In December, Bitcoin outperformed the S&P 500 for the fourth straight month (+9% vs. +4%) to end 2023 +154%, its best year since 2020 when BTC rose 305%. While Bitcoin ETN inflows slowed to $300M for the month, a significant deceleration from November’s $1B+, investors recycled previous BTC gains into more speculative alt-coins, especially Layer 1 smart contract platforms as represented by the MVIS Smart Contract Leaders Index, which rose 44% in December for its best month since mid-2021. Simultaneously, the US dollar experienced another 2% decline for December following November’s 3% fall, after the Jerome ... (full story)