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For newcomers, especially those in and around retirement age, the idea of investing in or owning bitcoin can evoke reactions from skepticism to disbelief. If you look beyond the popular narratives, however, you might find there is more to the story than first impressions suggest. Here are six reasons to consider owning at least some bitcoin during…

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Marathon Digital defied expectations by achieving a remarkable 21% year-on-year increase in Bitcoin production in April. Their April report reveals they mined 850 BTC, attributed to a 15% boost in their operational hashrate, now at 21.1 exahash. Despite the recent halving event reducing miner rewards to 3.125 BTC per block, Marathon leveraged its improved hash rate and high transaction fees to enhance earnings. Transaction fees, primarily driven by the Runes Protocol, contributed 16% to April’s revenue. Chairman and CEO Fred Thiel highlighted Marathon’s efficiency, noting their all-time high hash rate and effective use of the Slipstream service. The company sold 600 BTC to support operations and held 17,631 BTC as of April 30.

In related news, Kenya’s president, Williams Ruto, disclosed ongoing discussions with Marathon Digital regarding cryptocurrency regulations and mining. Marathon is consulting with Kenya’s National Treasury and Ministry of Energy, aiming to enhance regional energy development and bolster US-East Africa trade relations.

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“The institutions are coming.”

Anyone who’s been in the Bitcoin space for any significant period of time has heard some prominent figure within the space utter this phrase.

In August 2020, when MicroStrategy, an American-based business software company, announced it would be purchasing bitcoin to add it to its treasury, many thought that was the beginning of the institutional stampede.

But it wasn’t.

Sure, Tesla bought some bitcoin the following year, only to dump 75% of it soon after.

And so from 2020 through 2023, MicroStrategy was an anomaly. During these years, the company — led by Bitcoin permabull Michael Saylor — remained the only major corporation on Earth to convert a…

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Yong Rong HK Asset Management has made a significant investment move by purchasing $38 million worth of BlackRock iShares Bitcoin ETF (IBIT), securing its position as the largest holder with more than 12% of the reported holdings. This comes despite Hong Kong’s availability of local ETF options. Bloomberg senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas highlighted the appeal of U.S. ETFs, citing their “irresistible combination of low fee and high volume.” In addition to IBIT, Yong Rong’s major investments include tech giants Nvidia, Meta, Tesla, and now, IBIT, totaling over $45 million invested in 1,127,561 IBIT units.

Meanwhile, another Hong Kong firm, Ovata, has become the biggest buyer of Bitcoin ETFs with a $74 million investment across four different funds. Despite a significant sell-off in U.S. Bitcoin ETFs, with outflows narrowing to $34 million after a massive $550 million outflow, the BTC price has rallied to over $61,000. This financial dynamic is influenced by a cooling labor market and an anticipated Federal Reserve rate cut, underscoring the growing strategic importance of Bitcoin ETF investments within the global financial landscape.

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