Bitcoin markets have seen the strongest monthly price performance since Oct-2021, fuelled by both historic spot demand, and a sequence of short squeezes. In this edition, we explore the dynamics taking place in both derivatives markets, and the spot exchanges.

Marathon Digital (MARA), one of the largest publicly traded bitcoin miners, sold 1,500 bitcoin in January - first time ever - to monetize the recent rally in the crypto market.

Andrew Kang, CFO of Microstrategy, said that the company increased its total Bitcoin holdings to approximately 132,500 BTC during the fourth quarter of 2022. That amount had a market value of $2.194 billion at the end of the quarter on Dec. 31, 2022.

Bitcoin is the greatest form of defense against wealth confiscation and an insurance policy for the developing world, according to ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood.

Giga Energy, a bitcoin mining infrastructure startup focused on utilizing wasted natural gas as a power source, is raising $10 million in Series A funding.

Independent developer, Udi Wertheimer, claims he minted a giant image of what appears to be a bald, bearded wizard donning sunglasses and promoting “magic internet JPEGs” on the Bitcoin blockchain via the Ordinals protocol. His announcements in the Discord channel “taprootwizards.com” and on Twitter sparked further flames of division between Bitcoin purists and Ordinals proponents. The block that minted the NFT was mined by Bitcoin mining firm, Luxor, which said it was “the largest Bitcoin block ever mined.

Founder of Bridgewater Associates Ray Dalio said, “I don’t think Bitcoin is it” when it comes to effective money.

MicroStrategy (MSTR) posted a digital asset impairment charge of $197.6 million on its bitcoin (BTC) holdings in the fourth quarter, up from a $727,000 charge in Q3.

Businessman and author of the personal finance book “Rich Dad Poor Dad,” Robert Kiyosaki, has once again echoed his support for Bitcoin (BTC), noting that the cryptocurrency has the potential to act as an alternative to the current fiat system. 

Bitcoin reached $24,260 during the morning of February 02 (UTC) – marking a 24-week high.