Even beyond the launch of the first U.S. Bitcoin futures ETF, cryptocurrency funds notched some notable global milestones in 2021.
The number of crypto-tracking investment vehicles worldwide more than doubled to 80 from just 35 at the end of 2020. Assets soared to $63 billion, compared to $24 billion at the start of the year.
--- according to Bloomberg Intelligence data
Globally, it's obviously a phenomenon that's starting to take off. If you look at inflows on a volume perspective, not only has it been steady even with the price corrections that Bitcoin is notoriously famous for, but you're seeing a lot of institutions jump in.”
--- Leah Wald, chief executive of crypto asset manager Valkyrie Investments, said on Bloomberg's "QuickTake Stock" streaming program.
Grayscale Investments LLC is the largest asset manager in the digital-assets space, with the $30 billion $Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC.US)$ ranking as the world's largest crypto fund.
The First U.S. bitcoin-linked ETF $ProShares Bitcoin ETF (BITO.US)$ incepted in October, which recevied a lot of attention. It only took two days for the fund to accumulate $1 billion.
Unlike an ETF directly connected to spot Bitcoin, the futures-backed products such as BITO are vulnerable to so-called associated with managing contracts. It's likely that investor demand would be even higher if physically backed funds were allowed to launch in the U.S., according to Bloomberg Intelligence.
I can't help but think that the assets in this space would be even larger if we had more efficient structures, like spot ETFs, in the U.S.”
--- said James Seyffart, Bloomberg Intelligence ETF analyst.
Watch now: What crypto's breakout year means for the market in 2022
Indeed, flows into the ProShares fund have stalled, with the ETF down more than 30% since its mid-October launch. Meanwhile, similar products from Valkyrie and VanEck have less than $70 million in assets combined.
Valkyrie's Wald is optimistic that flows will pick up in 2022. Institutional money managers are likely waiting to see how the U.S. futures-backed ETF handle the roll costs, she said.
That specific vehicle, I think a lot of money managers want to look at the metrics before jumping in. We're excited about what next year has to hold.”
--- Wald said.
Source: Bloomberg

$Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bull 3x Shares ETF (SOXL.US)$ Enter again

$Roundhill Ball Metaverse ETF (META.US)$
Good time to buy META ETF

2021 is another year of violent volatility in the stocks markets globally just like 2020. All of us should therefore brace ourselves for a lot more in 2022 if this trend persists. China-theme Stocks are still relatively weak but I expect them to perform better in 2022 alongside US Stocks I wanted to provide some helpful technical charts, but the best chart by far(at least to me) is a chart of psychology, persuasion and perspective combined into one here:
Happy New Year 2022!
$Alibaba (BABA.US)$  $Futu Holdings Ltd (FUTU.US)$  $Futu Holdings Ltd (FUTU.US)$  $UP Fintech (TIGR.US)$  $Apple (AAPL.US)$  $NIO Inc (NIO.US)$  $Qualcomm (QCOM.US)$  $United Microelectronics (UMC.US)$  $Sea (SE.US)$  $Lucid Group (LCID.US)$  $Sono Group (SEV.US)$  $Rivian Automotive (RIVN.US)$  $JPMorgan (JPM.US)$  $Applied Materials (AMAT.US)$  $NVIDIA (NVDA.US)$  $Axon Enterprise (AXON.US)$  $Unity Software (U.US)$  $Grab Holdings (GRAB.US)$  $WeWork (WE.US)$  $Phunware (PHUN.US)$  $Digital World Acquisition Corp (DWAC.US)$  $Tuya Inc (TUYA.US)$  $Hippo Holdings (HIPO.US)$  $GOLDMAN SACHS FUTURE TECH LEADERS EQUITY ETF (GTEK.US)$  $Airbnb (ABNB.US)$  $DocuSign (DOCU.US)$  $MongoDB (MDB.US)$  $Pfizer (PFE.US)$  $Lam Research (LRCX.US)$  $Tencent (TCEHY.US)$  $Bilibili (BILI.US)$  $Snowflake (SNOW.US)$  $Micron Technology (MU.US)$  $Baidu (BIDU.US)$  $Stellantis NV (STLA.US)$  $General Motors (GM.US)$  $Ford Motor (F.US)$  $Robinhood (HOOD.US)$  $Advanced Micro Devices (AMD.US)$  $iShares Silver Trust (SLV.US)$  $ASML Holding (ASML.US)$  $Twitter (Delisted) (TWTR.US)$  $The Wendy's Co (WEN.US)$  $Bank of America (BAC.US)$  $Novavax (NVAX.US)$  $Virgin Galactic (SPCE.US)$  $BlackBerry (BB.US)$  $IBM Corp (IBM.US)$  $GE Aerospace (GE.US)$ $Nokia Oyj (NOK.US)$  $UiPath (PATH.US)$  $Roblox (RBLX.US)$  $XPeng (XPEV.US)$  $DiDi Global (Delisted) (DIDI.US)$  $Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (KTOS.US)$  $Activision Blizzard (ATVI.US)$  $ContextLogic (WISH.US)$  $SoFi Technologies (SOFI.US)$  $Etsy Inc (ETSY.US)$  $Snap Inc (SNAP.US)$  $Block (SQ.US)$  $Shopify (SHOP.US)$  $Cloudflare (NET.US)$  $Palantir (PLTR.US)$  $Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM.US)$  $PDD Holdings (PDD.US)$  $JD.com (JD.US)$  $Coinbase (COIN.US)$  $AMC Entertainment (AMC.US)$  $Disney (DIS.US)$  $Boeing (BA.US)$  $Netflix (NFLX.US)$  $Roku Inc (ROKU.US)$  $Uber Technologies (UBER.US)$  $Alphabet-A (GOOGL.US)$  $Meta Platforms (FB.US)$ 
So, you tell me what is the right way?!

