Bitcoin Hits New ATH on Christmas Day; SEC Sues Ripple for Selling XRP in $1.3B Illegal Security Offering; MicroStrategy Buys Another 29,6 of Bitcoin

Happy New Year, ?? fellow Blockchain and Cryptocurrency aficionados! ?? 2020 was a challenging yet really interesting year. But challenges make us stronger, so I'm more than certain 2021 will be awesome! ?

The best Weekly Blockchain & Crypto Digest thus far is out, hope you will enjoy it as much as I did.

P.S. Before we dive into what happened in Blockchain & Crypto last week, check out my Connecting the Dots Newsletter, where you will get much more. Every Week (the newest edition is coming out tomorrow)????

Last week (21-26 December) was super hot in Blockchain & Cryptocurrency space this year. Bitcoin hit another new all-time high on Christmas Day and keeps on rising. The biggest and most interesting story this week came from Ripple which has been sued by the SEC for selling XRP as an illegal security offering. MicroStrategy, as always, bought more Bitcoin (this time, nearly 30k with funds raised via convertible debt), and more exciting developments and insights.

Without further ado, let us dive into what has happened in the financial technology sector this week. Let’s connect the dots.

Bitcoin Hits New All-Time High on Christmas Day

Bitcoin's price has set a new record, with the cryptocurrency hitting $24,644.30 on Christmas Day. 

It was indeed a very merry Christmas for Bitcoin aficionados, as the most popular cryptocurrency surged to a new all-time high on Christmas Day.

The price of Bitcoin shot up by 5.8% in the last 24 hours until the 1st Christmas Day, peaking at $24,644.30.

At the point of writing, Bitcoin broke new records (again!) and currently is trading at close to $27,000.

THE TAKEAWAY

Bitcoin continues being very hot. Increasing demand, lowering supply and institutional FOMO are among the key drivers in the recent Bitcoin bull run. How far can it go? ??

SEC Sues Ripple & Two Execs for Selling XRP in $1.3B Illegal Security Offering

The US Securities and Exchange Commission filed a lawsuit against cryptocurrency platform Ripple, its CEO, and its chairman, for illegally selling unregistered securities worth $1.3 billion, the agency said Tuesday.

The SEC’s complaint "alleges that Ripple raised funds, beginning in 2013, through the sale of digital assets known as XRP in unregistered security offering to investors in the U.S. and worldwide. Ripple also allegedly distributed billions of XRP in exchange for non-cash consideration, such as labor and market-making services," according to a statement.

Additionally, Garlinghouse, the current CEO, often talked about how he was very long XRP without disclosing that he was actually selling 321 million XRP to lock in a fortune.

Moreover, Garlinghouse also directed the company to sell XRP in order to move the price - despite concerns expressed by other employees.

Finally, what’s even more surprising and interesting is this - it appears that the main financial company using XRP, a money transmitter, told Ripple it was much more expensive than alternatives and only agreed to use it because Ripple was paying it to do so.

Following the announcement, XRP is down by nearly 50%.

THE TAKEAWAY

If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then probably it’s a security… Surprisingly or not, it seems that SEC has a stronger hand at its disposal. If the SEC wins the case, it is clear that most of the intended use case for XRP would probably be eliminated as it would become essentially impossible to use it as a currency.

MicroStrategy Buys Another 29,6K of Bitcoin from Funds Raised via Convertible Debt

MicroStrategy said Monday that it had purchased an additional 29,646 Bitcoin, worth about $650M, taking its total Bitcoin purchase to more than $1 billion this year.

MicroStrategy raised $650 million via senior convertible notes earlier this month, and all that amount has been utilized to buy Bitcoin. Senior convertible notes are debt securities that can be converted into shares of an issuer.

MicroStrategy now holds a total of 70,470 bitcoin, purchased at an average price of about $15,964 apiece.

THE TAKEAWAY

MicroStrategy, and particularly its CEO Michael, have been arguably the strongest advocates that facilitated the recent Bitcoin bull run. They essentially see BTC as a hedge against USD. According to Phong Le, president and CFO of MicroStrategy, the company continues to believe that bitcoin will provide the opportunity for better returns and preserve the value of our capital over time compared to holding cash.

Extra Reads & Quick Bites for Curious Minds??:

• How to keep your Bitcoin safe and secure
• Crypto card issuer Wirex becomes a principal member of Visa in Europe. The membership allows Wirex to issue Visa cards itself, offer new products, and apply for additional licenses.
• 2020 saw over $3 billion in crypto venture funding and over $690M in M&A activity, according to a new report.
• Injective Protocol, a decentralized derivatives exchange platform, will soon launch trading in tokenized stocks of major companies like Google, Amazon, Airbnb, and others.

Quote of the Week/??Food for Thought??

Everyone makes money while Ripple is screwed… ????

Graph of the Week

Stablecoin on-chain volumes have crossed the $1 trillion mark in 2020, according to The Block Research.

Week in Brief

Bitcoin's price has set a new record, with the cryptocurrency hitting $24,644.30 on Christmas Day. 

The US Securities and Exchange Commission filed a lawsuit against cryptocurrency platform Ripple, its CEO, and its chairman, for illegally selling unregistered securities worth $1.3 billion, the agency said Tuesday.

MicroStrategy said Monday that it had purchased an additional 29,646 Bitcoin, worth about $650M, taking its total Bitcoin purchase to more than $1 billion this year.

Continue reading by subscribing to Connecting the Dots Newsletter. You will receive fresh news about Blockchain & Cryptocurrency with hot takeaways every week (the newest edition coming out tomorrow!).

P.S. You might enjoy my earlier pieces as well:

?? These are the Best Performing Stocks of the Last Decade

?? Welcome to the Google Bank - Your Everyday Banking from Google, NOT a Bank.

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About: I am a business developer, sales professional, FinTech strategist, as well as Cryptocurrency and Blockchain enthusiast. I'm highly passionate about Financial Technology and Digital Innovation, and strongly believe that it will change the world for the better. Apart from my daily job at a global payments startup where I'm leading the company's expansion into Europe, I'm an active member of the FinTech community and a TechFin evangelist.

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