News & Events zu Strive Inc (ASST)ASSTStrive Inc

Bitcoin Options Expiry Removes $80,000 Support

A $6.44B monthly options expiry settled this morning and switched off the hedging flows that held bitcoin near $80,000 all week, Fed chair Kevin Warsh delivers his first Jackson Hole keynote at a symposium themed on payments innovation, Strategyraised roughly $2B selling stock and bought no bitcoin, and bitcoin heads into Monday's month-end close with its best August since 2017. Stay up on the crypto news that matters with "Crypto Currents," from The Fly. Check out ourfor our weekly Crypto Fly By recap.EXPIRY REMOVES $80,000 PIN:Roughly 81,700 bitcoinoptions contracts worth about $6.44B in notional settled on Deribit at 08:00 UTC Friday, split between 44,639 calls and 37,061 puts, with 62% of the book on track to expire worthless,. The print landed at $79,682.33, leaving the $80,000 calls worthless by $318 and removing the dealer hedging that had acted as a magnet,. A sell wall of about 1,052 bitcoin at $80,500 had thinned to roughly 101 bitcoin across Kraken and Coinbase by 11:24 UTC. Other coverage of the same expiry put the max pain zone nearer $68,000 to $70,000,. The September 25 expiry already holds 155,393 open contracts, about 40% of all Deribit bitcoin open interest and nearly double the batch that just cleared,  The heaviest strike is $70,000 and calls outnumber puts two to one. It settles nine days after the Fed's September decision.WARSH HEADLINES JACKSON HOLE:Warsh speaks Friday morning at a Kansas City Fed symposium titled "Financial Innovation, Implications for Payments and Policy," the first Jackson Hole theme built around digital payments, with stablecoins and tokenized deposits at the organizing center,. Prior chairs have used the slot to lay out broad frameworks, and Warsh has stood up five task forces covering inflation, the balance sheet, data, technology and communications,. Bitcoin's median move around Jackson Hole over the past eight years is roughly 1%.STRATEGY HALTS BITCOIN BUYING:Strategy sold 18,261,118 shares for about $2.01B net between August 17 and August 23 and bought no bitcoin, creating a $1.59B "USD Cash" account alongside a $5.1B USD Reserve,. It spent $136.4M repurchasing 1,431,212 STRC preferred shares and expanded its monetization program to permit up to $5B of bitcoin sales. Holdings stand at 840,447 bitcoin at a $75,385 average price. The company raised about $3.28B in August and bought no bitcoin with any of it, leaving $6.69B of dollar reserves against $6.75B of debt, a gap near $60M,STRC preferred carries a 12% dividend on roughly $10B of notional. Shares still gained 12% Thursday to $138.38.AUGUST CLOSES RECORD MONTH:Bitcoin traded as high as $81,237.94 this week, its best level since mid-May, capping whatas the biggest monthly gain since November 2024 on a soft dollar and debasement positioning. As of August 25 the month was up about 26%, the strongest August since 2017, with BTIG's Jonathan Krinsky comparing the burst to January 2023, A hot 3.7% July PCE print knocked bitcoin back below $78,000 Wednesday,.ETF STREAK HITS NINE:Spot bitcoin ETFs took $1.92B of net inflows in the August 17 to 21 week, the largest since early October 2025,. The streak reached nine straight sessions worth about $3.0B and lifted complex assets to roughly $98.56B, while iShares Bitcoin Trust call volume set a record 1.58m contracts.BERNSTEIN RESETS BITCOIN TARGETS:Bernstein built its case around fiscal debasement, calling for $150,000 by mid-2027 and $300,000 by 2029. The firm cut its price target on Strategy to $350 from $450 while keeping an Outperform rating.IREN EXITS BITCOIN MINING:IRENposted FY26 revenue of $707.0M and a ($702.6M) net loss including $638.8M of non-cash impairments from decommissioning mining hardware, with AI Cloud revenue rising to $128.8M from $16.4M,. It cited $4B of contracted 2026 annualized recurring revenue with $1B already operating. New GPU financings total $2.8B, including a $2.4B facility led by Blue Owl and PIMCO-advised investors at a 9.0% fixed rate.CORE SCIENTIFIC ADDS LIQUIDITY:Core Scientificclosed $600M of committed senior secured facilities, a $100M revolver at adjusted term SOFR plus 1.75% and a $500M letter-of-credit facility,. Management said the deal releases about $300M of restricted cash. JPMorgan is administrative agent.BITDEER LIFTS JULY OUTPUT:Bitdeermined 1,190 bitcoin in July against 990 in June and 282 a year earlier, a 322% annual increase,Self-mining