Bitcoin Magazine

Bitcoin Magazine

Standard Chartered and B2C2 Form Partnership to Help Institutions Access Crypto

Standard Chartered and B2C2, a global provider of institutional liquidity for digital assets, announced a strategic partnership in hopes of improving institutional access to crypto markets. The collaboration brings together Standard Chartered’s global banking infrastructure with B2C2’s liquidity across spot and options trading, according to a note shared with Bitcoin Magazine. 

Under the agreement, B2C2 will provide its institutional clients like asset managers, hedge funds, corporates, and family offices with direct connectivity and liquidity access to Standard Chartered’s banking network and settlement services. 

The partnership is designed to deliver a streamlined experience by integrating regulated banking services with institutional-grade crypto liquidity.

The move reflects a broader trend of accelerating institutional adoption of digital assets, particularly in Asia. 

As demand for regulated access to crypto assets grows, partnerships between established banks and digital asset firms aim to reduce friction in fiat-to-crypto transactions and enable faster, more reliable settlement processes.

Crypto access for institutional investors

Luke Boland, Head of Fintech, Asia, at Standard Chartered, noted the significance of the collaboration, stating that it enables “regulated, scalable market linkage without compromising execution or risk management.” 

Thomas Restout, Group CEO of B2C2, emphasized the value of Standard Chartered’s global reach and regulatory credentials, calling the bank “an ideal strategic counterpart” for expanding institutional access to digital markets.

The partnership wants to connect traditional finance with digital asset markets, giving B2C2’s clients access to Standard Chartered’s global banking network.

This allows institutional investors to trade and manage both fiat and digital assets more efficiently and with better oversight.

B2C2 is known for providing reliable digital asset liquidity to institutional clients worldwide, while Standard Chartered has a strong presence across Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, helping clients with cross-border transactions and market access.

Together, the two companies plan to build a solid framework for institutional crypto trading, supporting the growth of digital assets as part of mainstream finance. 

Back in May 2025, Standard Chartered announced plans to expand its regulated digital asset services for institutional clients. 

The bank has now officially launched spot Bitcoin trading through its UK branch, integrated with existing FX platforms and offering clients flexibility in settlement and custody. 

This partnership with B2C2 will make it easier for institutions to navigate both traditional banking and emerging crypto markets.

This post Standard Chartered and B2C2 Form Partnership to Help Institutions Access Crypto first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.

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DDC Enterprise ($DDC) Adds 100 Bitcoin, Treasury Holdings Reach 1,988 BTC

DDC Enterprise Limited ($DDC) announced it has acquired an additional 100 Bitcoin, bringing its total holdings to 1,988 BTC as the company continues to expand its corporate treasury strategy.

The purchase marks the fifth consecutive week of Bitcoin acquisitions for DDC, which said the transaction was executed following a recent pullback in BTC prices rather than as a response to short-term market moves.

The company reported an average cost basis of $85,756 per Bitcoin. The current price of bitcoin is roughly 21% lower than an $85,756 cost basis.

The company also disclosed a year-to-date BTC yield of 40%, alongside a metric of 0.055648 BTC held per 1,000 DDC shares.

“Our long-term execution framework is deliberately designed to be insensitive to day-to-day market sentiment,” said Norma Chu, Founder, Chairwoman, and Chief Executive Officer of DDC, adding that the firm applies oversight and guardrails to ensure each purchase aligns with a broader capital structure plan.

DDC said its treasury approach remains focused on disciplined execution, governance-led decision-making, and transparency in capital allocation, while maintaining its view of Bitcoin as a scarce asset that can support balance sheet diversification.

DDC’s aggressive bitcoin plans

The company operates primarily as a global Asian food platform and uses Bitcoin as a core reserve asset as part of its evolving financial strategy.

Back in May 2025, the company unveiled this shift in its treasury strategy, saying they would adopt bitcoin as a strategic reserve asset. 

In a shareholder letter at the time,Chu announced plans to accumulate 5,000 BTC within 36 months, beginning with an immediate purchase of 100 BTC and a short-term target of 500 BTC within six months. 

Chu framed bitcoin as a hedge against macroeconomic uncertainty and a long-term store of value. 

The announcement followed a strong financial year, with the company reporting $37.4 million in 2024 revenue, up 33% year over year.

By October 2025, DDC had significantly accelerated its bitcoin ambitions. The company announced a $124 million equity financing round, led by PAG Pegasus Fund and Mulana Investment Management, with CEO Chu personally investing $3 million. 

The raise, priced at a premium with a 180-day lock-up, was positioned as a vote of confidence in the aggressive treasury strategy.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at $67,000, struggling to find some footing as bears are in control.

This post DDC Enterprise ($DDC) Adds 100 Bitcoin, Treasury Holdings Reach 1,988 BTC first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.

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‘We’re Not Selling’: Strategy’s (MSTR) Michael Saylor Doubles Down on Bitcoin Buys

Michael Saylor defended Strategy’s bitcoin-buying approach on CNBC’s Squawk Box earlier today, dismissing concerns that the company could be forced to sell its holdings during a prolonged downturn and reiterating plans to keep adding bitcoin on a regular schedule.

“We’re not going to be selling; we’re going to be buying bitcoin,” Saylor said. “I expect we’ll buy bitcoin every quarter forever.”

Saylor pushed back against speculation within parts of the bitcoin community that Strategy’s leverage and cash position could create pressure to liquidate if prices remain depressed. He called those fears misplaced, arguing the company has structured its balance sheet to withstand volatility.

“That’s just an unfounded concern,” Saylor said, pointing to what he described as conservative leverage relative to typical investment-grade companies and significant liquidity coverage. He said Strategy holds enough cash to cover dividend and debt obligations for roughly two and a half years.

The comments come as bitcoin markets face renewed swings following a pullback from recent highs, raising questions about the sustainability of corporate treasury strategies tied closely to the asset. Strategy has become one of the largest public holders of bitcoin, and its stock has traded as a leveraged proxy for bitcoin’s price moves.

Saylor framed bitcoin’s volatility as inherent to what he called “digital capital,” arguing that the asset remains structurally more volatile than traditional stores of value such as gold, equities, or real estate. 

He said that over longer horizons, bitcoin has outperformed other capital assets and should be viewed through a multi-year lens rather than short-term price moves.

“If you’ve got a time horizon less than four years, you’re not really a capital investor,” he said, adding that traders may benefit from price swings while long-term investors focus on performance over four-year cycles.

Strategy is not selling its bitcoin

Pressed by host Andrew Ross Sorkin on what would happen if bitcoin fell sharply and remained lower for years, Saylor said Strategy could refinance debt rather than sell bitcoin. He argued that lenders would continue to provide financing because bitcoin retains value despite drawdowns.

Saylor also said the company’s equity is designed to amplify bitcoin’s moves, rising faster during rallies and falling harder during declines. Strategy’s volatility, he said, creates liquidity and demand for what he described as new “digital credit” instruments issued on top of its bitcoin holdings.

On the broader market structure, Saylor downplayed the idea that miner economics create a firm price floor, suggesting that bank lending and Wall Street credit products will play a larger role in shaping bitcoin’s next phase.

Saylor declined to offer a 12-month price forecast, but said he expects bitcoin to outperform the S&P 500 over the next four to eight years.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading near $69,000 and Strategy shares are roughly $135 a share in pre-market trading.

Strategy recently bought 1,142 BTC for about $90 million between February 2–8, bringing its total holdings to roughly 714,644 BTC

This post ‘We’re Not Selling’: Strategy’s (MSTR) Michael Saylor Doubles Down on Bitcoin Buys first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.

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Bernstein Calls Current Bitcoin Selloff the ‘Weakest Bear Case in History,’ Reaffirms $150K Target for 2026

Bernstein analysts reiterated a bullish long-term outlook for bitcoin, calling the current bitcoin price downturn the “weakest bear case” in the asset’s history and maintaining a $150,000 price target by the end of 2026.

The research and brokerage firm argued that the recent drawdown reflects a crisis of confidence rather than structural damage to bitcoin’s network or investment thesis.

“What we are experiencing is the weakest bitcoin bear case in its history,” the analysts wrote, adding that none of the typical catalysts behind past crypto winters have emerged.

Bernstein said previous bear markets were driven by major failures, hidden leverage, or systemic breakdowns. This cycle, the firm sees no comparable blowups or widespread insolvencies.

Instead, analysts pointed to growing institutional alignment as a key difference. They cited support from a pro-bitcoin U.S. political environment, expanding adoption of spot BTC ETFs, rising corporate treasury participation, and continued involvement from large asset managers.

The firm argued that bitcoin’s broader adoption story remains intact despite market weakness.

Bernstein also addressed criticism that bitcoin has lagged gold during the latest period of macro volatility. They said BTC continues to trade primarily as a liquidity-sensitive risk asset rather than a mature safe haven.

They noted that elevated interest rates and tighter financial conditions have concentrated gains in select areas such as precious metals and AI-linked equities. 

Bernstein said BTC ETF infrastructure and corporate capital-raising channels remain positioned to absorb renewed liquidity if conditions ease.

Reporting from The Block helped with the coverage of this analysis.

Bernstein stays bullish on bitcoin; quantum fears dismissed.

The analysts also pushed back against claims that BTC is losing relevance in an economy shaped by artificial intelligence.

They argued that blockchains and programmable wallets could play a central role in an emerging “agentic” digital environment, where autonomous software agents require global, machine-readable financial rails. Traditional banking systems, they said, remain constrained by closed APIs and legacy integration barriers.

On quantum computing, Bernstein acknowledged that future cryptographic threats warrant preparation but said BTC is not uniquely exposed. 

The firm argued that all critical digital systems face similar risks and will transition toward quantum-resistant standards together.

These thoughts echo that of Strategy, on Strategy’s fourth-quarter 2025 earnings call, Executive Chairman Michael Saylor said the company will launch a Bitcoin Security Program aimed at coordinating with the broader cyber and crypto community. 

The message echoed Strategy’s view that quantum computing is not an immediate threat, but a future engineering challenge that the network will have time to address.

Saylor framed quantum fears as the latest version of “FUD,” arguing that many major industries still rely on the same cryptographic foundations BTC uses today. He pointed to ongoing global investment in quantum-resistant research and said the Bitcoin ecosystem is already exploring upgrades that could strengthen the protocol if needed.

He emphasized that any major change would require broad global consensus, consistent with Bitcoin’s history of adapting through technical and regulatory pressure.

Bernstein added that BTC’s transparent codebase and the growing involvement of well-capitalized stakeholders position it to adapt alongside other financial and governmental systems.

Bernstein also dismissed concerns about leveraged corporate bitcoin accumulation and the risk of miner capitulation.

The analysts said major bitcoin-holding firms have structured liabilities to withstand prolonged downturns. 

They pointed to comments from Strategy executives that only an extreme scenario — BTC falling to $8,000 and remaining there for five years — would require balance sheet restructuring.

Bernstein maintained that the selloff represents sentiment weakness rather than systemic failure, and reiterated its forecast for bitcoin to reach $150,000 by the end of 2026.

At the time of writing, BTC is trading slightly below $70,000.

This post Bernstein Calls Current Bitcoin Selloff the ‘Weakest Bear Case in History,’ Reaffirms $150K Target for 2026 first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.

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Strategy (MSTR) Adds 1,142 Bitcoin for $90 Million as Bitcoin Trades Near $69,000

Strategy bought another 1,142 bitcoin for about $90 million, extending its long-running accumulation campaign even as the company’s massive treasury remains underwater on paper.

The purchase was disclosed Monday in an 8-K filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Strategy said it acquired the coins between Feb. 2 and Feb. 8 at an average price of $78,815 per bitcoin.

The latest buy lifts Strategy’s total holdings to 714,644 BTC. The stack is valued near $49 billion at current market prices. Strategy has spent roughly $54.4 billion to build the position, including fees and expenses. 

The average purchase price across its holdings stands at $76,056 per bitcoin.

The company funded the acquisition through its ongoing at-the-market equity program. The company sold 616,715 shares of its Class A common stock, MSTR, for about $89.5 million last week. 

As of Feb. 8, Strategy still had nearly $8 billion in share issuance capacity available under the program.

