🎉Whew, what a week. 

Bitcoin might be sitting back like the king of the prom, but the real party is happening over in the altcoin bleachers. 

Bitcoin (BTC) is holding steady at $89,691, which sounds impressive until you remember the altcoin jungle is where this week’s action is. 

BTC’s dominance is still sky-high at over 50%, but this week, the old reliable feels more like the designated driver.

Ethereum (ETH) is down 2.44% to $3,075. After a monster October, it’s like ETH decided to hit snooze on the alarm. 

Not much drama here, just a lot of “watch this space” vibes as investors eye developments on Layer 2 scaling.

Solana (SOL) is living its best life at $234, up 13.81% this week. Between NFT chatter and developers flocking to its network like crypto conference attendees to an open bar, Solana’s proving it still has plenty of gas left in the tank.

Dogecoin (DOGE) gained 33.74% because of course, it did. Elon Musk said something. Or maybe didn’t. Honestly, who even knows anymore. Either way, Doge holders are laughing all the way to the bank—or, at least, to Twitter.

Some coins are making moves so wild you’d think they were fueled by Red Bull and bad decisions. 

Peanut the Squirrel (PNUT) is up +1,573%. This coin is either peak 2024 or proof that we’ve learned nothing since the last bull market. 

Love it or hate it, XRP is up +75.51%. The boring corporate payments darling is back in the spotlight, riding on optimism around Ripple’s international partnerships and regulatory momentum.

The Solana-based BONK is returning to relevance with a 105.05% gain on the week. It’s the crypto equivalent of that friend who shows up late to the party but still manages to steal the show.

HBAR’s 58.71% climb feels less like a meme and more like a Harvard Business School case study. It’s powered by enterprise partnerships (think Google and Boeing), and it’s quietly carving out its niche as the grown-up in the room.

Let’s get into the week’s news recap.

🔥Trending Stories from Around the World

🥇 Digital Gold is the New Oil: Michael Saylor's Big Bitcoin Bet

Michael Saylor is no run-of-the-mill investor; he's the volatile shot of espresso in America's otherwise conservative boardrooms. 

The MicroStrategy CEO has been evangelizing Bitcoin with downright manic intensity, positioning it as a new kind of strategic reserve for nations and corporations alike. His latest pitch suggests that Bitcoin, like oil and precious metals, should be a cornerstone of future-proof economic strategy.

Saylor's underlying belief is simple: Just as the U.S. government stockpiles oil in case of shortages or global instability, major entities should acquire Bitcoin to hedge against currency devaluation, inflation, and macroeconomic shocks. 

Crypto volatility aside, Saylor compares it to the long-game view, not a short-play speculation like Dogecoin's flavor-of-the-moment fame.

The math backs up Bitcoin’s scarcity value. With only 21 million coins to ever be mined, Bitcoin offers a digital scarcity akin to gold (yes, Bitcoin has been called “digital gold” repeatedly, but we’re not bored yet because it might be true). 

The scarcity value is central to this thesis. With only 21 million coins ever to be mined, Bitcoin is engineered to resist inflationary dilution. As of November 2024, over 19.7 million Bitcoin have already been mined. 

This scarcity, Saylor argues, makes Bitcoin a digital commodity with enduring value, particularly for countries like Argentina and Venezuela, where hyperinflation has driven residents to trade unstable local currencies for Bitcoin as a lifeline.

🤑 How much is Saylor up?

Saylor has personally accumulated approximately 17,732 bitcoins at an average price of around $9,882 per bitcoin, totaling an investment of approximately $175 million. 

MicroStrategy holds approximately 279,420 bitcoins, acquired at an average purchase price of $42,692 per bitcoin, totaling around $11.9 billion in investment. 

With Bitcoin's current price exceeding $90,000, the market value of these holdings surpasses 

$1.5 billion (Saylor's personal holdings), representing an unrealized gain exceeding $1.3 billion, and $25 billion (MicroStrategy), yielding an unrealized gain of over $13 billion.

💼 The SEC, Crypto, and a Long Road Ahead

The struggle between the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the crypto industry has only intensified in recent years. 