hashrate reached 76.7 EH/s. The AI cloud pipeline stands at 141.4 IT megawatts with 4,248 GPUs deployed at 95% utilization.BITMINE NEARS ETHER TARGET:Bitmine Immersionsaid etherholdings reached 5,847,611 tokens, roughly 4.8% of the 120.7m supply and 97% of the way to its 5% goal,. Total crypto and cash reached $14.9B with 5,067,309 ether staked. Projected annualized staking revenue runs $330M and rises to $381M at full scale.TREASURY BUYERS KEEP ADDING:DeFi Developmentresumed buying with about 19,000 solanaat an average $98.14, taking its treasury to roughly 2,333,432 solana and equivalents,. Strivebought 1,110 bitcoin at roughly $73,409 each to reach 21,356, and Hyperliquid Strategiesreported 29.28m hypemarked at $1,904.1M with zero debt.EVERNORTH ADVANCES XRP LISTING:Evernorth said the SEC declared its Form S-4 effective, moving the Ripple-backed XRPtreasury vehicle toward a Nasdaq listing,. The shareholder vote is set for September 30. Ripple contributed 126,791,458 XRP in a private placement.COINBASE TOKENIZES THIRTEEN STOCKS:Coinbaseselected Chainlinkto secure price feeds for tokenized stocks on Base, issued under the B20 standard and backed one-for-one,. Thirteen U.S. equities went live with nine DeFi protocols integrated and $10.8m of day-one volume. Kraken's rival xStocks has $25B of cumulative volume.TOKENIZATION DEALS KEEP COMING:Franklin Resourcesbrought its on-chain US government liquidity fund to Asian investors through HashKey Exchange,Tradeweb Marketsand Virtu Financialcompleted what they called the first fully on-chain repo using a Marshall Islands sovereign digital bond, settling in under 10 minutes,. WisdomTreeadded two more tokenized funds for business cash through Stable Sea.SCHWAB EXPANDS CRYPTO MENU:Charles Schwabplans to add solana, avalancheand chainlink to Schwab Crypto accounts,. Pricing is 75 basis points per trade with 24/7 support. Availability covers every U.S. state except New York and Louisiana.BITGO BUYS NYDIG DESK:BitGoacquired NYDIG's institutional trading business, adding derivatives and financing capabilities and moving about 30 employees,. Consideration is $7M cash plus roughly $35.5M of stock with up to $15M of contingent earn-outs. NYDIG keeps a power pipeline above 3 GW.PRICE ACTION:As of time of writing, bitcoin was trading at $79,554.99, while ether was trading at $2,516.08,,

U.S. Senators Release Draft of Cryptocurrency Clarity Act

As bitcoin, ethereum and other cryptocurrencies see major legal, institutional, and technological developments, the financial landscape continues to adapt. Stay up on the crypto news that matters with the "Crypto Currents" weekly from The Fly. Also, join us for your essential daily recap, every day at 2 PM ET on FlyCast radio.REPUBLICAN SENATORS RELEASE NEW CLARITY ACT DRAFT:Republican senators released a new draft of the Clarity Act, a cryptocurrency bill nearing a final vote in the Senate this summer, the New York Times' David Yaffe-Bellany reported, citing the draft. Senate Democrats have called for strict language in the bill that would prohibit public officials from selling digital currencies, and the draft did contain a version of those restrictions, including language making it illegal for the president and other U.S. officials to issue or sponsor cryptocurrency. The move comes after President Trump disclosed in June that he made $1.4B in crypto revenue. However, following the new draft, democrats and progressive advocacy groups contended it did not go far enough to stop Trump from using cryptocurrency to enrich himself. "The Senate majority released a bill that would do effectively nothing to stop the main ways he made that money — or could keep making it," Scott Greytak, deputy executive director of the advocacy group Transparency International U.S., said in a statement. "It would leave the underlying businesses, revenue streams and family arrangements largely untouched."BESSENT SAYS CLARITY ACT AT '1-YARD LINE':U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent suggested Tuesday that the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act is nearing approval in the U.S. Senate, describing the legislative process as being at the "1-yard line." Bessent, a proponent of the legislation, urged Congress to pass the long-awaited bill before leaving for recess. In Tuesday morning trading, Coinbaseand Circle Internetshares jumped following the comments.Mizuho noted that Circle Internet shares were up about 7% intra-day on Tuesday