The Daily: Bitcoin hits new all-time high, Ripple's RLUSD set to launch, MicroStrategy's latest BTC acquisitions and more

I hope you had a good weekend, folks. In today's Daily, Ripple will launch its RLUSD stablecoin tomorrow, MicroStrategy acquires another $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin, Aave considers exiting Polygon amid a "risky" bridge proposal and more.

Meanwhile, bitcoin hits a new all-time high above $107,000.

Plus, FTX customers will receive distributions through Kraken and BitGo with its bankruptcy plan set to be effective on Jan. 3.

Let's get started.

Ripple set to launch RLUSD stablecoin

Ripple will launch its U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin RLUSD on Tuesday, initially available on the XRP Ledger and Ethereum networks.

• RLUSD will be fully backed by U.S. dollar deposits, U.S. government bonds and cash equivalents, with monthly reserve attestations set to be published by an independent auditing firm, Ripple said in a statement on Monday.
• Ripple secured final approval for RLUSD from the New York State Department of Financial Services last week under the financial regulator's limited purpose trust company charter.
• "As the U.S. moves toward clearer regulations, we expect to see greater adoption of stablecoins like RLUSD," Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said.
• RLUSD will debut on platforms like Uphold, MoonPay and Archax, with more listings, including Bitstamp and Bitso, expected in the coming weeks.
• Ripple Payments, which claims to have processed $70 billion in volume, will also integrate RLUSD for enterprise transactions starting early next year.
• Ripple joins a competitive $200 billion stablecoin market led by issuers such as Tether, Circle, Ethena and PayPal, with plans to expand RLUSD to additional blockchains and DeFi protocols.

MicroStrategy acquires another $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin

Business intelligence firm and corporate bitcoin holder MicroStrategy has acquired another 15,350 BTC for $1.5 billion, raising its total holdings to 439,000 BTC worth over $46 billion.

• The latest acquisitions were made between Dec. 9 and Dec. 15 at an average price of $100,386 per bitcoin, according to an 8-K filing with the SEC on Monday, following MicroStrategy's sale of 3,884,712 shares for a similar amount.
• MicroStrategy has added $17.5 billion in bitcoin — around 39% of its total position — over the past six weeks alone as part of its total $42 billion capital raise plans for further bitcoin acquisitions.
• Meanwhile, bitcoin miner Riot also announced Monday it had acquired another 667 BTC for $67.5 million, bringing its holdings to 17,149 BTC — worth around $1.8 billion.

Aave considers exiting Polygon amid 'risky' bridge proposal

Aave contributor Marc Zeller has proposed phasing out its decentralized lending services on Polygon's PoS chain due to perceived risks from Polygon's recent proposal to use over $1 billion in bridge stablecoins for yield generation.

• The proposal suggests adjusting Aave's risk parameters, including setting a 0% loan-to-value ratio and raising the reserve factor to 85%, effectively discouraging further deposits or preventing users from borrowing against their collateral.
• Both the Aave and Polygon community proposals are in the early discussion stages, with feedback and voting processes expected to shape the final decisions.
• Aave is the largest decentralized app on Polygon by total value locked, with more than $466 million in deposits on the PoS chain.

Ethena's USDtb stablecoin, backed by BlackRock's BUIDL token, goes live

Synthetic dollar project Ethena has launched USDtb, a new stablecoin backed by BlackRock's tokenized BUIDL fund, offering a more traditional reserve-backed model compared to its experimental USDe token which is pegged to the U.S. dollar through a derivative-based trading strategy.

• USDtb functions more like USDT and USDC, with over 90% of its reserves in BUIDL and the remaining 10% in stablecoins for liquidity and redemptions.
• Ethena plans to use USDtb as a safe haven during market disruptions for USDe, reducing its risk profile against negative funding rates.
• Last week, USDtb was submitted for Spark's Tokenization Grand Prix, potentially unlocking up to $1 billion in liquidity and boosting its adoption if selected.

Hyperliquid sees over $1 billion in USDC net inflows since token launch

Decentralized trading platform Hyperliquid has seen over $1 billion in USDC net inflows and a surge in total value locked to $3.2 billion since launching its HYPE token on Nov. 29, according to blockchain analytics firm Spot On Chain.

• Meanwhile, the price of HYPE has skyrocketed more than 590% to over $26 during the period, reflecting strong interest and its community-owned tokenomics.
• Hyperliquid also announced Monday it had reached a new all-time high in open interest above $4.3 billion amid the increased activity.

In the next 24 hours

• It's quiet on the economic calendar front.

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