Bitcoin (BTC) had a strong week, adding 11% in the past seven days, but altcoins have rallied even more, with some rising over 50%. The biggest gainer was VeChain's VET, which rose nearly 65%. VeChain is a blockchain that aims to improve supply chain management and business processes for enterprises. Beyond following the Bitcoin pump, the catalyst for VET's rise is unclear, though the company announced earlier in the week that “account stripping” had gone into effect, improving interoperability and opening up programmable smart contract wallets. According to Kenny Hearn, chief investment officer at SwissOne Capital, the chain is second only to Chainlink (LINK) in the on-chain oracle market. “VeChain’s meeting with several X2Earn projects last week must have given an extra boost of bullish sentiment to spur this move,” he said. 15%.
As the price of Bitcoin soared to nearly $53,000, MicroStrategy (MSTR), the largest holder of the cryptocurrency, saw its holdings rise to over $10 billion, and generated over $4 billion in profits. According to the company's most recent investor presentation, at the end of January, the company held 190,000 bitcoins purchased for a total of $5.93 billion, or $31,224 per coin. MicroStrategy began acquiring bitcoin in the second quarter of 2020, and has purchased the tokens every quarter since then. In December last year, the company generated profits of nearly $2 billion, a figure that doubled thanks to Bitcoin's rise of more than 20% since the beginning of 2024.
Coinbase (COIN) shares rose after the US-listed cryptocurrency exchange beat analysts' estimates for fourth-quarter earnings and revenue, benefiting from rising cryptocurrency prices. The company said it earned $1.04 per share, beating analysts' average estimate of $0.02 per share, according to FactSet data. Revenues of $953.8 million beat analysts' expectations of $826.1 million. Shares of the cryptocurrency exchange rose about 13% in after-market trading on Thursday after adding about 3% during the regular session. COIN shares are down about 4% this year, even as the price of Bitcoin (BTC) has risen about 23%.