due to renewed hopes of the Clarity Act passing as the White House reportedly agreed on the ethics package, which had been "one of the biggest roadblocks to a Senate floor vote." However, the firm sees the act potentially opening the door for more institutional scale competition for stablecoins, "further commoditizing" Circle's USDC. Mizuho reiterated anon Circle shares.Raymond James initiated coverage of Circle Internet with a Market Perform rating with no price target. Circle, as the issuer of USDC, the second-largest stablecoin by market capitalization and the leading stablecoin by transaction volume, is well positioned to benefit from continued adoption, the analyst said. However, the Street is already modeling USDC circulation growth of 26% in 2026 and 35% in 2027, noted the analyst, who lacks "conviction there is meaningful upside to estimates."Raymond James also assumed coverage of Coinbase withCoinbase faces near-term pressure from weaker crypto trading volumes and rising competition, but continued product expansion and its "Everything Exchange" strategy could support a more durable business model, leaving the stock's risk/reward balanced, the analyst said.Meanwhile, Clear Street lowered the firm's price target on Circle Internet to $128 from $157 and kept a Buy rating on the shares as part of a Q2 earnings preview. The firm reduced the company's estimates to reflect the declining USDC market cap exiting the quarter.Clear Street also lowered the firm's price target on Coinbase to $225 from $244 and kept a Buy rating on the shares. The firm reduced Coinbase's Q2 EBITDA estimate to $301M from $375M citing weaker than expected trading volumes. "Weak sentiment and AI trade are taking capital away from crypto," the analyst said.Citi lowered the firm's price target on Coinbase to $235 from $400 and kept a Buy rating on the shares. The firm lowered its estimates for Coinbase ahead of the Q2 report. The stock at current levels trades near "trough-cycle multiples," the analyst said. Citi believes the company's subscription and services offer "durable earnings support." It expects Q2 will be a trough volume quarter with spot volumes at a two-year low.On Wednesday, the Securities and Exchange Commission agreed to pay $150,000 in attorney fees to end Coinbase's lawsuit seeking internal documents relating to the agency's crackdown on the crypto industry. In 2023, Coinbase submitted three Freedom of Information Act requests to the SEC seeking documents related to the SEC's investigations of Zachary Coburn and Enigma MPC and to Ethereum's shift to a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism.BULLISH SAYS SIRIS TO ACQUIRE NON-CORE EQUINITI BUSINESSES:Bullishannounced Friday that an affiliate of Siris has exercised its previously disclosed optionEQ Retirement Solutions, EQ Customer Resolutions and Lenvi. The parties expect to negotiate definitive documents to effect the carve-out of the non-core business lines in parallel with the closing of Bullish's previously announced purchase of Equiniti, subject to customary closing conditions and required regulatory approvals. As previously disclosed at the time of the announced acquisition, the financial results of the non-core businesses have been excluded from all transaction disclosures. Bullish further announced that its planned acquisition of Equiniti has received necessary competition law clearances from the United Kingdom, the United States, and Germany."The clearances we've received are an important part of the regulatory approvals required for the transaction, and we remain fully committed to what this combination makes possible," said Tom Farley, CEO. "Bringing together Equiniti's deep-rooted issuer relationships and regulated transfer agent infrastructure with Bullish's blockchain-native platform creates something that doesn't exist today, a fully integrated, institutional-grade operating system for tokenized securities."Clear Street lowered the firm's price target on Bullish to $40 from $48 and kept a Buy rating on the shares as part of a Q2 earnings preview. The firm reduced Bullish's Q2 EBITDA estimate to $26M from $27M citing weaker than expected transaction revenue. "Soft sentiment given the lack of real progress on CLARITY Act and hot money chasing the AI trade have taken much attention and capital away from crypto," the analyst said. Clear sees a challenging outlook for the industry.HUT 8 COMMERCIALIZES SECOND PHASE OF BEACON POINT:Hut 8 Corp.announced Monday