewards based on validator performance and enable operators to set their own fee rates.
This initiative is designed to improve efficiency, customization, and reward distribution within the EigenLayer ecosystem. EigenLayer currently has nearly $19 billion in restaked collateral, with 20 AVSs live and many more under development, including EigenDA and ARPA Network.
Layer N has pivoted from Ethereum and announced the launch of its own blockchain, N1, designed to process 100,000 transactions per second (TPS). Aimed at developing next-generation applications, N1 will support popular coding languages like Typescript, Rust, and C, with plans to eventually support any code for any app.
The blockchain also boasts the potential for ultra-fast transactions, positioning itself among the fastest blockchains. Backed by Peter Thiel’s investment firm, N1 already has partnerships with Sushi and Amber Group and is developing unique projects like a SocialFi app and an on-chain AI simulation.
Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum's co-founder, has called on Web3 wallet developers to improve privacy and security. In his blog post, he argued that decentralization, censorship resistance, and privacy benefits can only be fully realized if wallets incorporate these features. Buterin proposed integrating private transfers directly into wallets and utilizing multisignature authorization for added security.
Additionally, he advocated for simplifying cross-layer-2 (L2) transfers, allowing users to seamlessly send tokens between different L2 networks. These improvements would enhance the user experience and strengthen the security and privacy standards across the Web3 ecosystem.
Anchorage Digital has become the first federally chartered US bank to support liquid Ether (ETH) staking. On December 5, the bank announced it would offer Liquid Collective’s Liquid Staked ETH (LsETH), a liquid staking token representing ETH staked on Ethereum.
The bank plans to serve US institutions such as venture capital firms, wealth managers, and blockchain protocols. This move highlights growing institutional interest in staking solutions, especially with potential US ETH ETFs including staking yields. Liquid Collective focuses on compliance and cybersecurity, ensuring regulatory adherence with KYC and AML checks.
Cosmos Highlights of the Week
XION, the world's first walletless Layer 1 blockchain, has officially launched its mainnet, aimed at making Web3 accessible to all. Designed with user experience at its core, XION removes barriers like volatile tokens, private key management, and cross-chain transactions, creating a seamless, Web2-like experience.
The platform already boasts over 6 million users and global brand partnerships with companies like Uber. XION’s Chain Abstraction protocol and fiat-denominated transactions simplify Web3 for everyday users.
Sekai, a generative AI startup focused on collaborative storytelling, has secured $3.1 million in a seed round led by Hashed. The platform, built on the Story Protocol blockchain, allows creators to co-create stories with AI while maintaining ownership of their intellectual property.
Sekai aims to disrupt traditional IP models, enabling creators to monetize their work without relying on large corporations. The Story Protocol, developed by PIP Labs and supported by a16z, tokenizes intellectual property, making it programmable in the AI era. Sekai's innovation was recognized when it won the ETHDenver general hackathon earlier this year.
MANTRA has launched a new USDY/USDC liquidity pool on MANTRA Swap, offering Chakra Pool participants more options for their claimed USDY. To swap, users are advised to ensure they have $OM in their wallets to cover transaction fees.
For a deeper understanding of how to maximize USDY, a detailed guide is available. The pool enhances the flexibility for USDY holders, expanding the opportunities for DeFi participation within the MANTRA ecosystem. Explore the liquidity pool now and learn more about the available options for USDY.
Nuklai, a leader in data interoperability, has partnered with Fetch.ai, a pioneer in decentralized AI and autonomous agent technology, to enhance AI-driven solutions. This integration allows structured datasets to be accessible on Fetch.ai’s marketplace, enabling seamless communication between datasets and AI models.
Nuklai joins the Fetch.ai Foundation, strengthening its position in advancing AI with decentralized systems. The partnership aims to accelerate AI-Web3 integration, empower data sovereignty, and drive sustainable business models.
Osmosis, a decentralized exchange (DEX) built on the Cosmos blockchain, has integrated a Bitcoin bridge through Nomic, allowing users to deposit BTC in exchange for alloyed BTC (allBTC) on Osmosis. The integration, approved by the Osmosis DAO in June, offers zero-fee transactions and leverages Nomic's decentralized custody engine, positioning Osmosis as a decentralized Bitcoin exchange.
Co-founder Sunny Aggarwal, a Bitcoin maximalist, emphasized the importance of Bitcoin dominance in the crypto market and aims to capture a significant portion of it. This move expands Osmosis’ strategy to include assets like Bitcoin that lack their own native DEXs
Other Highlights of the Week
President-elect Donald Trump has nominated Paul Atkins, a former SEC commissioner under George W. Bush, to replace Gary Gensler as SEC Chairman. Known for his support of digital assets and regulatory reform, Atkins' appointment has sparked optimism in the crypto space.
This move follows Trump’s election victory, which led to a rise in Bitcoin's price due to anticipated pro-crypto policies. Atkins’ focus on fostering innovation and creating clearer industry guidelines could attract global crypto firms to the U.S., while balancing market growth with investor protection will be a key challenge.
On December 3, 2024, South Korea’s president declared martial law for the first time in nearly 50 years, causing market panic. The decree was issued in response to political opposition and included measures that restricted political activities and media.
While crypto asset ownership wasn’t directly impacted, liquidity providers in local markets froze, leading to sharp price declines across Won-denominated crypto pairs. This event, though brief, caused significant volatility, underscoring how sudden political uncertainty can trigger sharp declines in crypto prices, even without fundamental changes, similar to the market reactions during the 2020 COVID crash.
On December 3, 2024, Cambodia restricted access to 16 major cryptocurrency exchanges, including Binance and Coinbase, due to regulatory compliance issues. While mobile apps for these platforms remain functional, the government cited the lack of licenses as the primary reason for the bans.
Only two firms are licensed under Cambodia’s FinTech Sandbox but face strict trading limits, such as not being able to convert digital assets into local currency. This move highlights the tension between Cambodia’s growing retail crypto adoption and the government’s regulatory approach, potentially driving users to less secure platforms or decentralized solutions.
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