Hodler’s Digest, Dec. 8 – 14 – Cointelegraph Magazine

JPMorgan raises price targets on Bitcoin mining stocks

Analysts at JPMorgan raised price targets for four Bitcoin mining stocks to reflect value from the miners’ electrical power assets and BTC holdings, according to a Dec. 10 report shared with Cointelegraph. 

The mining operations to see upgrades include MARA Holdings (MARA), CleanSpark (CLSK), Riot Platforms (RIOT) and Iren (IREN), according to the report, which was written by analysts Reginald Smith and Charles Pearce. Each stock is already trading near or above its revised price target. 

“We previously valued Bitcoin miners based on the four-year gross profit opportunity for each operator,” the analysts said.  “We are expanding upon this framework by incorporating 1) the value of each company’s land and power assets […] and 2) a HODL premium, which gives miners credit for holding Bitcoin on their balance like MicroStrategy.” 

NY regulator approves Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin — Brad Garlinghouse

Ripple Labs CEO Brad Garlinghouse has reported that the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) approved the firm’s RLUSD stablecoin after months of consideration.

In a Dec. 10 X post, Garlinghouse said Ripple would soon announce exchange and partner listings for RLUSD after the NYDFS approval. The company launched plans for the stablecoin in April as a competitor to Tether’s USDt and USDC.

Ripple executives speculated the stablecoin could reach a market capitalization of $2 trillion by 2028. The company began testing RLUSD on the XRP ledger and Ethereum mainnets in August and announced partnerships with exchanges, including Uphold, Bitstamp, Bitso, MoonPay, Independent Reserve, CoinMENA and Bullish, in October.

Bitwise predicts 2025 as year for crypto IPO — Kraken, Circle to go public

Crypto exchange-traded fund (ETF) issuer Bitwise predicted that at least five “crypto unicorns” will go public in 2025, including stablecoin issuer Circle and crypto exchange Kraken.

So-called crypto bank Anchorage Digital, analytics firm Chainalysis and crypto exchange Figure are the other three firms expected to launch initial public offerings (IPOs) next year, Bitwise investment chief Matt Hougan and research head Ryan Rasmussen wrote in a “10 Crypto Predictions for 2025” report on Dec. 10.

Growing investor demand, institutional adoption, a favorable macro environment and a warmer political environment were the main catalysts that led the pair to name 2025 as the “Year of the Crypto IPO.”

Riot Platforms raising $500M to buy Bitcoin amid price surge

Riot Platforms has proposed raising $500 million to buy more Bitcoin. The company may conduct a private bond issue for qualified institutional investors. Its decision comes as Bitcoin hovers around its all-time high and other industry heavyweights have made large acquisitions at top prices.

Riot may offer senior convertible notes through private offering memorandums. Purchasers would have the option of buying $75 million more in notes within three days of their initial purchase. The offering will be subject to market conditions, it said, and no mention was made of interest payments.

The notes will be unsecured senior obligations with a Jan. 15, 2030, maturity date and will be redeemed or converted into Riot common stock at the company’s election. The conversion rate and other terms will be determined at the time of pricing the offering.

Riot said it will use the funds “to acquire additional Bitcoin and for general corporate purposes.”

Riot held 10,427 BTC at the end of the third quarter of the year after producing 1,104 BTC that quarter and selling none. It produced 844 BTC in the previous quarter.

Binance boss Richard Teng says re-entering US market a ‘premature discussion’

Binance CEO Richard Teng said that after its forced exit a year ago, it’s too early to discuss whether the crypto exchange might re-establish itself in the United States now that a pro-crypto president is set to take office.

“Whether we re-enter the US market, I think that’s a premature discussion,” Teng told Bloomberg TV on Dec. 9, after he was asked if Binance would look for a way back into the country or if it might relaunch its Binance USD stablecoin.

“As of now, we are focusing on our global deployment,” he said, hinting that the exchange is seeking to capture market share and eyeing the institutions, sovereign wealth funds and high-net-worth individuals that are “going to start allocating to this space.”

Binance exited the US in November 2023 as part of a $4.3 billion settlement with the US government for sanctions violations, money laundering and operating as an unlicensed money transmitter.

Winners and Losers

At the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is at $101,296, Ether (ETH) at $3,900 and XRP at $2.43. The total market cap is at $3.63 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap.

Among the biggest 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin gainers of the week are Bitget Token (BGB) at 35.26%, Virtuals Protocol (VIRTUAL) at 35.26% and Aave (AAVE) at 33.74%.