thedata center campus in Nueces County, Texas through a second 15-year, $9.8B lease for 352 megawatts of IT capacity. The tenant, the high-investment-grade company that executed the Phase 1 lease, has doubled its contracted IT capacity at the campus to 704 MW. The transaction fully commercializes the Beacon Point campus against its 1,000 MW of utility capacity, secured under an interconnection agreement with AEP Texas for electric delivery service.Asher Genoot, CEO, said, "The real test of our power-first approach is what our partners are willing to commit against it. Our tenant at Beacon Point chose to double its footprint at the site, the strongest validation an asset can receive. We took this greenfield site from first lease to full commercialization in just months. That speaks to the quality of the sites we originate, the credibility of our delivery, and the long-term orientation of our partnerships. The opportunity ahead of us is to apply the same model across our development pipeline."Needham raised the firm's price target on Hut 8 to $145 from $128 and kept a Buy rating on the shares. Nvidiaexercised its option on the remaining capacity with Hut 8 at Beacon Point, the analyst noted. The firm said the economics, which are the same between both Phase 1 and 2 at the Beacon Point site, represent some of the strongest co-lo economics signed in 2026. It upped estimates for Hut and reiterated a Buy rating on the shares.Benchmark raised the firm's price target on Hut 8 to $195 from $165 and kept a Buy rating on the shares following what the firm calls "the latest validation point for its model".Morgan Stanley initiated coverage of Hut 8 with an Overweight rating and $263 price target. The firm launched coverage on three additional bitcoin miners turned-high performance computing companies, which it calls powered shell providers, noting that it remains bullish despite the recent market pullback among such "PSPs." Recent deals with hyperscalers show highly attractive terms, said the analyst, who added that "now is the time to buy these stocks" as the firm believes the market correction is "at odds with the lucrative transactions into which these companies sign."CRYPTO EXCHANGE BITMEX TO SHUT DOWN:On Thursday, cryptocurrency exchange BitMEXannounced itThe company said, "With immediate effect, we have stopped all new account registrations. Following a strategic review of the business and the broader crypto industry, the board of HDR Global Trading Limited, owner and operator of BitMEX, has decided to close the exchange. This comes with a heavy heart for all of us at the company and has not been taken lightly…The BitMEX platform has always remained grounded to the true ethos of Bitcoin – neutrality, transparency, and decentralisation, which is evident through our peer-to-peer operations and a top priority focus on user fund safety. While this news is a difficult one to share, we are proud of everything that has been built at the company since its launch as a pioneer of crypto derivatives."OTHER CRYPTO NEWS:Financial institutions, bitcoin companies formStrategymakesreports USD reserve of $3.225B as of July 19BitGo, OTC Marketsto pursueBitGo Prime announces Global Liquidity LayerGalaxy DigitallaunchesBitmine ImmersionannouncesStrivepurchases 21 BTC, reports, announces Bitcoin Stewardship Commitment, price target lowered to $28 from $32 at TD CowenHyperscale DatatreasuryAI FinancialCEO issuesGreenidgechangesand Power, raises $39.4MMorgan Stanley initiates Riot PlatformswithApplied DigitalwithForward Industriesconfirmsfor Brera HoldingsTwenty One CapitalappointsAmerican Bitcoininitiated withCoinSharesunveilsBitdeerreportsSoluna Holdingsassumed withIrenraises AI Cloud annualized, price target raised to $90 from $85 at H.C. WainwrightExodus Movementprice targetat Benchmark, to $10 from $14 at NorthlandLM FundingchangesCipher Miningprice target loweredat Morgan StanleyCRYPTO STOCK PLAYS:Publicly traded companies in the space include Bit Digital, Coinbase, Core Scientific, Greenidge Generation, Mara Holdings, Strategy, Riot Platforms and TeraWulf.PRICE ACTION:As of time of writing, bitcoin rose roughly 1% this week to $64,022 in U.S. dollars, according to CoinDesk.

Strive Acquires 18 Bitcoins at Average Price of Approximately $64,028

On July 13, Strive announced that during the period from July 6 through July 10, Strive purchased 18 bitcoin at an average price of approximately $64,028 per bitcoin, inclusive of fees and expenses.