The U.S. will study holding a Bitcoin reserve and other crypto news
Happy Friday! We start this week with the news that the United States government task force formed to study crypto and artificial intelligence will be looking at a Bitcoin strategic reserve as a priority.
The news came from David Sacks, who President Donald Trump tapped to lead the crypto and AI task force. Sacks is a venture capitalist and was a cast member of the All-In Podcast, a politically mixed podcast of notable businessmen.
Oddly Bitcoin mostly dropped during the live-streamed press conference. That lends credence to the idea that the new administration’s pro-crypto focus is largely priced in.
Messari’s Algorand Q4 report looks promising
Messari released its quarter four report for Algorand, and the numbers look awfully good. Algorand’s marketcap grew 151% year over year, new addresses grew 176% year over year and daily transactions grew by 66%. There are now 3.5 million transactions happening on the Algorand blockchain every single day. We can only laugh at the people calling it a dead chain.
Hedera likely to be added to Coinbase’s derivatives platform
Coinbase announced that it will be adding Solana and Hedera futures to its derivatives platform. The Hedera contract would track 5,000 Hedera-based tokens. Futures allow for trading without owning an asset - they’re what allow commodities to be traded across cities without having to actually exchange goods. For instance, it would be impractical to trade salt between New York and Chicago because the price arbitrage wouldn’t make up for the cost of transport (not to mention the slow speed). Think the episode of Seinfeld where Kramer and Newman hatch a scheme to sell bottles in Michigan.
FIFA increases activity on Algorand
FIFA, which has minted all of its soccer NFTs on the Algorand blockchain, has been increasing its activity on chain lately, some Algorand enthusiasts noted. What does that mean? Some are speculating it has to do with minting tickets on chain. It could also mean some kind of deal where people who purchase tickets get an NFT included or something similar. It’s unknown right now, but worth keeping an eye on.
MicroStrategy becomes Strategy, and Blackrock owns a chunk
The Michael Saylor investment firm MicroStrategy has changed its name to Strategy this month. Strategy is known for most of its primary holdings being in Bitcoin, which Saylor proselytizes every chance he gets. A new report out this week shows Investment firm BlackRock owns 5% of Strategy.
Be sure to check out
Remember the FrugalBC YouTube channel livestreams nearly every Friday at 12:15 pm CST. Come join us! In addition, FrugalBC is on Twitter/X and Kick.
Want to maximize your safety in crypto? Check out Ledger:
Non-Fungible Domains: Turn your long complicated wallet address into an easy to remember .algo address for a one-time, affordable fee.
MARCUS: Follow the memecoin and NFT project based on Marcus Aurelius (in this case, Marcus Furrelius) built on the Algorand blockchain.