BlackRock has become Strategy’s (previously MicroStrategy) leading investor, increasing its share ownership to 5%.
BlackRock Increases its Bitcoin Exposure
A recent filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) states that BlackRock has increased its ownership percentage of Strategy (previously MicroStrategy) to 5%. The asset manager’s stake has grown from 4.09% in September 2024 to around 11.2 million shares.
BlackRock’s total shares in Strategy are worth more than $3.6 billion, with the company’s stock trading close to $334. As a result, BlackRock is now one of Strategy’s most prominent investors.
Other significant investors in the Bitcoin (BTC)-focused business include Vanguard Group and Capital International Investors, each owning more than 7% of the company’s shares. As of February 6, 2025, the top shareholders of Strategy are displayed in the MSTR Shares Table.
This report comes after Strategy recently rebranded to better reflect its position as the leading corporate BTC holder. The company’s 471,107 BTC holdings are worth approximately $46 billion based on the current market value.
Bitcoin Network Activity Drops to One-Year Low – CryptoQuant
The latest CryptoQuant data shows that Bitcoin’s network activity has reached its lowest level in a year. CryptoQuant’s Bitcoin Network Activity Index has dropped 15% since November 2024 to 3,760, its lowest point since February 2024.
Also, the number of daily BTC transactions has drastically decreased, decreasing by 53% from its peak of 734,000 in September 2024 to 346,000 today. CryptoQuant claims that the decline in the use of the Runes protocol is one of the leading causes of the network decline.
Also read:Runes Protocol’s Use and the Bitcoin Network Activity Decline
The data revealed that the overall number of OP RETURN codes in Bitcoin transactions daily, which the Runes protocol utilizes to record information about token mints and network transfers, confirms this network activity decline.
When the Runes protocol was introduced in April 2024, the number of OP RETURN codes per day increased to 802K. Since then, this number has decreased to about 10,000 daily.
The Bitcoin mempool, which contains unconfirmed transactions awaiting processing, has almost completely dried up. There are now only 3,000 transactions in the mempool, a 99% decrease from the 287,000 transactions in December 2024.
According to CryptoQuant experts, the mempool was last inactive in March 2022. Lower transaction volumes have also affected the Bitcoin market fees.
The CryptoQuant study further showed that total daily transaction charges decreased to $593,000, a significant drop from $4.7 million on October 30, 2024. Due to this decline in fee revenue, transaction fees only account for 1.8% of miners’ overall income.
According to CryptoQuant’s valuation model, Bitcoin’s fair worth currently ranges from $48,000 to $95,000 based on its network activity. Hence, experts at CryptoQuant believe that the leading cryptocurrency may be overpriced at its current price of $96,000 to $99,000.
Russia’s Investigating Committee Plans to Regulate Bitcoin
Russia’s primary federal investigative body is introducing new regulations to make BTC transfers through third parties illegal. According to local media outlets, during a lengthy board meeting, Alexander Bastrykin, the agency’s chairman, stated that the committee had suggested recognizing cryptocurrencies as property under the law.
However, Russian law experts disagree with the committee over this BTC classification. If accepted, the bill would clearly define the guidelines for seizing BTC and offer a set procedure under Russian law for confiscating cryptocurrencies in criminal cases.
The proposed modifications would enable authorities to use cryptocurrency as evidence by formally classifying it as property. As defined under Russian legislation, electronic payment devices include digital wallets or bank cards, and they are ways for people to manage and move money.
However, law enforcement agents encounter technical difficulties detecting and following illegal cryptocurrency transactions. Data from Russia’s Investigative Committee shows that approximately one in five digital crimes in 2024 were committed by people under 18 and that the number of digital crimes increased by 10% from the year before.
However, the number of people involved in crypto remains unknown.
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