Year 2020 Highlights

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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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   

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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

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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

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