Happy Turnaround Tuesday!

While crypto participants continue to debate whether the bull market still has room to run or it’s all over, grab your favorite brew and take five minutes to catch up on the latest.

In today’s newsletter, Sony’s blockchain launches on mainnet but faces a memecoin-related backlash, Donald Trump’s inauguration may not be a “sell-the-news” event after all, corporate bitcoin acquisitions are an “overlooked megatrend,” and more.

Let’s get started.

Sony’s Blockchain Launch Faces Memecoin Backlash

Sony’s blockchain subsidiary launched the mainnet of its Ethereum Layer 2, Soneium, on Tuesday, targeting content creators and their communities.

• Developed using Optimism’s OP Stack, Soneium aims to bridge the gap between web2 and web3, seeking to address existing issues such as creators’ rights and equitable value distribution with their fans.
• The mainnet follows Soneium’s testnet debut last year, which saw 15.4 million wallet addresses and 50 million transactions generated since August.
• “Soneium is a public blockchain — an open network that welcomes everyone without limitations,” the firm said.
• However, controversy arose on day one as Soneium allegedly blacklisted certain memecoins, citing intellectual property rights infringements, making them unsupported on the network.
• Some users expressed frustration over their inability to access or trade the memecoins, including a token named “Aibo,” named after a series of robotic dogs made by Sony.
• Others raised questions about the level of control that blockchain developers should exercise and the balance between protecting intellectual property and maintaining a permissionless network.
• Sony Block Solutions Labs defended its actions, asserting its commitment to safeguarding IP rights while retaining web3’s core values of openness and innovation.

Trump’s Inauguration May Not Be Sell-the-News After All

While bitcoin’s price initially surged to all-time highs after Donald Trump’s election victory, it subsequently fell nearly 18% from a mid-December peak as macro headwinds weighed heavily on global markets.

• Analysts at K33 previously favored selling bitcoin at the Jan. 20 inauguration as heightened expectations from Trump’s pro-crypto campaign promises met the reality of Washington’s often slow-paced political machine.
• However, selling the news has become less attractive as the inauguration approaches, Vetle Lunde and David Zimmerman wrote in a Tuesday report for clients.
• “November’s enthusiasm has come and gone as the S&P 500 closed its post-election gap while bitcoin hit two-month lows,” the analysts said. “Selling bitcoin at the inauguration is considerably less appealing unless the coming days offer a resurfacing of momentum.”

Corporate Bitcoin Acquisitions are an ‘Overlooked Megatrend’

Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan said companies like MicroStrategy buying bitcoin are an “overlooked megatrend,” with the number of corporate holders “poised to explode” amid reduced reputational risk and new FASB accounting rules.

• Beyond MicroStrategy, another 70 publicly traded companies now have bitcoin on their balance sheets. These include well-known public crypto companies such as Coinbase and other firms like Block, Tesla, and SpaceX.
• “What happens if really big companies start to take a page from MicroStrategy’s book?” Hougan said. “Meta — which is currently considering a shareholder suggestion to add bitcoin to its balance sheet — is 20x the size of MicroStrategy.”
• “We’ll see hundreds of companies buy bitcoin for their treasuries over the next 12-18 months, and their purchases will lift the entire bitcoin market substantially higher,” he added.

Italy’s Largest Bank Intesa Buys Bitcoin

Italy’s largest bank, Intesa Sanpaolo, has made its first bitcoin purchase, acquiring 11 BTC as of Jan. 13, worth just over $1 million, Reuters and local media outlets reported, citing an internal memo.

• Intesa CEO Carlo Messina described the purchase as “an experiment” and a “test,” noting that the investment is minimal compared to the bank’s $100 billion securities portfolio.
• “This shows there can be some attention to digital channels, but with very limited investment amounts,” Messina said. “It also demonstrates that we are prepared if certain sophisticated clients request this type of investment.”
• The purchase, initially leaked on the online forum 4Chan via an internal email, marks the first time an Italian bank has directly acquired cryptocurrency.

Bank of England to Launch ‘Digital Pound Lab’

The Bank of England is launching a “Digital Pound Lab” in 2025 to test central bank digital currency innovations in a sandbox environment.

• The lab will collaborate with private sector partners to explore potential use cases and business models, the BoE said in a digital pound progress report on Tuesday.
• Insights from the lab will guide the development of the potential CBDC and address pain points in the UK’s current payment systems.

In the Next 24 Hours

• UK CPI inflation data are due at 2 a.m. ET on Wednesday. U.S. CPI figures follow at 8:30 a.m.
• U.S. FOMC members Thomas Barkin, Neel Kashkari, and John Williams will speak at 9 a.m., 10 a.m., and 11 a.m., respectively.
• Starknet is set to unlock 64 million STRK tokens worth $26.6 million. Ethena is unlocking ENA tokens worth $10.7 million, and Sei is unlocking SEI tokens worth $20.7 million.

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