Weekly Crypto and Macro Recap – December 20, 2024

Macro & TradFi Updates

MicroStrategy Hits New Milestone

  • MicroStrategy added $1.5B worth of Bitcoin this week, increasing its total

    holdings to 439,000 BTC (~$47B).

  • The company's stock is set to join the Nasdaq-100 index on Dec. 23,

    potentially driving automated ETF buying.

  • MicroStrategy’s stock has already seen a ~500% YTD rally.

U.S. Federal Reserve

  • The Fed cut interest rates by 25bps, lowering the target range to 4.25–4.5%.

  • This marks a total reduction of 1% since September, with the Fed signaling

    slower cuts in 2025.

Dual BTC & ETH ETFs Approved

  • The SEC approved dual Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs from Hashdex and

    Franklin Templeton, signaling increasing institutional interest.

Osprey Launches BNB Fund

  • Osprey Funds introduced the Osprey BNB Chain Trust, the first U.S. publicly

    quoted fund based on the BNB token.

Crypto Sector Highlights

L1 & L2 Developments

Avalanche9000 Update

  • Avalanche’s largest-ever update includes lower transaction fees and

    streamlined Avalanche L1 launches (formerly called subnets).

  • This follows a $250M locked token sale.

Sonic Labs Mainnet Launch

  • Sonic, Fantom’s new EVM-compatible L1, launched its mainnet with Fee

    Monetization rewards developers with up to 90% of network fees.

NFT Market Moves

Pudgy Penguins ($PENGU)

  • Pudgy Penguins’ token launched with an airdrop to 780K addresses.

  • Floor price surged to an ATH of 35 ETH before dropping to ~17 ETH post-

    airdrop.

Doodles Floor Price Pumps

  • The founder of Doodles hinted at a token launch, driving a 60% floor price increase for the NFT collection.

Stablecoin News

Ethena Launches USDtb

  • USDtb, backed by BlackRock & Securitize’s money market fund, offers a

    more traditional stablecoin model.

Ripple’s RLUSD Launch

  • Ripple introduced its RLUSD stablecoin, with a current market cap of $55M,

    though CEX integrations remain limited.

Other Notable Updates

Plume Network

  • Plume Network raised $20M Series A to build an EVM-compatible L1 for

  • RWA tokenization, is set to launch in 2025.

Eliza Labs Partnership

  • The team behind the ai16z DAO and the Eliza token partnered with Stanford

    University to explore AI agents’ impact on DeFi.

Key Takeaway

This week showcased rapid advancements in crypto adoption and innovation, from

stablecoins and NFT ecosystems to layer-1 upgrades and institutional crypto

products. With 2025 around the corner, crypto’s integration into TradFi and the

broader economy continues to accelerate.

What are your thoughts on this week’s developments? Let us know below! 🚀

#CryptoRecap #MacroUpdate #Bitcoin

This is not financial advise. DYOR