Coindesk

Shares of tech company Asset Entities (ASST) rose 194% on Wednesday after it announced that Strive Asset Management was merging with the NASDAQ-listed company to become a publicly traded Bitcoin (BTC) Treasury Company.The deal, structured as a reverse merger, will leave the combined company operating under the Strive name and listed on the NASDAQ. Strive plans to build a sizable bitcoin reserve using novel investment and financing strategies designed to limit shareholder dilution.One key strategy is a planned equity-for-bitcoin swap available to certain accredited investors, the companies stated in the press release. The exchange will use a tax provision known as Section 351, which allows appreciated assets to be contributed to a corporation tax-free in return for stock, subject to...

Coinbase (COIN) is heading into its first-quarter earnings report on shaky ground, with four Wall Street analysts expecting a miss as the retail trading lull is likely to pressure the crypto exchange’s most profitable business lines.The company is scheduled to report first-quarter results on Thursday post-market. The analysts are projecting earnings per share (EPS) falling to $1.93 from $2.26 in the fourth quarter and revenue dropping to $2.1 billion from $2.27 billion, according to FactSet data.In the year-earlier first quarter, it reported EPS of $4.40 and revenue of $1.2 billion. Trading volume is expected to land around the $403.8 billion mark vs. $439 billion in the fourth quarter.J.P. Morgan cut its EPS estimate to $1.59, citing a 10% drop in...

Digital bank Revolut is working with Lightspark to roll out bitcoin (BTC) transactions on Lightning Network to customers in the U.K. and select countries in the European Economic Area (EEA).The feature aims to cut transaction fees and payments processing time for crypto users, Lightspark said in a blog post. When asked in an email, the company didn't specify the timeline for when the feature will go live.Lightspark, led by former PayPal executive David Marcus, provides backend infrastructure for connecting to what it calls the “Money Grid” — a decentralized network for real-time global payments.The Lightning Network is a layer-2 system built on top of the Bitcoin blockchain that allows near-instant, low-fee transactions. By connecting to the network through Lightspark, Revolut...

The institutional acceptance of crypto around the world has accelerated significantly recently, developing hand in hand with better-defined regulation. Here, BlockFills CEO Nick Hammer discusses the reasons for crypto’s increasing institutional usage and some of the latest products responding to that demand.What trends are you seeing now in the digital asset space?We’ve been seeing increased involvement from institutional players in this space such as hedge funds, family offices and asset managers, which underscores the growing credibility and maturity of the digital asset space. Institutional activity brings significant capital, greater liquidity and stability to this market. It also drives mainstream acceptance and necessary regulatory clarity.To that end, governments and regulators around the world are developing more defined frameworks and focusing on...

Bitcoin (BTC) is now up 3% since the beginning of May, after gaining 14% gain in April. Inflows into BTC exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have accelerated over the past two weeks, while consistent bitcoin treasury accumulation continues to support the market. From an on-chain perspective, Glassnode data shows that both short-term holders (STHs) and long-term holders (LTHs) have increased their supply holdings, LTHs since early March, while STHs have begun accumulating over the past week.Glassnode defines LTHs as investors who have held BTC for 155 days or more, while STHs have held for less than 155 days. In their latest weekly report, Glassnode notes that LTHs have increased their holdings by over 250,000 BTC, since the start of March, taking...