The top three altcoin losers of the week are Celestia (TIA) at 23.16%, Worldcoin (WLD) at 22.53% and EOS (EOS) at 21.08%. For more info on crypto prices, make sure to read Cointelegraph’s market analysis.

Most Memorable Quotations

“I feel like this is turning into ‘Digital Currency for Dummies’ where it is. And unfortunately, I’m the dummy!”

Jon Stewart, comedian

“We see no intrinsic reason why Bitcoin should be correlated with major risk assets over the long term given its value is driven by such distinct drivers.”

BlackRock, asset manager

“We are not so much obsessed with being first, as we are with delivering value to clients and constantly growing.”

Marcin Kaźmierczak, co-founder of Redstone

“Last month, Americans voted for pro-innovation leadership, and this Sherrod Brown bait-and-switch directly defies the will of the voters.”

Cedar Innovation Foundation

“Bitcoin energy use does not come from its transactions, therefore it can scale transaction volume exponentially without increasing emissions.”

Daniel Batten, Bitcoin environmentalist

“Some alts may continue running briefly, but the majority are likely to slow bleed or consolidate for 2–6 weeks.”

Felix Hartmann, venture capitalist

Prediction of The Week

2025 ‘demand shocks’ will spike Bitcoin’s price — Sygnum

Surging institutional inflows could cause Bitcoin “demand shocks” in 2025 and potentially send BTC’s price soaring, according to a Dec. 12 report by Sygnum Bank, a crypto-focused asset manager. 

Institutional capital flows are already exerting a “multiplier effect” on BTC’s spot price, with every $1 billion worth of net inflows into spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) driving an approximately 3-6% price move, Sygnum said in its Crypto Market Outlook 2025 report. 

Sygnum expects this dynamic to accelerate in 2025 as large institutional investors — including sovereign wealth funds, endowments, and pension funds — add Bitcoin allocations.

“With improving US regulatory clarity and the potential for Bitcoin to be recognized as a central bank reserve asset, 2025 could mark steep acceleration for institutional participation in crypto assets,” Martin Burgherr, Sygnum’s chief clients officer, said in a statement

FUD of The Week

Dogecoin flaw exploited by hacker, crashes 69% of nodes

A hacker exploited a critical vulnerability in the Dogecoin network, causing 69% of its nodes to crash.

On Dec. 12, Andreas Kohl, co-founder of Bitcoin sidechain Sequentia, claimed that he had crashed 69% of the Dogecoin network. Kohl said he used an old laptop in El Salvador to execute the crash. 

Data from Blockchair indicated that Dogecoin had 647 active nodes before the vulnerability was exploited. At the time of writing, Dogecoin had 315 active nodes. 

Kohl said he used a vulnerability discovered by researcher Tobias Ruck to cause the nodes to crash. 

On Dec. 4, an X account called “Department Of DOGE Efficiency” publicly disclosed a vulnerability on the Dogecoin network that they said could have crashed the chain entirely. According to the account, the “DogeReaper” vulnerability allows anyone to crash any Dogecoin node remotely. 

Australia proposes stricter crypto rules to curb financial crime

Australia has proposed stricter Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing (AML/CTF) rules aimed at tightening oversight of the cryptocurrency industry to combat financial crime.

The proposed rules, introduced by the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (AUSTRAC), follow on the heels of amendments to the AML/CTF Act passed by parliament in November. 

The updated framework aims to close regulatory gaps, improve oversight of high-risk sectors, increase customer due diligence measures, enforce stricter reporting obligations and implement tighter rules for businesses.

The draft rules are open for public consultation until Feb. 14, 2025, as AUSTRAC calls on industry stakeholders — particularly those in crypto and financial services — to provide feedback to inform the final version of the framework.

Australia fines Kraken operator $5M for regulatory breaches

The Federal Court of Australia fined the Australian operator of United States-based cryptocurrency exchange Kraken 8 million Australian dollars ($5.1 million) after siding with the country’s corporate regulator.

In a Dec. 12 judgment, Justice John Nicholas ordered Bit Trade, which operates Kraken Australia, to pay the fine within 60 days and cover court costs. The court found that Bit Trade failed to comply with design and distribution obligations and acted as a credit facility without a license.

The penalty is less than the $12.8 million sought by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, which Nicholas described as “excessive.” Still, it exceeded Bit Trade’s request to limit the fine to $2.5 million, which the judge deemed “insufficient.”

“We appreciate the court recognized our compliance efforts, but are disappointed with the outcome of this case,” a Kraken spokesperson told Cointelegraph.

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Cointelegraph Magazine writers and reporters contributed to this article.