CoinDesk 20 Index: 1,838.51 +0.82%
Bitcoin (BTC): $59,071.10 +0.46%
Ether (ETH): $2,310.05 +0.23%
S&P 500: 5,633.09 +0.13%
Gold: $2,575.42 -0.32%
Nikkei 225: 36,203.22 -1.03%

Bitcoin returned to $59,000 in the European morning, a gain of around 0.7% in the last 24 hours. The broader digital asset market, as measured by the CoinDesk 20 Index, added just under 0.65%. Traders are looking to the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting on Wednesday, when officials are expected to announce their first interest-rate cut in four years. The 30-Day Fed Funds futures prices show traders see a 65% probability of a 50 basis-point cut to the 4.7%-5% range. As recently as Monday, the probability was sitting around 50% and a month ago it was only 25%.

BlackRock's bitcoin ETF (IBIT) registered its first inflows for three weeks on Monday, netting gains of $15.8 million, according to data from SoSoValue. Across the board, U.S.-listed spot bitcoin ETFs saw net inflows of $12.9 million, with a handful of funds' small gains offset by $20.75 million flowing out of Grayscale's GBTC. IBIT is largest of the 12 funds, with assets worth $20.92 billion, but flows have been close to zero since Aug. 26. The three-week period also coincided with BTC falling from over $64,000 to below $55,000. While IBIT's Monday gains were fairly minor, they may still be a positive sign for BTC bulls seeing the sector's largest ETF returning to positive flows.

World Liberty Financial crypto project, which has been promoted by Donald Trump, will launch a governance token, WLFI, team members said during a Spaces stream on X. WLFI will be non-transferable and won't provide any economic rights, the team said. They said they only want token buyers who are seeking to be participants in governance, not those after an economic return. Some 63% of the token will be sold to the public, with 17% reserved for user rewards and 20% going to the team. As of now, the token will be sold only to accredited investors under what is known as a Regulation D exemption from the SEC. Regulation D exemptions allow companies to raise capital without registering securities with the SEC, primarily by offering securities to accredited investors.

The small Himalayan country Bhutan has bitcoin holdings worth over $780 million, the fourth largest state-owned stash, according to on-chain analysts Arkham Intelligence.

Bhutan's BTC holdings are equivalent to about a quarter of the country's entire GDP, which sits at around $2.9 billion. It is the second nation after El Salvador to officially hold BTC, in this case as part of the state-owned Druk Holdings fund.

"Bhutan has constructed Bitcoin mining facilities in multiple locations, with the largest being on the site of the now-defunct Education City project," Arkham said in an X post. "Unlike most governments, Bhutan’s BTC does not come from law enforcement asset seizures, but from Bitcoin mining operations, which have ramped up dramatically since early 2023."

These mines are likely related to mining giant Bitdeer (BTDR). In 2023, the Singapore-based company said it would work with the Bhutan government to establish cryptocurrency mining operations in Southeast Asia and raised over $500 million for the venture. Shortly afterward, Bitdeer said it had built a 100 megawatt (MW) facility in the first phase of the company's project.

- Jamie Crawley