Matthew Sigel, the head of digital assets research at VanEck, has expressed bullish sentiment on Bitcoin, stating that it could surpass its all-time high of $69,044 this year. Sigel believes that the upcoming contentious election could provide an opportunity for change and pro-Bitcoin policies. He also attributes Bitcoin's late 2020 gains to a weaker dollar and various macro factors, such as Nigeria reversing its bank bans and Argentina's acceptance of Bitcoin for contract settlement. Bitcoin is currently trading at $42,660.

UBS analyst stated that the approval of the first Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission last week has expanded the channels for investors to invest in Bitcoin. However, despite the increased accessibility and ease of secure storage of digital assets, the fundamentals of Bitcoin remain weak. Currently, the application of cryptocurrencies in the real world is still limited. Cryptocurrencies can significantly increase the volatility of investment portfolios. For example, even if only 10% of the portfolio is allocated to Bitcoin in a balanced investment portfolio, it would still result in about 50% volatility in this wealth strategy. Concerns about sustainability still exist due to the high energy consumption of Bitcoin.

Morgan Stanley's Head of Digital Assets, Andrew Peel, has warned that the increasing popularity and adoption of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, as well as the development of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), could threaten the dominance of the US dollar as a global currency. Peel highlighted the potential paradigm shift in the way people view and interact with digital assets as a threat to the dollar's status. He also noted that CBDCs could establish a unified standard for cross-border payments, potentially diminishing the reliance on traditional intermediaries like SWIFT and dominant currencies like the dollar. Despite this, Peel acknowledged the advantages of CBDCs, including their potential to support innovation by automating transactions using smart contracts.

According to OKX market data, on January 16th, Bitcoin rebounded above $43,000 and is currently priced at $43,093.15, with a 24-hour increase of 0.98%.

According to official sources, on January 15th, the one-stop digital asset service platform, SINOHOPE Technology Holdings Limited (stock code: 1611.HK, SINOHOPE), announced a partnership with Bitroo. Both parties will cooperate deeply around the Bitcoin ecosystem through SINOHOPE Technology's Bitcoin Ecosystem Support Program, utilizing their respective experiences in Bitcoin mining, Bitcoin computing power services, computing power asset management, mining funds, virtual asset security custody, and one-stop Web3 product construction, to provide customers with more secure, professional, diverse Bitcoin ecosystem products and solutions.

BTC.com data shows that the total network transaction fee for Bitcoin was about 219 BTC yesterday, an increase of about 73% from the previous day (126.75 BTC).

One train of thought says that SEC approval of spot bitcoin ETF will send the market flying. Here’s how that could play out. In a separate post, we review the bear case, where the market may not react with such optimism.

Bitcoin and gold have recorded strong performance in 2023 amid geopolitical uncertainties and rising interest rates.

1.JPMorgan Chase: The probability that the SEC will classify ETH as a commodity before May is less than 50%

The market shows that BTC has fallen below $43,000 and is now trading at $42,999, with a daily decline of 6.07%. The market is highly volatile, so please manage your risks.