The Rise of the Bitcoin Treasure, Dec. 30-Jan. 6

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The price of Bitcoin (BTC) fell below $ 43,000 on Thursday in a massive selloff that was fueled by the Federal Reserve’s renewed commitment to begin unwinding its support for the pandemic stimulus. For the so-called diamond investors among us, the decline presents an attractive entry point to continue accumulating BTC at discount rates.

2021 was the year that institutions and businesses emerged as major players in the Bitcoin market. At the end of the year, companies and investment funds held around 1.48 million BTC, which is 7% of the current supply in circulation. Do you think these big strategic investors will be shaken by FUD?

Below is the concise version of the latest “Crypto Biz” newsletter, which is delivered to your inbox every Thursday. For a full breakdown of business developments over the past week, sign up for the full newsletter below.

Bitcoin corporate treasury soars

The number of publicly traded companies holding Bitcoin increased in 2021, as more business leaders began to recognize the digital asset value proposition. Chain analyst Willy Woo said corporate treasuries have gained market share in major spot exchange-traded funds, sending a strong signal that companies are having a bigger impact on the Bitcoin market.

Since MicroStrategy’s “Bitcoin for Corporations” conference in February 2021, public companies * with large BTCs have gained market share using spot ETFs ** as a means of accessing BTC exposure in public stock markets .

* MicroStrategy and public mining companies ** Mostly grayscale pic.twitter.com/e18OEfgiEW

– Willy Woo (@woonomic) January 2, 2022

Related: Bitcoin Could Outperform Stocks In 2022 Amid Tightening Fed – Bloomberg Analyst

WonderFi plans to buy parent company Bitbuy for $ 162 million

WonderFi Technologies, a decentralized financial platform backed by business mogul Kevin O’Leary, announced this week that it will acquire Bitbuy owner First Ledger Corp in a deal valued at $ 162 million. Founded in 2016, Bitbuy is a licensed cryptocurrency exchange operator in Canada with over 375,000 users. To fund the purchase, WonderFi will issue 70 million new shares, pay $ 15.7 million upfront and $ 23 million in deferred cash over 12 months.

Canaan expands its presence in Kazakhstan

Soaring fuel prices fueled unprecedented political unrest in Kazakhstan this week, forcing the country’s presidential cabinet to resign unexpectedly. Just the day before, Chinese bitcoin maker Canaan Inc announced that it had expanded its trade ties with the Central Asian country. As of December 31, 2021, Canaan had deployed 10,300 AvalonMiner units in Kazakhstan. The political upheavals in Kazakhstan negatively impacted the Bitcoin network, which saw its hash rate drop 13.4% within hours.

Related: Cointelegraph Consulting: Looking Back at Crypto Events of 2021

NFT-Focused Holding Company Closes $ 50 Million Series A

Digital asset custodian Metaversal has completed a $ 50 million investment round co-led by CoinFund and Foxhaven, with additional participation from Dapper Labs, Digital Currency Group, Rarible and Theta Blockchain Ventures, among others. Metaversal will use the proceeds to grow its NFT-focused business, which includes acquiring more digital collectibles and supporting upcoming projects in space.

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