Coindesk

Trump Media and Technology Group (Nasdaq: DJT) disclosed Friday that it now holds $2 billion in bitcoin and bitcoin-related securities, officially confirming one of the largest digital asset treasuries among U.S.-listed companies.The announcement came via the company’s second quarter of 2025 earnings press release, which also mentioned $3.1 billion in total financial assets and its first-ever quarter of positive operating cash flow. The crypto holdings were first disclosed in a separate press release dated July 21.The company also said it has allocated $300 million toward an options-based strategy focused on bitcoin and bitcoin-related assets, signaling ongoing intent to expand its exposure. According to the July 21 release, this strategy could allow Trump Media to convert options into spot BTC “depending...

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s new Crypto Task Force will begin a cross-country tour this month to meet with small crypto startups and expand the number of people who are heard in crypto policymaking.Led by Commissioner Hester Peirce, the task force plans to visit 10 cities from August to December, it announced in a press release.The sessions are primarily aimed at crypto-related projects with fewer than 10 employees and under two years in operation. Meetings will be held in cities including Berkeley, Boston, Dallas, Chicago, and New York.“We want to hear from people who were not able to travel for the roundtables that took place this past spring in Washington, D.C.,” Peirce said in a statement. “The Crypto Task...

A crypto wallet tied to a little-known Chinese mining pool may have been the victim of the largest bitcoin theft ever recorded, according to new findings from Arkham Intelligence.In an Aug. 2 thread on X, the onchain analytics firm said it had uncovered evidence that 127,426 BTC — worth $3.5 billion at the time — was stolen from LuBian Mining Pool in late December 2020. Neither LuBian nor the suspected hacker has ever publicly acknowledged the breach, and Arkham said it is the first to report the incident.LuBian was one of the largest bitcoin mining pools globally in 2020, reportedly controlling nearly 6% of Bitcoin’s total hash rate as of May that year. The hack, if confirmed, would eclipse the...

Big banks are making it harder and more expensive for consumers to use fintech and crypto apps, which amounts to what could be seen as "Operation Chokepoint 3.0."That’s according to Alex Rampell, General Partner at venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). In its latest fintech newsletter, Rampell pointed to traditional financial institutions charging high fees to access account data or move money, particularly to services like Coinbase or Robinhood, as a move to strangle the competition."Under the Biden administration, Operation Chokepoint 2.0 tried to debank and deplatform crypto," Rampell said. "That era has ended, but now the banks are aiming to implement their own Chokepoint 3.0 — charging insanely high fees to access data or move money to crypto and...

Strategy (MSTR), the bitcoin-focused corporate entity formerly known as MicroStrategy, launched its Perpetual Stretch Preferred Stock (STRC) late last month — an offering Executive Chairman Michael Saylor has described as the company’s “iPhone moment.” The STRC preferred stock has already raised $2.5 billion, and a newly opened $4.2 billion at-the-market (ATM) program could extend its scale even further — offering high-yield dividends backed by bitcoin and designed to appeal to yield-seeking investors.What is STRC, and how does it work?STRC (marketed as “Stretch”) is a variable-rate, perpetual preferred stock designed to deliver stable pricing, strong yield, and easy access for income-focused investors seeking indirect bitcoin exposure. The shares pay a monthly dividend—initially set at 9% annualized—based on a $100 par value....