On December 23, 2024, market watchers are adopting a cautious stance as Bitcoin (BTC) starts the holiday week in the red, trading around $95,500, down 1.5% over the past 24 hours. Major cryptocurrencies like XRP, Ether (ETH), Cardano's ADA, Solana's SOL, and Dogecoin (DOGE) have also experienced declines of up to 3%.
In a notable development, Japanese bitcoin accumulator Metaplanet announced a record purchase of 619.70 BTC for 9.5 billion yen (approximately $61 million), boosting its total BTC holdings by 54% to 1,762 BTC. This acquisition, made between October 1 and December 23, has yielded an impressive 309.82% return, compared to 41.7% from July 1 to September 30.
Metaplanet has utilized innovative funding strategies, including issuing a ¥5.0 billion bond, to finance its bitcoin purchases, which have skyrocketed its shares by 2,100% this year, making it the 15th-largest publicly traded bitcoin holder.
Amidst these developments, analysts express concerns over potential further declines in the stock market that could adversely affect Bitcoin and Ethereum, especially with reduced holiday liquidity, potentially leading to a dip into the $70,000 range.