On Tuesday, crypto-related stocks significantly outperformed bitcoin. Companies most directly affected by the latest U.S. regulations saw the highest gains.
Bitcoin hovered close to $64,100 on Sunday after new U.S. strikes targeted Iranian missile and air-defense systems and boats near the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. said the waterway stayed open. Iran said it was shut. Crypto traded first as markets watched for signs of more conflict.
Bitcoin hovered around $63,994 late Friday, rising 1.3% for the session after touching $64,571 earlier. The token was close to session highs, but appetite in the main Wall Street vehicle for buying bitcoin still looked light.
Bitcoin’s soft spot this week isn’t the ETF trade. It’s the balance sheet at Strategy Inc, which has been the biggest public buyer and now looks like a possible seller.
Strategy Inc has started selling off some of its bitcoin holdings for cash. The first big sale makes one metric clear for shareholders: they’ll need to watch how many months of fixed cash costs can be covered by each bitcoin sale.
U.S. stock futures edged higher ahead of Monday’s opening bell, with gains looking tight in early trading. Nasdaq-100 futures gained 1.02% as of 05:40, S&P 500 futures were up 0.44% by 05:42, and Dow futures added 0.06% at 05:31. The gap between Nasdaq-100 and Dow futures stood at 96 basis points.
Strategy Inc heads into Monday with shares higher, but the key question for shareholders remains. The latest real cash figure was from selling equity, not bitcoin. Nasdaq is shut July 3 for the holiday. Normal trading runs 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. ET, with the next session Monday.
Strategy Inc closed at $100.77 on July 2, gaining 7.9% for the day, with U.S. stock trading shut on Friday and no market activity over the weekend. Investors faced a four-day break to work through a week where the stock shifted from a straight Bitcoin play to a test of cash reserves.
Strategy Inc traded at $99.17 in premarket Thursday, gaining 6.2% from its $93.39 close Wednesday. The bitcoin treasury firm moved to allow BTC sales and to buy back common and preferred shares.
Strategy Inc has set up a controlled way to sell bitcoin, but the big question for investors is how far the company will go with dilution as it discusses buybacks. The board's plan, out Monday, allows bitcoin sales, raising cash reserves, and buybacks of as much as $1 billion in both common and preferred shares.
Bitmine Immersion Technologies, Inc. is trading as if the market sees less value in its Ethereum holdings, despite the company's recent entry into the Russell 1000 and reporting almost $10 billion in assets.
Strategy Inc said Monday it could sell bitcoin to help pay dividends, interest, or buy back shares. The move would make some of Michael Saylor’s bitcoin stash an official liquidity reserve. The company’s market cap recently dipped below the value of its bitcoin holdings.
XRP held at $1.044 Sunday evening in London, after swinging between $1.042 and $1.056 through the session. Live crypto quote data showed bitcoin near $59,453, ether close to $1,568 and solana last at $70.92.
Bitcoin hovered near $60,000 Friday, moving up after a dip to the high-$58,000s earlier in the day. The price was showing $60,033, up $891 for the session, with the day's low at $58,319 and the top at $60,621. But traders focused less on the spot price and more on who was selling.
Bitcoin dropped to about $59,500 late Thursday in New York. But what stood out more to investors was the ETF tape. The most recent U.S. spot bitcoin ETF outflow was big, concentrated, and came mostly from funds that tend to track institutional demand.
Strategy Inc slipped Thursday after new market levels put more heat on Michael Saylor’s bitcoin play. Investors saw the latest equity deal less as a move to boost bitcoin holdings and more as an effort to shore up preferred stock dividends.
Strategy Inc shares dropped Wednesday, tumbling further after reaching a two-year low at the last close. The company’s preferred shares faced renewed strain, raising more doubts about how Michael Saylor’s bitcoin-focused firm will fund new buys without additional losses for holders.
Strategy Inc disclosed it picked up 520 bitcoin last week for $34.9 million, paying an average of $67,068 per coin, according to a recent filing. The firm’s stack rose to 847,363 BTC. But the bigger move was higher up in the document—Strategy sold $335.5 million of common stock and didn’t touch its preferred shares. The company still has $17.5 billion of STRC capacity left, the filing said.