Bitcoin Crosses $100,000 For The First Time

Bitcoin Crosses $100,000 For The First Time

Bitcoin finally crossed the $100,000 milestone, pushing its market capitalization to an astonishing $2 trillion just 15 years after its inception. The milestone has prompted a range of reactions, from celebratory to skeptical, with President-elect Donald Trump and others congratulating Bitcoiners.

Wall Street’s firm participation, spurred by newly approved Bitcoin ETFs from giants like BlackRock, has helped BTC surge over 500% since its lows in November 2022.

While enthusiasts like Mike Novogratz and Brian Armstrong herald the milestone as proof of mass adoption, skeptics such as Peter Schiff criticize it, attributing the rise to government intervention rather than market dynamics.

Public figures like Nayib Bukele and industry insiders such as James Van Straten emphasize Bitcoin's resilience and its potential for even greater growth. With optimism and solid backing, many view the $100,000 price point as a key achievement but just one step in Bitcoin’s continued rise.

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Mt. Gox Moves $2.4 Billion in BTC After Price Surge

Mt. Gox, the long-bankrupt crypto exchange, moved 24,000 Bitcoin worth about $2.5 billion just after Bitcoin crossed $100,000. The timing of the move, occurring minutes after the six-digit milestone, raises speculation about potential creditor payouts. Historically, such movements from Mt. Gox have been bearish, as the release of funds could mean a large influx of BTC into the market.

Despite this, some analysts believe that the impact may be limited, as these repayments have long been anticipated and priced into the market. Mt. Gox still holds around 40,000 BTC, valued at $4.1 billion, with creditor repayments expected to continue until 2025. The selling pressure of these distributions remains uncertain, with many creditors indicating they may choose to hold instead of selling.

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Meme Coins Help Boost Solana, According to Founder

Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko attributes the network’s growing stability to the stress tests brought on by meme coins. Yakovenko highlighted that, like NFTs before them, meme coins have pushed Solana to solve unexpected engineering problems, ultimately strengthening the platform. In the past year, Solana has experienced only one outage, marking an important improvement in network reliability.

Yakovenko credited fast iteration and real-time solutions for addressing multidimensional challenges, such as memory bottlenecks and throughput issues. By solving these problems, Solana has become more attractive to developers and users alike. Meme coins, initially seen as a source of spam, have instead become instrumental in stress-testing and refining the blockchain's expandability.

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Pudgy Penguins Set All-Time High as NFTs Rebound

Ethereum NFT collection Pudgy Penguins soared to a new all-time high of over $62,000 per token as the NFT market began showing signs of life. This surge came alongside BTC’s pump to $100,000, boosting interest across various digital assets. Other major collections, including Bored Ape Yacht Club and CryptoPunks, also saw substantial price increases, indicating broader market recovery.

The overall NFT market cap rose to nearly $9 billion, fueled by a marked uptick in trading activity and a renewed enthusiasm for digital collectibles. Under Luca Netz's leadership, Pudgy Penguins has expanded beyond NFTs into mainstream retail and gaming, enhancing its cultural relevance. While still below their 2021 peaks, the recent gains point to a potential resurgence in NFT interest.

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Data of the Day

Ethereum Layer-2 network Base reached an all-time high of 8.8 million daily transactions, surpassing rollup competitors like Arbitrum and Optimism. Its total value locked stands at $3.6 billion, supported by $227 million in net inflows over the last week, far exceeding Solana's comparable inflows. Rising network fees, hitting a three-month high, signal increased demand for Base's block space.

This growth is largely triggered by new AI projects like the Virtuals Protocol, which enables co-ownership and monetization of AI agents. Additionally, community experiments such as Freysa AI have spurred involvement, revealing new avenues for blockchain-AI interactions and AI meme coins.

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More Breaking News

• Rep. French Hill pledges to investigate debanking practices after crypto executives report account closures due to government pressure on banks.
• Circle claims USDC is the first stablecoin to comply with Canada's stricter regulations, allowing it to continue being listed on Canadian exchanges.
• Adidas and Stepn announce a limited-edition release of 1,200 physical Ultraboost 5 running shoes, expanding their NFT partnership to tangible products.
• Binance.US lists the popular meme Pepe Coin as US crypto exchanges vie for a share of the growing meme coin market.
• Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell compares Bitcoin to digital gold, stating it is not a form of payment but rather a speculative asset similar to gold.

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