Monthly Review of October 2024

This monthly review covers the most significant cryptocurrency-related news from October. The key highlights in October’s cryptocurrency news focused on the rise of Bitcoin ETFs and mining popularity, MicroStrategy’s new Bitcoin strategy, positive developments related to Aave, and advances in cryptocurrencies by financial players.

              
October in the Cryptocurrency Market
October was an interesting period for cryptocurrency prices, with considerable variations in price movements throughout the month. Among the cryptocurrencies offered by Northcrypto, Dogecoin and ApeCoin performed best, with prices increasing by approximately 38% and 30%, respectively. Meanwhile, the price of Bitcoin hit a new all-time high in euros, reaching around 68,000 euros in October and ending the month up by approximately 13%. Solana and Litecoin also saw price increases of about 10% and 5%, respectively. Ethereum and Chainlink prices fell by about 1–3%, while Aave and Polygon experienced declines of approximately 7% and 19%.
Growing Popularity of Bitcoin ETFs and Mining
October was particularly positive for Bitcoin in several ways. U.S.-based Bitcoin spot ETFs saw an exceptional surge in popularity during October, with net inflows totaling around 5.4 billion dollars. Also, the total bitcoin holdings in ETFs launched in January surpassed the milestone of one million bitcoins in October. Among individual ETFs, the world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock, set a new record with its Bitcoin spot ETF, using the ticker IBIT, which crossed the 30-billion-dollar mark faster than any other ETF globally, achieving this in 293 days compared to the 1,790 days it took the well-known gold ETF, GLD, to reach the same milestone.
In addition to ETFs, the popularity of Bitcoin mining was also high in October. Bitcoin hashrate reached a new record at the end of the month, rising to approximately 811 ExaHashes per second (EH/s), according to data from blockchain analytics firm Glassnode. Hashrate refers to the total computing power used by miners to maintain the Bitcoin network. For comparison, the hashrate a year ago was about 450 EH/s. With the hashrate at record levels, the Bitcoin network is considered more secure than ever. Historically, hashrate has also positively correlated with the price of Bitcoin.
MicroStrategy Announces New Bitcoin Strategy
MicroStrategy, the U.S.-based company with the largest bitcoin holdings, specializing in business intelligence, cloud-based services, and mobile software, announced a new Bitcoin-related strategy in late October. Over the next three years, MicroStrategy plans to raise 42 billion dollars to invest in bitcoin, with half raised through equities and half through fixed-income securities. By the end of October, MicroStrategy’s bitcoin holdings amounted to 252,220 bitcoins, valued at approximately 16.3 billion euros.
Positive News for Aave
October brought positive news related to the peer-to-peer lending service Aave. Early in the month, Grayscale, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency fund providers, launched the Grayscale Aave Trust, a fund available only to professional investors. Grayscale commented positively on Aave at the launch of the fund, highlighting, for example, Aave's potential to revolutionize the traditional world of finance.
A cryptocurrency-related news item also emerged in October regarding former U.S. President and presidential candidate Donald Trump. The Trump-endorsed cryptocurrency project World Liberty Financial made a proposal to Aave, suggesting the launch of World Liberty Financial on Aave’s v3 platform. If accepted, AaveDAO, which operates behind Aave, would receive 20% of fees generated by the project and 7% of the project’s WLFI cryptocurrency supply.
Advances in Cryptocurrencies by Financial Sector Players
In early October, the Central Bank of Bahrain announced the launch of the region’s first Bitcoin fund, aimed at institutional investors operating in the Middle East and developed in collaboration with cryptocurrency-focused investment firm ARP Digital. The fund features intriguing attributes, including a predefined profit cap and 100% loss protection. The Central Bank of Bahrain’s decision did not surprise many cryptocurrency experts, as Bahrain has recently become more attractive for cryptocurrency companies thanks to clear and innovation-supportive crypto regulations.
Another bank-related news item came from Swift, the world’s most widely used network for cross-border bank transactions, which announced that it will pilot cryptocurrency transfers next year. This practically means that banks across Europe, North America, and Asia will be able to test cryptocurrency transfers using Swift’s network. According to comments from Swift, the global success of cryptocurrencies depends on their ability to operate seamlessly alongside traditional forms of money.
Another significant development for financial players involved Chainlink, a cryptocurrency project specializing in oracle solutions. Chainlink introduced a solution called CCIP Private Transactions in late October, allowing financial institutions to connect private blockchains they use to a multi-blockchain network linked to cryptocurrencies. Australian and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) is one of the first financial institutions to pilot Chainlink’s solution, using tokenized real-world assets (RWA) as part of the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s (MAS) project.
Summary
The high popularity of US Bitcoin spot ETFs in October was probably one of the main factors behind Bitcoin's positive price performance. As ETFs are an investment vehicle used by institutional investors in particular, the influence of such players on Bitcoin's price performance is therefore greater than before. This trend will also likely continue in the future. The popularity of Bitcoin mining and the record-breaking hashrate represents a longstanding positive trend, with a particularly strong upward trajectory over the past two years. This development enhances confidence in Bitcoin’s success in the years to come, as miners are generally associated with a longer-term perspective.
MicroStrategy’s strategy to buy bitcoin over the next three years didn’t surprise many cryptocurrency experts due to the company’s extensive history of bitcoin purchases. However, the 42-billion-dollar planned investment positively surprised many. Such significant purchases will create substantial additional demand for bitcoin over the coming years, averaging over 38 million dollars in daily purchases over the next three years.
As the positive news about Aave in October shows, Aave is the leading peer-to-peer lending service in the cryptocurrency ecosystem. Grayscale's new fund is a positive development for Aave, as Grayscale's other cryptocurrency funds hold approximately €20 billion in total assets. In addition, Grayscale's fund will make Aave more accessible to institutional investors. On the other hand, World Liberty Financial's proposal to AaveDAO is an excellent example of interest from other cryptocurrency projects toward Aave.
The varied advancements in cryptocurrencies by financial sector players are concrete evidence of the diverse opportunities offered by cryptocurrencies. These opportunities extend beyond simply serving as investment assets. As the October advancements illustrate, cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology also have substantial potential to provide solutions for bank operations and cross-border transactions.

Ville Viitaharju
Cryptocurrency specialist