Michael Saylor, the company’s co-founder and executive chairman, signaled the purchase ahead of the filing with his usual Sunday post pointing to Strategy’s bitcoin tracker and the phrase “Orange Dots Matter.”

At the time of publication, Bitcoin is trading near $69,000.

Strategy ($MSTR) stock price volatility 

The buy comes after Strategy reported a steep quarterly loss as the bitcoin pullback erased tens of billions of dollars in value from its balance sheet. The company posted one of the largest quarterly losses ever recorded by a U.S. public firm.

During the earnings call, CEO Phong Le addressed concerns around leverage and debt servicing. He said bitcoin would need to fall to $8,000 and remain there for five to six years before Strategy faced serious difficulty covering its convertible obligations.

Also during the call, Saylor said the company will launch a Bitcoin Security Program to coordinate with the global cyber and crypto security community. He argued quantum computing is a long-term issue, not an immediate threat, and said any future Bitcoin upgrade would require broad global consensus.

Analysts remain divided on the approach. TD Cowen said Strategy has reinforced its position as the leading corporate bitcoin treasury company and could benefit from any market recovery. Bernstein analysts also argued the firm has structured liabilities conservatively, with no major debt maturities until 2028.

MSTR stock moved lower in premarket trading Monday, down more than 5%, as bitcoin struggled to hold above $69,000. The shares remain closely tied to bitcoin’s price swings, leaving investors watching both the company’s balance sheet and the broader crypto market.

This post Strategy (MSTR) Adds 1,142 Bitcoin for $90 Million as Bitcoin Trades Near $69,000 first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.

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Bithumb Bitcoin Blunder Sends $44 Billion to Users, Rattles Crypto Markets 

South Korean crypto exchange Bithumb said it mistakenly distributed more than $40 billion worth of Bitcoin to customers during a promotional rewards event, triggering sharp price volatility last week for bitcoin’s price.

The exchange said the incident occurred when a planned giveaway of small cash rewards was processed incorrectly. Instead of awarding about 2,000 Korean won, or roughly $1.40, some users received at least 2,000 Bitcoin each.

The error resulted in the accidental distribution of roughly 620,000 Bitcoin, valued at approximately $44 billion at current prices.

Bithumb apologized for the mistake and said it has now recovered 99.7% of the excess Bitcoin. The exchange said it restricted trading and withdrawals for 695 affected customers within 35 minutes of the erroneous payout.

“We would like to make it clear that this incident is unrelated to external hacking or security breaches,” Bithumb said in a statement. “There are no problems with system security or customer asset management.”

Despite the quick response, reports said a small number of recipients sold or traded the coins before restrictions were imposed. Bithumb told local media it had not yet recovered 125 Bitcoin, worth around $9 million, from a small group of customers.

The exchange said it would cover those remaining losses using its own corporate funds.

Bithumb’s Bitcoin disruptions 

The incident caused an immediate disruption in Bitcoin trading on the platform. Charts from Bithumb showed Bitcoin briefly slumped 17% to 81.1 million won or roughly $55,000 during the selloff before recovering. The price later rebounded to around 104.5 million won.

South Korea’s financial regulators responded swiftly. The Financial Services Commission said the incident exposed vulnerabilities in the virtual asset sector. Officials said they would review internal control systems at domestic exchanges and launch on-site inspections if irregularities were found.

South Korean newspaper Kookmin Ilbo reported regulators had already begun an inspection at Bithumb’s offices on February 7. Investigators reportedly requested a list of employees authorized to issue crypto payments.

Unnamed sources quoted by the newspaper described the incident as revealing “structural vulnerabilities” in the exchanges operational processes.

Reports indicated that Bithumb’s internal system allowed employees to issue loyalty points, Korean won, Bitcoin, and Ethereum without formal settlement procedures, increasing the risk of payout errors.

Executives acknowledged internal shortcomings. In an email to employees, Exchange Business Division Vice President Hwang Seung-wook said the mistake demonstrated weaknesses in the company’s processes.

“The fact that a single error in setting an event reward unit can destabilize an entire crypto exchange demonstrates the current state of our systems,” he wrote. He said the company would focus on eliminating failures in oversight rather than blaming individuals.

Bithumb’s compensation plan

Bithumb announced compensation measures for customers affected by abnormal trading conditions during the incident.

The exchange said users who sold Bitcoin at unusually low prices during the disruption would receive the full sale amount plus an additional 10%. Bithumb also said it would waive trading fees across all markets for seven days beginning February 9.

The company said it would provide 20,000 Korean won, or about $15, to customers who were actively using the platform at the time of the incident.

The error comes at a sensitive time for the exchange. The exchange has been pursuing plans to become the first South Korean crypto exchange to go public in the United States this year. 

Earlier this month, South Korea’s consumer protection watchdog launched a probe into Bithumb’s marketing claims.

For now, Bithumb is in damage control mode. The exchange has promised to compensate users who lost money from panic selling during the glitch. The company also says it will review and upgrade its internal systems to prevent future errors. Details on specific fixes have not yet been released.

This post Bithumb Bitcoin Blunder Sends $44 Billion to Users, Rattles Crypto Markets  first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.

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Bitcoin Price Roars Above $71,000 After Days of Sell-Offs

The bitcoin price rebounded sharply Friday after a steep sell-off over the previous 24 hours, climbing briefly climbing above $71,000, a jump of $11,000 from its $60,000 low earlier in the 24-hour session. 

The move came after several turbulent market sessions that saw the flagship cryptocurrency break key psychological support levels in a matter of hours. On Thursday, February 5, the Bitcoin price plunged as global financial markets deteriorated, with major stock indices sliding sharply and pushing investors out of riskier assets. 

The sudden downturn was linked to broader macroeconomic stress, including weak earnings reports and steep declines in technology stocks, which intensified a flight to safety among traders. 

Data compiled Thursday showed Bitcoin’s value dipping to its lowest since late 2024, signaling growing bearish sentiment among market participants. 

The digital asset had retreated more than 40% from its all-time high above $126,000 reached in October 2025, underscoring the severity of the downturn.

Also, as the bitcoin price collapsed yesterday, forced liquidations boomed with over $1 billion in positions wiped out over the past 24 hours, predominantly long bets facing automatic close-outs as BTC broke key levels.

Crypto stocks rebound as Bitcoin price recovers

Despite Thursday’s losses, Bitcoin price’s rebound Friday saw prices climb from the $60,000 region back above the $70,000 mark, reflecting a nearly 15% recovery from intraday lows. 

Crypto-related stocks saw massive gains as well. Strategy ($MSTR) shares were up 21% on the day, while Coinbase ($COIN) and Circle ($CRCL) and Robinhood ($HOOD) shares all jumped 10-15% 

Bitcoin-linked equities also posted sharp gains, led by MARA Holdings (MARA), which climbed 21.03% to $8.14, and TeraWulf (WULF), up 19.55% to $14.25. Riot Platforms (RIOT) rose 16.54% to $14.05, while Cipher Mining (CIFR) added 15.47% to $14.66. 

Bitmine Immersion Technologies (BMNR) increased 15.43% to $20.08, and Core Scientific (CORZ) gained 10.43% to $16.36. Neptune Digital Assets (NDA) also advanced, rising 11.43% to $0.78

During the drop, the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), a spot Bitcoin ETF managed by BlackRock that lets investors gain exposure to Bitcoin without holding the crypto directly, crushed its daily volume record with about $10 billion worth of shares traded — even as its price plunged 13%, marking the second‑worst one‑day drop since the fund’s launch.

Currently, bitcoin is trading at $70,661. 

This post Bitcoin Price Roars Above $71,000 After Days of Sell-Offs first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.

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Bithumb Accidentally Sends Large Amounts of Bitcoin to Users, Triggers Price Crash Amid Market Selloff

South Korea-based cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb reportedly made an operational mistake that led to the accidental deposit of large amounts of Bitcoin to user accounts during a promotional event.

The exchange had planned to distribute small cash rewards through a “Random Box” event at around 6 p.m. local time. Winners were supposed to receive between 20,000 and 50,000 Korean won. 

Instead, staff reportedly entered the payment unit as Bitcoin rather than won.

As a result, some users received at least 2,000 BTC each, worth roughly 196 billion won per person based on prices near 98 million won per Bitcoin at the time, according to social media screenshots and accounts. 

Earlier today, Bithumb said it accidentally sent an excess of bitcoin to “some customers.”

Some recipients reportedly sold the mistakenly credited coins, causing temporary price dislocations on the platform. 

Bitcoin on Bithumb reportedly fell more than 10% below broader market levels during the incident.

“We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused to our customers due to the confusion that arose during the payment process for this event,” the exchange said in a statement posted Friday.

Bithumb said it “immediately recognized the abnormal transaction through its internal control system and promptly restricted transactions for the relevant account.”

The exchange did not disclose how much Bitcoin was mistakenly distributed or how many accounts were affected. It said its “domino liquidation prevention system” prevented more severe chain liquidations tied to an “abnormal bitcoin price.”

Bithumb also emphasized that the incident was unrelated to any external hacking or security breach.

“It is understood that this incident did not result in any loss or damage to customer assets,” the company said.

This is a developing story. 

Massive bitcoin price drops on Bithumb

All this alleged activity happened as bitcoin suffered one of its most dramatic selloffs in history Thursday, slicing through key support levels and triggering a wave of forced liquidations. 

Bitcoin Magazine Pro data shows that BTC plunged to $60,000 yesterday, marking the largest raw dollar drawdown ever recorded and leaving the price roughly 50% below its October 2025 all-time high above $126,000. 

The decline now ranks among Bitcoin’s most extreme corrections, surpassing even the selling seen around the FTX collapse as broader risk markets weakened.

The move was intensified by leverage, with more than $1.1 billion in derivatives positions liquidated after support near $70,000 broke and accelerated the slide into the $60,000 range.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading above $69,000. 

This post Bithumb Accidentally Sends Large Amounts of Bitcoin to Users, Triggers Price Crash Amid Market Selloff first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.

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Paystand: The Payments Giants Quietly Supporting Bitcoin Circular Economies

While many hyper focus on the bitcoin price and its occasional intense volatility, there is a whole cohort of Bitcoiners that are quietly building Bitcoin circular economies with deep social impact around the world, in areas where Bitcoin is a save heaven asset today, compared to the local economies and circumstances.

One such company is Paystand, a B2B payments giant that has gone under the radar as a major user of Bitcoin for domestic and international corporate payments. Paystand enables companies to handle receivables, payables, expenses, cross-border payments, issue corporate spend cards, and streamlines payroll dynamics with Bitcoin-sensitive accounting software. Paystand serves mid to large corporate clients like Motorola.

By using Bitcoin as a financial settlement layer via its assurety protocol, Paystand provides fast, auditable, traceable transfers, serving as an alternative to legacy systems like checks, wires, and ACH. According to its CEO, Jeremy Almond, who talked to Bitcoin Magazine on the matter, the company has processed over $20 billion in payment volume per year and connects more than one million businesses on its network.

Almond, who co-founded Paystand, is a Bitcoin early adopter whose family was deeply affected by the 2008 financial crisis. In an interview with Frank Corva of Bitcoin Magazine, Almond shared some of his experiences with the Occupy Wall Street protest against the banks at the time and how all of this influenced his master’s thesis on “Why banks are too big to fail,” which in turn led him to Bitcoin. Almond has a deep background in tech entrepreneurship, while also being a surfer, which puts him in the company of other Bitcoin leaders who catch waves, like Jack Dorsey or Bitcoin Beach’s Mike Peterson. 

Bitcoin’s deep integration with Paystand is subtle. The company focuses on solving operational and payment related problems for large corporations, using Bitcoin’s world class volume and payments infrastructure in the background, it is not generally known as Bitcoin company, though it nevertheless is advancing Bitcoin adoption in very interesting ways. 

On the Bitcoin corporate front, Paystand takes a very different approach than companies like Michael Saylor’s Strategy, which walk through the front door to pitch a Bitcoin treasury allocation to executive boards, looking to influence companies from the top down. Paystand takes a very different strategy. Through its Teampay corporate spending cards, companies can earn Bitcoin rewards—denominated in satoshis—on everyday expenditures, such as a 1% cash back in sats. 

