Crypto is having a moment in the financial press as journalists take stock of the segment’s turnaround in 2023, with BTC soaring over 160% this year despite back-to-back legal scandals ranging from FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried after being found guilty of criminal fraud and Binance’s Changpeng Zhao facing money-laundering charges. “It was the year of crypto’s resiliency,” global advisory StonTurn crypto expert Kyla Curley told CNN.

We could be looking at another solid year for crypto: The anticipated approval of the first-ever spot BTC exchange-traded fund early 2024 is expected to further cement market sentiment, allowing traditional investors to track BTC prices without owning it and making crypto more accessible to mainstream investors.

Markets outside North America and Western Europe are shrugging off their suspicion of the asset class: Emirati crypto firm Phoenix made its ADX debut earlier this month, soaring 35% on its first day trading. Turkey and Nigeria both took steps signaling that they have started taking crypto more seriously: Turkey has added a crypto expert to its central bank’s Monetary Policy Committee and the Nigerian central bank lifted a two-year ban on crypto trading.

Some go so far as to suggest that investors in emerging markets have helped fuel crypto’s recovery this year, with a blogger on the Forbes contributor platform claiming folks in markets with unstable local currencies are turning to crypto as a hedge against inflation and depreciation.

AND- Crypto firms are trying to buy Washington’s approval: Crypto firms are increasing donations to US politicians to help elect pro-crypto legislators and forward favorable legislation for the industry, as the digital assets market falls under increased scrutiny, the Financial Times wrote. Crypto outfits including Coinbase and Circle as well as venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz have donated some USD 78 mn to a political action committee that takes donations to spend on elections to be directed to “pro-crypto leadership.”

EGX30

23,822

-2.0% (YTD: +63.2%)

USD (CBE)

Buy 30.82

Sell 30.96

USD at CIB

Buy 30.85

Sell 30.95

Interest rates CBE

19.25% deposit

20.25% lending

Tadawul

11,691

+0.6% (YTD: +11.6%)

ADX

9,490

0.0% (YTD: -7.1%)

DFM

4,023

+0.4% (YTD: +20.6%)

S&P 500

4,755

+0.2% (YTD: +23.8%)

FTSE 100

7,698

0.0% (YTD: +3.3%)

Euro Stoxx 50

4,521

-0.1% (YTD: +19.2%)

Brent crude

USD 79.1

-0.4%

Natural gas (Nymex)

USD 2.61

+1.5%

Gold

USD 2,069

+0.9%

BTC

USD 43,556

-0.5% (YTD: +163.5%)

THE CLOSING BELL-

The EGX30 fell 2.0% at today’s close on turnover of EGP 3.2 bn (1.8% below the 90-day average). Local investors were net sellers. The index is up 63.2% YTD.

In the green: Mopco (+5.8%), Alexandria Containers and Goods (+4.3%) and Edita (+2.7%).

In the red: GB Corp (-5.8%), Heliopolis Housing (-5.4%) and E-Finance (-5.1%).

It’s a quiet morning for global markets. Shares are trading sideways in Shanghai and Tokyo. Korea and Australia are closed for the Christmas holiday, as are markets in Europe and North America.

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