MicroStrategy’s dismal December still keeps it at the top of our 2024 Bitcoin-related asset rankings
Disclaimer: The analyst who wrote this article owns shares in MicroStrategy (MSTR). It’s been a tough month for MicroStrategy (MSTR), as the software developer turns to a Bitcoin (BTC) aggregator. Its shares have fallen Nearly 50% since Novemberwhen it joined the Nasdaq 100 and peaked with 600% gains since the beginning of the year.
That still leaves the Tysons Corner, Virginia-based company up 342% in 2024, the largest return among high-profile cryptocurrency-related assets in traditional finance (TradFi).
It has been a volatile year filled with geopolitical and technological developments that have rocked financial markets. The ongoing wars in Eastern Europe and the Middle East, elections around the world, the dismantling of the yen carry trade in August, and the growth of artificial intelligence have all left their mark.
MicroStrategy’s gains are double those of Nvidia (NVDA), the chip maker whose production of integrated circuits needed for artificial intelligence applications generated a 185% return, the best among the so-called seven great technology stocks. The second best platform, Meta Platforms (META), achieved a score of 71%.
Bitcoin itself was up 100% in the year including April bonus reduced by half Multiple standard heights. The demand for the largest cryptocurrency was driven by January approval U.S. exchange-traded funds (ETFs) outperformed two of their biggest competitors, Ethereum (ETH), up 42%, and Solana (SOL), up 79%.
Among ETFs, the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) also achieved returns of more than 100% and became the fastest ETF in history to reach $50 billion in assets.
Overall, Bitcoin mining companies were disappointed. Shares of the Valkyrie Bitcoin Miners ETF (WGMI), a proxy for mining stocks, rose just under 30%. This is despite demand for miners’ computing power and power supply agreements from AI and high-performance computing (HPC) companies. However, individual companies benefited, in particular, Bitdeer (BTDR), which added 151%, and WULF (WULF), which rose 131%.
However, miners’ gains outpaced the broader stock market. The Nasdaq 100 (NDX) is up 28% while the S&P 500 (SPX) is up 25%. The S&P 500 also lagged gold’s 27% rise. The precious commodity has now topped the stock gauge in Three of the past five years.
Concerns about US inflation and the country’s budget deficit have added to geopolitical uncertainty, leading to a massive rise in US Treasury yields, which are moving in the opposite direction to the price.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note has risen 15% to 4.5% over the year, surprisingly gaining a full 100 basis points since the Fed began cutting interest rates in September.
The iShares 20+ Year Treasure Bond ETF (TLT), which tracks bond prices, is down 10% this year and has lost 40% in the past five years.
On the other hand, the dollar showed its strength. The DXY index (DXY), a measure of the dollar against a basket of the currencies of the United States’ largest trading partners, rose to its highest level since September 2022.
West Texas Intermediate (USOIL) crude, the benchmark oil price in the United States, ended the year little changed, rising less than 1% to about $71 a barrel. But it’s been a bumpy ride, with the price rising to nearly $90 at times over the past 12 months.
As we enter the new year, all eyes will be on… Debt ceiling debateAnd the policies of President-elect Donald Trump and whether the United States is able to continue its impressive growth story.
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