<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <rss version="2.0"> <channel> <title>Bitcoin Today - Bitcoin News Curated and Powered by AI</title> <link>https://www.bitcointoday.app</link> <description>Get daily updates on Bitcoin's price, market trends, analysis, and breaking news curated and powered by AI - all digestible in minutes. Make BitcoinToday.app your one-stop shop for staying informed in the fast-paced world of Bitcoin.</description> <lastBuildDate>Fri, 10 Jul 2026 03:09:27 GMT</lastBuildDate> <docs>https://validator.w3.org/feed/docs/rss2.html</docs> <generator>https://github.com/jpmonette/feed</generator> <language>en</language> <image> <title>Bitcoin Today - Bitcoin News Curated and Powered by AI</title> <url>https://www.bitcointoday.app/images/logo-512.png</url> <link>https://www.bitcointoday.app</link> </image> <copyright>All rights reserved 2024, BitcoinToday.app</copyright> <category>Bitcoin News</category> <item> <title><![CDATA[Bitcoin Bottom Building? Analyst Says Holder Capitulation Signals Bear Market Endgame]]></title> <link>https://www.bitcointoday.app/article/bitcoin-bottom-building-analyst-says-holder-capitulation-signals-bear-market-endgame</link> <guid>bitcoin-bottom-building-analyst-says-holder-capitulation-signals-bear-market-endgame</guid> <pubDate>Thu, 09 Jul 2026 20:01:26 GMT</pubDate> <description><![CDATA[Bitcoin has traded below its **True Market Mean** and **Short-Term Holder Cost Basis** for five straight months, one of the longest deep-value stretches in its history, according to Glassnode's latest onchain report. **Long-term holder loss realization** now accounts for 43% of total realized value onchain, up from 15% in early February, and recently peaked at **$280 million per day**, the highest reading since December 2022. Bitcoin traded below $63,000 on Thursday, bouncing between roughly $58,300 and $64,400 over the past week, still sitting well below the True Market Mean at $76,600 and the Short-Term Holder Cost Basis at $72,200. ## Long-term holders are the dominant sellers Glassnode's onchain data identifies **long-term holder capitulation** as the single largest source of downward price pressure. Investors who bought near the cycle top and held through months of drawdown are increasingly exiting as the bear market extends beyond their conviction threshold. Each attempted recovery has been met with fresh distribution from this cohort, explaining why price has struggled to reclaim the upper end of its range. The **Entity-Adjusted Long-Term Holder Realized Loss** metric has not yet cooled from its recent peak, unlike the first major capitulation spike earlier in the cycle. Glassnode analysts said a sustained compression in this metric is the key precondition for a credible shift back toward bull market conditions. ## ETF flows still bleeding, but decelerating The 30-day average of spot bitcoin ETF net flows shifted into a monthly outflow regime in mid-May, peaked at **negative $193 million per day** in early June, and has since eased to roughly **negative $89 million per day**. Daily ETF trading volume of $650 million to $950 million remains about 80% below the $4.4 billion peak recorded in October 2025. Spot bitcoin ETFs recorded $84.86 million in net outflows on July 8. Spot ether ETFs, by contrast, posted $70.48 million in net inflows the same day, marking a fifth consecutive day of positive flows. QCP Capital noted that bitcoin ETF flows swung from a low of negative $691.7 million on June 25 to positive $223.5 million on July 2 and positive $265.7 million on July 6, led by IBIT, FBTC, and ARKB, though further positive sessions are needed to confirm a durable recovery. ## Derivatives book turns cautiously long The options open-interest put/call ratio fell to **0.56**, its lowest reading of 2026, while perpetual funding has averaged well below the neutral 0.01% line, indicating a de-risked book leaning cautiously long rather than crowded into shorts. The **25-delta skew**, a measure of the premium traders pay for downside protection, spiked to 24% in late June, the most defensive reading since February's selloff. Bitcoin currently trades roughly 6% below its aggregate maximum pain level of $66,000. ## Iran ceasefire collapse whipsaws risk assets WTI crude rose 7.9% over the past seven days after reports that the U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding had lapsed. President Trump said the ceasefire was "over" following Iranian strikes on commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, and U.S. Central Command has since carried out two rounds of retaliatory strikes. Iran responded with strikes on U.S. military sites in Bahrain and Kuwait. Bitcoin, which had risen as much as 9.4% on the week, pared that gain to about 5% as the ceasefire deteriorated, trading in line with broader risk assets, with the S&P 500 and Euro Stoxx both turning negative. QCP Capital described the moment as one where monetary policy offers no cushion. June payrolls rose just 57,000, roughly half the 110,000 expected, and combined April and May revisions cut 74,000 jobs from prior estimates. Even so, wage growth remains at 3.5%, and