OSL Trading Time: BTC breaks through $108,000 to a new high, and many regions call for the implementation of Bitcoin strategic reserves

1. Market Observation

Keywords: ETH, ENS, BTC

The Bitcoin market has recently shown strong growth momentum. On December 16, the asset under management of the Bitcoin ETF exceeded that of the gold fund for the first time, reaching a record $129 billion. In terms of price, Bitcoin hit a new high of $108,000 and maintained an upward trend above $100,000, rising 6.44% in the past five days. Based on this momentum, analysts predict that the price may rise to $200,000 in the next few months.

Looking ahead to 2024, the Bitcoin halving event will be an important factor affecting the market landscape. According to Coin Metrics' "Network State" report, this halving will reduce the block reward from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC, which may lead to a significant decline in miner revenue. Meanwhile, the development of Ethereum is also closely watched, as ENS Labs has chosen Consensys' Linea technology for its upcoming Layer-2 network project. In a blog post on December 17, Bitwise investment strategist Juan Leon pointed out that with growing institutional interest, Ethereum is expected to see significant growth by 2025 and has the potential to leverage the $1 quadrillion real-world asset market.

At the policy level, cryptocurrencies have received support from multiple parties. The Satoshi Action Fund has released a draft of a potential executive order aimed at establishing a U.S. Bitcoin strategic reserve, which has the support of Wyoming Senator Cynthia Lummis. In Europe, French MEP Sarah Knafo called for the EU to implement a strategic Bitcoin reserve instead of a central bank digital currency, a proposal that received a positive response from Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele.

In terms of market behavior, Bitcoin "whales" have made large-scale purchases totaling $7 billion in the past 48 hours. Although the price has hit a new high, options data shows that traders remain cautious in chasing these trends.

2. Key Data (as of 09:25 HKT on December 18)

• S&P 500: 6,050.61 (+26.85% YTD)

• Nasdaq: 20,109.06 (+33.96% YTD)

• 10-year US Treasury yield: 4.392% (+54.37 bps YTD)

• US Dollar Index: 106.593 (+5.54% YTD)

• Bitcoin: $106,394.04 (+151.73% YTD), daily spot trading volume of $67.13 billion

• Ethereum: $3,894.27 (+75.41% YTD), daily spot trading volume of $34.59 billion

3. ETF Flows (December 17 EST)

• Bitcoin ETF: -$119.29 million

• Ethereum ETF: +$5.95 million

4. Important Dates (Hong Kong Time)

Retail Sales MoM (December 17 evening 09:30)

• Actual: 0.7% / Prior: 0.5% / Expected: 0.5%

FOMC Rate Decision (December 19 early morning 03:00)

• Actual: TBA / Prior: 4.75% / Expected: 4.5%

GDP QoQ Final (December 19 evening 09:30)

• Actual: TBA / Prior: 3.00% / Expected: 2.80%

Core PCE Price Index MoM (December 20 evening 09:30)

• Actual: TBA / Prior: 0.3% / Expected: 0.2%

Personal Income MoM (December 20 evening 09:30)

• Actual: TBA / Prior: 0.6% / Expected: 0.4%

Personal Spending MoM (December 20 evening 09:30)

• Actual: TBA / Prior: 0.4% / Expected: 0.5%

5. Hot News

• sBTC has been launched on the Stacks mainnet, providing a 5% annual yield

• Big Time Studios announces a $150 million Open Loot fund

• 33.1% of the PENGU airdrop has been claimed, with an average of about 20,800 PENGU per wallet

• A member of the Ohio State Legislature proposes to establish a Bitcoin reserve fund in the state's treasury

• The official X account of the Solana-based meme project Retardio has been suspended

• Fuel launches the FUEL genesis airdrop: the eligibility check page is online, and the claim will open on December 19

• ENS Labs chooses Linea's technology to build its L2 network Namechain

• Tether announces investment in European stablecoin provider StablR

• Physicist: Quantum computers are still five years away from cracking Bitcoin

• Pendle team-affiliated wallets sent over 560,000 PENDLE, worth $3.47 million, to Binance

• Binance Wallet launches Binance Alpha, enhancing pre-listing transparency and focusing on potential projects

• European Parliament member calls for Bitcoin as a strategic reserve asset

• OKX pre-market trading of Hyperliquid (HYPE) briefly surpassed $30

• Nirvana Finance V2 will launch on December 18, completing compensation and introducing new mechanisms

• Kontos announces KOS token economics: 5% for airdrops

• Metaplanet announces the issuance of 4.5 billion yen in ordinary bonds, with the funds to be used to accelerate Bitcoin purchases

• Trump plans to use the Treasury Department's $200 billion forex stabilization fund to establish a Bitcoin reserve

• Grayscale Horizen Trust is now open to qualified accredited investors

• FTX announces: The court-approved Chapter 11 reorganization plan will take effect on January 3, 2025

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