Asia stocks set to drop amid policy, omicron risks
Asian stocks looked set to fall Tuesday as economic risks from the omicron virus strain and central bank efforts to rein in elevated inflation breed caution. Treasuries and the dollar climbed.
Australian shares dipped, equity futures for Japan and Hong Kong declined and U.S. contracts fluctuated. The $S&P 500 Index (.SPX.US)$ dropped from a record and the technology-heavy $Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC.US)$ underperformed.
GameStop, AMC drag meme stock group to 7-month low
Losses for a basket of so-called meme stocks are mounting, with traders shifting away from riskier assets in the final weeks of the year. $AMC Entertainment (AMC.US)$ $GameStop (GME.US)$
The group of 37 retail trading favorites tracked by Bloomberg extended losses to 5.5% on Monday, as selling pressure for markets around the globe accelerated. The index has shed almost a quarter of its value over the past three weeks as it slides to the lowest level in seven months.
Nike buys a virtual sneaker maker
$Nike (NKE.US)$ is acquiring a virtual collectibles company as it dives further into the metaverse.
The sportswear giant agreed to buy RTFKT, a business founded in 2020 that creates digital products like sneakers and uses blockchain technology to ensure authenticity, according to a statement on Monday.
Bitcoin slide risks break below a key level
Bitcoin's slide from a record high extended into a on Monday. The largest cryptocurrency fell below $48,000 and is now flirting with a breach of its closely-watched 200-day moving average, at about $46,720.
"The idea that as it matured, the volatility would ease has not really materialized," said Marc Chandler, chief market strategist at Bannockburn Global Forex. "The volatility is deadly and its other supposed attributes, like a hedge against inflation, seems spurious."
Apple now lets you choose contacts who can access your account when you die
Until now, it's been very difficult for loved ones to access an Apple account of a family member or friend who died. Without the phone's passcode or iCloud information, surviving family members sometimes had to for access to a deceased loved one's digital data.
$Apple (AAPL.US)$ released a big iPhone update on Monday, iOS 15.2, which includes a new feature called Digital Legacy. The change will let you choose specific people who will be able to access your account after you die.
Elon Musk says dogecoin is better to buy things with than bitcoin
Elon Musk, CEO of $Tesla (TSLA.US)$ and SpaceX, has consistently supported dogecoin, a meme-inspired cryptocurrency. He's invested in it, along with bitcoin and ether, he said in October. Musk sees dogecoin as the best cryptocurrency to transact with.
"Fundamentally, bitcoin is not a good substitute for transactional currency," Musk told Time Magazine after being named Time's 2021 Person of the Year. "Even though it was created as a silly joke, dogecoin is better suited for transactions."
Shareholders press Facebook for governance changes
Facebook is facing more calls from shareholders to address harm on its platforms and overall governance as the company, now known as $Meta Platforms (FB.US)$ responds to pressure from lawmakers and others.
The resolutions filed by the shareholders include calls for board oversight of efforts to reduce harmful content, an assessment of the risk of the company's metaverse efforts and a review of the social media company's audit and risk committee, according to the Investor Alliance for Human Rights, an initiative of the faith-based investor group Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility.
SoftBank poised to complete first Spac deal with AI robotics company Symbotic
$Softbank Holdings (LIST2558.US)$ is set to complete its first Spac merger by taking public a Walmart-backed artificial intelligence robotics company in a deal valued at $5.5bn. Symbotic, an AI start-up that focuses on improving supply chains for retailers, will merge with SVF Investment Corp 3, a Spac sponsored by SoftBank, the two companies said on Monday.
The blank-cheque merger is the first of its kind for SoftBank, which has raised multiple Spacs and has been hunting for suitable private companies to take public.
Source: Bloomberg, WSJ, CNBC, Financial Times

$Tesla (TSLA.US)$ has offered video games on its touch-screens, which dominate the dashboards of its cars and are used to control many aspects of the vehicles, for several years. But the original set of games could only be played while the car was in park.
Tesla has recently been putting more work toward video games inside its vehicles with the goal to "optimize fun" with its ownership experience.
An over-the-air update this summer added solitaire and two other games that can be played by a driver or by a passenger in full view of the driver, raising questions about safety and the potential for distracting drivers from the road.
The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said Wednesday it is reviewing a recent software update by that allows drivers to play video games on a dashboard screen while the vehicle is moving.
"We are aware of driver concerns and are discussing the feature with the manufacturer," the agency said in a statement. "The Vehicle Safety Act prohibits manufacturers from selling vehicles with design defects posing unreasonable risks to safety.”
Tesla appeared to be aware the new games can be played while the car is in motion.
A warning shows up on the screen before the game starts that reads, "Solitaire is for everyone but playing while the car is in motion is only for passengers." The system asks for confirmation that the person seeking to play the game is a passenger, but there is nothing preventing drivers from clicking the button and starting a game.
Mooers, what do you think? Did you play video games in a Tesla before? As a driver or a passenger?
Source: Bloomberg, New York Times