BlockByte Weekly

Hi Reader,

In case you missed it, we've shifted The BlockByte Weekly newsletter to Sunday and will be sending a BlockByte Morning Minute update (Mon-Fri) email throughout the week.

Here are the key stories worth paying attention to over the last week:

Executive Summary

• MicroStrategy enters the Nasdaq-100, expected to trigger US$2.6B in inflows to buy more bitcoin
• Texas (the world's 8th largest economy) proposes Bitcoin Strategic Reserve bill
• AMP buys A$27m in bitcoin, the first major Australian superannuation fund to do so

​

Market Update

MicroStrategy Enters The Nasdaq-100

​Nasdaq announced three new additions to its prestigious Nasdaq-100 Index on December 13th: Palantir (PLTR), MicroStrategy (MSTR), and Axon Enterprise (AXON).

This change will create Bitcoin exposure for the index through MicroStrategy, which holds ~US$42B in BTC. With a $92B market cap, MSTR will rank 40th in the index with an estimated 0.47% weighting.

The rebalancing is expected to drive approximately US$2.6B in passive inflows to MSTR and the funds will likely be deployed to acquire additional Bitcoin, aligning with CEO Michael Saylor's bitcoin reserve strategy.

These changes take effect at market open on December 18th.

Texas Proposed Bitcoin Strategic Reserve

Most people may not realise, but if Texas was a country, they'd have the 8th largest global GDP with US$2.6T. This is why last week's announcement from Rep. Giovanni Capriglione to introduce a bill to establish a bitcoin reserve funded is so significant. In additon, holdings would have a 5-year minimum lock-up period.

The initiative aligns with Texas' broader financial ambitions, including the upcoming Texas Stock Exchange. With over 30 million residents, Texas would join Bhutan and El Salvador in developing a sovereign bitcoin strategy.

The bill faces standard legislative hurdles but benefits from Texas' historically crypto-friendly stance, having previously passed blockchain and virtual currency bills and is yet another domino to fall in the growing list of countries and companies now discussing a bitcoin strategic reserve.

AMP Enters Bitcoin Market

AMP has invested A$27M (0.05% of its $57B AUM) in bitcoin, becoming Australia's first major superannuation fund to publically announce buying into the asset class. The purchase occurred in May when BTC traded between US$60-70K.

AMP's CIO, Anna Shelley, cited momentum and sentiment-based diversification strategy. Exposure mainly affects balanced and growth investment options.

Other major funds including AustralianSuper and Australian Retirement Trust aren't following suit, yet. However this is likely to change in the coming months if bitcoin continues to outperform the general market indices. The CEO of the peak industry body, Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia, Mary Delahunty, said that "it's probably only a matter of time for the Australian super sector [to decide to invest in bitcoin]".

​

Looking For Insured Exposure To Digital Assets?

BlockByte provides personalised trading and onboarding services to all its clients with a US$42m insurance on each account as standard. Feel free to reach out or schedule a call to see how we can support you.

Schedule A Call

P.S. (Project Spotlight) - SUI

SUI has continued it's market tear amidst regular pullbacks, up ~900% since August of this year.

Sui is a groundbreaking layer-1 blockchain platform designed to support the needs of global adoption by offering a secure, powerful, and scalable development platform. At its core, Sui leverages a novel object-centric data model and the secure Move programming language to address inefficiencies prevalent in existing blockchain architectures.

Until next week,
James

James Brannan
Chief Executive Officer
BlockByte Capital
​
(+61) 412 393 634
​james@blockbyte.com.au​
​https://blockbyte.com.au/​

BlockByte does not provide financial advice. We provide execution support, research and insured custody for investing in digital assets. Reach out to our team to discuss how we can help.

​