An investment of just $100 in Bitcoin in 2010 would have returned nearly 90,000,000% today. (Bitcoin Return Calculator) (NOTE: past performance does not predict future performance)
Bitcoin is the best-performing asset since its inception, and for the past 1-year, 3-year, 5-year and 10-year periods as of October 2020. (Off the Chain Capital)
The Red Cross accepts charitable donations in bitcoin. (CoinDesk)
The Federal Election Commission allows political contributions in Bitcoin. (FEC)
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency says national savings banks and federal savings associations can provide bitcoin custody services for bank customers. (GOV)
Wyoming gave crypto exchange company Kraken a bank charter that’s recognized under federal and state law, making it the first regulated U.S. bank to provide comprehensive deposit-taking, custody, and fiduciary services for digital assets. Customers can bank seamlessly between digital assets and national currencies. They can pay bills and receive salaries in bitcoin and incorporate bitcoin into their investment and trading portfolios. (Kraken)
The IRS has revised Form 1040; the first question is now: “At any time during 2020, did you receive, sell, send, exchange, or otherwise acquire any financial interest in any virtual currency?” (GOV)
Bitcoin’s use as a payment system ($1.3 trillion annual transaction volume) exceeds that of Discover ($200 billion) and PayPal ($600 billion). (Ark Invest)
Visa says: “Digital currencies have the potential to extend the value of digital payments to a greater number of people and places. As such, we want to help shape and support the role they play in the future of money. We want to provide a bridge between digital currencies and our existing global network of 61 million merchants.” (CNBC)
Mastercard says digital asset companies can use its network to issue credit cards based on bitcoin, saying, “The currency market continues to mature, and Mastercard is driving it forward, creating safe and secure experiences for consumers and businesses in today’s digital economy.” (Mastercard)
PayPal now allows its 325 million users make purchases via bitcoin and use it with the 24 million merchants on its platform. (PayPal)
The Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges says bitcoin may produce the world’s first trillionaires in the next decade. (AGB)
The university endowments of Harvard, Yale, MIT, Stanford, Dartmouth, UNC and others all own digital assets. (CoinDesk)
A report by JPMorgan Chase says the performance of bitcoin during the Covid-19 crisis suggests it has “longevity as an asset class.” (Yahoo! Finance)
MicroStrategy has invested $425 million in bitcoin as a “capital allocation strategy.” (MicroStrategy)
Coinbase has more account holders than Schwab: 35 million vs. 14 million. (Investopedia)
The top 5 stock holdings of Millennials are (in order) Amazon, Apple, Tesla, Facebook, and the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust. Millennials own more bitcoin than they own stock in Berkshire Hathaway, Disney, Netflix, Microsoft, or Alibaba. (Schwab)
Fidelity has launched the Wise Origin Bitcoin Index Fund, a bitcoin index fund for wealthy investors. Fidelity CEO Abby Johnson says, “Our goal is to make digitally-native assets, such as bitcoin, more accessible to investors.” (Bloomberg)
P. Morgan says “the potential long-term upside for bitcoin is considerable if it competes more intensely with gold as an “alternative currency” noting that bitcoin’s market cap would rise 10x to match private sector investment in gold ETFs, bars and coins. “Even a modest crowding out of gold as an alternative currency would imply doubling or tripling of the bitcoin price.” (MSN)
Fidelity released a 40-page Bitcoin Investment Thesis: Bitcoin’s Role as an Alternative Investment. “Bitcoin is a unique investable asset with compelling differences relative to traditional asset classes.” (Fidelity Digital Assets)
Coinbase offers “instant” withdrawals via Visa debit card or Mastercard credit card. You can convert your bitcoin into dollars everywhere Visa is accepted, for a 1.5% fee. (Coinbase)
JP Morgan released a report saying bitcoin demand is rising among institutional investors, asset managers and family offices, noting they appear to be the biggest investors in GBTC. The report says the potential long-term upside for bitcoin is considerable: bitcoin would have to rise 10x to match the total investment in gold. (com)
