The price of the flagship cryptocurrency, bitcoin, has experienced its first weekly decline since Donald Trump won the 2024 U.S. presidential election, falling more than 7% over the past week as the Federal Reserve revealed a hawkish outlook.

Japanese investment firm Metaplanet has made its largest-ever bitcoin purchase, buying an additional 619.7 BTC in a single transaction after the price of the cryptocurrency dropped below the $100,000 level. The purchase was valued at nearly $60 million, when BTC was trading at $96,000.

President-elect Donald Trump has appointed Bo Hines, a former college football player, as the Executive Director of the Presidential Council of Advisers for Digital Assets, which is also known as the “Crypto Council.”

Top stories in the Crypto Roundup today:

• Bitcoin Suffers First Weekly Decline Since Trump's Election Victory
• Japanese Firm Metaplanet Makes its Largest-Ever Bitcoin Purchase
• Trump Taps Bo Hines to Lead Crypto Council
• USDC Market Cap Reaches Highest Level Since 2022

Bitcoin Suffers First Weekly Decline Since Trump's Election Victory

The price of the flagship cryptocurrency, bitcoin, has experienced its first weekly decline since Donald Trump won the 2024 U.S. presidential election, falling more than 7% over the past week as the Federal Reserve revealed a hawkish outlook.

Bitcoin’s price drop was the largest since September and saw the wider cryptocurrency market plunge by around 10% over the same period. The drop came after the Federal Reserve cut interest rates for the third consecutive time on Wednesday and more importantly signaled a potential slowdown in monetary easing next year.

The Federal Reserve’s more cautious approach has dampened investors’ expectations for risk assets and saw major stock indices like the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite correct as well. Spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) also saw record outflows over the drawdown.

Sea McNulty, director at liquidity provider Arbelos Markets, noted that “meaningful downside hedging” has been seen in the options market, with significant purchases of January, February, and March put options at strike prices between $75,000 and $80,000.

Japanese Firm Metaplanet Makes its Largest-Ever Bitcoin Purchase

Japanese investment firm Metaplanet has made its largest-ever bitcoin purchase, buying an additional 619.7 BTC in a single transaction after the price of the cryptocurrency dropped below the $100,000 level. The purchase was valued at nearly $60 million, when BTC was trading at $96,000.

The firm’s previous record was a purchase of around 159.7 BTC, and its total cryptocurrency holdings have now risen to 1,762 coins worth approximately $168 million. These holdings make the firm the 12th-largest corporate holder of bitcoin among publicly traded companies, behind Semler Scientific.

The Tokyo-based firm has reported that its BTC Yield was 310% between Oct. 1 and Dec. 23, far above the 41.7% yield it had reported in the previous quarter. The firm uses the metric to “assess the performance of its Bitcoin acquisition strategy, which is intended to be accretive to shareholders.”

Earlier this month, Metaplanet projected it would record its first consolidated operating profit in seven years, partly thanks to its cryptocurrency holdings, as the firm generated substantial revenue through the sale of put options on its BTC holdings.

Trump Taps Bo Hines to Lead Crypto Council

President-elect Donald Trump has appointed Bo Hines, a former college football player, as the Executive Director of the Presidential Council of Advisers for Digital Assets, which is also known as the “Crypto Council.”

Earlier this month, Trump appointed David Sacks, a former chief operating officer of PayPal, as the White House's new AI and Cryptocurrency Czar. In a post on the social media platform TruthSocial, Trump said that Sacks would "guide policy for the Administration in Artificial Intelligence and Cryptocurrency, two areas critical to the future of American competitiveness."

In a post announcing the appointment of Bo Hines, Trump wrote that he will work with Sacks to “ foster innovation and growth in the digital assets space, while ensuring industry leaders have the resources they need to succeed.”

He added that both will create an “environment where this industry can flourish, and remain a cornerstone of our Nation's technological advancement."

USDC Market Cap Reaches Highest Level Since 2022

In December, Circle’s USDC experienced a 6.7% increase in market capitalization, reaching $42.4 billion, the highest market capitalization for the stablecoin since December 2022. Additionally, USDC trading volumes on centralized exchanges reached an unprecedented level in November, totaling $219 billion. 

The trend suggests that USDC trading pairs may achieve another all-time high in December, supported by favorable market sentiment.

Learn more about the stablecoin ecosystem via CCData’s latest Stablecoins & CBDCs report.

State of the Crypto by Top Tier Exchange Volume

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