Monthly report of November

This monthly report examines the most important cryptocurrency news in November and delves into getting paid in bitcoin, as well as several recently launched cryptocurrency funds.

              
November in the cryptocurrency market
November was an interesting month for cryptocurrencies in terms of price movements. The two largest cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin and Ethereum, set new all-time highs during the month. At best, the price of Bitcoin was almost 60,000 euros, while the price of Ethereum was just over 4,200 euros. However, for the whole month, there were quite significant differences in the price movements of these and also other cryptocurrencies offered by Northcrypto. The best performers in November were Ethereum and Litecoin, both of which rose about ten percent during the month. Despite the new all-time high, the price of Bitcoin ended about five percent on the minus side for the whole month as a result of the downward trend at the end of the month. The prices of Chainlink and Aave fell slightly more sharply last month, ending at about 15 percent and almost 20 percent lower at the end of the month than at the beginning of the month.  
Getting paid in bitcoin
There was a clear trend in November where well-known people want to get paid in bitcoin in the United States. At the beginning of the month, we even saw competition between mayors on this issue. First, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez announced he would take his next salary in bitcoin. Subsequently, recently elected New York Mayor Eric Adams announced he would take his first three salaries in bitcoin. However, shortly after Adams’s announcement, Miami Suarez put it even better and announced he would move on to take all his salaries from now on in bitcoin. Additionally, the announcements by Suarez and Adams were followed by the announcements by Jackson Mayor Scott Conger and Tampa Mayor Jane Castor. Both reported they will be taking their next salaries in bitcoin.
In addition to the mayors, a few athletes also announced in November that they would take their salaries in the future in bitcoin. First, American football legend Aaron Rodgers announced that he would take a portion of his salary in bitcoin and distribute a million dollars worth of bitcoin to his fans. After that, one of the biggest stars in American football, Odell Beckham Jr., also announced that he would take his latest contract’s salary in 100% bitcoin and, like Rodgers, distribute a million dollars worth of bitcoin to his fans. Both are implementing salary payments and bitcoin distribution in collaboration with a mobile payment service Cash App by payment service provider Square. Also, former English Premier League and current U.S. MLS footballer Kieran Gibbs announced he would convert half of his salary into bitcoin. This is being done in collaboration with XBTO, a US provider of cryptocurrency-focused investment solutions.
The solutions discussed above have practically no direct effect on the price of Bitcoin due to the fact that wages are relatively low compared to the € 1 trillion market cap of Bitcoin. However, these solutions may have some significant positive indirect effects. Mayors are often the most famous people in their cities and it is possible that several citizens want to get paid in bitcoin like their mayors. Thus, at best, mayors can start a trend where a prominent proportion of the city’s residents, like the mayor, move to take their salaries in bitcoin. Consequently, it would not be a completely impossible idea that tens or even hundreds of thousands of Americans move to take their salaries in bitcoin in the near future. For example, about 8.4 million people alone live in Mayor Adams’s New York. Such a slightly larger movement to take salaries in bitcoin would have the potential to generate a significant amount of constant additional demand for bitcoin, which in turn is likely to have a positive impact on the price of Bitcoin as well. The announcements from the mayors, and especially from the top athletes, also gained quite a bit of worldwide attention. For example, Aaron Rodgers’s announcement was the most-liked cryptocurrency-related publication on the community and microblogging service Twitter for the entire month.
Cryptocurrency and Bitcoin funds in several countries
There was also news from several countries related to cryptocurrency funds and especially Bitcoin funds. The cryptocurrency ETF, ie. an exchange-traded fund, began trading on the Australian stock exchange in early November and broke records on the first day. The trading volume of almost EUR 30 million on the first day of this ETF exceeded the previous record by about five times. The Australian ETF includes, for example, shares of the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, Bitcoin mining company Marathon Digital Holdings, and MicroStrategy, which owns more than 120,000 bitcoins.
In Singapore, two Bitcoin-related funds began trading in late November. One of the funds is the Bitcoin ETF, which differs from its US counterparts in that it contains "real" bitcoins instead of Bitcoin futures. Another fund, in turn, offers opportunities to borrow capital to purchase bitcoin. Both funds are targeted in particular at institutional investors. 
Also, Bitcoin ETP began trading on the German stock exchange in Europe. ETP is a general term for exchange-traded products. Invesco, a US investment product provider, launched this Bitcoin ETP in partnership with CoinShares, an investment company focusing on cryptocurrency-focused investment products. Invesco's Bitcoin ETP, like the Singapore Bitcoin ETF, contains "real" bitcoins instead of, for example, Bitcoin futures. The release is quite significant, as Invesco is one of the world's largest providers of investment products and manages approximately € 1.4 trillion in assets.
Over the past year, several cryptocurrency and Bitcoin funds have begun trading around the world. These exchange-traded products are primarily targeted at institutional investors, for whom the purchase of cryptocurrency itself is challenging due to, among other things, regulatory uncertainty, underdeveloped accounting practices, as well as acquisition and custody challenges. Over the past year, several banks and asset management companies have reported an increase in the interest of institutional players in cryptocurrencies. Consequently, the launch of several cryptocurrency funds around the world has not come as a surprise and there is a clear demand for them. 

Ville Viitaharju
Cryptocurrency specialist