As Almond explained, “Our products are designed to sort of Trojan horse and orange pill large companies that might be skeptical to go all in on Bitcoin first… all of a sudden that company ends up with Bitcoin in the balance sheet, not by some big formal process, but by simply doing what they’re already doing and earning sats by their regular behavior.”

Sats rewards are far more valuable than random credit card points; they last forever and are deeply liquid, trending upwards in value over time, as Bitcoin does. Corporations just have to figure out how to access them and integrate them into their balance sheet, which means the call to integrate Bitcoin comes from inside the house for Paystand clients. 

When the call comes, Paystand is ready to build on this earned interest by assisting clients with integration. The company helps connect Bitcoin holdings to enterprise resource planning systems like Oracle, Microsoft, and Sage, handling reconciliation and accounting under standards such as FASB rules. Almond noted, “What we’re really good at is helping these organizations connect it back to their big financial system… And that’s really one of the things we’re an expert at.”

In November 2025, Paystand acquired Bitwage, a Bitcoin payroll and global payouts company founded in 2014 by Jonathan Chester and John Lindsay. Bitwage specializes in enabling businesses to pay international employees, contractors, and vendors in Bitcoin, stablecoins, or local fiat currencies, solving key accounting complexities, reducing cross-border fees and FX costs while offering flexible payout options across nearly “200 countries”, according to Bitwage. The acquisition integrates Bitwage’s expertise into Paystand’s enterprise network, expanding capabilities for global B2B transactions, including payroll and supplier payments, with full Bitcoin support. 

In a notable revelation during the interview, Almond disclosed that Paystand operates its own business-focused layer-2 solution tailored for enterprise needs, with upcoming announcements on additional L2 partnerships. In order to guarantee results and reliability, Paystand has also entered the Bitcoin mining industry. 

Almond told Bitcoin Magazine that “Today we are one of the top 25 largest miners in the world.” The expansion into mining came through their business relationships with various energy corporations, to which they provide payment services. “Increasingly, the energy industry and the Bitcoin mining industry are converging. And so we’ve been able to have distributed mining infrastructure with a number of energy partners and data centers to be able to bring more balance to the energy grid, partner with our energy partners, and then create more sustainable options that also help balance and decentralize the Bitcoin validation infrastructure,” he explained. 

The move reveals an interesting alignment of incentives. Paystand decided to become vertically integrated as a Bitcoin payments company, applying to supply its own hash rate, blocks, and layer two scaling solution, tailor-made for large B2B. The strategic need to guarantee transactions get confirmed by miners turned them into miners, further decentralizing the hashing power and thus the Bitcoin network. Almond added that Paystand’s expansion into mining was deeply rooted in their OG Bitcoin culture, “if we don’t have the nodes and the miners aren’t sufficiently decentralized, then again… Our view is that we are not living up to the ideals of the white paper.” 

Closing the Loop to Bitcoin Circular Economies 

Beyond its commercial operations, Paystand allocates a portion of profits to Paystand.org, a nonprofit formed in 2024, focused on supporting Bitcoin circular economies (BCEs) in the Global South. 

These BCEs are community-driven initiatives using Bitcoin for local transactions, remittances, and financial inclusion, and to drive positive social impact. BCEs include projects like Bitcoin Beach in El Salvador, Motiv in Peru, and My First Bitcoin for education. 

According to Almond, Paystand.org has donated over “a billion sats” to BCEs, equivalent to roughly one million US dollars. Donations are made as grants ranging from one thousand to eighty thousand dollars, depending on the proof of work demonstrated by the program. “We work with 30 programs all over the globe, something in the order of 20 countries,” Almond, emphasizing the scale of their non-profit work. 

Paystand dot org, alongside a variety of BCE leaders, echoes the difference Bitcoin is making in social impact projects, as this style of humanitarian work emphasizes development of agency and empowerment on the part of recipients, rather than constant handouts, fiat style, which ultimately creates dependency rather than resilience. 

Paystand demonstrated a strong presence at the recent Bitcoin Circular Economy Summit in El Salvador’s Bitcoin Beach this January 2026, where representatives shared insights on sustainable BCE models.

This post Paystand: The Payments Giants Quietly Supporting Bitcoin Circular Economies first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Juan Galt.

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Virginia Advances Bill in Committee to Establish State Bitcoin Fund

Virginia lawmakers are moving forward with a proposal that would place the Commonwealth among a growing number of states exploring direct exposure to bitcoin and other digital assets through public reserves.

Senate Bill 557, patroned by Senator Reeves, would establish the Commonwealth Strategic Cryptocurrency Reserve Fund, a special nonreverting fund housed in the state treasury and administered by the Virginia State Treasurer. 

The measure advanced this week after passing the Senate General Laws and Technology Committee in a 13–2 vote.

Under the legislation, Virginia would be authorized to invest state-held funds directly into bitcoin or other qualifying cryptocurrencies, creating what supporters describe as a strategic reserve designed to modernize treasury management and position the state for the future of bitcoin and digital finance.

The bill lays out a detailed framework for how the bitcoin reserve would operate. All funds appropriated for the purpose, along with any bitcoin or cryptocurrency purchased or received, would be credited into the reserve. 

Notably, the proposal also accounts for assets that may be generated through blockchain events such as forks or distributed through airdrops, ensuring the state retains ownership of any derivative digital holdings.

Unlike many state accounts, the reserve would be nonreverting, meaning funds would remain in the reserve at the end of each fiscal year rather than returning to the general fund.

SB557 includes guardrails intended to limit speculative exposure. Any cryptocurrency purchased using reserve funds must have maintained an average market capitalization of at least $500 billion over the previous 24 months, a threshold that effectively limits eligibility primarily to bitcoin.

The Treasurer would be required to manage investments under a “prudent person” standard, balancing diversification and risk minimization. The bill also permits the use of derivatives if the Treasurer determines they serve the best interest of the fund.

To address security concerns, the legislation authorizes the Treasurer to contract with third-party entities, including qualified custodians that employ secure technologies such as cold storage, as well as regulated liquidity providers to facilitate purchases and asset management.

The Treasurer may also commission independent audits through certified public accountants.

In addition, SB557 would establish a five-member Strategic Cryptocurrency Reserve Advisory Committee, including members with expertise in digital asset investments, to provide guidance on valuation methods and investment policy.

The bill mandates transparency through biennial reporting. By December 31 of each even-numbered year, the Treasurer would publish and submit a report detailing the amount and estimated value of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies held, changes over time, and management actions taken. 

U.S. States embracing bitcoin

The proposal comes amid growing interest from U.S. states and municipalities in incorporating digital assets into public portfolios, reflecting broader trends in cryptocurrency adoption and financial innovation.

South Dakota recently introduced House Bill 1155, which would allow the state to invest up to 10% of public funds in Bitcoin.

Earlier this year, Rhode Island lawmakers introduced Senate Bill S2021 to temporarily exempt small Bitcoin transactions from state income and capital gains taxes, with a $5,000 monthly and $20,000 annual cap. 

The bill treats Bitcoin as a “digital, decentralized currency” and allows residents and Rhode Island–based businesses to self-certify eligibility while keeping simple records. 

The exemption would take effect January 1, 2027, and expire January 1, 2028, as a pilot program to reduce tax friction on everyday Bitcoin use.

New Hampshire is another state actively championing Bitcoin. In May 2025, New Hampshire became the first U.S. state to allow its treasury to invest in Bitcoin and other large-cap digital assets, authorizing up to 5% of certain public funds to be allocated into crypto under House Bill 302. BTC currently qualifies under the market-cap rule.

This post Virginia Advances Bill in Committee to Establish State Bitcoin Fund first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.

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UBS to Build Digital-Asset Infrastructure, Eyes Bitcoin Services for Individuals

UBS Group AG is exploring ways to offer bitcoin and crypto access to individual clients, CEO Sergio Ermotti said during the bank’s earnings call on Wednesday.

Ermotti said the Zurich-based lender is building the core infrastructure needed for digital-asset services while evaluating targeted products, ranging from crypto access for wealthy clients to tokenized deposit solutions for corporate customers.

“We are building out the core infrastructure and exploring targeted offerings from crypto access for individual clients to tokenized deposit solutions for corporates,” Ermotti said.

The UBS chief stressed the bank does not plan to be a first mover in blockchain-based technology. 

Instead, UBS is pursuing what Ermotti described as a “fast follower” strategy in tokenized assets, with expansion expected to unfold over the next three to five years alongside its traditional banking business.

It was reported last month that UBS is in the process of selecting partners for a crypto offering aimed at some of its high-net-worth clients, marking a shift for a bank that has historically taken a cautious stance on virtual tokens.

Like many global lenders, UBS has so far focused its digital-asset work on blockchain infrastructure for tokenized funds and payments. 

Banks have generally moved slowly into areas like crypto trading, in part due to stricter capital requirements under the Basel III framework.

Other European banks like UBS exploring bitcoin 

Other banks are also starting to embrace bitcoin and crypto offerings. DZ Bank recently secured MiCAR approval and will roll out its “meinKrypto” platform across cooperative banks, allowing customers to trade and custody Bitcoin and other digital assets directly within existing banking apps, while also joining a consortium developing a regulated euro stablecoin. 

Also, the Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe plans to launch Bitcoin and crypto trading for private customers by the summer of 2026, with technical support from DekaBank, marking a reversal from its earlier skepticism toward digital assets and crypto. 

Also earlier this week, ING Deutschland, one of Germany’s largest retail banks, said they will began offering retail clients access to cryptocurrency-linked exchange-traded notes (ETNs) and products, allowing customers to gain exposure to bitcoin and other crypto directly through their existing securities accounts.

According to information published on ING’s website, the products are physically backed exchange-traded instruments issued by established asset managers including the likes of 21Shares, Bitwise, and VanEck. 

This post UBS to Build Digital-Asset Infrastructure, Eyes Bitcoin Services for Individuals first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.

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Bitcoin Price Plunges 40% From All-Time Highs to One-Year Lows

Bitcoin’s price dropped below $75,000 today, its lowest level in nearly a year, as global crypto markets endured a sustained wave of selling triggered by broader financial stresses and shifting investor appetite. 

The bitcoin price has now retraced more than 40% from its all‑time highs reached in late 2025. According to Bitcoin Magazine Pro data, the one-year low for the bitcoin price is $74,747. Bitcoin is dancing near that number.

Recent trading data showed Bitcoin price slipping through key technical support levels, driving forced liquidations across derivatives markets and intensifying downside price pressure. Over roughly the past 24 hours, around $2.56 billion in Bitcoin positions were liquidated, according to market data. 

This follows weeks of risk‑off sentiment across global asset classes.

The downturn in cryptocurrencies has coincided with stress in other markets like precious metals, tech sell-offs, and losses in equities. 

Institutional players report losses as policy signals remain dubious 

The market slide has had tangible impacts on key industry participants. Galaxy Digital, a major crypto investment firm led by Michael Novogratz, reported a $482 million loss for the fourth quarter of 2025, earlier today. 

The firm attributed this to the decline in digital asset prices and a sharp drop in trading volumes, which fell more than 40% from the prior quarter. Galaxy’s stock traded lower following the earnings release, reflecting investor concern about the broader bitcoin price and crypto downturn.

Also, Bitcoin price currently trades below $76,000, which is roughly the average price at which Strategy acquired a portion of its BTC holdings and well below the cost of many of its accumulated coins. 

Since Strategy owns hundreds of thousands of bitcoins at higher average purchase prices, the current market value is less than what was paid for much of its inventory, leaving a significant portion of its holdings “underwater.”

Market participants have also pointed to U.S. monetary policy developments as a significant driver of the sell‑off. 

The recent nomination of Kevin Warsh as chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve by President Donald Trump has prompted forecasts of tighter monetary conditions. 

A strengthening U.S. dollar in response to monetary policy shifts has also weighed on Bitcoin. A firmer dollar typically makes non‑yielding assets like Bitcoin less attractive, reducing inflows from investors seeking currency‑neutral hedges. Analysts noted that the dollar’s recent performance provided technical headwinds that amplified the crypto market’s decline.

