aLTERNATIVE MARKETS UPDATE - MID DECEMBER 2024

​Cryptocurrencies keep dominating market news with staggering gains over the past weeks. Ever since Trump won the election in November 2024, cryptocurrencies kept soaring. Trump has been a strong supporter of cryptocurrencies during his race. Unsurprisingly, when he won, optimism about the asset class increased significantly. Enthusiasm increased due to the prospect of finally clear regulation around cryptocurrencies in the US. Under Trump’s administration, he wants to avoid that the US becomes irrelevant for such a promising industry, which is frequently compared to the early tech industry – of which the US is the major hub in the world through strong support during the development of the industry. Additionally, Trump suggested a large Bitcoin reserve, which naturally pushes the price of Bitcoin. He is also filling his departments with strong cryptocurrency advocates to place the US as market leader in the blockchain technology. One of his latest moves is replacing Gary Gensler with Paul Atkins as chair of the SEC. This will likely result in further institutional support, as the asset class matures and clearer regulations are in sight. Institutional adoption is already on the rise with Australia’s AMP adding Bitcoin to its portfolio. Similarly, Ray Dalio and BlackRock are also pushing for the asset class. The previously mentioned factors led Bitcoin to soar from around $60k-$70k prior to Trump’s election to above $100k within slightly more than one month. Inflows in Bitcoin ETFs in November and December also topped the inflows after the initial approval of the first Bitcoin ETFs in the US. As of the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at $101k with a performance of 140% in 2024. Figure 1 also highlights the steep growth in the past month.

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