At the center of it all is SEC Chair Gary Gensler, who has taken a strong anti-crypto stance. 

Gensler sees many cryptocurrencies as securities akin to stocks, and therefore, subject to strict oversight. 

The SEC has ramped up enforcement actions, filing lawsuits against major exchanges like Coinbase and Binance, while also issuing warnings to smaller players.

However, former SEC lawyers and industry insiders say that cleaning up—or even just clarifying—Gensler’s approach to crypto regulation won’t be a quick job. 

The legal battles themselves could drag on for years, especially because courts are now involved in interpreting how existing securities laws, some dating back to the 1930s, apply to cutting-edge digital assets. 

And while Gensler’s term as SEC Chair has been marked by aggressive enforcement, his tenure and the agency’s leadership could shift come 2025—particularly with a change in White House administration.

💰️ What’s the Problem?

The SEC argues that many cryptos are really just unregistered investment vehicles, while the crypto industry, unsurprisingly, sees things differently. Critics argue that no clear regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies has emerged in the U.S., creating uncertainty for startups and investors. 

Meanwhile, Gensler continues to enforce laws without providing much in the way of new, crypto-specific guidelines.

The end result is a regulatory landscape so confusing and bogged down by legal disputes that insiders are calling it a quagmire.

The U.S. risks falling behind on crypto innovation, particularly when compared to countries like Switzerland or Singapore, which have clearer regulatory frameworks for digital assets. American developers, investors, and consumers now face a regulatory minefield, and some key players are even migrating their operations offshore to escape scrutiny.

Recent data suggests that nearly *20% of U.S. Bitcoin nodes, which help validate transactions on its blockchain, have moved overseas in the past year alone. Crypto investments have slowed down, especially as venture capitalists wait for clearer regulatory signals. 

For now, the status quo is one of tension and uncertainty. The new administration brings an aura of optimism into the crypto industry, with exprectations of softening the SEC’s stance significantly and likely firing the unpopular Gensler. 

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🤔 “What’s That Thing?”

In this week’s “What’s That Thing?” we’re talking about DeFi Liquidity Pools.

No, it’s not a pool party (though the gains might make you want to celebrate). Liquidity pools are the backbone of decentralized finance (DeFi), enabling token swaps, lending, and yield farming by letting users deposit their crypto into a shared pot of funds.

These pools power automated market makers (AMMs) like Uniswap and SushiSwap, making trades snappy and decentralized.

Born out of a need for permissionless liquidity, DeFi liquidity pools let anyone provide assets and earn fees in return. It’s a win-win: traders get instant swaps, and liquidity providers (LPs) earn a cut. But beware—impermanent loss and market fluctuations are always lurking.

The concept may sound complex, but it’s revolutionized finance, removing the need for traditional intermediaries. Ready to dive in? DeFi liquidity pools are the deep end of crypto innovation, but with great rewards often comes great risk.

For the full guide, check out our article on CoinCentral: DeFi Liquidity Pool Guide.

🇸🇻 Small Nation, Big Crypto Play: El Salvador’s Bitcoin Vision

President Nayib Bukele’s El Salvador is taking one hell of a gamble. By making Bitcoin legal tender in 2021, they became the first country to give the middle finger to traditional financial systems. The move threw a grenade into its antiquated banking system, and it sent shockwaves worldwide. 

Bukele’s administration doubled down on this hissing poker chip, setting up a National Commission of Digital Assets and announcing plans for a Bitcoin City—a tax-free, crypto-fueled utopia, funded by a $1 billion bond backed by these very same digital tokens.

 But how's the gamble paying off?

While crypto evangelists cheer from the sidelines, the results have been mixed. 

According to recent data, the country purchased $375 million in Bitcoin since 2021, yet prices swung violently downwards during the crypto crash of 2022. That wiped out a significant chunk of their investment. The national investment lost over $60 million, hurting pension funds and public services in the process 

Yet, Bukele's confidence didn’t waver. Tourists intrigued by "Bitcoin Beach" have begun to flock in, boosting local economies in places like San Salvador. 