M2 hit a record $23.05 trillion in May, keeping inflation the binding constraint ahead of the July 14 CPI print. QCP said the Strategic Petroleum Reserve has fallen to its lowest level since 1983, Strategy sold bitcoin for the first time to fund dividend payments, and private credit funds breached quarterly redemption gates in the second quarter. "With no monetary cushion coming and buffers thinning across oil, crypto, and credit, where does the first crack show?" the QCP analysts asked. ## Technical levels in focus Capital.com's Daniela Hathorn said bitcoin's rebound from the low $60,000s remains a key technical zone, having acted as support during the recent selloff. She identified the mid-$60,000s as the first resistance level to watch on the upside, followed by the prior swing highs near $70,000, while a break back below recent support would raise questions about whether the recovery is losing momentum. Taken together, Glassnode said the conditions for a bottoming process are in place across onchain, offchain and derivatives data, but confirmation has not arrived. Further cooling in long-term holder capitulation, stabilization in institutional flows, and a sustained reclaim of the True Market Mean remain preconditions before the odds of a regime shift can be weighted constructively.]]></description> <author>contact@bitcointoday.app (BitcoinToday.app)</author> <category>bitcoin</category> <category>bearmarket</category> <category>capitulation</category> <category>onchainanalysis</category> <category>marketsentiment</category> <enclosure url="https://www.tbstat.com/wp/uploads/2026/04/20260410_Bitcoin_News-1200x675.jpg" length="0" type="image/jpg"/> </item> <item> <title><![CDATA[AI IPOs Are Draining Billions from Crypto – Here's Why It Matters]]></title> <link>https://www.bitcointoday.app/article/ai-ipos-are-draining-billions-from-crypto-heres-why-it-matters</link> <guid>ai-ipos-are-draining-billions-from-crypto-heres-why-it-matters</guid> <pubDate>Thu, 09 Jul 2026 14:01:13 GMT</pubDate> <description><![CDATA[## AI IPOs Are Draining Billions from Crypto – Here's Why It Matters Artificial intelligence (AI) has not only been dominating headlines, but has also been **soaking up capital** that might otherwise have flowed into other parts of the financial market, including cryptocurrencies. This trend continues as **SK Hynix (000660)** gears for its blockbuster IPO on July 10. The South Korean memory chip giant is raising about **$24.5 billion to $28 billion** through the sale of 177.9 million American depositary receipts, a deal that has reportedly been **more than seven times oversubscribed**, according to Bloomberg. The offering has attracted global long-only funds, sovereign wealth funds and specialist technology investors, with firms including Baillie Gifford, Coatue Management and Situational Awareness Partners indicating interest in buying up to **$7 billion worth of shares**. The proceeds will fund new manufacturing capacity and advanced chipmaking equipment to meet booming AI demand. China is following with a semiconductor mega listing of its own. **Changxin Memory Technologies (CXMT)**, the country's largest DRAM maker, will begin book building on July 15 for a **29.5 billion yuan ($4.3 billion) Shanghai IPO**, with subscriptions opening a day later, according to Reuters. The U.S.-blocked company plans to use the proceeds to upgrade production lines and technology after posting explosive growth, including first-quarter revenue of 50.8 billion yuan, **up 700% year-on-year**. Reuters estimates CXMT held around 7.7% of the global DRAM market last year. These deals follow **SpaceX (SPCX)** and **Cerebras (CBRS)**, two AI-related listings that have fueled enthusiasm across semiconductor and memory stocks. Together they reinforce a broader theme: investors are allocating fresh capital to companies building the infrastructure behind artificial intelligence rather than to crypto assets. **Bitcoin** has fallen roughly **50%** from its October all-time high to around **$63,000**, as investors have increasingly favored AI infrastructure plays over digital assets. The pipeline is far from empty. **OpenAI** and Anthropic have both been discussed as companies that could eventually command valuations approaching **$1 trillion**. While market expectations had pointed to IPOs as early as this year, however, growing investor unease over AI valuations and a cooling in semiconductor shares could delay those listings until 2027. Even so, another wave of AI mega offerings would likely continue drawing liquidity away from crypto.]]></description> <author>contact@bitcointoday.app (BitcoinToday.app)</author> <category>aiipos</category> <category>skhynix</category> <category>cxmt</category> <category>bitcoin</category> <category>capitalrotation</category> <enclosure url="https://cdn.sanity.io/images/s3y3vcno/production/103ed49dd477f8cb952f14fac5be1dc999b0317f-2946x1938.png?auto=format&w=960&h=540&crop=focalpoint&fit=clip&q=75&fm=jpg" length="0" type="image/png"/> </item> <item> <title><![CDATA[A $15 Billion Floating City: Could the Freedom Ship Finally Set Sail?]]