Crypto
$458M
Jack Morse

MicroStrategy Executive Chairman Michael Saylor said today that his company just bought 7,420 bitcoin for $458 million.

The purchase comes a week after MicroStrategy said it bought another 18,300 bitcoin worth about $1.1 billion. And while the exact timing of the more recent buy is unclear, it appeared to come after a pop in bitcoin's price that followed Wednesday's jumbo rate cut.

But buying after a mini rally likely wouldn't faze Saylor. In July, he argued that bitcoin's price would hit $13 million per coin by 2045.

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$1.2B

Crypto liquidations reached $1.2 billion in the past 24 hours, according to CoinGlass data, as bitcoin continued its downward trajectory. Bitcoin suffered $458.24 million in liquidations, with the bulk of them — over $334 million — in long positions. Meanwhile, the second-biggest crypto, ethereum, saw the second-biggest figure for liquidations yesterday, with $278 million.

Bitcoin slipped as far as $103,856 early Friday morning, its lowest level since July, and is down 13% in the past seven days. The sell-off dragged the total crypto market cap down to $3.67 trillion, down 5.5%. Underscoring the market anxiety, CoinMarketCap’s fear and greed index is now at 28.

Bitcoin ETFs also suffered, registering $536 million in outflows on Thursday. The Ark 21 Shares Bitcoin ETF took the biggest hit, with $275.15 million in outflows. Since Monday, bitcoin ETFs have seen $864.5 million in outflows. 

Maja Vujinovic, CEO and cofounder of digital assets at FG Nexus, told Sherwood News that bitcoin’s slump looks like a classic risk-off chain reaction.

“Credit jitters and trade tensions pushed money into gold at record highs while leveraged crypto longs were forced to unwind. Once the liquidations exhaust and policy fog clears, the same macro buyers chasing safety today are likely to hunt value in BTC again,” Vujinovic said. 

$15B

The US government seized 127,271 bitcoin, worth $15 billion, in what it calls the Department of Justice’s “largest ever forfeiture action.”

The indictment against Chen Zhi, chairman of Cambodian conglomerate Prince Group, alleges that he engaged in wire fraud conspiracy using forced labor in Cambodia.

“Individuals held against their will in the compounds engaged in cryptocurrency investment fraud schemes, known as ‘pig butchering’ scams, that stole billions of dollars from victims in the United States and around the world. The defendant is at large,” according to a DOJ press release.

This is “exactly the kind of outcome the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve was designed to enable,” Zack Shapiro, managing partner at Rains Law and head of policy of the Bitcoin Policy Institute, said on X.

This significantly increases the size of the US’s strategic reserve, which held over 197,000 bitcoin before the seizure. As of today, Arkham Intelligence data shows it’s holding 324,780 bitcoin, worth over $37 billion.

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