The Trump administration has continued to engage with industry leaders on digital asset policy, including efforts to advance regulatory clarity through legislation such as the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act. 

This dialogue has really slowed down over the last couple of months, it has not yet translated into stabilizing price action amid current conditions.

Bitcoin price in genuine ‘crypto winter’

Despite this, Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan said in a recent memo that the crypto market has been in a genuine “crypto winter” since early 2025, rather than experiencing a short-lived correction. 

Hougan highlighted that bearish sentiment remains strong, as evidenced by the Crypto Fear and Greed Index, which shows near all-time fear levels despite positive developments like the appointment of a bitcoin-friendly Fed chair.

Hougan noted that institutional flows helped mask the severity of the downturn. U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs and digital asset treasury vehicles purchased over 744,000 BTC during this period—roughly $75 billion in demand — cushioning bitcoin price’s drawdown, which he estimated could have reached nearly 60% without this support. 

He compared the current environment to previous downturns in 2018 and 2022, where markets remained depressed despite incremental positive news.

Looking ahead, Hougan suggested that crypto winters often end not with exuberance but with exhaustion. In his words, “It’s always darkest before the dawn.”

Bitcoin price is currently at $74,800, with a 24-hour trading volume of 55 B. BTC is -5% in the last 24 hours. It is currently -5% from its 7-day all-time high of $78,994.

This post Bitcoin Price Plunges 40% From All-Time Highs to One-Year Lows first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.

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ING Deutschland Opens Retail Access to Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Products

ING Deutschland, one of Germany’s largest retail banks, has begun offering retail clients access to cryptocurrency-linked exchange-traded notes (ETNs) and products, allowing customers to gain exposure to bitcoin and other crypto directly through their existing securities accounts.

According to information published on ING’s website, the products are physically backed exchange-traded instruments issued by established asset managers including 21Shares, Bitwise, and VanEck. 

The instruments track the performance of individual cryptocurrencies and trade on regulated exchanges via ING’s Direct Depot platform, which is typically used for stocks, ETFs, and mutual funds.

The bank said the bitcoin offering is intended to lower barriers to entry for crypto investing by integrating digital asset exposure into familiar banking infrastructure. 

Clients do not need to set up third-party crypto exchanges, manage private keys, or operate self-custody wallets, as custody and execution are handled within the securities account framework.

“This creates another particularly low-threshold access to crypto investments via exchange-traded products,” said Martijn Rozemuller, CEO of VanEck Europe, in a translated press release. “Many investors want a solution that fits into existing depot structures and at the same time convinces them with transparent costs. That’s exactly what this partnership stands for.”

ING noted that the bitcoin and crypto ETNs receive the same tax treatment in Germany as directly held cryptocurrencies. Under current German tax rules, capital gains on crypto assets may be exempt if the position is held for more than one year, potentially making the products attractive to long-term investors.

Despite the expanded access, the bank emphasized that the products carry substantial risks. ING warned of “extreme” price volatility, the possibility of total loss in the event of issuer insolvency, liquidity risks, market manipulation, and ongoing regulatory uncertainty surrounding digital assets.

In educational materials published alongside the launch, ING took a notably cautious stance on the asset class itself.

 “Cryptocurrencies are speculative products that have no intrinsic value,” the bank stated, adding that crypto prices are “strongly dependent on psychological effects,” which also influence exchange-traded crypto products.

German banks are embracing bitcoin

Germany’s major banking groups are moving to bring crypto trading into the regulated retail banking system. DZ Bank has secured MiCAR approval and will roll out its “meinKrypto” platform across cooperative banks, allowing customers to trade and custody Bitcoin and other digital assets directly within existing banking apps, while also joining a consortium developing a regulated euro stablecoin. 

In parallel, the Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe plans to launch Bitcoin and crypto trading for private customers by summer 2026, with technical support from DekaBank, marking a reversal from its earlier skepticism toward digital assets. 

This post ING Deutschland Opens Retail Access to Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Products first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.

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Bitcoin Is Coming Off a Brutal Week. Here’s What’s Happening

Bitcoin is stabilizing slightly today after one of its most punishing weeks in years, but the damage across crypto markets has already been done.

The bitcoin price fell below $80,000 over the weekend for the first time since April 2025, briefly plunging to lows near $75,000 amid cascading liquidations and a broader sell-off across global risk assets. 

As of early Monday, BTC was trading around $78,400, up about 1% on the day, according to Bitcoin Magazine data, after shedding roughly 12% over the past seven days.

That decline has erased more than $200 billion from bitcoin’s market capitalization, capping a brutal stretch that saw the asset lose roughly $800 billion in value since peaking above $126,000 in October.

Market participants point to a convergence of macroeconomic stress, geopolitical risk and structural fragility in crypto markets as the primary drivers of the sell-off.

Bitcoin’s drop coincided with a sharp “risk-off” move across global markets. U.S. equities slid late last week, led by steep losses in technology stocks after Microsoft’s earnings disappointed investors. That weakness spilled into European and Asian markets on Monday, while traditional safe havens also came under pressure.

Gold and silver both suffered historic losses, with silver posting its worst single-day decline since 1980. Analysts say the simultaneous sell-off in crypto and precious metals reflects a surging U.S. dollar and shifting expectations around U.S. monetary policy following the nomination of Kevin Warsh to succeed Jerome Powell as Federal Reserve chair.

Thin liquidity over the weekend exacerbated price swings, triggering a wave of forced liquidations across derivatives markets. 

According to Coinglass, more than $2 billion worth of BTC long and short positions have been liquidated since Thursday, including $2.56 billion across all cryptocurrencies on Saturday alone — one of the largest single-day liquidation events on record.

Liquidations occur when leveraged traders are automatically forced out of positions as prices fall, creating a feedback loop of selling pressure that can accelerate declines.

Institutional investors have also been pulling back. Digital asset investment products recorded a second consecutive week of outflows totaling $1.7 billion, according to CoinShares, wiping out all year-to-date inflows and pushing 2026 flows into negative territory. 

Bitcoin and Ethereum products led the withdrawals, while short BTC products and tokenized precious metals saw inflows, suggesting rising demand for downside protection.

Bitcoin whale activity 

Earlier today, Binance confirmed it purchased 1,315 bitcoin, worth roughly $100 million, as part of a plan to convert its $1 billion Secure Asset Fund for Users (SAFU) reserve from stablecoins into BTC over the next 30 days. 

Binance cofounder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao said he had lost confidence in a 2026 BTC “super cycle,” citing intense FUD, market turbulence, and accusations that Binance-related events contributed to a historic liquidation cascade. 

Members of the crypto community accused CZ of selling BTC over the weekend and accused him of being responsible for the massive October 10, 2025 crypto crash that led to large crypto liquidations. 

Corporate bitcoin holders have also come under scrutiny. Bitcoin’s brief dip below Strategy’s average purchase price put the company’s massive treasury holdings under pressure, though analysts say there is no risk of forced selling because the BTC is not pledged as collateral.

Bitcoin’s drop below Strategy’s $76,052 cost basis somewhat erased the psychological floor beneath Michael Saylor’s leveraged accumulation strategy, exposing growing strain as the firm’s stock trades far below its peak and its equity premium vanishes. 

While there’s no immediate financial distress and no forced selling risk, tightening capital markets and fading investor appetite are shrinking Strategy’s ability to fund further Bitcoin purchases through share issuance.

At the time of writing, BTC is rebounding to around $78,380, up 1% over the past 24 hours, trading just below its seven-day high as market capitalization climbs to roughly $1.57 trillion.

This post Bitcoin Is Coming Off a Brutal Week. Here’s What’s Happening first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.

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El Salvador’s Bitcoin Beach Hosts Global Summit: Strategies for Sustainable Bitcoin Circular Economies Emerge

The Bitcoin Circular Economy Summit just took place in El Salvador’s Bitcoin Beach, and what an event it was. The invite-only summit saw two days of presentations from communities from across the world, from Indonesia to Peru, from Africa to Bolivia. The summit saw an alleged 29 different countries represented among the small crowd of perhaps 60 attendees and speakers. 

The event was put together by the Bitcoin Beach team, lead by Mike Peterson and Roman Martinez, the BCES took place in El Zonte’s community center, a new location built up to support El Zonte’s growing population and economy.  

The topics covered ranged from overviews of various Bitcoin Circular Economies (BCEs), to discussions about strategy, tooling, financial sustainability, economic theory, and even education for leaders to become more effective communicators and fundraisers. 

Attendees told stories of incredible success with brick and mortar adoption in countries with failing currencies, of eye-watering transformation, growth, and gratitude from remote communities apparently forgotten by civilization, of hope and good-hearted behaviour demonstrated by the long reach of Bitcoin donors and Bitcoin activists, looking to deliver sound money to the furthest reaches of the world. 

The Bitcoin Beach White Paper

Since 2019, El Zonte’s Bitcoin Beach has become a world-renowned brand, the biggest success story in the Bitcoin circular economy world. Its novel story has been told many times, but some key takeaways were discussed in depth at the summit, providing an overview of what is documented in detail in the Bitcoin Beach White Paper. 

Concentrate Adoption in one Location

BCE leaders advised against taking a shotgun approach to Bitcoin adoption, especially when it comes to brick-and-mortar-like stores, and deep impact social work. Choose a town, street, or specific community and work hard to get mass adoption in a limited location first. This arguably benefits from multiple network effects seen in branding. Instead of random locations across a country accepting Bitcoin, a single location can attract tourists in higher numbers, resulting in more bitcoin payments being made to merchants, which they need to see to remain motivated.  

This contrasts a classic scenario of less organized attempts at getting brick and mortar adoption, where the shop clerk downloads the Bitcoin app but only sees bitcoin spenders show up once or twice a month. Volume strengthens the connection between Bitcoin and that local community, resulting in more sustainable interest and adoption. Concentrating the Bitcoin brand in one town or street in a city leverages commonly seen marketing strategies, where multiple stores of the same type cluster together, to benefit from each other’s broad advertising efforts.

Build a High-Trust Team

“Don’t be hasty in who you bring along,” said Mike Peterson on stage when discussing the Bitcoin Beach White Paper. People will want to join, but it is important not to rush into relationships with people you don’t know well. It is better to build a small team of high-trust, well-known individuals than grow too fast and take unnecessary risks. 

Bitcoin not crypto

The topic of crypto also came up, as donations are often offered to social impact communities of this sort in a wide range of cryptocurrencies; however, speakers and panelists all agreed that keeping Bitcoin as the main brand and flag was crucial. One of the reasons is the wide proliferation of crypto-related scams across the world, including in low-income, low-education communities. Bitcoin, unlike most other crypto brands, is very well known and has a strong reputation, with BCEs throughout the world working to educate on the same themes and network, it is a lot easier to bypass concerns from local community leaders and educate the public about the most secure and successful crypto currency available. 

Communicate in Bitcoin, not Dollars

Many of the BCEs represented had Bitcoin donors, some of them anonymous, with simple but powerful demands from the recipients. Bitcoin Beach’s founding donor, who still communicates with Peterson, originally demanded that the bitcoin be used to buy things, not sold for dollars and then used. Bitcoin adoption as a medium of exchange was a prerequisite for the donations and the relationship to continue.

Donors of this kind, who are likely OG Bitcoin maximalists, also insist that leaders talk about value in SATS, not in dollars, challenging a manner of speech that has become normalized in the industry, something like “I’ll send you 20 dollars worth of Bitcoin”.

Peterson insisted that donors hate this and want Bitcoin to be discussed in SATS (Satoshis, the smallest denomination of bitcoin) or in BTC terms, a condition clearly aimed at making bitcoin a common unit of account. 

Sustainability

Sustainability was also an important topic across the Summit. In the context of Bitcoin circular economies, it means being able to survive and continue to grow as a local bitcoin hub, when donations dry out. The question of how to achieve sustainability touches a variety of important topics, including what might eventually become an economic theory of microeconomies powered by Bitcoin. 

