Bitcoin’s rise could cost gold additional market share, according to a research report that investment banking giant Goldman Sachs sent to clients. In the report, Goldman Sachs details the market capitalization of BTC will grow as a “byproduct of broader adoption of digital assets.”

El Salvador’s finance minister, Alejandro Zelaya, has said the government is moving forward with the issuance of its Bitcoin bonds, and is now set to send Congress around 20 bills to get the process started.

Leading stablecoin issuer Tether froze  over $1 million worth of USDT last week. The funds belonged to a single blockchain address that will no longer be able to move the frozen funds.

In this week’s NFT segment we are taking a look at the record Mega Mutant Serum sales which occurred recently. These serums form part of the Bored Ape Chemistry Club collection and were airdropped to all regular Bored Ape NFT holders. This segment is brought to you in partnership with NFT data and discovery platform Masterpiece.

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Top stories in the Crypto Roundup today:

• Bitcoin Set to Take Further Market Share From Gold: Goldman Sachs
• El Salvador to Move Forward with Bitcoin Bond Issuance
• Tether Freezes $1 Million in USDT
• NFT Spotlight: Mega Mutant Serum
• Sponsored: Crypto.com - The World’s Fastest Growing Crypto App

Bitcoin Set to Take Further Market Share From Gold: Goldman Sachs

Bitcoin’s rise could cost gold additional market share, according to a research report that investment banking giant Goldman Sachs sent to clients. In the report, Goldman Sachs details the market capitalization of BTC will grow as a “byproduct of broader adoption of digital assets.”

The investment bank’s analysts added the flagship cryptocurrency’s market capitalization may also grow thanks to “Bitcoin-specific scaling solutions.” The analysts determined Bitcoin accounts for about 20% of the total “store of value” market using its float-adjusted market capitalization.

If Bitcoin were to command 50% of the “store of value” market, Goldman Sachs estimates its price could increase to more than $100,000. The bank added:

"Bitcoin may have applications beyond simply a "store of value"—and digital asset markets are much bigger than Bitcoin—but we think that comparing its market capitalization to gold can help put parameters on plausible outcomes for Bitcoin returns.”

Goldman has previously noted BTC was among the best-performing asset last year, despite underperforming relative to other assets when volatility is considered.

El Salvador to Move Forward with Bitcoin Bond Issuance

El Salvador’s finance minister, Alejandro Zelaya, has said the government is moving forward with the issuance of its Bitcoin bonds, and is now set to send Congress around 20 bills to get the process started.

According to Zelaya, the bills will “provide legal structure and legal certainty to everyone who buys the Bitcoin bond.” The country is set to issue $1 billion in bonds this year, with half of the funds set to be converted into Bitcoin and half set to be used for infrastructure and Bitcoin mining.

El Salvador hopes the issuance will help it build a Bitcoin City, which is a tax-free enclave it planned that would utilise geothermal energy from nearby volcanoes.

The country’s Bitcoin bonds will be issued by Blockstream, a Bitcoin infrastructure company. El Salvador, it’s worth noting, made Bitcoin legal tender last year, becoming the first country in the world to do so.

Tether Freezes $1 Million in USDT

Leading stablecoin issuer Tether froze over $1 million worth of USDT last week. The funds belonged to a single blockchain address that will no longer be able to move the frozen funds.

Tether called the “AddedBlacklist” function on December 30 to block the address. When Tether blacklists an address, the USDT balance it has is no longer usable. Who owns the address, which holds many tokens in the low five-figure ranges, isn’t clear.

A Tether spokesperson has declined to comment on who owns the address but said the firm regularly works with regulators and law enforcement agencies throughout the world for freezing addresses.

The spokesperson added that through the freezing of addresses Tether has “been able to help recover funds stolen by hackers or are compromised.” The firm first started freezing addresses in 2017 and has so far blocked over 500 addresses on the Ethereum network.

NFT Spotlight: Mega Mutant Serum

Mega Mutant Serums are part of the Bored Ape Chemistry Club collection and the wider Bored Ape Yacht Club ecosystem. The collection consists of 10,000 Mutant Serum NFTs which were airdropped to all regular Bored Ape NFT holders, allowing them to alter the appearance of their ape. The series includes three tiers of serum; M1, M2 and M3 (Mega Mutant) serums.

The serums are redeemed upon use and alter the appearance of the original ape. You can see the 9 NFTs that have been administered a Mega Mutant Serum below. When used, the new NFT joins the Mutant Ape Yacht Club collection.

M3 serums (Mega Mutant Serums)  produce completely new results making them extremely sought after. There are just three M3 serums left in the world, with the latest selling for a record 1,542.07 ETH (then $5,829,507.92) to Deepak Thapliyal, CEO of Chain.

Ethereum co-founder Taylor Gerring also bought an M3 Serum for $3.6 million, just days before the 1,542 ETH sale. The seller received the serum for free via airdrop. Gerring proceeded to redeem the serum, receiving Mutant Ape 30004 in return.

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