BITCOIN HITS $100,000 FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER! | Bitcoin News by CoinCorner

Transcript

It's been a monumental week as Bitcoin breaks $100,000 per coin for the first time ever. Congratulations to every single one of you that have held up until this point! Let us know down below in the comments what you're doing to celebrate.

Now that we've made it past this long-awaited milestone, the question is: where does the price go from here? Some possibly anticipate a sell-off as investors take profits, but FundStrat analyst Tom Lee said on CNBC earlier this week that he expected Bitcoin to break $100,000 in December and then end the year well above that, suggesting in prior interviews that it may be around $150,000.

Bitcoin developer Samson Mow also has an ultra-bullish view, saying that after we hit $100,000, it's smooth sailing to $1 million. Exciting as this is, with every price prediction, we'll just have to wait and see how it all unfolds and take every day as it comes.

Now for our first story this week: it's been announced that Virgin Voyages are launching their first cruise holiday product, which will accept Bitcoin as payment. The global cruise company announced the launch of their new Annual Pass Program starting in 2025, along with the news that they would accept Bitcoin as payments for this new service.

The exclusive product offers unlimited cruises over the course of a year for the cost of $120,000. According to Richard Branson, the annual pass is aimed at primarily remote workers seeking flexibility to work from the sea while traveling the world, and arguably this may align with some Bitcoiners' values.

Exciting as it is to see real-world Bitcoin adoption at this time, Bitcoin payments will only be possible for this high-end product and not for standard holiday bookings.

Also this week, President-elect Donald Trump has selected a pro-Bitcoin candidate, Paul Atkins, to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission in the U.S. Atkins, who served as SEC commissioner during the George W. Bush administration, has actively supported the crypto sector since his departure from the commission.

Since 2017, he's been co-chairing the Token Alliance at the Digital Chamber of Commerce and has been advising digital finance firms on regulatory matters through his consultancy firm, POAC Global Partners. It seems at this point Trump is fulfilling his promise to the crypto community, where it seems he is making a concerted effort to surround himself with people who are interested in positively moving the industry forward and embracing innovation.

According to sources, Trump is still waiting for action to confirm whether or not he will accept the offer, but if he does, the nomination will still be subject to Senate confirmation. If he gets in, this could be an exciting departure from Gary Gensler's SEC, who has had a hostile stance towards crypto. But either way, this will be drawing to a close as of the 20th of January when Gensler will be stepping down.

Another country making progress when it comes to Bitcoin legislation is Russia, whose government has approved a new tax law recognizing Bitcoin and crypto as property. Russia's Federation Council has approved a new federal bill introducing new taxes on cryptocurrency transactions, imposing a 13 to 15% personal income tax on cryptocurrency sales. It will also require Bitcoin miners to report their activities to local authorities, and authorized operators will be exempt from value-added tax on mined coins.

The bill passed three readings in the State Duma before gaining approval from the Federation Council, and it now awaits the signature of President Vladimir Putin to become law. Unfortunate as it is for some Russians who will now be taxed when selling their Bitcoin for rubles, it is a positive step forward for the asset, getting legal recognition as property.

Now on the topic of mining, the world's largest Bitcoin miner, Mara, is rolling out a new ASIC recycling program, making use of 100% renewable wind power at Mara's wind farm facility in Texas. They're implementing what they're calling the Advanced ASIC Retirement Initiative, which, using renewable wind energy, will power previous generation ASIC mining computers that otherwise would have been written off or sold off to the secondary market.

The wind farm, which can generate 240 megawatts in power, is limited to just 114 megawatts that can be connected to the grid. So rather than having to turn off energy generation or let power go to waste, this new scheme can utilize that excess energy at a minimal cost. According to Mara's CEO, Fred Teal, this initiative demonstrates their commitment to environmental stewardship and is overall positive for reducing the impact of Bitcoin mining on the environment.

Now for our final story, I'm starting to sound a bit like a broken record, but this week MicroStrategy has announced yet another purchase of Bitcoin worth $1.5 billion. The company, who now owns over 1.9% of the entire Bitcoin supply, announced another purchase of 15,400 Bitcoin for the average price of $95,000 per coin. But as well as this, founder Michael Saylor has been doing his best to spread the word about Bitcoin throughout the mainstream media, as he appeared on both CNBC and Fox earlier this week in the U.S.

He also had the chance to give a 3-minute presentation to Microsoft's board regarding the idea of a Bitcoin investment strategy as a diversification opportunity for the company. In the presentation, which he also shared on X, Saylor declared that if Microsoft is going to outperform, they're going to need Bitcoin, and their bonds are undermining their options market and equity liquidity. He also went on to say that the board has surrendered $200 billion in capital in the past 5 years through dividends and stock buybacks, where these funds would have been better used to buy Bitcoin as a treasury asset, considering Bitcoin is up over 1,200% in the past 5 years. This shows the massive opportunity missed by Microsoft.

It's unknown at this time what the board thought of the presentation, but next week, on the 10th of December, shareholders will have the opportunity to vote on whether the company should add Bitcoin to their balance sheet.

But that is all we have for you today. So as always, make sure to hit that subscribe button down below, and I'll see you next week with more Bitcoin news.