Year 2020 Highlights

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January Highlights

BTC +30%

  • CME Launches Regulated Bitcoin Options

  • Former CFTC Chair Creates Nonprofit to Promote Digital Dollar Creation

  • World Economic Forum Announces Mission to Focus on Innovation & Governance of Stablecoins

  • Genesis Capital Announces $3.1bn In Crypto Loans in 2019

  • WisdomTree Leads $18m Series A for Security Token Platform Securrency

  • WisdomTree Announces Plans to Launch Regulated US Stablecoin

  • SEC Highlights Crypto Priorities For 2020

  • Libra Forms Five Member Technical Committee to Oversee Development

  • Square Awarded Patent For Fiat-To-Crypto Payments Network

  • Telegram Refuses to Show Bank Records in Case Against SEC

  • Qatar Bans Crypto Trading

February Highlights

BTC -8%

  • Bitcoin Price Has “Golden Cross”

  • Fed Chair Powell Testifies to Congress About CBDCs and Libra

  • Treasury Secretary Mnuchin Testifies to Senate That FinCEN Is Rolling Out Crypto Regulations Soon

  • Swedish Central Bank Begins Tests Blockchain-based Digital Currency

  • Shopify Joins Libra Project

  • SEC Commissioner Peirce Proposes 3-Year Safe Harbor for Token Sales

  • Bitcoin Lender BlockFi Raises $30m Series B

  • Coronavirus Delays Launch of China’s Digital Currency DCEP

  • JPMorgan in Talks to Merge Blockchain Business with Consensys

March Highlights

BTC -25%

  • Facebook Revamps Libra, Conceding to Regulators

  • India’s Top Court Strikes Down Laws That Outlawed Cryptocurrencies

  • South Korea Parliament Votes to Enact New Crypto Regulation

  • Bitmex Experiences “Black Thursday”, Nearly Collapsing

  • U.S. Comptroller Names Former Coinbase Exec As COO

  • Fiscal Stimulus Bill Includes and Then Removes Digital Dollar Language

  • SEC Calls Telegram A Likely Security Issuance, Halts Token Issuance

April Highlights

BTC +34%

  • A16Z Crypto Raises $515mm Second Fund

  • Renaissance Technologies Begins Trading CME Bitcoin Futures

  • China Rolls Out Testing of DCEP App

  • Facebook Further Redefines Libra, Releasing New Whitepaper

  • Congress Introduces 32 Bills Relating to Cryptocurrency & Blockchain

  • Binance Acquires CoinMarketCap for $300-$400mm

May Highlights

BTC +9%

  • Paul Tudor Jones Takes Significant Bitcoin Position, Publishes Thesis

  • JPMorgan Extends Banking Services to Coinbase and Gemini Trust

  • Square’s Cash App Bitcoin Q/Q Volume Grows To $306mm from $178mm

  • Genesis Acquires Custodian To Launch Prime Brokerage Business

  • Genesis Loan Book Increases $2bn in Q1

