News linked to both this project and an event.
Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy), led by Michael Saylor, has been accelerating its Bitcoin acquisitions this year. JPMorgan analysts stated that if the current pace continues, the company's total Bitcoin purchases for the year could reach approximately $30 billion. So far this year, Strategy has added 145,834 Bitcoin to its holdings, valued at around $11 billion. Analysis indicates that a significant portion of the company's purchases occurred when Bitcoin was below its average cost of roughly $75,000, reflecting a more "opportunistic" allocation strategy.At the current rate, Strategy's total Bitcoin purchases in 2026 could significantly exceed the approximately $22 billion levels seen in 2024 and 2025. Analysts noted that the company has re-accelerated its buying since April, suggesting its strategy is becoming more dependent on market conditions and financing availability. Meanwhile, Strategy's stock continues to trade at a premium of approximately 26% to its net asset value (NAV), providing favorable conditions for the company to continue purchasing Bitcoin through equity and debt financing. The company currently holds approximately 818,334 BTC, with a total value exceeding $65 billion. (The Block)
investment bank TD Cowen on Thursday raised its price target for Strategy (MSTR) to $395 from $385, believing the market underestimates the capital efficiency of the company’s bitcoin accumulation strategy following its increased issuance of STRC perpetual preferred stock. Analysts Lance Vitanza and Jonnathan Navarrete indicated that the new target still implies over 110% upside from Strategy’s Wednesday closing price of $186.82.The analysis notes that Strategy is gradually reducing common equity financing and increasingly relying on STRC perpetual preferred stock, which yields 11.5%, to fund bitcoin purchases. STRC is also a core component of Michael Saylor’s “42/42 plan,” which aims to raise $42 billion each through equity and fixed-income instruments over three years.TD Cowen believes the market underestimates the effect of the STRC structure on boosting “BTC Yield,” a metric measuring the company’s growth in bitcoin holdings per fully diluted share. The report raised its BTC Yield forecast for Strategy’s fiscal 2026 to 18.2% from 16.7%, and for 2027 to 9.6% from 5.4%. Additionally, analysts argue that concerns about Strategy being a “perpetual dilution machine” are exaggerated. The company’s annual preferred stock dividend payments, currently around $1.5 billion, represent only about 2.2% of the value of its 818,334 BTC reserve.In TD Cowen’s base case scenario, bitcoin is expected to reach $140,000 by the end of 2026. In a bull case, bitcoin could rise to $175,000, with Strategy potentially purchasing over $5 billion in bitcoin per quarter. (The Block)
According to The Block, South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb announced it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with SSI Digital (SSID), the blockchain subsidiary of Vietnam’s largest securities firm, SSI. Under the MOU, the two parties will jointly establish and operate a digital asset exchange in Vietnam, covering areas including wallet and custody systems, security risk management, regulatory compliance, and product development. The agreement was signed in March this year and officially announced today. Bithumb stated that, subject to approval by local regulatory authorities, it may make a strategic investment in SSID’s cryptocurrency exchange project.
According to The Block, a16z crypto—the cryptocurrency division of venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz—has completed fundraising for its fifth fund at $2.2 billion. This fund is smaller than its record-breaking fourth fund, which raised $4.5 billion in 2022. Paul Cafiero, Communications Partner at a16z crypto, stated that the firm intentionally returned to a smaller fund size because “a shorter fundraising cycle enables us to keep pace with the rapidly evolving crypto landscape.” Prior a16z crypto funds included: the $2.2 billion third fund in 2021, the $515 million second fund in 2020, and the $350 million first fund in 2018.
According to The Block, Payward, Kraken’s parent company, has announced the completion of its acquisition of Chicago-based crypto-native exchange Bitnomial, thereby obtaining a full suite of U.S. derivatives licenses from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), including Futures Commission Merchant (FCM), Designated Contract Market (DCM), and Derivatives Clearing Organization (DCO) licenses. Payward stated that it will first launch spot margin trading on Kraken, followed by perpetual contracts and options products, all available to eligible U.S. customers. This acquisition will also provide partners—including banks, brokers, and payment service providers—with a channel to offer U.S. derivatives to their end customers. Bitnomial will operate independently under Payward while retaining its existing licenses and regulatory framework. The transaction’s value is reported to be up to $550 million, comprising cash and stock, implying a valuation for Payward of approximately $20 billion; however, the final terms have not been disclosed.