The Bitcoin Beach team highlighted the importance of tourism as a source of external capital into the local economy, but recognized that not all BCEs are conducive to tourism. Some are in very remote areas, others are in hostile and dangerous political environments. Attendees generally recognized that some BCEs might always depend on donations, depending on the situation, but also discussed ways in which some BCEs can form economic relationships with each other. 

Motiv in Peru, for example, serves two communities in particular who have developed an economic relationship, one produces artisan crafts, sewn by Indigenous women from a small town in the mountains of Peru, and the other is a tourist hub in Lima that buys the goods from them in bitcoin and resells them to Bitcoin tourists. Peterson highlighted the importance of understanding what makes your community special and working with locals to develop their local talent. 

Another aspect of sustainability is the focus of agency instead of assistance, in the non-profit version of BCEs. Rather than just buy things and gift them to impoverished communities, education and economic empowerment are encouraged, highlighting the “teach a man to fish” as superior and more likely to survive.

Bitcoin economic theory would suggest that teaching long lasting life-skills to developing communities is preferable to just giving them free stuff forever, since the faucet of bitcoin donations is fundamentally finite. While in the fiat model, more dollars will always be created — and the quicker they get spent, the better — eventually finding their way through the web of NGOs, to the hands of charity recipients. The never-ending printing machine creates a permanent underclass of economic dependence through foreign aid, defeating the sense of urgency that motivates the pursuit of sustainability.

Finally, sustainability at a personal level for BCE leaders was also discussed, as burnout, divorce, and self-sacrifice for a social cause is a familiar story. Martinez and Peterson spoke from personal experience, highlighting the importance of staying healthy as a Bitcoin leader in these communities, and not biting more than you can chew, so to speak, else you might “become a single point of failure”. Instead, they suggested leaders educate and train others to continue this important work. 

Fund Raising

When it comes to fundraising, a variety of organizations are actively contributing to the non-profit side of Bitcoin, some of them for-profit entities with non-profit arms, others fueled by Bitcoin donors of all sizes, from around the world. 

Paystand

Paystand, an American B2B payments company that uses Bitcoin in a variety of ways to provide its business solution to major corporations, also has a non-profit arm under the same brand, actively supporting BCEs across the world. They offer grants from 10k to 50k USD, depending on the project, can donate almost anywhere, even through the Human Rights Foundation, and are happy to offer mentorship to aspiring applicants. Applications to the Paystand non-profit can be made at their dot org site. 

Something that Paystand representatives insisted on communicating is that the organization does not expect any kind of advertising in return; their business operations do not depend on it at all, instead considering their work to support BCEs as part of their mission as Bitcoiners. 

Fedi

The Fedi for-profit technology company also provides grants to BCEs throughout the world, though largely focused on Africa until recently, they are now actively expanding into Latin America and have established deep roots in Indonesia. They also offer grants on a case-by-case basis, asking applicants what specific problem they are looking to solve, and providing support, but opting to empower leaders, rather than get deeply involved in specific communities.  

The Fedi app has now reached an impressive level of maturity, supporting collusion-resistant multi-signature mints, ecash denominated not just in Bitcoin but also local fiat for shorter-term payment requirements, social network-like capabilities for local communities to communicate and organize, payment rails to internet service providers in various countries, and much more. 

The Federation of Bitcoin Circular Economies

The FBCE, a growing association of Bitcoin circular economies, co-founded by Bitcoin Beach, El Zonte, Bitcoin Ekasi, South Africa, and Toronto’s Scott Wolfe, also offers grants, having completed two massive rounds since 2024.  The FBCE gives grants to initiatives that demonstrate enough proof of work, usually starting with small donations and growing from there, for a time, depending on the project.

Other Fundraising Platforms

Other fund raising platforms were mentioned by multiple attendees, as reliable ways to raise funds for BCE initiatives, among them were Angor.io and Geyser.fund which enable users to raise funds over time from many donors, kind of like a go-fund-me for Bitcoin. Bittasker.com also had a strong presence at the event as a sponsor, with a new platform for funding tasks and employing locals to get work done in BCEs, further advancing the medium exchange cause of Bitcoin. Donors could fund specific tasks, repairs, or infrastructure upgrades, like construction work via Bittasker in collaboration with BCE leaders on the ground. 

The Technology Stack

As digital money, Bitcoin requires a certain amount of infrastructure while also empowering BCEs with significant technological capabilities. To unlock Bitcoin circular economies, a variety of tools have been custom-built for this kind of adoption by various organizations and were regularly mentioned and used by the attendees.

Blink

Blink wallet, which rose to fame with El Zonte’s Bitcoin Beach, emerged as the most popular wallet among BCEs at the summit. Its Lightning native integration, on-chain capabilities, easy-to-use mobile app design, and stable SATS features appear to deliver the best experience so far for these kind of low-tech environments. 

Fedi Wallet

Fedi also had a very strong presence, supporting a large set of BCEs in Africa and Indonesia, with its broad set of tools, including local fiat-denominated ecash, lightning to ecash integration, and social network-like experiences, which are designed specifically to serve and empower Bitcoin circular economies of all kinds. 

Bittasker

Bittasker, a sponsor of the event, showed off its beautiful interface, boasted about its integration with Nostr as well as smart contract capabilities via Rootstock, which provides a trustless, smart escrow system for funding micro tasks in Bitcoin. Bittasker includes a job board and uses the Boltz back end for trust-less bridging between the various Bitcoin layers. 

K1 BTMs

K1, a Bitcoin ATM company, also sponsored the event and showed off their coins for sats BTM, which has become a staple of Bitcoin hubs, turning coins into SATS. The machines are lightning native, and have various upgrades and versions with more advanced capabilities, showing up at schools, retirement homes, and BCEs across the globe. 

Tiankii

Tiankii, another sponsor of the summit, showed off its bolt cards, which serve as bitcoin debit cards of sorts, for payments on terminals like the Bitcoinize machine. These cards are particularly useful in areas with low internet, where users might not have a mobile phone handy, nor data, accessing the Bitcoin network through the merchant’s terminal, delivering the ultimate payment experience in today’s digital world, offline tap to pay. 

Bitbooks

Anyone raising funds and trying to run a tight ship needs clear accounting, and one of the sponsors, BitBooks.com, focuses on just that. Their Bitcoin native accounting platform offers instant reconciliation across payments, dual currency view, automatic exchange rate calculations, and even a new experimental algorithm that can help users decide whether to pay in fiat or in bitcoin depending on price volatility and the user’s specific needs. 

AmityAge  

AmityAge is a Bitcoin financial services company with a strong educational offering. Dusan Matuska, its co-founder and CEO, delivered a memorable, interactive workshop on how to get past common objections in Bitcoin adoption, how to better understand and listen to the challenges faced by new users, and how to think about the process of evangelizing Bitcoin. Their platform hosts a variety of educational tools, financial and educational, available to the Bitcoin curious. 

Concluding Thoughts

Having attended Bitcoin conferences and events for over a decade, I was left both breathless and deeply satisfied with what I saw at the Bitcoin Circular Economy Summit. Unlike large industry conferences, which focus on how to gain traction in traditional markets, serve major corporations, and, in general, solve the problems of fiat at the top of the global markets, this summit looked in the opposite direction.

The BCEs represented, the individuals I met, and the stories I heard reminded me that Bitcoin is not a tool for its own sake, it is not a high-tech, science fiction endeavour, nor is it fundamentally about number-go-up. Bitcoin is a means to an end, and BCEs have that end goal, that objective very clear in their minds, to reach those whom society at large has failed, to onboard onto global finance those who live beyond Banks’ profit margin, to deliver sound money to good people in hostile environments, because they also deserve hope and are hungry for growth.

Bitcoin is a means to an end, not an end in itself. 

This post El Salvador’s Bitcoin Beach Hosts Global Summit: Strategies for Sustainable Bitcoin Circular Economies Emerge first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Juan Galt.

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Plan B Network Launches CypherTank, a Bitcoin Pitch Series Showcasing Builders and Ideas

The Plan ₿ Network just announced the global premiere of CypherTank, a Bitcoin-focused pitch series designed to highlight innovative builders, explore bold ideas, and bring the global Bitcoin community directly into the conversation.

The series blends live pitching, founder storytelling, and community-driven discussion, all framed around Bitcoin culture and values. 

Each episode gives viewers an inside look at how entrepreneurs think, build, and pitch in the Bitcoin ecosystem, offering both entertainment and insight for enthusiasts, investors, and fellow builders alike.

Episode 1 is scheduled to debut on January 31, 2026, during Plan ₿ Forum El Salvador, with a live main-stage screening presented by Joe Nakamoto.

The premiere will also be released simultaneously online, making it accessible to the global Bitcoin community in real time, the company shared with Bitcoin Magazine.

This launch marks the first public chapter in a series designed to unfold episodically, giving viewers the chance to engage with the content as it develops.

Following the premiere, additional episodes will be released on a rolling schedule through February, leading up to a season finale. 

Winners of the CypherTank series will be formally recognized during Plan ₿’s anniversary celebrations in Lugano on March 3, offering a high-profile platform to celebrate and amplify the most promising ideas.

A series designed to ‘foster discussion’ around Bitcoin

CypherTank’s rollout is intentionally structured to foster discussion and debate among the Bitcoin community. Viewers are encouraged to analyze pitches, discuss founders, highlight key insights, and share their favorite moments across social media, creating a dynamic conversation that extends beyond the screen.

The series will be widely accessible across multiple platforms, including CypherTank.org, YouTube, Rumble, X, Instagram, TikTok, and Nostr. 

CypherTank is a Bitcoin-focused pitch series that showcases builders, projects, and the stories behind them. 

Created to entertain, educate, and spark meaningful discussion, the series offers a rare inside look at how Bitcoin entrepreneurs think, build, and pitch, highlighting innovation within the ecosystem.

This post Plan B Network Launches CypherTank, a Bitcoin Pitch Series Showcasing Builders and Ideas first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.

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Jamie Dimon Tells Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong He’s ‘Full of Sh—’ in Davos Clash: WSJ

Brian Armstrong, the CEO of Coinbase, found himself at the eye of a widening storm between Wall Street and the crypto industry last week at the World Economic Forum in Davos — and it got personal. 

During a chance encounter over coffee with former U.K. prime minister Tony Blair, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon abruptly cut in, pointing a finger and telling Armstrong bluntly, “You are full of s—,” according to reporting from The Wall Street Journal. The outburst underscored some of the raw tensions happening between traditional banks and crypto firms over the future of U.S. financial regulation.

The confrontation, described by some attendees as uncharacteristically heated for the annual gathering of global elites, followed Armstrong’s series of television appearances earlier in the week. 

On business networks, he accused big banks of trying to sabotage key provisions of the Senate’s Clarity Act — a crypto market-structure bill that could redefine how digital assets are regulated and whether exchanges can offer interest-like rewards on stablecoins. 

Armstrong argued that banks are using legislative muscle to stifle competition rather than compete fairly in a free market.

At the heart of the dispute is the issue of yield. Coinbase and others offer rewards on stablecoins — digital tokens pegged to the U.S. dollar — that can return about 3.5% to holders. Traditional banks, by contrast, pay near-zero on checking and savings accounts. 

Banking executives say allowing crypto platforms to offer such returns is economically indistinguishable from interest on bank deposits and could trigger a mass shift of consumer funds out of the banking system. They warn community banks might struggle to lend to businesses if deposits erode.

Coinbase’s role in crypto legislation 

Armstrong’s advocacy comes as the Clarity Act faces legislative gridlock. The Senate Banking Committee abruptly postponed a markup and vote after Coinbase withdrew its support for the bill, calling the current draft “materially worse than the status quo” because of its restrictions on stablecoin yields and other concerns. 

At Davos, other bank chiefs reportedly kept their distance. Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan reportedly told Armstrong that if Coinbase wants to offer deposit-like products, “just be a bank,” pointing to the extensive regulatory oversight traditional deposit takers face. 

Citigroup’s Jane Fraser offered the Coinbase chief only a brief audience, and Wells Fargo’s Charlie Scharf declined to engage at all.

The clash highlights a broader struggle over how the U.S. financial system will evolve as crypto gains mainstream traction. Next week the White House will convene banking and crypto executives to discuss reviving stalled U.S. crypto legislation.

