Crypto markets continue their upward trajectory, as BTC blasts past $40k!

Hey folks!

Happy Monday! Three cheers for Bitcoin as the pioneering crypto crossed $40K for the first time in 19 months! On that cheery note, we begin the countdown to an eventful year. In personal finance, we bring to you some interesting tidbits about the benefits of mutual funds to help you plan your investments. We will also guide you on how to build a portfolio and also take stock of crypto market developments in the past week. In the books section, we present a compendium of lectures in memory of a legendary investor who was often mentioned in the same breath as Warren Buffett. And as usual, we end the newsletter with a fun crypto puzzle.

Let's dive into the newsletter now.

Looking forward to starting a mutual fund SIP, but too much information has confused you? We have got your back. Click on the link below to learn more about the key features and benefits of mutual funds. Discover how mutual funds offer a convenient way to invest in a diversified portfolio of assets professionally managed to maximize returns.

Watch the video now!

Last week, we started a discussion around portfolio building. Our goal is to equip our readers to design a portfolio for themselves in a way that best suits their financial goals while improving their long-term financial health.

We are taking a step further today as we bring to you a few methods suggested by financial experts that can help you design, clarify, or solidify your financial goals.

A financial plan is a document that helps you track your monetary goals to measure your progress toward financial literacy.

It can be difficult to stay on track with your goals without a solid roadmap. Having a financial plan can help you prioritize your time and measure progress as you work toward financial freedom.

Planning your financial strategy need not be a herculean task. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to make a financial plan. The lessons will run for a few weeks. The series will empower you to devise a plan tailored to achieve your financial goals.

We recommend that you use an excel sheet or the traditional pen and paper to note things that you find are relevant to you.

1. Evaluate your current financial position

Your current financial position and your current net worth will be the foundation on which you will base your financial plan.

Here is how you can determine your Net Worth

Assets - Liabilities = Net Worth

Assets 

Money in your bank accounts 

EPF deductions 

Stock market and mutual fund investments

Assets such as an owned house, gold, etc 

Liabilities

Student loans 

Credit card debt or personal loans 

Money owed to family or friends

2. Track your spending

Another crucial step in evaluating your financial plan is to keep tabs on your cash inflows and more importantly, cash outflows. While net worth is a great way to check where you stand, tracking your cash outflow will help you ensure that you are heading in the right direction.

A big red flag here is a negative cash inflow. This means that you are spending more than you earn. If this persists for several months, it will lead to mounting credit card and personal debt.

Conversely, a positive cash inflow means you are earning more than what you are spending. You are on the right track and a step closer to achieving your financial goals.

The steps mentioned are crucial and demand much thought and effort on your part. You have a week’s time to work on finding your net worth and charting your cash flows. We will be back next week with guidance for financial goal setting and how to use the SMART framework and budget creation using the 50/30/20 rule.

Crypto markets seemed to have shrugged off the Binance settlement news and have been inching higher over the last week. The overall crypto market cap is back above the crucial $1.5trn level and has surged over $1.6trn. The large-cap tokens have led the rally, with the overall market having an upward bias in terms of price action. BTC continues to outperform ETH and is now trading above $40k, while ETH too, has surged past the $2.2k level.

Positive developments from the week include Microstrategy continuing its massive purchase of BTC, announcing another $600mm in November. There was another unknown whale wallet that accumulated $500mm in BTC in November, which was later revealed to be Bitmex exchange. Institutional crypto funds attracted their largest weekly inflow in 2023, attracting net inflows of $346 million. Even Standard Chartered reinstated its view that the price target for BTC by 2024 end is $100k. And finally, the VC investor interest seems to be returning, with cross-chain bridging platform Wormhole raising a massive $225mm round at a $2.5bn valuation.

For the broader crypto markets, there was mostly sidewise trading in a tight price range, but a lot of positive token-specific price action was also witnessed. In the large caps, SOL and AVAX continued their upward march after breaking key resistance levels, but the major positive outliers were RUNE, TAO, TIA, INJ, IOTA, and LUNAC. 

ThorChain's RUNE saw a sharp price increase with the integration of a self-custody wallet. Injective's INJ surged after a burn auction and OKX listing. BitTensor's TAO, focused on decentralized machine learning, and Celestia's TIA token, centered on data availability and modular blockchains, have been notable gainers. IOTA's token jumped 100% after establishing an ecosystem development foundation in Abu Dhabi. Terra Luna Classic is gearing up for a major upgrade, leading to a significant rise in LUNC prices.

• RUNE $7.01 ⏫ 29.66%

• TAO $342 ⏫31.86%

• INJ $17.73 ⏫ 5.40%

• IOTA $0.3429 ⏫ 96.00%

• LUNC $0.0002676 ⏫126.29%

(All data here is as of 2:00 p.m., 4 December, 2023)

Before we conclude, here’s a quick look at some important news from around the crypto world.

Last week, crypto investment funds attracted their largest net inflows this year, extending their strongest run since the 2021 bull market as anticipation for a spot bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF) continued to entice investors, digital asset fund management firm CoinShares reported.

Meanwhile, Microstrategy (MSTR), the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin (BTC), boosted its holdings in November, buying some 16,130 BTC, worth around $608 million at current prices.

Charlie Munger, Warren Buffet’s investment partner and one of the greatest investors of our time, passed away last week. Today we bring to you a compendium of eleven talks delivered by Charlie between 1986 and 2007. 

Poor Charlie's Almanack: The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger

By: Charles T. Munger, Peter E. Kaufman (Editor)

“Spend each day trying to be a little wiser than you were when you woke up,” Charles T. Munger advises in Poor Charlie’s Almanack. 

From the legendary vice-chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, this book is rich in lessons on investment strategy, philanthropy, and living a rational and ethical life. It offers insight into the design and structuring of thought processes of a man who was a paragon of a rare virtue—-common sense. His approach of adopting the best mental models from all disciplines applies to anyone.

Delivered with Munger’s characteristic sharp wit and rhetorical flair, the book is an essential read for any reader seeking to go to bed a little wiser than when they woke up. Invest in this book today. 

Before you get on with your day, don’t forget to flex those brain muscles with our weekly crypto crossword.

That’s it for now. Thanks for sticking around.

See you later, folks! 👋

Loving the newsletter? Make sure to spread the love and hit share!