Coindesk

Trump Media and Technology Group (DJT), the publicly-traded company that operates the social media site Truth Social, announced on Tuesday a $2.5 billion capital raise to create a bitcoin BTC treasury.The company has entered into subscription agreement with about 50 institutional investors, issuing $1.5 billion in common stock and $1 billion in convertible senior secured notes, according to a press release. The offering is expected to close on May 29. Crypto.com and Anchorage Digital will provide custody services for the firm's BTC holding.The story was initially reported on Monday by the Financial Times.DJT jumped more than 10% in premarket action, but has turned modestly lower in early regular session trading. Bitcoin is marginally higher, trading just above $110,000.Source link

Blockchain.com, a cryptocurrency exchange and wallet provider, is expanding into parts of Africa where crypto regulation is beginning to solidify.The company is focusing on Ghana, Kenya, and South Africa, and plans to open a physical office in Nigeria this quarter, citing it as its fastest-growing market in West Africa, Bloomberg reports.Nigeria recently passed a new investment and securities law, which includes provisions for licensing and regulating cryptocurrency exchanges.“Nigeria has taken meaningful steps toward creating a clear framework for crypto,” said Owenize Odia, Blockchain.com’s general manager for Africa. “Applying for a crypto-exchange license in Nigeria is a top priority.”Other countries are also laying the groundwork. The Bank of Ghana released draft guidelines last year . Kenya, meanwhile, is still in the...

Circle Internet Group, the firm behind stablecoin USDC, has filed for an initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange, the firm said on Tuesday. Circle is offering 24 million of its class A shares, out of which 9.6 million is being offered by the firm, while 14.4 million shares are being offered by selling stakeholders. It also expects to grant the underwriters a 30-day option to buy up to 3.6 million shares.The IPO price is expected to be between $24 and $26 per share J.P. Morgan, Citigroup, and Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC are acting as joint lead active bookrunners for the offering. The stablecoin giant will trade under the ticker 'CRCL."Source link

U.S.-listed Exodus Movement (EXOD), a self-custody wallet firm specializing in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, has unveiled an Exodus debit card in partnership with Baanx, a crypto card enabler that works with Mastercard and Visa.Through the Baanx partnership, Exodus users can spend their crypto on everyday purchases such as travel, online shopping, and anywhere Mastercard is accepted, the firms announced at the BTC Vegas conference on Tuesday.Bringing debit card functionality to self-custody crypto holders is a fast-growing subset of the digital assets space, attracting a range of popular platforms such as Ethereum wallet firm MetaMask, decentralized finance firm 1inch and most recently, Sam Altman’s World Network.Beta testing of the virtual Exodus card begins at BTC Vegas, starting with the two major...

Earlier this month, CoinDesk highlighted the rising demand for the Deribit-listed $300,000 bitcoin BTC call option, noting it as one of the most popular bullish plays for the all-important June quarter expiry.Now, this bet has become the most popular in the impending quarterly expiry, reinforcing its appeal as a "lottery ticket" for traders anticipating a bitcoin price rally above $300,000 by the end of the next month.At press time, the $300,000 call option was the most popular bet in the June 27 expiry, with a notional open interest of over $600 million, up from $484 million three weeks ago, according to data source Deribit. Notional open interest represents the dollar value of the number of active or open contracts at...