This post Jamie Dimon Tells Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong He’s ‘Full of Sh—’ in Davos Clash: WSJ first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.

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Binance to Move $1 Billion User Protection Fund Into Bitcoin 

Binance said Friday it will convert the stablecoin holdings in its $1 billion Secure Asset Fund for Users (SAFU) entirely into bitcoin over the next 30 days.

The exchange said the transition will be carried out gradually and accompanied by regular audits. 

Binance also pledged to replenish the fund if bitcoin price volatility causes its value to fall below $800 million, using treasury reserves to restore it to $1 billion.

Binance launched its SAFU back in 2018 to protect users against losses from extreme events such as hacks or major system failures. The fund is financed through a portion of Binance’s trading fees and is held separately from user assets in cold wallets.

Binance has repeatedly cited SAFU as a cornerstone of its risk-management and trust framework.

“This initiative is part of Binance’s long-term industry-building efforts,” the exchange said in its translated statement posted to X. “We will continue advancing related work and gradually share progress with the community.”

JUST IN: Binance says they will “convert the SAFU fund’s ~$1B stablecoin reserves into BTC within the next 30 days.”

Bullish pic.twitter.com/v0hILllD8e

— Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) January 30, 2026

Binance’s decision comes as bitcoin slumps

The move comes during a period of heightened market stress. Bitcoin has declined significantly from recent highs, while liquidity dislocations during extreme price moves have revived debate over exchange infrastructure and transparency.

Binance framed the decision to re-denominate SAFU in bitcoin as a statement of conviction in the asset’s long-term role within the crypto ecosystem, positioning bitcoin not merely as a trading instrument but as the industry’s foundational reserve asset. 

The exchange said future reviews could consider allocations to other “core assets,” including its native BNB token.

SAFU was most visibly deployed in 2019, when Binance covered losses after a security breach resulted in the theft of roughly 7,000 BTC, reimbursing affected users in full without impacting account balances. Since then, the fund has remained largely untouched, serving as an assurance mechanism rather than an actively deployed resource.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading below $83,000. It slid 6% over the past 24 hours, trading as heavy selling pushed daily volume to $94 billion. The asset is now down 6% from its seven-day high of $87,883, though it remains about 2% above its weekly low of $81,315, which hit late Thursday night. 

Bitcoin’s circulating supply stands at 19,982,315 BTC out of a capped 21 million, giving it a global market capitalization of roughly $1.65 trillion — also down 6% on the day.

This post Binance to Move $1 Billion User Protection Fund Into Bitcoin  first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.

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Bitcoin Magazine

Bitcoin Price Crashes 6% to $84,000 As Market Braces for Next Catalyst 

Bitcoin price fell sharply this morning, sliding to lows in the $84,000 range and extending a swift reversal from recent 24-hour highs above $90,000, as macro uncertainty and fragile market structure reasserted control.

The bitcoin price dropped to as low as $84,416, down roughly 6% over the past 24 hours if accounting for daily highs, according to Bitcoin Magazine Pro data.

The move came less than a day after bitcoin traded as high as $90,400, marking a rapid round-trip that underscored heightened volatility around this week’s Federal Reserve meeting.

Daily trading volume climbed to roughly $48 billion as the selloff accelerated, suggesting forced liquidations and short-term positioning unwind. Bitcoin’s total market capitalization fell to about $1.72 trillion, down approximately 4% on the day.

With unemployment at 4.4%, Powell emphasized labor market resilience and refrained from signaling urgency around easing policy — an outcome that proved unfriendly for speculative assets. 

For crypto markets that had rallied into the decision, the meeting quickly turned into a “sell the news” event.

Bitcoin price needs to hold $84,000

The reversal also came as bitcoin struggled to reclaim key technical levels. After briefly clearing $90,000, the bitcoin price failed to hold above resistance near $91,000, triggering renewed selling pressure. 

Analysts have flagged the $88,000 level as an important pivot for near-term stabilization, with $84,000 now emerging as critical downside support.

A sustained break below that level could expose deeper retracements toward the $72,000–$68,000 zone, according to Bitcoin Magazine analysts.

Bulls are expected to defend the $84,000 area aggressively to avoid a broader technical breakdown.

Meanwhile, Gold surged to new all-time highs above $5,550 per ounce this week, highlighting continued demand for hard assets amid currency uncertainty. Bitcoin initially appeared to benefit from similar tailwinds but failed to sustain momentum.

Next week, the White House will host banking and crypto executives on February 2 to discuss reviving stalled U.S. crypto legislation. 

The meeting, organized by the administration’s crypto council, will focus on contentious issues — especially how proposed rules would treat interest and rewards paid on dollar-pegged stablecoins — as the Trump administration seeks to broker a compromise after talks broke down.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin price is trading at $84,437, with a 24-hour trading volume of $48 billion.

The cryptocurrency is down 4% over the past 24 hours and is trading 6% below its seven-day high of $90,316. Bitcoin price is sitting at its seven-day low, down roughly 0% from the $85,417 level.

This post Bitcoin Price Crashes 6% to $84,000 As Market Braces for Next Catalyst  first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.

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Bitcoin Magazine

Russia to Roll Out Bitcoin and Crypto Framework This July, Allowing Retail Participation

Russia is preparing to introduce its first comprehensive regulatory framework for crypto like Bitcoin, with lawmakers aiming to finalize the draft for a parliamentary vote by the end of June, according to local media reports.

Anatoly Aksakov, head of the State Duma Committee on the Financial Market, said that the long-anticipated rules could be approved as early as this summer. 

If passed, the framework would formally take effect one year later, opening regulated bitcoin and crypto trading to both qualified and non-qualified investors beginning July 1, 2027.

Under the proposed regime, retail investors would be allowed to participate in the crypto market, though with significant restrictions. 

State news agency TASS previously reported that non-qualified traders would be capped at annual purchases of 300,000 rubles (roughly $3,900) and would only be permitted to buy a limited set of what regulators deem the “most liquid” cryptocurrencies.

Professional and qualified investors, by contrast, would be allowed to trade cryptocurrencies in unlimited amounts, with the exception of privacy-focused tokens such as Monero and Zcash. Russian authorities have repeatedly cited concerns over anonymity and compliance with anti-money laundering standards as the rationale for excluding such assets.

‘Bitcoin will definitely be included’ 

Alexandra Fedotova, a lawyer at Moscow-based firm White Stone, said the Central Bank of Russia is expected to compile a shortlist of approved cryptocurrencies for retail trading. 

“Most likely, the Central Bank will compile a list of the top five to ten most traded cryptocurrencies on major exchanges,” Fedotova said in comments reported by local media. “Bitcoin and ether will definitely be included. Possibly SOL or TON will be added, given their popularity in our country. Everything else will be only for qualified investors.”

The framework would also permit Russian residents to purchase bitcoin abroad using foreign accounts and transfer those assets back to domestic platforms, provided the transactions are reported to tax authorities.

Stablecoins are expected to receive separate treatment under the law. Fedotova said regulators are likely to classify dollar-pegged tokens as instruments for cross-border economic activity, potentially clarifying their legal use in international settlements while maintaining existing domestic restrictions.

Beyond trading, the draft legislation seeks to establish formal rules governing the issuance, bitcoin and crypto mining, and circulation of digital assets. At the same time, it would reaffirm Russia’s long-standing ban on using cryptocurrencies for domestic payments, a position the central bank has consistently defended despite gradually softening its stance on crypto trading.

Aksakov said additional legislation is planned to define enforcement measures, including administrative, financial, and potentially criminal liability for illegal activity in the crypto sector. Penalties for unlawful operations by intermediaries are expected to mirror those applied to illegal banking activity.

Existing licensed exchanges and brokers would be allowed to continue operating under the new regime, while platforms and custodial services currently operating in a legal gray area would be required to obtain new licenses tailored to their specific activities.

This post Russia to Roll Out Bitcoin and Crypto Framework This July, Allowing Retail Participation first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.

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Bitcoin Magazine

Bitcoin Price Surges Near $90,000 as Trump Downplays Dollar Decline, Gold Hits New Record

The bitcoin price rallied sharply into the close on Tuesday, surging above $89,400 after trading as low as $87,100 earlier in the day, according to Bitcoin Magazine Pro data, as markets reacted to fresh remarks from President Donald Trump on the U.S. economy.

The late-day move came as Trump, speaking in Iowa, dismissed concerns over the weakening U.S. dollar, telling supporters he was “not concerned” about its decline and insisting the dollar was “doing great.” The comments triggered an immediate reaction across markets, with the dollar sliding further and alternative stores of value catching a bid.

Gold climbed to a new all-time high of $5,223 per ounce at the time of writing, underscoring growing demand for hard assets amid mounting currency uncertainty.

The bitcoin price appeared to benefit from the same macro tailwinds, reversing earlier caution that had dominated trading following last weekend’s dip to $86,000.

The rally marks a notable shift in sentiment after bitcoin spent much of the past 24 hours struggling to reclaim the $88,000 level amid Federal Reserve uncertainty, ETF outflows, and lingering bearish technical pressure.

Monday’s breakout above $89,000 suggests buyers are reasserting control in the near term, though markets remain highly sensitive to macro signals as the Federal Reserve’s policy decision looms later this week.

At the time of publication, Bitcoin price traded at $89,320 today, up 2% over the past 24 hours, with $43 billion in daily trading volume. The asset’s circulating supply stands at 19,981,268 BTC, out of a fixed 21 million maximum.

NEW: President Trump says he “doesn’t think the dollar declined too much.”

But it is declining.

Buy Bitcoin! pic.twitter.com/wg2boYjqi1

— Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) January 27, 2026

Bitcoin mining stocks soaring along with bitcoin price

Bitcoin miners that have pivoted toward artificial intelligence and high-performance computing (HPC) infrastructure are roaring up near 10% on Tuesday, as investors continue to reward diversification beyond traditional mining revenues.

IREN ($IREN) and Cipher Mining ($CIFR) are each up more than 13%, while Hut 8 ($HUT) and TeraWulf ($WULF) are posting gains around 10%, extending a broader rally across the mining sector tied to AI-adjacent exposure.

The move comes as markets increasingly view large-scale miners as power and data-center plays rather than pure Bitcoin proxies, particularly in the wake of tighter post-halving economics. 

Companies like Cipher, IREN, Hut 8, and TeraWulf have spent the past year repositioning excess capacity toward long-term AI and HPC hosting contracts, which offer steadier cash flows and higher margins than block rewards alone. 

This post Bitcoin Price Surges Near $90,000 as Trump Downplays Dollar Decline, Gold Hits New Record first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.

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Bitcoin Magazine

Samourai Letter #3: Notes From The Inside

Dear Reader,

Since my last letter where I tried to explain the underground economy of FPC Morgantown I have been struggling to come up with an idea of what further information you may be interested in.

In modern life on the outside we are all so used to immediate feedback on everything we do. We write and publish an article and almost instantly comments start to roll in. You push to Twitter and the peanut gallery chimes in and has their say, and you as the content creator have an immediate idea of the general sentiment surrounding your work.

It takes some getting used to not having that modern feedback loop, but on the other hand it is quite liberating as well. All that said I have decided that today I am going to write you about the food situation at FPC Morgantown. I hope this letter will be interesting to you. Feel free to write me a letter with your thoughts and suggestions. My address will be posted at the bottom of this letter.

One of the things I have been doing regularly since arriving at FPC Morgantown is keeping a daily journal. Usually towards the end of my day around 8:00PM I sit at a desk flanked by chess tables and write a summary of the days events. I write about any thoughts I had throughout the day or any incidents that have occurred. When I first got here I only had some blank white printer paper and a very uncomfortable pen (thanks to Omar who provided me with these supplies).

Now, after a shopping trip to the commissary I have a wide ruled notebook and a slightly more comfortable pen. In any case, around the third day of journaling I realized a great majority of what I was writing about was about food or at least somewhat tangentially related to food. I now make an effort to avoid writing about the food in my daily journal as it gets repetitive.

However it got me pondering why so much of my energy went to writing about the food served in the “Chow Hall”. The conclusion I have come to is that so much of a prisoners day revolves around the three main meals and food quantity, quality, and variety in general, that it becomes a naturally big part of our daily life.