></title> <link>https://www.bitcointoday.app/article/a-15-billion-floating-city-could-the-freedom-ship-finally-set-sail</link> <guid>a-15-billion-floating-city-could-the-freedom-ship-finally-set-sail</guid> <pubDate>Wed, 08 Jul 2026 07:01:12 GMT</pubDate> <description><![CDATA[**First sketched in the 1990s by engineer Norman Nixon, the Freedom Ship is being pitched again by Freedom Cruise Line International as a self-contained floating city in international waters.** The plan calls for housing 50,000 permanent residents and running largely independent of ports, with nuclear power and an estimated $15 billion build that proponents say could take 3 to 4 years once funded. ### Key Takeaways - **Freedom Cruise Line seeks $15.6B for a 50,000-resident city; financing remains the hurdle.** - **Norman Nixon's 1990s concept revives, testing maritime engineering and nuclear power plans.** - **Freedom Ship targets a 3-4 year build if funded; regulatory approval remains the next test.** The Freedom Ship has been pitched for decades as a full-size city that never docks, with room for 50,000 permanent residents beyond any nation's borders. First sketched in the 1990s by engineer Norman Nixon and now promoted by Freedom Cruise Line International, the project calls for roughly $15 billion to turn renderings into steel. The promise is familiar urban life at sea, complete with schools, hospitals, banking, and big-ticket diversions like a stadium and aquapark, potentially powered by nuclear energy. The problem is just as clear: no one has ever financed or built anything on this scale, and the engineering, regulation, and economics get harder the closer the idea moves to reality. ### A floating city keeps resurfacing Every few years, an old idea washes back onto the tech and business shoreline: build a city that never needs to dock. The proposal is called the Freedom Ship, and it has been circulating since the 1990s. It sits somewhere between mega-project real estate, maritime engineering, and a startup pitch deck that never quite closes. The core vision is bluntly ambitious. The vessel would stretch about 1.6 kilometers (roughly 1 mile) long and aim to host around 50,000 permanent residents, with total capacity estimates reaching 80,000 people when you add visitors and staff. It would live in international waters, leaning on autonomy as a selling point, even as it inevitably intersects with the laws of flags, ports, insurers, and finance. ### From cruise ship to always-on infrastructure What makes the Freedom Ship concept different from a traditional cruise business is its promise of permanence. The plans describe neighborhoods, internal transportation like a tram system, long pedestrian walkways, and green space designed for daily life rather than vacation pacing. On-paper amenities read like a compact metro area: schools through higher education, hospitals, banks, offices, and sprawling commercial space. The cultural pieces go big too, including a 15,000-seat stadium plus museums and concert venues. The ship would reportedly circle the globe about once every 2.5 years, connecting to land via ferries because a platform that large could not slip into normal ports. ### The money problem is the whole problem The project is commonly traced back to Norman Nixon, an American engineer, and is now associated with Freedom Cruise Line International. The sticking point has stayed stubbornly consistent: funding. Developers have floated an estimated build cost around $15.6 billion (a conversion of the frequently cited 12 billion British pounds figure), which immediately pushes the effort into the realm of sovereign-scale financing, not typical venture capital. <iframe loading="lazy" title="Freedom Ship: The Floating City That Will Travel the World" width="696" height="392" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/nVNAPQT0nss?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen=""></iframe> Construction ideas have included building the hull in sections overseas and assembling at sea, with a projected timeline of 3 to 4 years once fully financed. But financing is not just about raising cash. It is about proving unit economics for a city that moves, and underwriting risks from storms to medical care to supply chains. ### Nuclear power, regulation, and trust One proposal that grabs attention is powering the platform with nuclear energy, pitched as a way to provide steady electricity and reduce carbon emissions for a community this large. For a US reader, that idea instantly raises practical questions: How would a nuclear-powered civilian megastructure navigate port access, insurance markets, and overlapping jurisdiction from agencies like the Coast Guard and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission? That is why the Freedom Ship remains compelling as a narrative, but stubborn as a business. It promises a complete, floating society. It also demands a level of technical execution, regulatory clearance, and financial confidence that few projects, on land or sea, ever manage to earn.]]