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What happened in crypto this week

It’s been a busy week in crypto, from payments processor Stripe’s acquisition of stablecoin platform Bridge to Ripple’s co-founder donating $10 million in XRP to Kamala Harris’ US election campaign to the Pennsylvania House passing a bipartisan Bitcoin bill.

Let’s take a closer look at these and give you a recap on what happened this week in crypto.

Stripe acquires stablecoin platform Bridge for $1.1 billion

Payment processor Stripe completed its acquisition of Bridge, a stablecoin platform, in a deal valued at $1.1 billion.

The deal, which is the biggest for Stripe, and was valued at $70 billion in July, comes after John Collision, Stripe’s co-founder, announced in April that the company would “start supporting global stablecoin payments this summer.”

It also follows after the payment processor teamed up with Paxos to launch a stablecoin payments platform. The collaboration aims to simplify how businesses accept stablecoin payments, offering a more efficient and cost-effective alternative to traditional payment methods.

Ripple’s Chris Larsen donates $10 million in XRP to Kamala Harris

Chris Larsen, Ripple’s co-founder, has become the crypto industry’s largest donor in the 2024 US election. Earlier this week, Larsen donated $10 million in XRP to Vice President Kamala Harris’ US election campaign.

Larsen donated $9.9 million to the pro-Harris Future Forward political action committee (PAC) and $800,000 to the Harris Victory Fund.

This latest amount follows a $1 million donation in XRP Larsen made to Harris in August. Speaking about his latest donation, Larsen said on X: “It’s time for the Democrats to have a new approach to tech innovation, including crypto.”

The crypto industry has donated around $190 million in political donations so far in the 2024 US election cycle. This is a significant rise compared to the 2020 election when $15 million was donated. Of the $190 million, over $130 million has been spent in congressional races.

Pennsylvania House passes Bitcoin bill

The Bitcoin Rights Bill was passed in the Pennsylvania House, which is seeking regulatory clarity for the crypto industry.

The new bill received bipartisan support with 176 votes to 26 and is a major step for the US in terms of regulatory clarity toward digital assets. The bill outlines protections for Bitcoin and crypto holders, including the right to self-custody and use for payments.

The next stage will see the bill come up for debate and voting at the Pennsylvania Senate, which is Republican-led. If it passes, the final stage will be forwarded to Governor Josh Shapiro. However, these two steps will take place after the US presidential election.

The topic of crypto has played a significant role during the US election campaign with Donald Trump and Kamala Harris making promises to support the crypto industry if elected as the next POTUS.

The post What happened in crypto this week appeared first on CoinJournal.

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Microsoft Shareholders to Vote on Bitcoin in December

  • Microsoft shareholders will vote on assessing investing in Bitcoin, amongst a number of topics, at the annual shareholders meeting in December.
  • This follows the trend of companies adding Bitcoin to their balance sheets as an inflation hedge.
  • The Microsoft board advises against voting for the motion, citing that the company’s management has carefully considered the topic.

Recent filings by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) show that Microsoft intends to put up the topic of investing in Bitcoin to a vote at its shareholder meeting scheduled for December 9th 2024. However, whether the proposal refers to Microsoft adding Bitcoin to its balance sheet or simply seriously considering it as an investment remains unclear.

 Microstrategy and the trend of corporate Bitcoin Treasuries

Corporates adding Bitcoin to their balance sheets is a growing trend that started with MicroStrategy, a provider of business intelligence software, buying Bitcoin en masse in 2020 at a time when cryptocurrency was unpopular among corporations.

Since then, the trend has grown following the success of MicroStrategy’s efforts; its stock price has risen 246% this year, from $68.39 on Jan 2nd to $235.89 as of writing, driven largely by the valuation of its large Bitcoin stash which sits around 252,000BTC worth around $17.1 billion as of writing.

Since Microstrategy, companies like Tesla and Metaplanet Inc, have added significant Bitcoin positions to their balance sheet.

As crypto recognition and adoption grows, more companies are coming around to seeing Bitcoin’s potential as an inflation hedge.

Some resistance remains

While Bitcoin’s historic performance against other asset classes over the last ten years cannot be disproven, some companies remain sceptical about jumping on the bandwagon. Most major tech firms in the US have not invested in Bitcoin as an asset class or added it to their balance sheet.

The Microsoft board advises shareholders against voting for considering Bitcoin as an investment at the scheduled meeting. According to the SEC’s filing, “Microsoft’s management already carefully considers this topic.”

The post Microsoft Shareholders to Vote on Bitcoin in December appeared first on CoinJournal.