OSL trading moment: BTC breaks through $108,000 to a new high, and many regions call for the implementation of Bitcoin strategic reserves

1. Market observation

Keywords: ETH, ENS, BTC

The Bitcoin market has shown strong growth recently. On December 16, the asset management scale of Bitcoin ETF exceeded that of gold funds for the first time, reaching a record of US$129 billion. Price-wise, Bitcoin hit a new all-time high of $108,000 and maintained its upward momentum above $100,000, gaining 6.44% over the past five days. Based on this momentum, analysts predict prices could climb to $200,000 in the coming months.

According to Coin Metrics’ “State of the Network” report, the 2024 Bitcoin halving event will have a significant impact on the landscape. This halving will reduce the block reward from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC, which may lead to a significant decrease in miner income. At the same time, the development of Ethereum has also attracted much attention, and ENS Lab has selected Consensys’ Linea technology for its upcoming Layer-2 network project. Juan Leon, investment strategist at Bitwise, noted in a December 17 blog post that Ethereum is poised to grow significantly in 2025 as institutional interest surges, with the potential to tap into the $100 trillion real-world asset market.

At the policy level, cryptocurrencies have received support from many parties. The Satoshi Action Fund unveiled a potential draft executive order aimed at establishing a U.S. strategic Bitcoin reserve, backed by Wyoming Senator Cynthia Lummis. In Europe, French member of the European Parliament Sarah Knafo called on the EU to implement a strategic Bitcoin reserve instead of a central bank digital currency, a proposal that received a positive response from El Salvador President Nayib Bukele.

In terms of market behavior, Bitcoin "whales" recently made large-scale acquisitions totaling US$7 billion within 48 hours. Despite the record high prices, options data shows traders remain cautious in chasing these trends.

2. Key data (as of 09:25 HKT on December 18)

• S&P 500: 6,050.61 points (+26.85% during the year)

• Nasdaq: 20,109.06 points (+33.96% during the year)

• 10-year U.S. Treasury yield: 4.392% (+54.37 basis points during the year)

• US dollar index: 106.593 (+5.54% during the year)

• Bitcoin: $106,394.04 (+151.73% for the year), daily spot trading volume of $67.13 billion

• Ethereum: $3,894.27 (+75.41% for the year), with daily spot trading volume of $34.59 billion

3.ETF flow direction (EST on December 17)

• Bitcoin ETF: -$119.29 million

• Ethereum ETF: +$5.95 million

4. Important dates (Hong Kong time)

Retail sales month-on-month (09:30 pm on December 17)

• Actual: 0.7% / Previous: 0.5% / Expected: 0.5%

Federal Reserve Interest Rate Decision (03:00 am on December 19)

• Actual: To be announced / Previous value: 4.75% / Expected: 4.5%

GDP quarter-on-quarter final value (09:30 pm on December 19)

• Actual: To be announced / Previous value: 3.00% / Expected: 2.80%

Core PCE price index month-on-month (09:30 pm on December 20)

• Actual: To be announced / Previous value: 0.3% / Expected: 0.2%

Personal income month-on-month (09:30 pm on December 20)

• Actual: To be announced / Previous value: 0.6% / Expected: 0.4%

Personal expenditure month-on-month (09:30 pm on December 20)

• Actual: To be announced / Previous value: 0.4% / Expected: 0.5%

5. Hot news

• sBTC has been launched on the Stacks mainnet, providing a 5% annual reward

• Big Time Studios announces $150 million Open Loot fund

• 33.1% of the PENGU airdrop has been claimed, with an average of approximately 20,800 PENGU per wallet

• Ohio lawmakers propose establishing a Bitcoin reserve fund in state finances

• The official X account of Meme project Retardio on Solana chain has been suspended

• Fuel launches FUEL genesis airdrop: the qualification inquiry page is online, and applications will open on December 19

• ENS Labs selects Linea’s technology to build its L2 network Namechain

• Tether announces investment in European stablecoin provider StablR

• Physicist: Quantum computers are still five years away from breaking Bitcoin

• The Pendle team’s associated wallet sent over 560,000 PENDLEs to Binance, worth $3.47 million

• Binance Wallet Launches Binance Alpha to Increase Pre-IPO Transparency and Focus on Potential Projects

• European MPs call for Bitcoin to be used as strategic reserve asset

• OKX Pre-Market Trading Hyperliquid (HYPE) Briefly Breaks Above $30

• Nirvana Finance V2 will be launched on December 18, completing compensation and introducing new mechanisms

• Kontos announces KOS token economics: 5% is used for airdrops

• Metaplanet announces the issuance of 4.5 billion yen ordinary bonds, the funds will be used to accelerate the purchase of Bitcoin

• Trump plans to use the US Treasury Department’s $200 billion Exchange Stabilization Fund to establish a Bitcoin reserve

• Grayscale Horizen Trust is now open to qualified accredited investors

• FTX Announcement: Court-Approved Chapter 11 Reorganization Plan to Be Effective on January 3, 2025

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