Crypto
A bronze statue of “Satoshi Nakamoto”
A bronze statue of Satoshi Nakamoto (Attila Kisbenedek/Getty Images)

Bitcoin drops ahead of the long weekend

The risk-off mood hits cryptos, too.

Yaël Bizouati-Kennedy

The crypto market overall is starting the long weekend down, with bitcoin hovering around $108,000 levels not seen since early July. The asset is down 3.5% in the past 24 hours. solana, meanwhile, was also down 2% in the past 24 hours.

Yet, there was some good news for the crypto space, including bitcoin miner Iris Energy, which jumped 16% this morning. The company’s full-year earnings report showed records for revenue and net income, and shares also benefited from the announcement that management had secured “preferred partner status” from Nvidia and expanded “its total GPU fleet to 10.9k NVIDIA GPUs.”

Total revenue increased to $501 million, a 168% increase versus FY24, while net income stood at $86.9 million, compared to a net loss of $28.9 million for FY24.

In addition, it reported EBITDA of $241.4 million, including $1 billion in annualized revenue from bitcoin mining “under current mining economics.”

There was also a slew of solana news, notably in the token’s corporate treasury space, which is gaining momentum.

Defi Development Corp. announced the launch of DFDV UK, “the first solana-focused public treasury vehicle in the United Kingdom.”

DeFi Development Corp. was flat in morning trading.

The new entity will be formed via the acquisition of Cykel AI, “by a group of investors, with DeFi Dev Corp holding an approximately 45% equity stake alongside local management and board members,” according to the announcement.

This represents the company’s first move as part of its “Treasury Accelerator strategy,” which is set to expand solana treasuries globally, Parker White, DFDV’s COO and CIO, told Sherwood News.

“This will give UK investors access to a best-in-class solana accumulation vehicle managed by a local team with support from DFDV. We plan to announce other companies in the coming weeks and months as we continue to scale this area of our business,” White said.

He added that this program creates long-term value for the DFDV brand and shareholders globally and directly via its infrastructure fee arrangement with these businesses, as it provides a source of revenue to DFDV that is not reliant on capital markets activity.

Defi Dev. has five other vehicles “in the pipeline at various stages of development,” the announcement said.

The company also acquired 407,247 solana yesterday, bringing its total holdings to 1.83 million solana. This makes it one of the largest solana corporate holders.

Finally, Sharps Technology, a medical device and pharmaceutical packaging company that recently entered the solana treasury fray, announced the closing of its $400 million PIPE deal.

Shares tumbled more than 11% this morning.

Alice Zhang, CIO of Sharps Technology, told Sherwood that with this transaction closed, the company is positioned to build one of the largest solana treasuries in the world, with up to $1 billion in potential proceeds if all warrants are exercized.

“We believe solana’s unmatched speed, scalability, and adoption make it the foundation for a new era of internet capital markets, and this raise gives us the resources and partnerships to execute on that vision,” Zhang said. 

The company also signed a nonbinding letter of intent with the Solana Foundation, which commits to “selling $50 million of SOL at a 15% discount to a 30-day time-weighted average price, subject to certain conditions being met.”

A slew of institutions backed the deal, including Monarq Asset Management, ParaFi, and Pantera. Cantor Fitzgerald is the lead placement agent.

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For the first time, Fannie Mae will allow mortgages to be backed by crypto

Fannie Mae, the government-backed mortgage finance giant, will start accepting mortgages backed by cryptocurrencies — namely bitcoin and Circle’s stablecoin, USDC. 

Mortgage firm Better Home & Finance and US-based crypto exchange Coinbase Global are rolling out a new product that enables prospective homebuyers to pledge their digital assets as down payment collateral when obtaining a mortgage backed by Fannie Mae, The Wall Street Journal reported

This means homebuyers can secure a standard conforming mortgage without liquidating tokenized assets, which potentially triggers a taxable event.

“If BTC drops in value, the mortgage terms remain unchanged, and no additional collateral is required. Market movements alone never trigger liquidation,” per a joint press release from Better and Coinbase.

“Token-backed mortgages originated by Better are designed in accordance with Fannie Mae guidelines and remain as standard conforming mortgage loans, identical to other conforming mortgages,” the announcement continued.

Max Branzburg, head of consumer and business products at Coinbase, said, “Token-backed mortgages are a major first step to unlocking homeownership for the younger generations that have struggled with barriers to saving for a traditional downpayment.”

The announcement comes more than nine months after William Pulte, the director of the Federal Housing Agency, ordered Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to prepare a proposal that considers cryptocurrency as a reserve asset in single-family mortgage loan risk assessment. 

This means homebuyers can secure a standard conforming mortgage without liquidating tokenized assets, which potentially triggers a taxable event.

“If BTC drops in value, the mortgage terms remain unchanged, and no additional collateral is required. Market movements alone never trigger liquidation,” per a joint press release from Better and Coinbase.

“Token-backed mortgages originated by Better are designed in accordance with Fannie Mae guidelines and remain as standard conforming mortgage loans, identical to other conforming mortgages,” the announcement continued.

Max Branzburg, head of consumer and business products at Coinbase, said, “Token-backed mortgages are a major first step to unlocking homeownership for the younger generations that have struggled with barriers to saving for a traditional downpayment.”

