Marathon Sets Bitcoin Production Record, Celsius Unstaking Its Ether Holdings

Market Update Markets are responding to various economic data releases, which showed the unemployment rate holding steady at 3.7% vs. 3.8% exp., and U.S. ISM Services PMI coming in at 50.6 vs 52.5 exp. The DXY (-0.25%) initially surged over $103 following the employment data but has dropped to $102.2 following the PMI data release. Equity indices are gaining to end the week, with the SPY and QQQ both rising approximately 0.10%. Crypto investors are patiently waiting for news regarding potential Bitcoin ETF approvals, as some expect news today, while most anticipate early next week. $BTC (-1.72%) is trading near $43.3k and $ETH (-2.05%) is holding around $2220. Altcoins are generally underperforming this week as Bitcoin’s dominance ratio ($BTC.D) has gained 3% amid heightened ETF anticipation, potentially setting the stage for a Bitcoin-led rally post-approval. Marathon Digital has set a new record for its monthly Bitcoin production, mining 1,853 Bitcoin in December, representing a 290% increase year-over-year. At current prices, that equates to over $81 million. Marathon stated in its announcement, “We believe this to be the highest monthly total ever recorded by a public Bitcoin mining company,” surpassing Core Scientific’s previous record of 1,527 Bitcoin mined in Ja