merfilwilliams

@merfilwilliams

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@merfilwilliams

This change is partly because “retail traders increasingly enter the crypto market through Solana [as] speculation intensifies around Solana-based memecoins and AI agent tokens,” Grayscale said in a December research note.

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President-elect Donald Trump’s plan to establish a strategic Bitcoin reserve in the United States has fueled enthusiasm and debate, with rumors now that six other international governments are looking to emulate the US, including Russia, Japan and Thailand. Such a bold move signaled that top-tier governments now consider Bitcoin strategic holdings rather than fringe experiments.

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“[T]he growth of spot Bitcoin ETFs stemmed from two main factors: broad Bitcoin adoption and a superior product,” Bryan Armour, director of passive strategies research at Morningstar, told Cointelegraph in November.

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Bitcoin has dominated the ETF landscape since spot BTC ETFs launched in January. Investor interest accelerated after crypto-friendly President-elect Donald Trump prevailed on Nov. 5 in the US elections.

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On Nov. 21, US Bitcoin ETFs broke $100 billion in net assets for the first time, according to data from Bloomberg Intelligence.

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Rooch is also integrating the Move programming language, enabling developers to build Bitcoin applications using this language on Rooch. The pre-mainnet provides all necessary tools to develop mainnet-ready applications, except for the official Rooch protocol utility token, which will launch at a later date.

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Rooch has also introduced Grow Bitcoin, a platform designed to bootstrap the Rooch ecosystem and accelerate the growth of the overall Bitcoin ecosystem. The platform allows users to vote for their favorite Bitcoin projects and get rewards by proving their BTC holdings. Users can lock different versions of BTC —like native BTC, BTC staked in the Babylon protocol or wrapped versions of BTC— to participate.

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Rooch is offering incentivized campaigns during the pre-mainnet phase tied to an upcoming mainnet airdrop. The network operates a dual-token economy, utilizing a gas token called RGas and a governance token for distinct functions. Users can check the related page to claim their RGas tokens.

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A distinguishing feature of Rooch is its non-custodial approach. Users can interact with Rooch-powered Bitcoin applications directly through their own BTC wallets without transferring their assets to third-party custodial wallets or bridges. The pre-mainnet will demonstrate Rooch’s ability to enable native Bitcoin applications and unlock yields for BTC in a fully non-custodial manner.

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As an application layer for Bitcoin, Rooch facilitates both utility and yield generation for BTC and other Bitcoin assets, including Ordinals and BRC-20 tokens.

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Through these efforts, Rooch — a Cointelegraph Accelerator participant — intends to lay a solid foundation for its official mainnet, ensuring security, stability and scalability.

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Since its launch three months ago, Rooch’s testnet has operated smoothly, processing over 130 million transactions with participation from more than 7,500 unique addresses. Users engaged with features like HODLcoin minting, testing Rooch’s self-staking mining mechanism to earn yields directly from their tBTC stored in their wallets. Additionally, the Rooch Clicker Game showcased the network’s session key functionality, allowing users to complete multiple transactions with a single click.

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Rooch Network, a layer-2 solution aimed at enhancing the functionality of Bitcoin, has introduced its pre-mainnet as a means to build native, non-custodial Bitcoin applications and unlock yield opportunities for BTC holders.

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By facilitating native, non-custodial interactions, an application layer could enhance scalability and improve the overall user experience. Eventually, this would make BTC a more versatile asset and reshape how individuals and businesses interact with Bitcoin.

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The introduction of an application layer for Bitcoin could unlock a multitude of functionalities, allowing users to engage in decentralized finance (DeFi), execute smart contracts and participate in various blockchain-based applications directly on the Bitcoin network.

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MicroStrategy could face financial trouble if the price of Bitcoin sharply declines, but won’t face repayment obligations until 2028 — which should provide the company with a long runway to mitigate short-term market downturns.

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However, MicroStrategy’s critics say the acquisition of Bitcoin through debt financing is a risky and unsustainable strategy — prompting some to question whether MicroStrategy is a bubble.

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The company purchased approximately 55,000 BTC between Nov. 18 and 24 at an average purchase price of roughly $97,862 per BTC. This puts MicroStrategy’s total Bitcoin holdings at roughly 386,700 BTC — making the company one of the largest holders of the digital asset.

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Despite the plan to use fiat-denominated debt to acquire Bitcoin, and heightened investor interest in the company, the price of MicroStrategy’s shares sank by approximately 25% on Nov. 21, 2024.

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The capital raise is part of the company’s ambitious 21/21 plan to secure $42 billion in funding over the next three years to purchase more Bitcoin and strengthen its balance sheet.

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