The world's largest asset manager spent $1 billion on Bitcoin just before the main cryptocurrency's sharp fall. The news was widely discussed in the crypto community.

According to the Arkham platform, the investment company purchased $1.5 billion worth of bitcoins last week. The organization spent $1 billion on almost 10,000 BTC shortly before the asset’s price fell from $107,000 to $103,000.

As of December 20, BlackRock owned more than 553,000 BTC, representing about 2.6% of the total Bitcoin supply.

According to the latest data from Fintel, BlackRock's total assets are estimated at $4.7 trillion. However, other sources estimate the company's reserves at more than $11 trillion. In any case, the share of Bitcoin in its portfolio is quite small. However, BlackRock's board of directors recently recommended increasing the share of BTC in its assets to 2%.

Interestingly, last week, market participants had another reason to discuss BlackRock's actions. On December 18, the company released a three-minute educational video about Bitcoin , which included the phrase "There is no guarantee that the 21 million BTC limit will not be changed."

Some experts have started talking about the fact that the restriction can actually be lifted with the help of a hard fork. If this happens and the flagship cryptocurrency is no longer in short supply, the price of the asset may fall significantly.

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Ethereum maximalist and founder of crypto wallet Infinex, Cain Warwick predicts ETH will soar in 2025.

In 2024, Ethereum has risen in price by 54% and has fallen behind many competitors in terms of the rate of price increase. For example, the price of Bitcoin has increased by 132% since January 1, Solana (SOL) by 93%, and XRP (XRP) by a record 277%. However, Cain, who, according to his own words, does not trade Ethereums, but stores them, believes in a triumphant return of ETH in 2025.

The more you squeeze it [the ETH price], the further it will bounce back. There are some factors and circumstances that are favorable for Ethereum that are holding it back, but when the price of the coin breaks through resistance, people are going to say, "Holy shit," Warwick said.

Cain explains his positive forecast by technological innovations that are expected to be implemented next year. For example, in early 2025, they plan to release the Pectra update for the Ethereum blockchain, which will increase the network's throughput by reducing the number of validators due to the increase in the maximum allowable balance of blockchain nodes from 32 to 2,048 ETH.

We also cannot forget about the Trump effect, which will occur after Donald’s inauguration on January 20, 2025. The president-elect is favorable to the digital asset industry, so many analysts believe that under Trump, regulatory pressure on crypto companies will decrease and capital inflow into the virtual currency sphere will increase. In this regard, ETH will benefit from Donald’s return to the White House.

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On Monday, two of the largest corporate Bitcoin holders replenished their assets. American MicroStrategy added another 5,262 BTC to its reserves, while the balance of Japanese Metaplanet increased by 619 BTC.

Michael Saylor's company has been buying bitcoin for the seventh week in a row. Last week, MicroStrategy bought 15,350 BTC worth $1.5 billion. This time, the company spent about $561 million on the cryptocurrency. The average price of bitcoin was $106,662.

MicroStrategy's latest purchase was its smallest in recent memory.

The company appears to be running out of funds to continue investing in bitcoin. Not only is this the smallest purchase ever, but it is also the first time the average purchase price has exceeded the market price, economist Peter Schiff wrote.

MicroStrategy currently owns 444,262 BTC, which is currently worth over $40 billion. The organization spent about $27.7 million to acquire them.

Japanese investment company Metaplanet has bought 619.70 bitcoins for $60.7 million. This is the company’s largest acquisition, which increased its total cryptocurrency balance to 1,761 BTC. These assets are now valued at $169.2 million.

Despite some experts being skeptical about the strategies of MicroStrategy and Metaplanet, the company said it will continue to invest in Bitcoin.

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