></description> <author>contact@bitcointoday.app (BitcoinToday.app)</author> <category>floatingcity</category> <category>freedomship</category> <category>nuclearpower</category> <category>maritimeengineering</category> <category>megaprojects</category> <enclosure url="https://static.news.bitcoin.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/a-15-billion-plan-would-put-a-floating-city-of-50000-in-international-waters.png" length="0" type="image/png"/> </item> <item> <title><![CDATA[Kansas Jayhawks Score Major Crypto Deal: XRP to Appear on All Jerseys]]></title> <link>https://www.bitcointoday.app/article/kansas-jayhawks-score-major-crypto-deal-xrp-to-appear-on-all-jerseys</link> <guid>kansas-jayhawks-score-major-crypto-deal-xrp-to-appear-on-all-jerseys</guid> <pubDate>Wed, 08 Jul 2026 14:01:14 GMT</pubDate> <description><![CDATA[The University of Kansas is making headlines with a groundbreaking sponsorship deal that will feature the **cryptocurrency XRP** on jersey patches across all Jayhawks athletic teams. This five-year agreement with digital finance company **Ripple** marks one of the most lucrative jersey patch deals in college sports history. ## A Pioneering Partnership Kansas Athletic Director **Travis Goff** emphasized that the partnership goes beyond just a logo on a jersey. “It’s one thing to put a logo on jerseys. It’s a whole other opportunity to bring to life the story of what that business represents,” he told Sports Business Journal. The deal was facilitated through Goff’s relationship with Ripple CEO **Brad Garlinghouse**, a Kansas graduate and Topeka native. Garlinghouse, who served as student body president at KU, sees this as a meeting of pioneering industries: **crypto and blockchain** with collegiate athletics. ## What the Deal Includes - **Jersey patches** featuring XRP across all KU sports teams - Branding at Kansas athletics venues, digital properties, and event signage - Funding for **financial and technology education programs** for KU athletes - Job placement and internship opportunities for Kansas graduates at Ripple ## Industry Context Kansas becomes the **second Big 12 school** to sell a jersey patch, following Oklahoma State’s agreement with the Osage Nation. The deal also comes on the heels of the Big 12’s own sweeping jersey patch deal with Monster Energy, which pays schools around $1 million annually but allows individual schools to sell their own patches. ## Embracing Innovation When asked about potential controversy around promoting a cryptocurrency, Goff called it an “emerging” opportunity rather than a risk. “Is there a little bit of a leap of faith on both parties’ sides? I think it is. … At the end of the day, you’re working with a space and a category that is very innovative and can rapidly change.” Learfield EVP **Andrew Wheeler** praised Kansas for its openness: “What college athletics is clearly showing is an openness to aggressive partnerships outside of traditional thinking.”]]></description> <author>contact@bitcointoday.app (BitcoinToday.app)</author> <category>xrp</category> <category>ripple</category> <category>kansasjayhawks</category> <category>collegesports</category> <category>jerseypatch</category> <enclosure url="https://leadersgroup-sbj-prod.web.arc-cdn.net/resizer/v2/Z25TMJY3VFC5JFHMIJTWCRHBJ4.jpg?smart=true&auth=5fdb4d65baf390ae534c0ad64223aad17d8152deb4336a4fa0b34298853c91ee&width=1200&height=630" length="0" type="image/jpg"/> </item> <item> <title><![CDATA[Michael Saylor Reveals the Simple Metric That Proves Strategy's Bitcoin Plan Is Sustainable]]></title> <link>https://www.bitcointoday.app/article/michael-saylor-reveals-the-simple-metric-that-proves-strategys-bitcoin-plan-is-sustainable</link> <guid>michael-saylor-reveals-the-simple-metric-that-proves-strategys-bitcoin-plan-is-sustainable</guid> <pubDate>Wed, 08 Jul 2026 20:01:28 GMT</pubDate> <description><![CDATA[Michael Saylor, executive chairman of Strategy (MSTR), has highlighted a **misunderstood metric** to defend the sustainability of his company's Bitcoin strategy. He argues that Bitcoin only needs to achieve an **annual growth rate of 3.3%** to cover the firm's preferred dividend payouts using capital gains indefinitely. This metric, called the **"BTC Breakeven ARR"**, divides annual dividend obligations by the value of Strategy's cryptocurrency reserve. ## The Growth Threshold Explained Strategy currently holds **843,775 Bitcoin**, valued at approximately $53.8 billion, with Bitcoin trading near $63,603. The company recently expanded its holdings by purchasing over 25,000 additional tokens during a drawdown. Saylor explained that once Bitcoin appreciates faster than the **3.3% threshold**, capital gains can fund $STRC dividends forever. Even with zero growth, the reserve plus a cash buffer can sustain payouts for about **31 years**, and the cash buffer alone covers roughly **17 months** of obligations. ## Critics Question the Dividend Commitments Despite Saylor's confidence, skeptics raise concerns. **Preferred dividends** jumped to $229.5 million in Q1 2026, up from $10.6 million last year, and total preferred stock has surpassed $13.5 billion. JPMorgan analysts warned that Strategy's policy could force the firm to sell up to **$1.25 billion worth of Bitcoin**, potentially hurting market prices. Preferred shares trade below their $100 target, reflecting perceived risk. Bitcoin remains down nearly **49% from its peak**, making the 3.3% growth target dependent on a sustained recovery. ## Strategy Stock Rating According to TipRanks, Strategy stock has a **consensus Strong Buy** rating from 13 Wall Street analysts, with 12 Buy and 1 Hold ratings. The average 12-month price target of $287.58 implies a **206.72% upside** from current levels.]]