Crypto Currents: Trump reportedly plans to designate crypto as policy priority

As bitcoin, ethereum and other cryptocurrencies get increasing attention from investors, Wall Street and its traditional banks continue to adjust to the shift. Catch up on this week’s top stories highlighting the intersection of these old guard and new school areas of finance with this recap compiled by The Fly.

TRUMP PLANS TO DESIGNATE CRYPTO AS POLICY PRIORITY: President-elect Donald Trump is planning an executive order(MSTR) announced that, during the period between January 6 and January 12, the company acquired approximately 2,530 bitcoins for approximately $243M in cash, at an average price of approximately $95,972 per bitcoin, inclusive of fees and expenses. The bitcoin purchases were made using proceeds from the issuance and sale of shares under the sales agreement. As of January 12, the company, together with its subsidiaries, held an aggregate of approximately 450,000 bitcoins, which were acquired at an aggregate purchase price of approximately $28.2B and an average purchase price of approximately $62,691 per bitcoin, inclusive of fees and expenses.

Additionally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised the firm’s price target on MicroStrategy on Monday to $613 from $581 and kept an Overweight rating on the shares. MicroStrategy “delivered a record year” in terms of bitcoin treasury operations, adding 258,320 bitcoin during 2024, the analyst said. Bitcoin per share increased by 74.3% and the market value of its bitcoin position increased by 414.5%, added the analyst, who noted that in the middle of 2024 the company’s long-term target was for it to own 1% of all bitcoin that will ever be created and pointing out the company “is already at 2.1%.”

COINBASE PRICE TARGET LOWERED: On Friday, Oppenheimer lowered the firm’s price target on Coinbase (COIN) to (HOOD). Opco believes both core earnings growth and multiple expansion can drive alpha for Coinbase. While it reduced estimates, the firm believes higher trading volume, increased token prices, and regulatory clarity will drive higher Street estimates for 2025 and 2026.

Meanwhile on Monday, Barclays lowered the firm’s price target on Coinbase to $212 from $220 and kept an Equal Weight rating on the shares as part of a Q4 earnings preview. Volumes increased materially following the U.S. election and remained at a higher level in December, the analyst said. Volumes have pulled back into January, however, making fiscal 2025 “harder to forecast,” contended the firm.

Additionally on Tuesday, Bernstein named Robinhood the firm’s new Best Idea in Global Digital Assets coverage. It has so far operated a constrained crypto business, but the firm expects this to change as the regulatory environment for crypto becomes more favorable. Robinhood’s share was up about 200% in 2024, but Bernstein sees more upside as strong revenue growth is set to continue to drive profitability in 2025. The firm has an Outperform rating on the shares with a price target of $51.

BITDEER PRICE TARGET RAISE: Needham raised the firm’s price target on Bitdeer (BTDR) on Monday to $22 from $14 and kept a Buy rating on the shares. The firm is updating its model on refreshed expectations for machine manufacturing sales while also increasing its valuation multiple on growing confidence in Bitdeer’s high-performance compute opportunities, the analyst said.

Bitdeer also announced on Thursday the launch of its new feature, “ReMine,” which offers a transparent transfer market for Bitdeer mining machine buyers and sellers. “ReMine” uses a peer-to-peer model crafted to meet users’ needs for purchasing and transferring mining machines and related rights and benefits provided by Bitdeer. The company said, “It enables flexible transfer of SEALMINER orders, SEALMINER priority purchase rights, and relevant rights and benefits. ReMine aims to provide users with a quick and hassle-free platform so that users can focus on what really matters: maximizing their mining potential.”

BITMEX FINED $100M FOR VIOLATING BSA: Matthew Podolsky, Attorney for the United States, announced Wednesday that HDR Global Trading a/k/a “BITMEX”, was sentenced to a fine of $100M for violating the Bank Secrecy Act by willfully failing to establish, implement, and maintain an adequate anti-money laundering and know-your-customer program. Podolsky said, “Anti-money laundering and know-your-customer rules protect Americans from fraud, combat money laundering, and prevent the financing of terrorist activity. It is critical that all financial institutions, including cryptocurrency exchanges, comply with these rules to protect our country’s economy and national security. Today’s sentence sends a clear message that companies that willfully violate these rules and refuse to implement AML/KYC programs will face consequences.” In addition to the fine, BITMEX was sentenced to two years’ probation.

CRYPTO STOCK PLAYS: Publicly traded companies in the space include Bit Digital (BTBT), Coinbase, Core Scientific (CORZ), Greenidge Generation (GREE), Mara Holdings (MARA), MicroStrategy, Riot Platforms (RIOT), Stronghold Digital Mining (SDIG) and TeraWulf (WULF).

PRICE ACTION: As of time of writing, bitcoin rose about 8% this week to $102,452 in U.S. dollars, according to CoinDesk.