Odaily Strategy founder Michael Saylor posted on X yesterday stating that the company will suspend its routine weekly Bitcoin purchase plan this week, marking the second time this year it has paused weekly accumulation.To date, Strategy holds a total of 818,334 BTC, representing approximately 3.9% of Bitcoin's total supply. Data from Saylortracker shows that as Bitcoin staged a strong rebound today, breaking through the $80,000 mark, the total market value of BTC held by Strategy has returned to above $65 billion, currently standing at $65.74 billion. The average cost price is $75,537, with an unrealized profit of $3.926 billion.Strategy is expected to announce its Q1 earnings on Tuesday, with the market anticipating a loss per share of $18.98, higher than the loss of $16.38 per share in the same period last year. Its ongoing coin purchases are primarily financed through stock (MSTR) and perpetual preferred stock. Among these, the high-dividend product STRC (annualized yield approximately 11.5%) has raised concerns among some analysts regarding structural risks, though others argue that this model can convert yield demands into long-term Bitcoin exposure. (The Block)
market分歧 has widened regarding Strategy's financing model of continuously accumulating Bitcoin through its preferred stock STRC. Benchmark analyst Mark Palmer stated in his latest report that the interpretation of the STRC model as a "circular financing or Ponzi structure" is a "serious misreading" and emphasized that the mechanism is an "intentionally designed and sustainable capital framework," with the core logic being to convert market demand for yield into long-term Bitcoin exposure.According to an SEC 8-K filing, Strategy raised approximately $3.5 billion in the first three weeks of April, with over 85% coming from STRC issuance. Subsequently, it made three consecutive purchases within the following three weeks, acquiring a total of 51,364 Bitcoins worth approximately $3.9 billion. Strategy's total Bitcoin holdings have now increased to 818,334 BTC, with a market value of around $62.5 billion, and it has recently returned to an unrealized profit of about $700 million.Benchmark believes that this structure does not rely on continuous issuance to sustain itself and could even sell a portion of its Bitcoin to pay preferred stock dividends if necessary. However, significant market skepticism remains, with some arguing that selling financed assets to pay dividends could be perceived as a risk signal, potentially triggering broader market pressure. (The Block)
Exponent Finance, a Solana-based yield trading platform, announced the completion of a $5 million seed funding round. The round was led by Multicoin Capital, with participation from Solana Ventures, RockawayX, L1D, Prelude, and Theia Blockchain, along with several key figures from the Solana ecosystem as angel investors. The round was initiated in May last year and closed in August, bringing Exponent's total funding to $7.1 million. Exponent stated that the funds will be used to expand its yield trading platform and upgrade it into a more comprehensive on-chain yield infrastructure, covering active yield management needs within the Solana ecosystem. (The Block)
Odaily AI Financial (formerly Alt5 Sigma), a publicly listed crypto company linked to the family of U.S. President Donald Trump, has announced it will acquire crypto infrastructure startup Block Street for up to $43 million. Block Street was founded by Matthew Morgan, who currently serves as an advisor to AI Financial and is also its CEO and largest shareholder.According to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the deal was reached last Monday. Block Street was registered in October 2025, but Morgan stated that its business operations had started about 16 months prior.The acquisition has raised market concerns about potential conflicts of interest, as Morgan is both an advisor to AI Financial and the founder of the acquired company. He was briefly nominated for the position of Chief Investment Officer in a previous cooperation deal between AI Financial and World Liberty Financial, but the role was later adjusted to an unpaid advisor position.In August, AI Financial reached an agreement with World Liberty Financial to include approximately $1.5 billion in crypto assets on its balance sheet, in exchange for equity and a board seat. This collaboration also positioned the company as part of the "Trump family crypto ecosystem."In interviews, Morgan has denied that the transaction constitutes self-dealing, stating that Block Street focuses on tokenization and ICO infrastructure capabilities, areas AI Financial is looking to enter. He claimed to have pitched the asset to several other public companies and turned down acquisition offers with higher valuations.However, since establishing ties with the Trump family crypto project, AI Financial's stock price has fallen by over 90%, reflecting ongoing market skepticism toward the "crypto reserve public company" model.This transaction has also reignited controversy over insider transactions and governance structures within public companies. Similar cases have frequently emerged in the crypto industry recently, with multiple listed companies criticized for mixing assets with related-party transactions, raising investor concerns about the risks of conflicts of interest. (Fortune)
: Solana ecosystem multi-signature protocol Squads announced the completion of an $18 million strategic funding round, led by Solana Ventures, with participation from Coinbase Ventures, Haun Ventures, L1D, and others. Its total cumulative funding has now reached $42.9 million. According to reports, Squads' stablecoin payment platform Altitude allows enterprises to conduct 24/7 global payment settlements in stablecoins through self-custodial wallets, and connects to the global payment network via its compliance and risk control system. (The Block)
According to The Block, Squads, a multi-signature protocol in the Solana ecosystem, has announced the completion of an $18 million strategic funding round led by Solana Ventures, with participation from Coinbase Ventures, Haun Ventures, L1D, and others. This round is an equity financing, bringing Squads’ total funding to $42.9 million. Squads will use the funds from this round to expand its stablecoin-based corporate finance platform, Altitude.
According to The Block, Nuva Digital has completed a $5.2 million seed funding round, led by Morgan Creek Digital with participation from Ulu Ventures. The round was closed in a single tranche and marks the company’s first external funding. Nuva Digital was jointly incubated by Animoca Brands and Nuva Labs (formerly Provenance Blockchain Labs) and is building Nuva Finance, a real-world asset (RWA) yield platform. The financing structure consists of a priced equity seed round accompanied by token purchase warrants; the valuation was not disclosed.