></description> <author>contact@bitcointoday.app (BitcoinToday.app)</author> <category>michaelsaylor</category> <category>strategy</category> <category>mstr</category> <category>bitcoin</category> <category>dividendsustainability</category> <enclosure url="https://blog.tipranks.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/shutterstock_2699104615-1-3-750x406.jpg" length="0" type="image/jpg"/> </item> <item> <title><![CDATA[Kraken Wins $22M Arbitration: A Story of Vindication and the Fight for Crypto's Future]]></title> <link>https://www.bitcointoday.app/article/kraken-wins-22m-arbitration-a-story-of-vindication-and-the-fight-for-cryptos-future</link> <guid>kraken-wins-22m-arbitration-a-story-of-vindication-and-the-fight-for-cryptos-future</guid> <pubDate>Tue, 07 Jul 2026 14:01:14 GMT</pubDate> <description><![CDATA[**By Arjun Sethi, Cofounder and Chairman, Tribe Capital; Co-CEO, Payward, the parent company of Kraken.** It is hard to put a price on vindication. An arbitrator did. But if this were only about a lawsuit, I would not be writing this letter. ### TL;DR - **Payward**, **Kraken’s parent company**, asked the **Delaware Court of Chancery** to enter final judgment against **Mazars USA** after winning a **$22 million arbitration award**. Kraken sued Mazars after it withdrew from Kraken’s nearly completed **2022 audit**. - Mazars’ resignation was part of a broader campaign of **regulatory pressure** and **institutional pressure** against **lawful crypto companies**, **crypto founders**, **developers**, and **customers**. - Kraken’s fight is part of the industry’s larger purpose: **financial freedom**, **self-custody**, **open markets** and the **right to build without permission**. - With the machinery of informal pressure being dismantled, Congress must finish the job by passing the **CLARITY Act** and creating durable **digital asset market structure rules** in the **United States**. ### What happened? **Mazars audited our financial statements for three years.** Two clean opinions. A third audit was nearly complete, and Mazars had told us to expect the same result. In December 2023, days before completion, they quit. When they withdrew, Mazars confirmed in writing that they had **no disagreement with our management, no concerns about our integrity, and that they had found no fraud.** Read that again. An auditor abandoned a nearly finished audit of a client it had no professional dispute with. An audit is not a favor. It is oxygen. Banking relationships, licenses, counterparties, and regulators all depend on it. When your auditor quits with no findings against you, you inherit a cloud you did nothing to create, and you pay to clear a name that was never dirty. We spent years and millions in legal fees doing exactly that. Why did they quit? Mazars pointed to uncertainty and risk from legal developments, including a complaint the SEC had filed against Kraken a few weeks earlier. Auditors handle legal developments through disclosure every day. It is routine. Resignation is not. And that SEC complaint was later **dismissed with prejudice.** No penalties. No admission of wrongdoing. No changes to our business. The case evaporated. The damage from losing our auditor did not. I will say what I believe plainly: **Mazars was pressured.** In December 2022, a year before quitting our audit, Mazars Group publicly halted its proof-of-reserves work for the entire crypto sector and pulled its reports off its own website. The firm was not walking away from bad clients. It was walking away from an industry that had become politically expensive to serve. We were the collateral damage. Notably, the problem was not ours. **We have received a clean audit every year since then.** ### The machinery What happened to us was one instance of a pattern of **coordinated pressure against a disfavored industry.** The record is now public, and it is more widespread than the industry’s critics ever admitted. On January 3, 2023, the Federal Reserve, FDIC, and OCC issued a joint statement declaring that crypto-related business models raised significant safety and soundness concerns for banks. Remember that date. Behind the scenes, the FDIC sent at least 25 letters to 24 banks instructing them to pause or refrain from expanding crypto-related activity. Those letters only became public because a research firm sued under the Freedom of Information Act and a federal judge ordered them released. The FDIC’s own press release later admitted that bank requests to serve this industry were, in its words, **almost universally met with resistance.