  • BitGo Launches Prime Brokerage Business

  • Coinbase Acquires Tagomi for $70-$100mm

  • Coinbase Custody Begins Accepting Tether

  • ErisX Launches First CFTC Regulated ETH Future

  • FTX Launches US Exchange

  • Facebook Rebrands Libra Wallet from Calibra To Novi

  • Telegram ICO Cancels Project & Returns Funds to Investors

June Highlights

BTC -3%

  • PayPal, Venmo to Roll Out Crypto Buying and Selling

  • NYDFS Proposes New Rules Making BitLicenses Easier to Apply For

  • SEC Commissioner Hester Pierce Is Nominated for Second Term

  • Bloomberg Senior Commodity Strategist Calls For $20,000 in 2020

  • Former CFTC Chair Testifies to Congress on Digital Dollar

  • Three Arrows Capital Files 13G – Owns >6% of GBTC  

  • Bitcoin Bank River Financial Raises $5.7mm

July Highlights

BTC +24%

  • Office of the Comptroller of the Currency Allowing Banks to Custody Crypto

  • Bitcoin Deemed Money in Federal Court Under Money Transmitters Act

  • Mastercard Expands Program to Allow More Crypto Firms to Issue Cards

  • VISA Unveils Roadmap to Further Integration with Bitcoin and Other Crypto

  • Paypal Chooses Paxos Exchange For Crypto Trading Business

  • Chinese Police Arrest 27 Alleged Masterminds Behind Plus Token Scam

  • Massive Twitter Back-end Hack Utilizes Simplistic Bitcoin Scam

August Highlights

BTC +3%

  • MicroStrategy Buys $250mm of Bitcoin, First Public Company to Do So 

  • SEC Confirms “Crypto Mom” Hester Peirce As Commissioner Through 2025

  • FTX Acquires Blockfolio for $150mm

  • Square Reports Record $858mm of BTC Purchased in Q2 Via Cash App

  • Grayscale Reports Record $751mm of Inflows into GBTC in Q2

  • Coinbase Begins the Process of A Direct Listing IPO

  • Digital Currency Group Commits $100mm for North America Bitcoin Mining

  • IRS Releases Memo Saying Crypto Payments for Microtasking Is Taxable

  • Tether Daily Value Transfer Tops Paypal

  • Coinbase to Offer Bitcoin-Backed Loans to US Customers

  • Fed Partners with MIT to Develop “Hypothetical Digital Currency”

  • Goldman Hires New Head of Digital Assets, Contemplates Stablecoin Plans

  • USPS Files Patent for Blockchain-Based Secure Voting System

September Highlights

BTC -8%

  • BitMEX Charged by CFTC and DoJ For Illegal Trading Operations and AML Violations

  • MicroStrategy Buys $175mm More Bitcoin, Brings Total to $425mm 

  • Bermuda Stock Exchange Approves Listing of World’s First Bitcoin ETF

  • US State Bank Regulators Agree to Blanket Set of Rules for Money Transmitter Licenses

