26th January 2025 > > Corporates & the ECB.

tl;dr

The list of corporates adopting cryptos onto the balance sheets grows again. The ECB comes to the wrong conclusions once again.

Market Snap

Market Wrap

BTC looks to be holding firm above $100k, less than 4% shy of making new ATHs.

Curious Cryptos’ Commentary – Corporate adoption

We have two new additions to the ever-lengthening list of companies that are adding cryptos to their treasury reserve.

Nasdaq listed Worksport announced in December that it was spending $5mm on BTC and XRP and would commit 10% of future free cashflow to add to its crypto stash. CEO Stephen Rossi explains:

“As we expand our product offerings and global reach, cryptocurrency has the potential to be a strong strategic complement.”

The synergies between cryptos and tonneau covers for pickup trucks escapes me for now, but even if Stephen’s reasoning is slightly suspect, his conclusion and actions are not. Worksport’s share price had an immediate 9% bump so it seems that others are in agreement.

Fathom Holdings, a real estate tech company also listed on Nasdaq, announced last week that it will allocate up to 50% of its cash reserves to BTC. CFO Joanne Zach explains:

“The integration of Bitcoin into commercial and financial strategies has accelerated across financial markets, positioning it as both a hedge against inflation and a safeguard against economic and currency risks in the global economy.”

Fathom’s stock price gained 5% on this news.

…

Pension funds, corporations, individual US states, and soon the US government are all adopting BTC to strengthen their financial position.

Curious Cryptos’ Commentary – European Central Bank

In response to Trump’s executive order that “… prohibits agencies from undertaking any action to establish, issue, or promote central bank digital currencies (CBDCs)”, ECB board member Piero Cipollone has come to the wrong conclusion that this justifies the need for a euro CBDC:

"I guess the key word here (in Trump's executive order) is worldwide. This solution, you all know, further disintermediates banks as they lose fees, they lose clients. That's why we need a digital euro."

A euro CBDC certainly will disintermediate European banks, so frankly Cipollone is talking tosh.

But we shouldn’t be so hard on him. Head of the ECB, Convicted Criminal Christine Lagarde, first unleashed her authoritarian streak in 2020 when she embraced the concept of CBDCs, a tool that will be used for financial repression, and to invade an individual’s privacy. Cipollone is only saying what he has been told to say by Lagarde. After all, he is in no rush to give up his full fat tax free salary and pension simply for the sake of such piffling principles of liberty and freedom.