CoinDesk 20 Index: 3,993.37 +4.93%
Bitcoin (BTC): $105,310.97 +3.61%
Ether (ETH): $3,397.09 +6.16%
S&P 500: 6,118.71 +0.53%
Gold: $2,777.01 +0.74%
Nikkei 225: 39,931.98 +0.07%

Bitcoin has held steady above $105,000 despite a rate increase by the Bank of Japan, which raised the benchmark borrowing cost to its highest level for 17 years. The yen rose over 0.6% to 155.12 against the U.S. dollar following the decision, often a bearish sign for risk assets, as was the case in July. This time, however, the crypto market has appeared more resilient, with bitcoin over 3% higher in the last 24 hours and the CoinDesk 20 Index, a weighted measurement of the major cryptocurrencies, up by around 4.8%.

Shares in medical-devices maker Semler Scientific, which holds over $190 million of BTC on its balance sheet, tumbled following the close of U.S. trading on Thursday after saying it plans to sell $75 million of convertible senior notes and will use some of the funds to add to its bitcoin stash. The shares dropped as low as $51 as the company also said fourth-quarter revenue rose 3.3% to $12.5 million and income from operations added 8.8% to $3.7 million. The unrealized gain from the change in fair value of bitcoin holdings was about $29 million. A portion of the proceeds from the note sale, which includes an option for another $15 million, will be used to fund capped-call transactions to offset stock dilution from a potential note conversion, the company said.

Crypto VC funding is expected to recover this year as regulatory clarity and more crypto-friendly policies emerge during the tenure of President Donald Trump, JPMorgan said in a research report Wednesday. The bank noted venture funding for the industry has been subdued in recent years, but positive regulatory developments could "further bolster VC engagement," the report said. Still, the level of funding is unlikely to match previous peaks seen in 2021/22, JPMorgan said, because crypto venture capital firms face a number of challenges. Giants of traditional finance such as Blackrock and Franklin Templeton are increasing their participation in the crypto market, and this leaves less market share for VC firms in stablecoins, tokenization and DeFi, the bank said.

Donald Trump’s official memecoin has been extremely profitable for early buyers and likely unprofitable for many, a Chainalysis finding shows.

An estimated 60 whales — a colloquial term for influential token holders — have realized profits exceeding $10 million each. However, a majority of retail investors were at break-even as of Thursday.

An analysis of wallets showed 77% of TRUMP holders earned less than $100, with over 80% of TRUMP or MELANIA holders likely to be investors who held less than $1,000 worth of assets on the Solana blockchain.

Some 50% of those token holders were probably first-time buyers of Solana-based tokens — meaning TRUMP helped attract newcomers to the market. On the other hand, around 40 whales holding over $10 million of both tokens accounted for an estimated 94% of overall token possession.

TRUMP prices are down 7% in the past 24 hours, while MELANIA tokens have lost 10% as initial hype around the two official memecoins appears to be dying out.

- Omkar Godbole