** The SEC’s accounting staff issued **SAB 121**, which forced any public company custodying crypto to put those assets on its own balance sheet. For banks, that made custody economically impossible. The Federal Reserve denied **Custodia**, a fully reserved Wyoming bank built for digital assets, access to the payment system. And in nine days in March 2023, the two settlement networks the industry ran on, **Silvergate’s SEN** and **Signature’s Signet**, disappeared. **Barney Frank**, who sat on Signature’s board, said regulators seized the bank to send a message about crypto. Every piece of that machinery has since been dismantled. SAB 121 was rescinded. The joint statement was withdrawn. Congress held hearings, and the House committee’s final report found that regulators used vague rules and informal pressure to push banks away from lawful digital asset firms. An executive order now bars debanking over reputation risk, and the Federal Reserve has proposed codifying that permanently. The correction is real. It is also an admission of what happened. ### What it did to people Companies have lawyers. People mostly just lose. I was debanked by SVB. I was debanked by First Republic. So were my companies. So were our funds. At a certain point, we were simply asked to leave. There is no hearing when that happens. There is no appeal. There is no explanation you can act on. You are left to wonder what you did wrong, and for thousands of people in this industry, the honest answer was nothing. Both of those banks later collapsed. Not because of crypto. They collapsed because of bad governance and how they were run. I said so at the time, and I was not alone in seeing it. The institutions that decided we were too risky to bank could not manage their own risk. At Tribe Capital, I watched portfolio companies that had done nothing wrong lose banking with a phone call. And when Tribe registered as an investment adviser, a routine step for a growing fund, we did not get a routine review. We got a full examination. The SEC asked for every crypto transaction we and our funds had ever made, and every document connected to our crypto investments, including our investment in Kraken. We produced it all. There was nothing to find, and nothing was found. But understand what that costs a firm in time, in legal fees, and in the quiet signal it sends: this asset class is trouble, and so are the people who touch it. That signal reached developers who shut down projects. Founders who moved abroad. Employees of lawful companies who could not open checking accounts. None of them will file an arbitration claim. Most of their stories will never be told. That is why I am telling ours. ### Our Founder, Jesse Powell Kraken exists because **Jesse Powell** built it, starting in 2011, with security as its foundation and financial freedom as its purpose. When I met Jesse, he was already thinking about transitioning out of the CEO role. That was his plan, made freely, the way a founder should get to make it. Then the war reached him personally. In March 2023, federal agents raided his home and seized his devices over allegations from dispute with a nonprofit unrelated to Kraken or crypto. The raid, instead, was a completely overblown response to a personal business disagreement. He led Kraken through the hardest period in its history with that hanging over him. Two years later, the government closed its investigation and returned his devices. **No charges.** It was over for the prosecutors. It is never really over for the person. What should have been a transition entirely on his terms and his timeline became one shaped by a campaign against him, personally and professionally. He handed the company to **Dave Ripley**, and later trusted me to lead it alongside Dave. I consider it one of the privileges of my life to build beside him. Jesse made the greatest sacrifice of anyone here so that this company could endure. We owe him a debt the balance sheet will never show. **This win is for him.** ### Why I am here People ask why I took this job while building Tribe. The answer has not changed since the day I joined the board in 2021. **Money is the most important network humans have built, and it is broken for billions of people.** I wanted to be at the center of fixing it. Fix money and you fix the world. Here is what that phrase actually means. It means power moves back into the hands of people. Your assets in your custody. Your transactions by your choice. Your financial life is not subject to the quiet veto of an institution that never has to explain itself. I can think of nothing more American than that. This country was founded by people who refused to accept that distant institutions should control what they could own, build, and become. **Crypto is that same refusal, rendered in code.