Aside from AVAX, several other alts have jumped a lot in the past 24 hours, including BNB, ADA, and DOT.
Bitcoin’s price struggles continued in the past 24 hours as the asset slumped to just over $40,000 but managed to recover roughly two grand since then.
Most altcoins are in a similar position, but some have skyrocketed quite a bit within the past day or so. In the case of Avalanche, the asset has only doubled down on its recent momentum.
BTC Back to $42K
The primary cryptocurrency went through a highly volatile and positive week at the start of December, which drove it from under $38,000 to a multi-month peak at $44,700. The culmination came on Saturday, when BTC went inches away from tapping $45,000 for the first time since May 2022.
However, the bears finally emerged on the scene and didn’t allow any further increases. Just the opposite, bitcoin remained relatively still during the rest of the weekend but started to lose value quite rapidly on Monday.
This resulted in a price dump of under $41,000 for the first time in a week. After a brief recovery, BTC headed south once again and slumped to an 8-day low of $40,250 (on Bitstamp).
Nevertheless, the asset managed to bounce off and currently sits close to $42,000 once again. Its market capitalization has returned to $820 billion, but its dominance over the alts has taken a major hit and is now under 52%.
AVAX on a Roll
Most alternative coins dumped just as hard as BTC yesterday, if not more. Today, though, the landscape for some is quite different.
Binance Coin, Cardano, and Polkadot have soared by about 6% each to $250, $0.59, and $7.1, respectively. Avalanche stands in a league of its own with another 14% surge. AVAX is up by more than 80% over the past week or so and now trades at just over $40.
While SOL is also in the green from the larger-cap alts, ETH, XRP, DOGE, TRX, and LINK have posted minor losses.
The total crypto market cap has recovered around $20 billion from yesterday’s low but is still below $1.6 trillion.
El Salvador’s Bitcoin “volcano bonds” are set to be launched in early 2024 following reported regulatory approval.
The National Bitcoin Office (ONBTC) announced on Dec. 11 that the bonds had received approval from El Salvador’s Digital Assets Commission, with a planned release in Q1 of 2024.
The bonds, with a ten-year duration, offer an annual return of 6.5% to investors.
President Nayib Bukele, a vocal advocate of Bitcoin, echoed this development in an X post captioned “Wen volcano bond,” and additionally shared multiple posts indicating the issuance of the bonds in Q1 2024.
The so-called “volcano bonds” initiative was unveiled by Bukele in November 2021, shortly after he passed a law recognizing Bitcoin (BTC) as legal tender in the country.
These bonds aim to alleviate sovereign debt and finance the construction of the country’s proposed “Bitcoin City.”
The ONBTC also noted that the bond would be issued on the Bitfinex Securities Platform, a blockchain-based trading platform for equities and bonds registered in El Salvador.
The introduction of these bonds marks a significant step towards establishing Bitcoin-centric capital markets in the nation.
El Salvador recently embarked on a $1 billion Bitcoin mining venture, utilizing a 241-megawatt capacity powered by the country’s volcanic energy. This project is a collaboration with Luxor Technology and will be fueled by the Conchagua volcano, which plays a central role in the nation’s cryptocurrency mining activities.
Additionally, the country has recently launched the “Freedom VISA” program, which offers residency to individuals investing a minimum of $1 million in Bitcoin or tether (USDT) stablecoins. This initiative is capped at 1,000 people annually and represents another significant step in El Salvador’s embrace of digital currencies.