Trakx Weekly Update: December 9

Key Crypto Market Figures

CTIs Weekly Performance

It turned out that the prior week’s consolidation in Bitcoin was simply a refreshing pause rather than anything more concerning because last week the market leading cryptocurrency smashed through the psychologically significant $100,000 mark – a level it has since continued to hover around. This breakout provided a strong halo effect for the entire asset class as evidenced by the near 11% gain in our benchmark Top10 Crypto CTI – taking its year-to-date performance to an tradfi asset class humbling 145%. The top performer though was the RWA (real world asset) CTI, up 35% and not too far behind were the Lending and Recovery CTIs both of which recorded weekly gains of 28%. As testament to the breadth and strength of the rally, the defensive Inflation Hedge CTI was the worst performer but even it was unchanged over the preceding seven days.

The Crypto Phoenix

As a result of Bitcoin’s rally, its market cap rose to a tad under $2tr. This puts it in seventh place globally, just behind sixth placed Alphabet (AKA Google), and contributed to pushing the overall market cap of crypto to $3.6tr. For an asset class that many so-called financial pundits had written off just two years ago this is a very impressive resurrection. Not one to miss a PR opportunity, US President Elect Trump posted a congratulatory tweet to Bitcoiners after it traded above $100,000, continuing his positive overtures to the sector (see below).

While achieving a six figure valuation is important by itself, the most significant aspect of hitting a new record high is it means every single buyer of the nine spot Bitcoin ETFs launched in the US since January are sitting on a profit. Given the purchasers of these products are not your regular crypto bros, but institutions and normies, having such a financially beneficial introduction to the world of crypto is unambiguously good, and not just for the market leader but for the entire sector.

Team Trump Adds More Pro-Crypto Hires

Helping to fuel the crypto rally was Trump’s announcement that Paul Atkins would be replacing Gary Gensler, who had previously announced he would be resigning as head of the SEC prior to Trump retaking office. Having previously served as SEC Commissioner between 2002-8 Atkins has considerable regulatory experience, but more importantly he is known to be much more crypto-friendly than Gensler, who alienated many in the industry with his regulation-by-enforcement approach.

Rounding out his pro-crypto hires, Trump last week also appointed former Paypal COO David Sacks to be the newly created role of AI & Crypto Czar. In tandem with the recently former crypto advisory council, Sacks will help redirect US policy towards digital assets. What is particularly interesting about the new position is it further cements the link between AI and crypto, something we think will be one of the major trends impacting the industry over the coming 12 months, but that is a topic we will revisit in more depth in our year ahead report due to be published early next month – stay tuned!

Sources: Trakx, Coingecko, Alphavantage

Market Trends

• Bitcoin has hit $100,000 and is the world’s 7th largest asset: Protos.
• Crypto is getting the SEC boss it wanted in Paul Atkins: Yahoo Finance.
• Trump appoints former PayPal exec David Sacks as AI and crypto czar: Reuters.
• Putin says Bitcoin is inevitable, endorses BTC over US dollar as global reserve currency: CryptoSlate.
• PancakeSwap Debuts ‘All-in-One’ Pump.fun Contender SpringBoard as Alts Surge: Decrypt.
• Hawk Tuah Girl claims no tokens sold as memecoin launch sparks crypto community backlash: CryptoSlate.

Trakx CTIs Performance

Sources: Coingecko and AlphaVantage

*Return of bitcoin is calculated since 01/05/2020, while CTIs performances were calculated since their respective launch date.
**Includes simulated performance.
***The risk signal is determined according to the historical volatility level, the higher the riskier.

Trakx is a global fintech company creating new standards for digital asset investments. Through our trading platform, we offer thematic Crypto Tradable Indices (CTIs) and customised solutions, providing sophisticated investors with a high degree of compliance, custody and liquidity.

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Disclaimers: No Investment Advice. Index returns and statistics are for illustration only. Index returns do not reflect any transaction costs or expenses. Past performance does not guarantee future results. The information provided in this newsletter does not constitute investment advice, financial advice, trading advice, or any other sort of advice and you should not treat any of the newsletter content as such. Trakx.io does not recommend that any cryptocurrency should be bought, sold, or held by you. Readers shall conduct their own due diligence and consult their financial advisors before making any investment decisions.