** It also means something about how companies like ours must behave. Nobody is forced to use Kraken. Our customers choose us every day, and every day they are free to leave, because the entire point of this technology is that they can. That keeps us honest in a way no regulation ever will. We are not here to extract money from people. The old system did enough of that. We are here to help people grow their money, their capital, and their independence. When your customer can exit at any moment, service is the only moat. That is exactly how it should be. Kraken’s mission is accelerating the global adoption of crypto so that everyone can achieve true financial freedom and inclusion. That mission is precisely what made us a target. I would make the same choice again without hesitation. ### The US needs clear rules and federal market regulation. Pass the CLARITY Act. The House passed the **CLARITY Act** last July, 294 to 134, with 78 Democrats voting yes. This is not a partisan idea. The Senate Banking Committee advanced it in May. Stablecoin legislation already proved this Congress can act on digital assets. Market structure is the harder and more important half: clear jurisdiction, real registration paths, and protection for the developers who write open-source code. **Software developers should not need an army of lawyers to know whether their code is legal.** The rest of the world is not waiting. In Europe, **MiCA** was passed in 2022 and created one framework that enshrined uniform market regulation and customer protection across 30 countries, and Kraken was authorized by the Central Bank of Ireland a year ago. As of this month, no license means no EU customers. That is what regulatory clarity looks like: real rules, really enforced, that serious companies can build on. Most of the G20 has already advanced fundamental legislation and market regulation, and the US remains well behind. Jurisdiction after jurisdiction has decided that the answer to this industry is rules, not pressure. The United States invented the technology of open markets. It should not be the last major economy to write rules for their next form. None of this is about political party. The principles at stake (the right to hold your own assets, to build without permission, to transact without surveillance as the default) are extensions of the Bill of Rights, rendered in code. They deserved protection when it was hard. We did not fight Mazars because $22 million changes Kraken’s trajectory. We fought because walking away from us was the easy thing, and letting it slide would have taught every institution watching that abandoning a lawful company that is politically disfavored is free. It is not free. Not anymore. **Vindication is not the point.** The point is that no founder, no developer, and no customer should ever need to win an arbitration to prove they deserved a bank account, an auditor, and the basic infrastructure of doing business in America. We won this fight. Now our congressional leaders from both sides of the aisle need to come together to finish the bigger one. **Pass the CLARITY Act.**]]></description> <author>contact@bitcointoday.app (BitcoinToday.app)</author> <category>kraken</category> <category>mazars</category> <category>arbitration</category> <category>regulation</category> <category>clarityact</category> <enclosure url="https://blog.kraken.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Blog-22-1024x467.png" length="0" type="image/png"/> </item> <item> <title><![CDATA[Strategy's $216M Bitcoin Sale Shakes Market: Is the 'Inoculation' Working?]]></title> <link>https://www.bitcointoday.app/article/strategys-216m-bitcoin-sale-shakes-market-is-the-inoculation-working</link> <guid>strategys-216m-bitcoin-sale-shakes-market-is-the-inoculation-working</guid> <pubDate>Mon, 06 Jul 2026 20:01:11 GMT</pubDate> <description><![CDATA[**Live markets: Bitcoin recoups early decline, rising back above $63,000** Strategy raised $216 million with the sale of 3,588 bitcoin last week, sending prices lower earlier on Monday. ## Online experts weigh in on Strategy's move "Strategy now has a completely different business model," wrote **Peter Schiff**, a longtime no-coiner and critic of Michael Saylor and his company. "Instead of selling common and preferred stock and issuing debt to buy bitcoin, the new strategy is to sell bitcoin to pay interest and dividends, pay off debt, buy back shares it sold, and hope that bitcoin’s price goes way up." "You guys who believed selling 32 BTC caused sell-off three weeks ago have some reflecting to do," said **Grant Cardone**. "I’m on board with the firm moving in this direction," wrote **Josh Mandell**. "When the usual approach to funding dividends is just selling more shares of common stock, opting to sell a small amount of bitcoin instead essentially behaves like a buyback of the common." "Strategy just sold ~1.5 months of dividend obligations in one week," said **Joe Burnett**, an executive with fellow bitcoin treasury company, Strive. "At this pace and with 0% BTC appreciation, today’s dividend obligation is funded until 2056 ... At ~3.4% annual BTC appreciation, today’s dividend obligation can be funded indefinitely." Finally, there's **Strategy CEO Phong Le**: "Strategy is evolving from one-way capital issuance to active capital management." ## Saylor's 'inoculate' strategy might be working Strategy's sale of just **32 bitcoin** in late May (disclosed in early June) sparked a panic-driven plunge that took BTC from $74,000 to $60,000 in a few days. Executive Chairman **Michael Saylor** had previously suggested it might be a good idea to "inoculate" the market over the company's intention to possibly fund dividend payments with occasional bitcoin sales. Markets, however, are responding differently to last week's sale of **3,588 bitcoin** (disclosed Monday morning). After a brief dip as the headline hit, bitcoin has returned to very close to its weekend highs, up 1.7% over the past 24 hours. ## Bitcoin bounces above $63,000 recouping morning loss The price of bitcoin (BTC) has reversed sizable early Monday losses, returning to $63,400 around the noon hour on the East Coast. Bitcoin had rallied over the weekend to nearly $64,000, but lost all those gains and more after Strategy (MSTR) reported the sale of more than 3,000 BTC last week. Buyers returned mid-morning, though, perhaps buoyed by the idea that Strategy may not have to sell a lot more of its stack, or maybe an offhand comment by President Trump that bitcoin might be a worthy addition to Trump Accounts. ## Strategy booked an $8.3 billion bitcoin loss in second quarter Included in this morning's SEC filing regarding bitcoin sales, Strategy (MSTR) disclosed an **$8.32 billion loss** on digital assets during the three months ended June 30. Bitcoin started the second quarter at around $68,000 and ended it at roughly $60,000. ## Nine months since bitcoin's all time high Exactly nine months ago, on Oct. 6, Bitcoin reached its all time high of around **$126,000**. It now trades near $62,500, a roughly **50 percent correction**, after falling as low as $57,800. If the four year cycle continues to hold, a historical pattern in which Bitcoin has tended to move through approximately four year periods of bull markets, bear markets, and recoveries, then the cycle bottom may still be months away, potentially around October.]]></description> <author>contact@bitcointoday.app (BitcoinToday.app)</author> <category>strategy</category> <category>mstr</category> <category>bitcoin</category> <category>marketsentiment</category> <category>institutional</category> <enclosure url="https://cdn.sanity.io/images/s3y3vcno/production/b493c99f24041995835d8e2277b6bfaa7d3d802d-1500x922.jpg?auto=format&w=960&h=540&crop=focalpoint&fit=clip&q=75&fm=jpg" length="0" type="image/jpg"/> </item> <item> <title><![CDATA[From $750 to $270K in 48 Hours: The CZ Memecoin Trade That Shocked Crypto]]></title> <link>https://www.bitcointoday.app/article/from-750-to-270k-in-48-hours-the-cz-memecoin-trade-that-shocked-crypto</link> <guid>from-750-to-270k-in-48-hours-the-cz-memecoin-trade-that-shocked-crypto</guid> <pubDate>Sun, 05 Jul 2026 20:01:11 GMT</pubDate> <description><![CDATA[A **cryptocurrency trader** has turned roughly **$750 into more than $270,000** in less than two days after an early position in the **CZ memecoin** surged more than **35,700%**. The anonymous wallet, identified as `0xf3498683bead7f8d7f0278d1d39d09fe341fddee`, purchased approximately **5.1 million CZ tokens** through three transactions totaling $754.49. According to on-chain data from **Lookonchain** on July 5, the wallet's holdings were valued at about **$271,100**, generating unrealized profits of roughly **$270,300**. ## The Trade Details On-chain data shows the trader accumulated CZ tokens at an **average purchase price of approximately $0.000147** per token. Within less than 48 hours, the token climbed to around **$0.053**, representing a gain of more than **357 times** the original entry price. The wallet has not recorded any sales, meaning the entire profit remains **unrealized**. The position also represents **100% of the address's holdings** in the token. ## High Risk Trading Nature Despite the outsized gain, the wallet's broader trading history highlights the **high-risk nature of speculative memecoin investing**. Data shows the address completed around **260 token trades** over the previous two months and maintained a **win rate of roughly 32%**. The trader generated realized profits of about **$400** during that period before the CZ position dramatically boosted overall returns. The wallet's activity demonstrates how a **single successful trade can outweigh numerous losing positions** in the highly volatile memecoin market. The CZ token is part of a broader trend of **Binance-themed** and **Changpeng Zhao-inspired memecoins** that have gained traction on **BNB Chain**. The network's low transaction fees and active retail trading community have helped fuel periodic bursts of speculative trading activity. While stories of traders turning small investments into six-figure sums continue to attract attention, such gains remain **rare** and are often accompanied by **substantial downside risk**. Memecoins can experience sharp price swings in either direction, making them among the **most volatile assets** in the cryptocurrency market.]]></description> <author>contact@bitcointoday.app (BitcoinToday.app)</author> <category>czmemecoin</category> <category>cryptotrading</category> <category>memecoin</category> <category>binance</category> <category>highrisk</category> <enclosure url="https://assets.finbold.com/uploads/2026/07/Crypto-trader-turns-750-into-270000-in-2-days-4.jpg" length="0" type="image/jpg"/> </item> </channel> </rss>