By Kapil Rajyaguru
Bitcoin Surpasses $100,000 After Trump’s Pro-Crypto Pick for SEC.
Bitcoin made history on December 5, breaching the coveted $100,000 mark for the first time—a milestone etched into crypto lore. The surge comes just a month after Donald Trump’s presidential victory and followed a pivotal regulatory announcement: the appointment of Paul Atkins as Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). This move signaled a perceived shift toward crypto-friendly policies, igniting bullish sentiment across the market.
BTC soared to an intraday peak of $104,000, only to face fierce resistance. A dramatic sell-off ensued, dragging the price back to $98,000. This sharp downturn wiped out nearly $650 million in leveraged positions within hours, marking a 45% spike in liquidations. Long traders bore the brunt, accounting for over $400 million of the losses, underscoring Bitcoin’s dominance as the graveyard of over-leveraged bets.
While Bitcoin’s rollercoaster ride dominated headlines, Ripple’s XRP quietly emerged as the week’s star performer. Despite a 3% dip in the past 24 hours, XRP boasted a staggering 60% weekly gain, fueled by growing optimism around its adoption and legal clarity in the U.S.
Ethereum, meanwhile, reclaimed attention after weeks in the shadow of trendier altcoins like DOGE, BNB, and TRX. The second-largest cryptocurrency surged 5.5% on the day, crossing $3,900, as it continued to build momentum.
Trump Names Ex-Paypal COO David Sacks As ‘AI And Crypto Czar’.
Anchor 1 – Moving on, United States President-elect Donald Trump has named former PayPal operating chief and now podcaster David Sacks as his lead policy adviser on artificial intelligence and crypto.
Sacks was an early executive of the payment giant PayPal and co-founded the business social network platform Yammer, which Microsoft bought for $1.2 billion in 2012.
Meanwhile, a memecoin promoted by Sacks earlier this year that features his name has jumped 27,000% to a new high in the hours after Trump’s post after it had laid mostly dormant since March.
MARA Closes $850mn Convertible Note Offering to Boost Bitcoin Holdings.
In other interesting development, MARA Holdings, Wall Street’s largest publicly traded Bitcoin miner, has successfully closed a second $850 million offering of convertible senior notes. The company made the announcement on December 5 via an X post, outlining that the primary use of the proceeds will be to acquire additional Bitcoin and repurchase some of its outstanding convertible notes due in 2026.
This move follows MARA’s previous $700 million zero-interest convertible senior notes offering due in 2030. The company also recently acquired 703 BTC in November after earlier buying 5,771 BTC, which brought its total monthly acquisitions to 6,474 BTC.
As of the latest update, BitcoinTreasuries shows that MARA now holds a total of 34,794 BTC, valued at approximately $3.3 billion. This positions the company as the second-largest corporate holder of the cryptocurrency, behind only MicroStrategy, which recently announced a purchase of $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin.
Tron’s TVL Reaches New Record of $36.2bn.
Amidst a broader market resurgence, the Tron blockchain has been seeing impressive strength. In fact, the total value locked (TVL) on the blockchain surged to $36.2 billion on December 4.
The latest development comes as Tron’s TRX token achieved a record-high price of $0.44 this week, breaking a seven-year streak and marking a major milestone for the network. Although it has since pulled back to $0.33, the token still stood at weekly gains of 66% as it finally reclaimed the 10th spot by market cap.
Investors Pile A Record $432mn Into Ether ETFs Amid 9 Days Of Inflows.
Meanwhile, Spot Ether exchange-traded funds in the United States have just recorded their largest day of inflows in history, resulting in the ninth consecutive trading day of positive flows for the rallying cryptocurrency.
The nine-spot Ether ETFs in the US saw an aggregate inflow of $431.5 million on Dec. 5, according to preliminary data from Farside Investors and decentralized news aggregator Tree News.
It’s the largest daily inflow since the funds launched on July 23, eclipsing the previous record of $333 million on Nov. 29. The Ether ETFs have been at a daily net positive since Nov. 21 and have accumulated more than $1.3 billion over the past fortnight.
BlackRock’s IBIT Becomes Fastest ETF in History to Hit $50bn in AUM.
Interestingly, BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), launched on January 11, has become the fastest exchange-traded fund (ETF) to reach $50 billion in assets under management (AUM). Data from SosoValue shows that IBIT currently has $50.60 billion in AUM.
According to Bloomberg senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas, it took IBIT only 228 days to reach this milestone, adding that the previous record holder, BlackRock’s iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF (IEFA), took 1,329 days to achieve the same. This means that IBIT achieved this feat 5x faster than any ETF ever launched.
Mt. Gox Wallet Moves 27,871 BTC as Bitcoin Hits $100K Milestone.
Elsewhere, The Mt. Gox-related wallet activities once again captured attention with a massive transfer of 27,871 BTC, worth around $2.8 billion, to an unidentified address on December 4. This transaction coincided with Bitcoin reaching an all-time high above $100,000, marking a historic moment for the cryptocurrency.
Analytics from Arkham Intelligence reveal that the wallet, tied to the long-defunct exchange, still holds 39,878 BTC worth over $4 billion. This latest movement follows a prior transfer of 2,500 BTC in mid-November, which is amidst the ongoing repayment process for Mt. Gox.
South Korea’s Crypto Trading Volume Hits Record $34bn Amid Martial Law Controversy.
Meanwhile, On December 3, South Korea witnessed a historic surge in cryptocurrency trading as the nation dealt with the declaration of martial law. Trading volumes in the Korean virtual asset market skyrocketed to approximately $34.6 billion within 24 hours, marking the highest recorded level of the year.
This development follows another major milestone for the South Korean crypto market. A recent 10X research revealed that the country’s retail crypto trading volumes surged to $18 billion on December 2, marking the second-highest level of the year.
Qatar Adventure Returns To Roblox.
And lastly… The metaverse’s cultural aspect is expanding with the return of the Qatar Adventure metaverse experience on Roblox. Launched by Qatar’s International Media Office, this second phase offers a rich virtual experience of Qatari culture.
Interestingly, Phase 1 garnered over 7 million visits, and the new iteration, running from November 29, 2024, to February 28, 2025, promises even more. This update features iconic landmarks like Hamad International Airport and Lusail International Circuit, a car racing track.
In fact, adding to the immersive experience are mini-games such as the Lusail Circuit Racing Game and the Pearl Diving Simulator.
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