At 6:00 AM a crackling static hiss fills the empty hallways and the sleeping rooms of the housing unit. A loud announcement proceeds from the overhead speakers embedded in the ceiling: “ATTENTION BATES UNIT: MAINLINE IS NOW OPEN”. This is our first call to food of the day. “Mainline” is some BOP lingo to mean meal time.

Most prisoners avoid the 10 minute walk to the Chow Hall at this call to breakfast – myself included now. On Monday, Wednesday, and Friday there is supposed to be a “hot breakfast” which could be pancakes (always stodgy and undercooked) served with a brown liquid in a condiment package that is apparently margarine and another brown liquid in a condiment package which is some sort of syrup; French toast (actually pretty tasty) served with the same margarine and syrup; or biscuits and gravy (biscuits are good, avoid the gray soup that is less gravy and more dirty laundry water).

Each of these is served with oatmeal or grits both quite tasteless and reminiscent of wallpaper paste. Though more often than not we do not get any of those things, we get something they call “spice cake” which is a giant piece of cake (without icing) where the batter is mixed with cinnamon until it turns brown. It doesn’t taste terrible, but one starts to resent the taste of cinnamon cake when it is served every morning (and again for lunch if there is any left over from breakfast – and there always is).

Every other day is what we call Cold Breakfast. This consists of some sort of bran flake so stale it is reminiscent of eating cardboard. Even the most stoic prisoner who attends every breakfast will otherwise avoid the Chow Hall on a cold breakfast day.

I do not remember if I told you about the multitude of ducks and geese who live on the compound. They were supposed to migrate south for winter at some point in the past, but instead they found such a hospitable environment among the prisoners who happily feed them leftovers (against the rules by the way) that they decided to forgo the instinct to migrate to warmth and stay here year round.

They reproduced in the way only animals can and now there must be hundreds of geese and mallard ducks that waddle around the entire compound. These prisoner water fowl know the food schedule just as well as us human prisoners do. They wait by the exit of the Chow Hall for altruistic prisoners to throw them a few pieces of bread after every meal, quacking and squawking demanding their fair share. On Cold Breakfast days, throw the fowl the bran flakes and each one will refuse to eat them. That should tell you everything about the universally hated Bran Flakes.

In any case, the 6:00AM Breakfast is the only time you have access to milk. You are offered two small cartons of fat free skim milk – which appears to be closer to water than milk – that is often several days expired.

Usually the milk is still drinkable, sometimes however the carton swells so much it appears it is about to explode. That is a good indication the milk has soured. If you are given a sour milk, tough luck. The breakfast mainline closes somewhere around 20 minutes after it is called, so you scarf down your cake and oatmeal, you drink your two cartons of skim milk (or more commonly you pocket the milk to bring back to the housing unit for later use – which by the way is against the rules and may result in disciplinary action for contraband – with a more appetizing cereal you purchased from the Commissary). You make the 10 minute journey back to the housing unit to await the next break in the monotony of your life. Mainline lunch call.

Lunch mainline is called around 10:45 AM. Calling it lunch is quite generous, really it is late breakfast. Indeed we often get “breakfast for lunch” which is quite universally hated on the compound.

Cold scrambled eggs are usually on the breakfast for lunch menu. You really never know what you’re going to get at lunch time. They post a menu for the week in the housing unit, but from experience that appears to be more aspirational than factual. Some days you will receive a massive portion of “chicken fried rice” which is neither chicken or fried rice. It is turkey and some vegetables with some rice, but it is quite tasty, and somewhat nutritious.

Other times you will get an overcooked tiny hamburger patty – that appears to be a piece of leather recycled from our issued work boots – on a stale and occasionally moldy bun with a few onions, a tomato slice, and some iceberg lettuce. We had this yesterday in fact, and it put a damper on the mood across the whole compound. As I put it to my cellmate Mike, “When the onions, tomato, and bun are the star of the show instead of the beef, that is a bad burger”.

Portion sizes vary wildly. If the kitchen workers serving that day are black and you are black you likely will receive a bigger portion, maybe a second shoe leather patty. If they are Hispanic they likewise show favor to those of their heritage. I am not black, and while Hispanic, I do not speak Spanish and I look like a gringo, so no extra portions for me. Besides portion size disparity there is also a massive gulf in seasoning reliability. There are times that so much salt has been added you need a gallon of water by your side to replenish your fluids as you eat. Other times it is as if salt is the equivalent of gold and must not ever be used on something so trivial as food. Lunch ends around 11:15 and off we are sent to carry on with our day.

Dinner mainline is called around 4:45 PM. I would consider this a late lunch but I do recognize that many people (my dear wife included) consider this an acceptable supper time. Again, the general rule is to expect anything.

It may be something delicious or something inedible. You may get a double portion if you are the right race or a half portion if the server doesn’t like the look of you. It may be over seasoned, under seasoned, not seasoned at all. It may be listed on the calendar and it may not be. You never know what to expect, and that is my entire longwinded point as to why the food is such a popular thing to discuss among the prisoners here, and has taken up so much of my energy during my daily journals.

Our entire day is couched by calls to eat food. 6:00, 10:45, 4:45, and each and every time it is called it is entirely unpredictable. Every other aspect of our lives here is extremely regimented, extremely predictable, very monotonous. But heading to the Chow Hall three times a day, that is throwing the dice of fate, that is an unknown variable in a well known equation.

That is something different every day to talk about. You see the same people over and over again in your Unit. You run into the same person 50 times a day, and frankly you run out of things to say. You can only talk about how fucked up the Feds are, how you were shafted by the prosecutors, how your Judge was a bitch, so many times. The unknown variable of Chow Hall three times a day injects new blood into what could become a very stale social situation. Shared disgust at a horrible meal. Incredibility at how delicious the chicken parmesan was. Complaint at breakfast for lunch again! The shared ordeal of meal times maintains a common social order.

You may have gathered from the above paragraphs that the food quality generally is quite low. Most ingredients are supplied by vendors who can get away with selling expired and close to rotten ingredients to the prison system. I have heard from kitchen staff that many boxes arrive in the kitchen labeled “Not For Human Consumption”. Our potatoes are mouldy, our canned vegetables long expired, our protein suspicious.

You couldn’t legally give this quality of food away on the outside, but you can legally sell it to the BOP who will use it to feed the adults in their custody. Besides low quality ingredients and bland to actively disgusting recipes the nutritional value of our meals is extremely low. If you are a die hard disciple of the USDA Food Pyramid – bunk nutritional science that everyone but the slow moving feds recognize as a national tragedy, responsible for the exceptional rise of obesity rates – then yes, I suppose we are getting – on paper – the required nutritional value out of every meal.

The on-the-ground results of a prolonged diet like one we are subjected to does not lie. I have spoke with many different prisoners, several of them doctors, who have come into the prison system as healthy adults and after several years of custody have developed chronic health problems. High blood pressure and high cholesterol seem to be the most common problems reported. Almost every prisoner is on some sort of prescribed medication for some ailment they developed whilst in custody.

Because of the problems I have described. Many prisoners do not bother with the meal time calls to Chow Hall. I have met several prisoners who never go to the Chow Hall and only buy prepared food or cook for themselves. This is also not an ideal solution. The food items the commissary sells must be shelf stable, nothing that can spoil without refrigeration.

This naturally means nearly everything is packed to the gills with preservatives and salt. On my first commissary day I purchased 10 pouches of chicken breast, several bags of quick cook ‘minute rice’, several pouches of dried mash potatoes, small bags of shredded mozzarella cheese (there is no expiration date on the cheese, so I suspect it is more preservatives than cheese), 10 pouches of tuna, mayonnaise (again, no need to refrigerate so quite suspicious), hot sauce (vital for making the Chow Hall food more palatable), salt, pepper, onion flakes, garlic powder, soy sauce, jelly, peanut butter, individually wrapped bagels, dried milk, and frosted flakes cereal.

Next time I plan on buying granola, oatmeal, protein shakes, and tortillas. The food I am able to prepare is tastier than the chow hall, but I am not yet sure if it is healthier. It is also quite difficult. The only cooking tools legally available to you is: on demand hot water (190 degrees F) and a half gallon plastic jug. It takes some trial and error to cook under those conditions. It is a lot of hassle and expense which makes cooking for yourself prohibitive for those prisoners only relying on their prison jobs.

Almost everyone on the outside who hasn’t been to prison themselves or have a loved one incarcerated does not think about the basic needs that individuals have in custody, or how those needs are met. The food and nutrition in the system is woefully inadequate. We need higher quality ingredients, fresh fruit and vegetables, and far more protein. We need better options for cooking our own food within the unit, something more than hot water. We need access to refrigeration so we can keep fresh produce and items not filled with preservatives.

Thank you for reading this letter from the inside. I do not mean to use this opportunity writing you to complain. “It is prison after all” some of you will say, “it is not meant to be nice”. Anyway, complaining isn’t in my nature, and it often does nothing but make you and everyone around you miserable. I don’t write this letter looking for sympathy or condolences, I write to simply inform you of my reality, and the reality of countless number of people in the custody of the BOP. Happy New Year dear reader. I hope 2026 brings you (and me) great opportunities.

Sincerely,

Keonne

Write to Keonne:

Keonne Rodriguez
11404-511
FPC Morgantown
FEDERAL PRISON CAMP
P.O. BOX 1000
MORGANTOWN, WV 26507

Mailing Guidelines:

Please note: You can only send letters (no more than 3 pages long). No packages or other items are allowed. Books, magazines, and newspapers must be sent directly from the publisher or an online retailer like Amazon. All letters must include a full return address and sender name to be delivered.

This post Samourai Letter #3: Notes From The Inside first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Keonne Rodriguez.

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Tether Launches USAT, a Federally Regulated, Dollar-Backed Stablecoin for the U.S. Market

Tether, the world’s largest digital asset company by stablecoin circulation, announced Tuesday the official launch of USA₮, a federally regulated, dollar-backed stablecoin designed specifically for use in the United States under the recently enacted GENIUS Act.

USA₮ is issued by Anchorage Digital Bank, N.A., a federally chartered U.S. bank and one of the first institutions approved to issue payment stablecoins under the new law, Tether said.

The launch marks Tether’s first stablecoin built to operate fully within the U.S. regulated financial system, following years of regulatory scrutiny around offshore-issued dollar tokens.

The debut follows the company’s announcement late last year detailing the token’s design and naming former White House Crypto Council Executive Director Bo Hines as CEO of Tether USA₮. With Tuesday’s rollout, USA₮ is now available to U.S. users seeking a dollar-backed token that complies with federal banking and stablecoin rules.

The GENIUS Act established the first nationwide framework governing stablecoins marketed to U.S. users, requiring full reserve backing, bank or qualified issuer status, and ongoing regulatory supervision. Under the law, offshore-issued stablecoins that do not meet these standards face restrictions across U.S.-regulated exchanges, banks, and payment platforms.

USA₮ is structured to meet those requirements. According to the company, Cantor Fitzgerald will serve as the stablecoin’s designated reserve custodian and preferred primary dealer, providing transparency and oversight of reserves from launch. 

Anchorage Digital Bank will handle issuance, compliance, and on-chain settlement infrastructure.

Tether’s dominant role in the crypto space

While Tether’s flagship USD₮ remains the most widely used stablecoin globally, its offshore structure limited its role in the U.S. market under the new law. 

USA₮ allows Tether to maintain USD₮’s international dominance while offering U.S. institutions a regulated alternative tailored to domestic payment and settlement systems.

“This launch represents a new chapter for digital dollars in the United States,” said Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether. “USD₮ has proven at global scale that digital dollars can deliver trust and utility. USA₮ extends that mission with a federally regulated product made in America.”

Bo Hines said the new stablecoin is aimed squarely at institutional users. “USA₮ is designed to meet federal regulatory expectations while delivering stability, transparency, and responsible governance,” he said. “It ensures the United States remains competitive in the evolution of digital money.”

During its initial rollout, USA₮ will be available on platforms including Kraken, Crypto.com, OKX, Bybit, and MoonPay, with additional U.S.-regulated exchanges and banking partners expected to follow.

