Market Update - January 5 2024

5 Jan

1. Bitcoin gains 156% in 2023: Bitcoin (BTC) managed to close out 2023 with an impressive 156% gain, rising from ~16k to over 42K as the leading crypto asset regained credibility following numerous high profile collapses in the previous year. Throughout the second half of 2023, BTC prices generated strong momentum as confidence grew around the possible approval of a US-based spot Bitcoin ETF.
   
   
2. Despite volatile start to 2024 and negative ETF report, bitcoin remains in the 43k-44k range: Anticipation of the coming spot bitcoin ETF decision (expected by January 10) was palpable on Wednesday, as BTC abruptly fell more than 10% following dissemination of a Matrixport report suggesting that the SEC could reject all pending ETF applications. As the story developed, there was no source to suggest that a decision to reject the ETFs had been made, and with most evidence so far suggesting there will be an approval announcement before the deadline next week, BTC bounced back to the 44k level.
   
   
3. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin shares a robust 2024 roadmap: Ethereum will continue its focus on its six main priorities: the Merge, the Surge, the Scourge, the Verge, the Purge and the Splurge. With the approval of a US-based spot bitcoin ETF potentially days away, some market participants are already eyeing up a potential ether ETF this summer as the next catalyst for the second most popular crypto.
   
   
4. Interest rates expected to fall in 2024, but strong jobs report may delay rate cuts: Minutes from the Fed’s December meeting showed that rates are most likely at their peak with nearly all officials predicting lower rates in 2024. There appears to be disagreement, however, on how long rates will stay at the current elevated levels. On Friday, the final jobs report of 2023 showed that employers added 216,000 jobs in December, well above expectations, and potentially complicating the outlook for a rate cut early in 2024.
   
   
5. Sei and Arbitrum outperform to start 2024: SEI, the Sei Network’s governance token, is trading up +25% over the past seven days and reached a new all time high above $0.80 as the network continues to see growing adoption. Arbitrum (ARB) was another outperformer this week, gaining +28% over the past seven days, with the token briefly crossing the $2 mark.
   

⚖️Topic of the Week: Blockchains and Scaling Solutions

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