Odaily Odaily Planet Daily reports that investors including Pantera Capital Management are pushing UK Bitcoin reserve company Satsuma to sell its $50 million Bitcoin reserve. In August 2025, Satsuma shifted to an "AI-driven" Bitcoin reserve strategy, successfully raising £164 million (approximately $221 million) through convertible loan notes. The round was led by ParaFi Capital, with participation from Pantera, Digital Currency Group (DCG), Kraken, Arrington Capital, and others.It is reported that Satsuma confirmed that some shareholders have "demanded a return of capital," but did not disclose the specific identities of those shareholders. In an email statement, Satsuma's Executive Chairman Ranald McGregor-Smith said the company is exploring options to facilitate these requests while protecting the interests of all shareholders. (The Block)
According to The Block, Cluster Protocol—an AI-native infrastructure company building for Web3—has raised $5 million in funding, led by DAO5, with participation from Paper Ventures, JPEG Trading, and Mapleblock Capital. This brings the company’s total funding to $7.75 million. The new capital will accelerate the development of CodeXero, its browser-native IDE built for the EVM ecosystem, expand its product and engineering teams, and enhance its AI systems, developer workflows, deployment infrastructure, and ecosystem growth. Cluster Protocol stated that CodeXero has already connected over 300,000 wallets, processed more than 3 billion AI tokens, and supported the deployment of over 25,000 dApps.
According to The Block, the cryptocurrency venture capital sector is undergoing a structural shift. Investors now broadly require startups to demonstrate real users and revenue before committing capital—marking the end of the era when early-stage fundraising was easy. Token-based exit strategies have become significantly less reliable; low-liquidity, high-valuation token launches continue to underperform the broader market, prompting investors to revert to traditional equity-oriented thinking. Meanwhile, the rise of the AI sector has siphoned off substantial LP capital and entrepreneurial talent, further intensifying fundraising challenges for crypto VCs. Nonetheless, several investors note that reduced competition, more rational valuations, and an improving regulatory environment point to 2026–2027 as the strongest investment years since 2018. Future capital will focus on areas with clear business models—including stablecoins, payments, tokenization, real-world assets (RWAs), and financial infrastructure—while the boundaries between crypto VCs and traditional VCs accelerate toward convergence.
According to The Block, Jim Esposito, President of Citadel Securities, stated on Thursday at the Semafor World Economic Forum in Washington, D.C., that the firm is “fully capable” of providing liquidity to prediction markets—but explicitly expressed no interest in sports-event contracts. Instead, he emphasized the value of prediction markets for hedging geopolitical risks, citing the U.S. midterm elections this November as “one of the greatest risks facing investors’ portfolios.” Esposito noted that as platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket continue to grow rapidly, the prediction market is poised for sustained expansion—naturally drawing Citadel Securities into the space. Notably, Zhao Peng, CEO of Citadel Securities, participated last year in Kalshi’s $185 million funding round.
According to The Block, Tether has confirmed its participation in the previously announced $134 million private financing round of publicly listed Stablecoin Development Corporation (SDEV). SDEV positions itself as a vehicle offering public-market investors exposure to the stablecoin sector, with core holdings including the Sky Protocol governance token SKY and the stablecoin USDS. As of March 31, SDEV held approximately 2.15 billion SKY tokens, representing roughly 9.15% of the total supply. This financing was completed in January and included the deposit of 943.6 million SKY tokens, along with $25 million in cash and $51 million in stablecoins, which were used to acquire an additional ~1.17 billion SKY tokens.
According to The Block, Brix—a startup focused on tokenizing emerging-market assets—has announced a $5.5 million funding round. Participants include Yapi Kredi’s venture capital arm, FRWRD, IS Asset Management, and crypto investment firms Circle Ventures, ConsenSys, and Borderless Capital. Brix plans to launch on the MegaETH network, aiming to bring traditionally institutional trading strategies—such as Turkish lira arbitrage—on-chain.
According to The Block, Bitcoin mining company TeraWulf raised $900 million through a stock offering, with the funds earmarked for building AI data centers. Following the announcement, TeraWulf’s stock price declined.
Odaily News Bitcoin treasury company Strategy's perpetual preferred shares, STRC, recorded approximately $1.1 billion in trading volume on April 13, representing a nearly 47% increase from the previous record. This has become a core financing tool for the company to accelerate its Bitcoin accumulation. Strategy raises capital by selling preferred shares like STRC and uses the funds for high-frequency Bitcoin purchases.Data shows that Strategy recently purchased 13,927 BTC for approximately $1 billion, bringing its total holdings to 780,897 BTC. The related funds primarily came from the issuance of over 10 million STRC shares. Within the overall capital plan, STRC, along with STRK, STRF, STRD, and common stock financing, constitutes its "42/42" financing framework. The goal is to raise $84 billion by 2027 for continuous Bitcoin purchases. Current market views suggest that STRC is gradually becoming the dominant instrument within this financing system. (The Block)