Crypto finished the last week of 2023 on a sideways chop, with the Nasdaq Crypto Index (NCI) falling 1.6%, bitcoin (BTC) down 2.4%, and ether (ETH) having a minor uptick of 0.2%. BTC completed a four-month green streak, rising 12.8% in the last month of 2023 and finishing the year up 157%. ETH followed with a 12.3% increase in December and a total uptick of 90.8% in 2023. The NCI has risen 132.6% in 2023, showing its strength as the benchmark for the digital asset space.

Spot BTC ETF race heats up

The race for a spot BTC ETF in the US continued to heat up at the year end, with several issuers amending their applications, including information on fund seeds and authorized participants. 

Bitcoin turns 15 after its best pre-halving year since 2011

Bitcoin turns 15 on January 3rd. 2023 was Bitcoin’s fourth pre-halving year, that is, a year preceding the halving event in which the issuance of new BTC is cut in half. After a 157% upside for the asset, 2023 surpassed the two previous pre-halving years of 2015 and 2019, in which BTC rose by 35.0% and 92.5%, respectively. This remarkable performance is a clear indication that bitcoin’s recovery phase was indeed started in early 2023, reassuring the asset’s resilience in preparation for 2024, a new year where opportunity meets optimism. 

MicroStrategy adds 14,620 BTC to its balance sheet

On its December 27, 2023 form 8-K, Michael Saylor’s MicroStrategy (MSTR) reported an acquisition of an additional 14,620 BTC, with the US business intelligence company now holding a total of 189,150 BTC at an average cost basis of $31,168 per bitcoin, establishing itself as a leader in corporate adoption of bitcoin as a balance sheet strategy. After carrying an unrealized loss of nearly $2 billion in late 2022, MicroStrategy’s bitcoin bet is, as of the 2023 close, up by $2 billion, with the company getting increasingly closer to holding 1% (210,000 BTC) of the fully diluted BTC supply. MSTR finished 2023 with an impressive 346.1% upward move.

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