  • Kraken Wins Bank Charter in Wyoming, First Ever for Crypto Company

  • OCC Allows Federally Chartered Banks to Custody Stablecoin Reserve Accounts

  • Gemini Announces Support for Shielded Zcash Withdrawals

  • BitMEX and Binance Both Update Trading Operations To Prevent Spoofing

  • Asian Crypto Exchange KuCoin Hacked for $150mm in Crypto

  • Libra Co-Founder Morgan Beller Leaves Libra to Join VC Fund

October Highlights

BTC +28%

  • PayPal & Venmo Introduce Cryptocurrency Buying, Selling & Shopping

  • Public Company Square Buys $50mm of Bitcoin on Balance Sheet

  • Singapore’s Largest Bank DBS Announces Crypto Exchange & Custody

  • PayPal Rumored To Be Acquiring Leading Custodian BitGo

  • JPMorgan Launches Digital Asset Business Unit, Rumored to Buy Custodian

  • Franklin Templeton Invests in Series A Round of Crypto Custodian Curv

  • Stone Ridge’s NYDIG Raises $50mm, Announces 10,000 BTC in Custody

  • Chairman Powell Says CBDC Could Improve US Payments

  • CFTC Chairman Makes Highly Positive Public Remarks About Ethereum

  • US Attorney General Releases Cryptocurrency Enforcement Framework

  • US National Security Council Names DLT As One of Twenty Focus Areas

  • FCA Bans Sale of Crypto Derivatives to UK Retail Customers

  • OKex Founder Arrested by Chinese Government, Withdrawals Suspended

  • BitMEX Implements Strict KYC Regulations After CFTC & DoJ Charges

  • FinCEN Fines Bitcoin Mixing Operator Helix $60mm

  • Iran Government to Use Iranian-Mined Bitcoin For Payments

  • 2017 $257mm ICO Filecoin Launches   

November Highlights

BTC +43%

  • Stanley Druckenmiller Announces Bitcoin Position

  • Bill Miller Strongly Recommends Bitcoin

  • Citigroup Research Publishes YE 2021 BTC Price Target as High as $318k

  • Blackrock Fixed Income CIO Rick Rieder Says Bitcoin Could Replace Gold

  • Guggenheim Files to Buy Up to 10% GBTC Position in $5.3bn Macro Fund

  • BTIG Research Publishes YE 2021 BTC Price Target of $50k

  • AllianceBernstein Recommends Allocation to Crypto

  • Skybridge Files SEC Amendment to Invest in Bitcoin with $3.6bn Fund

  • Ray Dalio Says He “Might Be Missing Something” With Bitcoin

  • Niall Ferguson Writes Bloomberg Opinion “Bitcoin Is Winning the Covid-19 Monetary Revolution”

  • Square Reports Q3 Bitcoin Revenue and Gross Profit +11x & 15x YoY

  • Wyoming Elects Bitcoin Bull Cynthia Lummis As US Senator

  • Jay Clayton Steps Down as SEC Chairman

  • Alameda Research & FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried Donates $5mm To Biden Campaign

  • OCC’s Brian Brooks Testifies to Senate on Importance of Crypto

  • China Construction Bank to Issue $3bn in Bonds on a Blockchain, Tradeable for Bitcoin and Dollars

  • OKex Exchange Resumes Withdrawals After More Than A Month Frozen

December Highlights

BTC +48%

  • MicroStrategy Announces $400mm Convert to Buy Bitcoin; Upsizes to $550mm; Closes $650mm

  • MicroStrategy Buys $650mm Bitcoin at $21,925

  • MassMutual Buys $100mm of Bitcoin and Minority Stake in NYDIG

  • $27bn AUM Hedge Fund Ruffer Announces $740mm Bitcoin Position

  • One River Asset Management Announces $600mm Bitcoin Purchase, Commitment to $1bn

  • MicroStrategy Buys $50mm of Bitcoin at $19,427 Average Price

  • JPMorgan Estimates A 1% Allocation to BTC From Pensions and Insurance Companies Would Require $600bn of Buying

  • Guggenheim CIO Scott Miners Says Bitcoin Fundamental Value Is $400,000

  • NFL Player Russell Okung To Receive Half of $13mm Salary in Bitcoin

  • Coinbase Files S-1

  • CME Announces Ethereum Futures Product to Launch February 2021

  • Bitwise 10 Becomes First Publicly Traded Crypto Index

  • JPMorgan Says Gold Will Suffer for Years Because of Bitcoin

  • Fidelity Digital to Hold Bitcoin as Collateral for Cash Loans

  • Jefferies Head of Global Equity Strategy Cuts Gold Exposure for Bitcoin

  • SkyBridge Capital Registers Fund to Buy Bitcoin and Buys $182mm

  • Standard Chartered bank to Launch Crypto Trading

  • BBVA To Launch Crypto Services

  • Visa Partners with USDC and Adds 60 Million Merchants

  • S&P Dow Jones To Launch Crypto Indexes in 2021

  • Spotify Hiring for Crypto Payments Project Leader

  • SBI Financial Services Acquires Crypto Trading Firm B2C2

  • American Express Ventures Invests in Crypto Trading Platform FalconX

  • Bitso Raises $62mm to Expand Crypto Footprint in Brazil

  • Tether Surpasses $20bn Market Cap

  • Bitcoin Chart Tops 3.4mm Views on TradingView in November, +80% Since October

  • Warren Davidson and Three Other Congressmen Write Public Letter to Mnuchin in Protest of Heavy-Handed Legislation

  • FinCEN Releases More Stringent KYC Regulation for Crypto Exchanges

  • SEC Files Suit Against Ripple for Sale of Unregistered Securities

  • Coinbase, Bitstamp, Binance US and Other Exchanges Announce XRP De-listing

  • Ledger Hacked; Exposes Email Addresses and Mailing Addresses