The country holds approximately 5,931.77 bitcoins, valued at nearly $512 million at current market prices. This represents an unrealized profit of about $93.6 million, reflecting a 22.27% increase in value.

Nonetheless, the International Monetary Fund warned that crypto risks remain “very high,” especially with an economy already strained by debt.

It’s high-stakes poker for El Salvador. They’ve set themselves up as a global case study for crypto’s role in national finance. Either it paves the way for a new future, or it becomes a cautionary tale burned into the history books. 

But… so far, so good. 

👴 A 75-Year-Old DeFi Degen?

Franklin Templeton, the asset management giant synonymous with Wall Street tradition, just threw a curveball into the financial playbook. 

The firm’s $270 million Franklin OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund (FOBXX)—a mouthful that screams “old-school reliability”—is now live on Ethereum, with Stellar quietly handling backend operations. 

It’s a bold move for a company as old as the polio vaccine, but hey, even the most steadfast institutions eventually have to update their operating systems.

Why?

The logic is simple: Ethereum is the backbone of decentralized finance (DeFi). 

With over $200 billion locked across the DeFi ecosystem and Ethereum commanding 57% of the smart contract platform market, Franklin Templeton essentially decided to meet the future where it’s already happening. 

By leveraging Ethereum’s transparency and accessibility, they’re offering investors the ability to verify fund transactions and holdings in real time—cryptographic receipts instead of blind trust.

This isn’t some marketing stunt either; the FOBXX fund is fully SEC-approved under the Investment Company Act of 1940. 

In other words, this isn’t Franklin Templeton cosplaying with blockchain—it’s a fully legit financial product with regulatory chops to back it.

Franklin Templeton’s blockchain pivot feels less like a one-off experiment and more like a wake-up call for the rest of the financial industry. It’s classic evolution: adapt or end up as a slide in someone’s “Why Banks Failed” TED Talk. 

With Ethereum’s vast market dominance and the increasing institutional adoption of Web3, Franklin Templeton isn’t just dipping a toe in the water—they’re cannonballing into the deep end.

Is this the start of a trend where more Wall Street names step into DeFi waters? 

Time will tell. 

But one thing’s for sure: Franklin Templeton isn’t taking the chance of being left behind. 

🤔 Final Thoughts: Are We Back?

We’re so back. Well, kind of.

The recent U.S. elections have delivered a political tailwind for crypto, with a pro-industry sweep that’s flipping the script on regulation and market sentiment. 

I mean, Trump promised to “fire*” Gensler on Day 1 at Bitcoin 2024 and was met with roaring applause.  

*The President can’t actually fire the SEC chair, but can replace him when the term is up; Gensler’s is up in 2026. Gensler, however, may step down, as he’s hinted in a recent speech, saying: “It’s been a great honor to serve with them, doing the people’s work, and ensuring that our capital markets remain the best in the world.”

Combine that with Bitcoin holding steady near all-time highs, Ethereum catching its breath after a sprint, and altcoins wilding out; you’ve got a market that’s equal parts optimism and chaos.

Michael Saylor’s big Bitcoin bet? Looking more like genius with every price uptick. 

Franklin Templeton’s move to put a money market fund on Ethereum? A wake-up call for every traditional finance dinosaur who thought blockchain was a fad. 

But let’s not kid ourselves—crypto is as unpredictable as ever.

 Sure, we’ve got signs of institutional adoption, regulatory clarity (finally?), and even meme coins refusing to go quietly into the night.

 But one serious rug pull, capitulation, or macroeconomic shock, and we might be back in timeout. 

For now, though, let’s enjoy the ride. 

Whether this is the start of a true bull market or just another head fake, one thing is clear: crypto never fails to keep us guessing. 

Stay strapped in.

🎉 What’s New at CoinCentral?

That’s all for this week.

Stay breezy!

AM

DISCLAIMER: This newsletter is provided for educational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. The content herein is not an investment recommendation or a solicitation to buy or sell any financial instruments or assets. Readers are advised to conduct their own research and exercise caution in making any financial decisions.