The announcement comes more than nine months after William Pulte, the director of the Federal Housing Agency, ordered Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to prepare a proposal that considers cryptocurrency as a reserve asset in single-family mortgage loan risk assessment. 

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GameStop transfers all but 1 bitcoin to Coinbase as collateral

It’s been one year since GameStop added bitcoin as a treasury reserve asset, but the company has since halted its accumulation strategy, joining a fray of companies pivoting away from HODLing the cryptocurrency.

The gaming and collectibles retailer was at one point the 21st-largest bitcoin treasury company, but has since dropped to 190th after pledging all but one of its 4,710 bitcoin as collateral for its covered-call strategy with Coinbase Credit, data from Bitcoin Treasuries shows. Earlier this year, GameStop moved 51% of its bitcoin to Coinbase Prime, triggering speculation that it would offload the asset.

Coinbase Credit has the “right to rehypothecate, commingle, or unilaterally sell the Pledged Bitcoin,” per GameStop’s 10K filing with the SEC on Tuesday. “As a result of these rights, we concluded that control of the Pledged Bitcoin transferred to the counterparty. Accordingly, we derecognized the Pledged Bitcoin as an intangible asset.” That said, GameStop also “recognized digital assets receivable of $368.3 million... representing our contractual right to receive equivalent amount of Bitcoin in the future.”

GameStop sold covered‑call option contracts, which have strike prices ranging from $105,000 to $110,000 and maturities extending through March 2026, to mitigate its exposure to bitcoin’s price volatility and generate incremental yield. 

The move comes as a number of other bitcoin firms have reached a tipping point and sold part of their stockpile. 

  • Empery Digital, the 23rd-largest bitcoin treasury firm, announced in a March press release that it sold $4.2 million worth of BTC to fund share repurchases. DL News also reported that a shareholder who owns 9.8% of Empery Digital demanded the company sell its entire bitcoin stockpile and the immediate resignation of its CEO and entire board of directors. 

  • GD Culture Group approved the sale of an unspecified amount of its 7,500-bitcoin reserve to fund its share repurchase program, according to a press release last month. 

  • Elsewhere, Cango sold 4,451 BTC to reduce its overall finance leverage and strengthen its balance sheet, while Riot Platforms sold around $200 million worth of bitcoin in November and December.

Despite GameStop’s pledge to Coinbase Credit, the company has technically left the door open to resume its bitcoin strategy: the gaming firm said it intends to use net proceeds from its convertible 2030 notes for general corporate purposes, including the acquisition of bitcoin. 

Shares of GameStop are up 2.7% today after posting lackluster Q4 results yesterday.

The move comes as a number of other bitcoin firms have reached a tipping point and sold part of their stockpile. 

  • Empery Digital, the 23rd-largest bitcoin treasury firm, announced in a March press release that it sold $4.2 million worth of BTC to fund share repurchases. DL News also reported that a shareholder who owns 9.8% of Empery Digital demanded the company sell its entire bitcoin stockpile and the immediate resignation of its CEO and entire board of directors. 

  • GD Culture Group approved the sale of an unspecified amount of its 7,500-bitcoin reserve to fund its share repurchase program, according to a press release last month. 

  • Elsewhere, Cango sold 4,451 BTC to reduce its overall finance leverage and strengthen its balance sheet, while Riot Platforms sold around $200 million worth of bitcoin in November and December.

Despite GameStop’s pledge to Coinbase Credit, the company has technically left the door open to resume its bitcoin strategy: the gaming firm said it intends to use net proceeds from its convertible 2030 notes for general corporate purposes, including the acquisition of bitcoin. 

Shares of GameStop are up 2.7% today after posting lackluster Q4 results yesterday.

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Circle plunges on report of proposal prohibiting platforms from offering yield payments

Circle, the firm behind the second-largest stablecoin, USDC, sank over 18.5% after journalist Eleanor Terrett posted on X that lawmakers are considering a proposal that would prohibit platforms such as exchanges and brokers from offering yield payments for holding stablecoins. Shares of US-based crypto exchange Coinbase, which has benefited from its ties to Circle and holds a minority interest in the stablecoin issuer, also fell on the report.

Stablecoin competitor Tether also announced signing a “Big Four” accounting firm to complete a full independent financial statement audit today, aimed at providing assurance that USDT is fully backed and highly liquid, the company’s press release said. The firm has never before allowed an independent audit, which has long plagued the company as investors questioned whether USDT is actually backed by its reserves.

The amount of Circle’s USDC in circulation sits at $81 billion, less than half the figure of the industry leader, Tether, whose USDT stablecoin sits at $184.2 billion, data from blockchain analytics firm Artemis shows

Stablecoin competitor Tether also announced signing a “Big Four” accounting firm to complete a full independent financial statement audit today, aimed at providing assurance that USDT is fully backed and highly liquid, the company’s press release said. The firm has never before allowed an independent audit, which has long plagued the company as investors questioned whether USDT is actually backed by its reserves.

The amount of Circle’s USDC in circulation sits at $81 billion, less than half the figure of the industry leader, Tether, whose USDT stablecoin sits at $184.2 billion, data from blockchain analytics firm Artemis shows

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