Public Keys is a weekly roundup from Decrypt that tracks the key publicly traded crypto companies. This week’s edition of Public Keys focuses on whether analysts think Michael Saylor’s Strategy, formerly MicroStrategy, could have better timed its recent Bitcoin buys, a potential silver lining on the trade war fracas for would-be U.S. Bitcoin hardware manufacturers, and IPO speculation for USDC issuer Circle.
Strategy’s timing problem
It’s no secret that Strategy, formerly MicroStrategy, has spent billions of dollars acquiring Bitcoin. At the time of writing, the software company is sitting on nearly $44 billion worth of BTC—an amount that’s equal to 56% of its $78 billion market capitalization. And this year alone, it’s already spent $5.3 billion buying Bitcoin.
But investors now seem skeptical that the company has a sound strategy for timing its buys as the post-election buzz cools. Its stock premium hit a 10-month low on Monday as the company noted in an SEC filing that it did not buy the latest Bitcoin dip.
On Friday afternoon, Strategy, which trades on the Nasdaq under the MSTR ticker, closed at $287.18, down 5.6% on the day.
Chip off the ol’ Block, Inc.
President Donald Trump’s trade wars have left financial markets on a punishing roller coaster. But if the friction lingers, there’s a small chance it could begin to erode the dominance of Chinese Bitcoin mining rig manufacturer Bitmain.
That could be good news for Jack Dorsey’s Bitcoin-focused Block, Inc. and Core Scientific, the firm to which Doresey’s company has initially agreed to sell its chips.
Core Scientific noted in its Q4 earnings call last month that it’s holding off on making any upgrades to its fleet of mining rigs until it’s able to get Block’s 3-nanometer mining chips up and running in the back half of 2025.
But Bitcoin mining analysts noted that it’s not the only company making moves to challenge Bitmain.
Block, which trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the XYZ ticker, closed the week at $59.81 after having gained 0.33% during trading.
Circle marks its spot
Sure, the details are scant, but USDC stablecoin issuer Circle’s representatives made a trip to Washington to meet with the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Crypto Task Force. The team included Circle President Heath Tarbert, General Counsel Dan Kaleba, Deputy General Counsel Christine Parker, and Vice President Corey Then.
A public memo notes that the company described USDC as a “payment stablecoins” and made its case for the “non-applicability of securities laws to certain payment stablecoins.”
A few months back, ARK Invest hypothesized that Circle, the issuer of the USDC stablecoin, was getting its house in order to make another run at an IPO under the Trump administration.
For a while, Circle was looking to go public via SPAC—but had to call it off in 2022. Then rumors were flying that it wanted to try again in 2024.
Late last year, the company moved its global headquarters from Boston to New York City, saying it wanted to be in the “heart of Wall Street.” It’s also looking to set up shop at One World Trade Center—right across the street from banking behemoth Goldman Sachs.
Of course, crypto exchange Coinbase was the first—and so far, only—major crypto company to go public with a direct listing in 2021. So it’s not surprising that Circle has spent years trying to follow in its footsteps.
Other keys
Meanwhile, newly public Bitcoin rewards company Fold just added $41 million to its BTC reserve. It’s not the only corporate player buying the dip. Japan’s Metaplanet saw its stock rise 20% after it added $43 million to its own Bitcoin treasury, which is now valued at roughly $252 million.
Wall Street analyst firm Rosenblatt initiated coverage of crypto exchange Coinbase with a buy rating and $305 price target on Friday. The firm added that the recent market pullback highlights that investors should stick to “higher ground,” meaning that they should limit their crypto investments to “blue chips” like Coinbase.
Speaking of Coinbase, fellow San Francisco-based crypto exchange Kraken might soon be joining it on Wall Street with an IPO of its own, according to a Bloomberg report late Friday. A Kraken spokesperson told Decrypt that going public has been in the works for a long time, so the news shouldn't really come as any surprise.
And finally, Nasdaq President Tal Cohen has a question that’ll resonate with degens: Why sleep? He said in a LinkedIn post that the exchange has begun discussions with regulators to allow for 24-hour trading. But it wouldn’t be 24/7, just 24/5. The suits aren’t ready to give up their weekends.
Edited by Guillermo Jimenez.
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