Last Week in Review: XRP’s rally, Michael Saylor’s Bitcoin bet, and Wall Street’s green streak

The highlights from last week’s headline grabbers. All the important news, numbers and events from the world of crypto in one place

News from the block

Michael Saylor’s Bitcoin investment passed $1 billion in unrealised profit

• MicroStrategy, the company founded by Michael Saylor, owns about 158,000 bitcoin in corporate holdings.
  
  
• This investment sits at roughly $1.1 billion in unrealised profits, a 25% return on his investment, according to CoinDesk.
  
  
• “Bitcoin offers corporations an innovative strategy to preserve their capital and create shareholder value by leveraging their balance sheets with $BTC,” Saylor said on X earlier in November.
  
  
• Unrealised profit refers to the gain on an investment that has not been sold, representing the increase in value only on paper until the asset is sold.
  

XRP can now be used within the Dubai International Financial Centre

• The Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) gave the go-ahead for XRP to be used within the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) under its virtual assets framework, according to Investing.com.
  
  
• This allows companies licensed in DIFC to integrate XRP into their services.
  
  
• XRP is primarily used for facilitating fast and low-cost cross-border transactions within the Ripple network. The cryptocurrency was up 21% over seven days. 
  

SP500 and Nasdaq recorded longest winning streak since November 2021

• Last week, the SP500 and Nasdaq indices recorded seven consecutive days of gains, making it the longest winning streak since November 2021.
  
  
• Analysts regarded the market movements with careful optimism, not counting out another shift in momentum.
  
  
• What is the SP500 and Nasdaq? The SP500 is a stock market index that measures the performance of 500 of the largest publicly traded companies in the US, representing a broad cross-section of the economy. The Nasdaq Composite is an index that tracks the performance of over 3,000 companies, primarily in the technology and biotechnology sectors, listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange.
  

Polygon and Near Foundation aim to increase blockchain interoperability

• The Near Foundation, the entity behind the Near protocol, has partnered with Polygon, a network of interoperable blockchains, to increase interoperability.
  
  
• “The deal brings the Near protocol closer to one of the largest blockchain networks, Ethereum, and enables blockchains with WebAssembly (WASM) technology to use Ethereum’s liquidity, CoinDesk reported.
  

BlackRock’s plans for an Ethereum spot ETF

• A filing by Nasdaq last week revealed BlackRock’s plans for an Ethereum spot ETF.  BlackRock is the world’s largest asset manager.
  
  
• The Ethereum ETF is similar to BlackRock’s Bitcoin spot ETF application, in which the fund directly holds real crypto assets, as opposed to a futures-ETF based on agreements to buy or sell these assets in the future.
  
  
• Analysts say that BlackRock filing for a BTC spot ETF in June was one of the main reasons for the ongoing momentum in crypto markets, sometimes referred to as the BlackRock pivot. 
  

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TL;DID read

Understanding your investment time horizons

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Crunching the numbers

15% – Returns of the SP500 over a one-year timeframe. 

145% – Bitcoin returns over the same timeframe. 

5 – The number of months remaining before the Bitcoin Halving. 

12 – The number of BTC spot-ETF applications currently awaiting a decision by the Securities and Exchange Commission. 

71 – The number of days the SEC has to make a decision on whether to approve one of the first BTC spot-ETF applications. The deadline is 10 January. 

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Crypto trivia

What is a Bitcoin ETF and why does it matter?

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Protect your crypto 

Ensuring the safety of your investments is not just good practice, it’s essential. While we do all we can to secure your account, you can help by activating these key security features available in the app. 

?️ A guide to essential security features

*This information should not be construed as a solicitation to trade. All opinions, news, research, analysis, prices or other information is provided as general market commentary for information purposes only and is not investment advice or recommendation. Luno always advises you to obtain your own independent financial advice before investing or trading in cryptocurrency.