Brazil says it will launch its own CBDC by 2022. Consumers in that country have opened more than 100 million digital savings accounts. (R3)
Ricardo Salinas Pliego, Mexico’s third-richest person who’s worth $12 billion, has revealed that he has 10% of his liquid assets in bitcoin. He says he first invested in 2016. (Nasdaq)
Square’s app is buying the equivalent of 40% of all newly issued bitcoin. PayPal, which recently began letting users buy, sell, and pay for purchases with bitcoin, is already buying 70% of the new supply of bitcoin. There are 100 million bitcoin owners; PayPal has 300 million active users. Big demand. Limited supply. (CNBC)
ARK Investments, CEO Catherine Wood, said in November 2020 that involvement of institutional investors could drive Bitcoin to $500,000. (Barron’s)
In 2020, 30% of the stocks in the S&P 500 were more volatile than bitcoin, according to FactSet. (VanEck)
Visa CEO Alfred Kelly says the company is working with 25 crypto firms. In the future, he says, “We could see digital currencies running on the Visa network on a more regular basis. We are certainly open to any vehicle that helps facilitate the movement of money around the world. We want to be in the middle of it.” (CryptoGlobe)
Rick Rieder, Fixed Income CIO at BlackRock, told CNBC in November 2020 that bitcoin is “here to stay” and could rival gold as a primary “store of value.” (CNBC)
Bitcoin’s market cap is now bigger than JP Morgan, MasterCard, PayPal, United Health, Home Depot, Disney and Nvidia. (AssetDash)
S&P Dow Jones will launch cryptocurrency indices in 2021, saying reliable pricing data will make it easier for investors to evaluate and access the new asset class and reduce risks. (Reuters)
In November 2020, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, said bitcoin is “here to stay.” A month later he added that growing popularity of digital assets is having a “real impact” on the U.S. dollar, making it “less relevant” for foreign holders of dollar-based assets. At an industry event, he asked, “Does digital currency change the need for the dollar as a reserve currency?” (Business Quick)
Airbnb is going public and told the SEC in its filing that, “our future success will also depend on our ability to adapt to…tokenization…cryptocurrencies…and blockchain technologies….” (com)
Rumors abound that universities plan to launch their own tokens. Instead of a parent saving money in a 529 plan, they could buy the tokens to lock in current tuition rates. In the future, the tokens could be traded on the open market if the child doesn’t attend college. (Libertas)
In December 2020, Bridgewater Associates Founder Ray Dalio changed his mind about bitcoin. The founder of the world’s largest hedge fund now says bitcoin and other digital assets have “established themselves” and are interesting “gold-like asset alternatives,” adding that, “the main thing is to have some of these type of assets in one’s portfolio and to diversify among them.” (Forbes)
Germany said in December 2020 that will allow securities to be issued on the blockchain, bypassing traditional investment banks. (BTC Manager)
Guggenheim Investments says bitcoin will hit $400,000 due to its scarcity and relative valuation as a percentage of GDP. The firm, which manages $5.3 billion, told the SEC in December 2020 it will invest up to 10% of its fund into the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust. (Bloomberg)
BlackRock, the world’s largest money manager with $8 trillion in assets, announced in December 2020 that it’s hiring a Vice President for blockchain. The role will make investments in digital assets and blockchain firms. (BlackRock)
Elon Musk in December 2020 said the Mars economy will be based in digital assets. (The Independent)
Russell Okung, a Pro Bowl tackle for the Carolina Panthers, became the first NFL player to be paid in bitcoin. Starting in 2021, the team is paying him in dollars and Okung converts his pay to bitcoin using Zap. (CBS Sports)
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency announced in January 2021 that federal banks can make payments using the blockchain and stablecoins. OCC says blockchain “may be more resilient than other payment networks.” (OCC)
Mark Cuban announced in January 2021 that he’s owned bitcoin for years and has never sold any of it. (Business Insider)
Pakistan announced in January 2021 that it is building two bitcoin mining plants. (Dawn)
