BlockByte Weekly: Solana Tests New All-time Highs

Hi Reader,

Thanks for reading The BlockByte Weekly, where we summarise the key updates in crypto over the last week and provide our perspective on what you need to know as an investor.
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Executive Summary​
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• Ethereum drags its heels, sparking leadership change as SOL, BTC and XRP shine
• Solana Surges On the Back Of $TRUMP NFT launch, testing key resistance levels
• Odds Of Day 1 Bitcoin Strategic Reserve Announcement As High As 70%

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Market Update​
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Ethereum drags its heels, sparking leadership change as SOL, BTC and XRP shine

The total crypto market cap rose 10% for the week, whilst Ethereum rose only 0.4%. The lack of price action for Ethereum amidst BTC (+9.3%), SOL (+35.5%) and XRP (+31.9%) all continuing to push higher is clearly concerning for the Ethereum Foundation (EF) and CEO Vitalik Buterin took to X.com to announce a series of changes in leadership to the EF. The changes he says, are to bring in fresh talent, and improve network functionality. We are keeping position sizes to a minimum for our ETH portfolios currently.

Solana Surges On the Back Of $TRUMP NFT launch, testing key resistance levels

Solana's ~36% boost this week was driven by traders using De-Fi exchange Raydium to buy $TRUMP tokens. Becoming one of the best perfomring NFTs in history and reaching a $9B USD market cap within 8 hours of launching, overtaking PEPE and BONK. The launch comes as Gary Gensler, head of the SEC steps down from his role on Monday. The launch remains controversial as the president-elect capitalises on his millions of pro-crypto advocates. Nevertheless, the breakout of Solana above the $250-$260 USD range looks bullish.

Odds Of Day 1 Bitcoin Strategic Reserve Announcement As High As 70%

The chances of a strategic US bitcoin reserve continue to increase, traders on Kalshi, a US derivatives exchange, set the odds of Trump creating a US BTC reserve in 2026 at nearly 70%. Users on Polymarket, another crypto betting platform, suggest a 42% chance Trump will do so in his first 100 days.
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Conclusion

Bitcoin, Solana and XRP remain the strongest assets to hold so far for the start of 2025. Expect significant volatility either to the upside or downside for the first week of Trump's inauguration as major policy changes and announcements take place which are largely expected to be positive for the digital asset industry. We remain bullish for the year ahead and will use downside volatility to add to quality assets driven lower by short-term sentiment.

For A Confidential Discussion​
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Feel free to reach out to me anytime to discuss how we can support you on your digital asset journey.
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Until next week,
James

James Brannan
Chief Executive Officer
BlockByte Capital
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(+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.

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