According to bitcointreasuries.net, Tether holds 96,370 bitcoin, worth roughly $8.6 billion

This post Tether Launches USAT, a Federally Regulated, Dollar-Backed Stablecoin for the U.S. Market first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.

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The 15 Types of Bitcoiners You’ll Definitely See at Bitcoin 2026

Loud. Friendly. Huggy. The Bitcoin Bro is your hype man for hyperbitcoinization. He doesn’t know what “joules per terahash” means, but he does know where the nearest bar is and will yell “Buy the dip!” during your panel Q&A.

They party hard, orange-pill harder, and are basically Bitcoin’s version of a frat brother with a bull market permanently tattooed on his soul.

Think this might be you? Take the “Which Bitcoin 2026 Persona Are You?” Quiz to find out. No halving knowledge required.

Slicker than a freshly backed-up seed phrase, this guy’s teeth are whiter than your Lightning wallet. He rented a Lambo for the afternoon and drops your first name way too often – like he’s trying to sell you a fractional NFT of a parking garage.

He doesn’t care about decentralization. He cares about gains. And tailoring. Always with the tailoring.

The apocalypse isn’t a threat – it’s a plan. This person hasn’t touched fiat since 2018 and bathes exclusively in non-KYC sats. They’ve learned to make soap, catch fish, and explain monetary collapse in a calm, reassuring tone.

They’re not paranoid. They’re prepared.

Are you spiritually prepared, too? Take the “Which Bitcoin 2026 Persona Are You?” Quiz and see where you land.

Lives in a van. Pays for tacos with Lightning. Might be hiding from the IRS (but only spiritually). They believe Bitcoin is peace, man. And also chaos. And also freedom.

Will fix your flat tire in exchange for a hammock spot and a cold yerba mate.

The unsung hero of Bitcoin. Speaks exclusively in thermodynamic math and obscure hardware specs. Makes ASIC firmware upgrades look like wizardry, but cannot explain their job to their mom without causing emotional distress.

Knows the exact BTU-to-wattage ratio of their off-grid setup. Does not know what “small talk” is.

Don’t understand them? That’s okay. Take the “Which Bitcoin 2026 Persona Are You?” Quiz anyway — they’re building the future while you click answers.

Yes, plural. Yes, anonymous.

They don’t want to talk to you. They don’t want to be on your podcast. They don’t even want you to know they’re here. Ask when something will be done and you’ll receive the sacred prophecy: “Two weeks.”

Shadowy super-coders, quietly pushing upgrades that will redefine monetary history – while actively avoiding eye contact.

Armed with a gimbal and a dream. Their camera roll is 80% memes, 20% selfies with CEOs. Some are spreading the signal. Some are chasing clout. All are uploading something right now.

Will say “Let’s run it back!” at least 17 times per day.

Identifiable by the gravity-defying stack of laminated badges swinging from his neck like a wearable timeline. He doesn’t say much – the passes do the talking.

He’s not here to attend panels. He’s here to assert conference dominance.

Is this your origin story? Take the “Which Bitcoin 2026 Persona Are You?” Quiz and confirm your status.

Branded polo. Branded backpack. Branded soul. You don’t remember agreeing to this conversation, but you’re holding his business card now.

Moves in packs. Wears the lanyard like a badge of honor. Will be back at the booth exactly 15 minutes after lunch.Doesn’t talk about Bitcoin. Is Bitcoin.

Old-school finance types who smelled smoke on Wall Street and walked toward the orange glow. Calm. Calculated. Dollar-cost-averaging into the sunset.

They don’t shill. They don’t yell. They just nod knowingly.

Same data. Two conclusions. Infinite confidence. 

They believe balance sheets are destiny – or disaster. One thinks corporate Bitcoin accumulation is inevitable, elegant, and inevitable again. The other thinks leverage is a ticking time bomb wrapped in a TradFi costume. 

Both have read the filings. Both have spreadsheets. Both will reference Michael Saylor – either as a visionary or as a cautionary tale – and neither will back down.

Sleeps three to a room and burned half their runway to get to the conference. They’re pitching a Lightning wallet-slash-social network-slash-AI-powered-something and just need one person to believe.

Respect the hustle.

Take the “Which Bitcoin 2026 Persona Are You?” Quiz before they raise your next round.

Absolute legends. They’ve stood beside their Bitcoin-obsessed partner for three straight days, nodding politely through debates about mining fees and custody models.

They are the backbone of the conference. The true MVPs. Quietly Googling spa availability.

Not who you expect. No megaphones. No flexing. Just quiet confidence and a phone that never leaves their hand.

Some got lucky. Some built empires. All will ignore your pitch deck.

Yes, they exist. Yes, they know more than you. And yes, they are already five steps ahead of your “Have you heard of Bitcoin?” opener.

Bonus: They will almost certainly explain immersion cooling better than you.

One Event. Endless Energy. Absolute Chaos.

Bitcoin 2026 isn’t just a conference – it’s a decentralized carnival of code, conviction, and characters. Whether you’re here to build, learn, argue, chill, or meme, there’s a place for you.

Ready to see where you fit in? Take the “Which Bitcoin 2026 Persona Are You?” Quiz and find out who you really are.

This article was inspired by the video “The People of Bitcoin 2022 Miami Conference” by SPACE DESIGN WAREHOUSE. We acknowledge and appreciate the original creative concept, which served as a foundation for this updated and expanded interpretation for Bitcoin 2025. We encourage readers to view the original video and support the creator on YouTube.

This post The 15 Types of Bitcoiners You’ll Definitely See at Bitcoin 2026 first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Josh Plischke.

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Bitcoin Magazine

Oklahoma Introduces Bill Allowing State Employees and Vendors to Be Paid in Bitcoin

Oklahoma lawmakers introduced legislation this week that would allow state employees, vendors, private businesses, and residents to negotiate and receive payments in bitcoin.

Senate Bill 2064, introduced by Senator Dusty Deevers during the 2026 legislative session, establishes a legal framework for the use of bitcoin as a medium of exchange and compensation without designating it as legal tender.

The bill explicitly states that it does not conflict with the U.S. Constitution’s prohibition on states coining money or declaring legal tender other than gold and silver, instead recognizing bitcoin as a financial instrument operating within existing legal frameworks.

If enacted, the bill would permit Oklahoma state employees to elect to receive salaries or wages in bitcoin, either based on the asset’s market value at the start of a pay period or at the time of payment. 

Employees would be allowed to revise their payment preference at the beginning of each pay period and could choose to receive compensation in bitcoin, U.S. dollars, or a combination of both. 

Payments would be deposited either into a self-hosted wallet controlled by the employee or into a third-party custodial account designated by the employee.

The legislation would also allow vendors contracting with the state to opt into receiving payment in bitcoin on a per-transaction basis. The bitcoin value of those payments would be determined by the market price at the time of the transaction unless otherwise agreed upon in writing.

Beyond state payroll and procurement, the bill broadly authorizes private businesses and individuals in Oklahoma to negotiate and receive payments in bitcoin, reinforcing its use as a voluntary medium of exchange across the state economy.

JUST IN: Oklahoma introduces bill to allow state employees, businesses, and individuals to accept Bitcoin payments pic.twitter.com/2HjQr4PVLM

— Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) January 23, 2026

SB 2064 includes provisions aimed at reducing regulatory friction for bitcoin-native businesses. Firms that deal exclusively in digital assets and do not exchange them for U.S. dollars would be exempt from Oklahoma’s money transmitter licensing requirements, according to legislation text. 

The bill directs the Oklahoma State Treasurer to issue a request for proposals for a digital asset firm to process bitcoin payments for state employees and vendors.

In selecting a provider, the Treasurer must consider factors including fees, transaction speed, cybersecurity practices, custody options, and any relevant state licenses. The Treasurer would be required to finalize a contract with a provider by January 1, 2027, and is authorized to promulgate rules to implement the program.

Back in January 2025, Oklahoma State Senator Dusty Deevers introduced a similar initiative called the Bitcoin Freedom Act (SB 325). It was a bill designed to let employees, vendors, and businesses voluntarily receive and make payments in Bitcoin while creating a legal framework for its use in the state’s economy.

Oklahoma’s bitcoin adoption echoes other U.S. states

This move follows other states like New Hampshire and Texas in exploring ways to integrate Bitcoin into public finance. 

New Hampshire passed the nation’s first Strategic Bitcoin Reserve law, allowing the state to hold up to 5% of its funds in high-market-cap digital assets and even approve a bitcoin-backed municipal bond.

Texas, meanwhile, has paired legislation with action, creating a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and making the first U.S. state Bitcoin ETF purchase of around $5 million, framing it as both a hedge against economic volatility and a step toward modernizing state finances. 

If passed, SB 2064 would take effect on November 1, 2026, positioning Oklahoma among a small but growing number of U.S. states exploring direct integration of bitcoin into government payment systems.

The Oklahoma Tax Commission would also be required to issue guidance on the tax treatment of digital assets received as payment by January 1, 2027, addressing an area that has often created uncertainty for employees and employers alike.

This post Oklahoma Introduces Bill Allowing State Employees and Vendors to Be Paid in Bitcoin first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.

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Nasdaq Moves to Remove Position Limits on Bitcoin ETF Options

Nasdaq has filed a rule change with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission seeking to remove position and exercise limits on options tied to spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds, a move that would further integrate crypto-linked products into traditional derivatives markets.

The proposal, originally filed on Jan. 7 and made effective this week on the 21st, eliminates the current 25,000-contract cap on options linked to Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs listed on Nasdaq. 

Affected products include funds from BlackRock, Fidelity, Grayscale, Bitwise, ARK/21Shares and VanEck, according to the filing.

The SEC waived its standard 30-day waiting period, allowing the rule change to take effect immediately, while retaining the authority to suspend it within 60 days if further review is deemed necessary. 

A public comment period is now open, with a final SEC determination expected by late February unless the rule is paused.

Nasdaq argued that lifting the limits would allow crypto ETF options to be treated “in the same manner as all other options that qualify for listing,” eliminating what it described as unequal treatment without undermining investor protections. 

The exchange said the change would support market efficiency while maintaining safeguards against manipulation and excessive risk.

Options are derivative contracts that give traders the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell an asset at a predetermined price before a set expiration date. Position and exercise limits are typically imposed to prevent concentrated positions that could amplify volatility or destabilize markets.

The filing builds on Nasdaq’s approval in late 2025 to list options on single-asset crypto ETFs as commodity-based trusts. While that decision allowed Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF options to trade on the exchange, existing position limits remained in place.

Nasdaq has steadily expanded its involvement in crypto markets in recent years. 

Nasdaq’s bitcoin and digital asset push

In November, the exchange filed a separate proposal to raise position limits on options tied to BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) to as much as one million contracts, citing growing institutional demand and increased use of options for hedging strategies.

The exchange has also pushed into crypto indexing and tokenization. In January, Nasdaq and CME Group announced plans to unify their crypto benchmarks under the Nasdaq-CME Crypto Index, which tracks major digital assets including Bitcoin, Ether, XRP, Solana, Cardano and Avalanche.

If approved permanently, the latest rule change would mark another step toward normalizing Bitcoin derivatives within U.S. regulated markets, further blurring the line between traditional financial instruments and crypto-native assets.

This post Nasdaq Moves to Remove Position Limits on Bitcoin ETF Options first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.

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Kansas Introduce Bill to Establish Strategic Bitcoin Reserve

Kansas has become the latest U.S. state to explore a formal role for Bitcoin and digital assets in public finance, with lawmakers introducing legislation that would create a state-managed Bitcoin and Digital Assets Reserve Fund.

The bill, introduced by State Senator Craig Bowser, proposes amending Kansas’ unclaimed property laws to explicitly recognize digital assets, including cryptocurrencies and virtual currencies, and to establish a framework for their custody, management, and potential sale.

If passed, the legislation would place oversight of the reserve with the Kansas State Treasurer.

Under the proposal, unclaimed digital assets, like Bitcoin, would be transferred to the state after three years of inactivity following undeliverable written or electronic communication to the owner. 

There is some ambiguity around what an ‘unclaimed digital asset’ is but the bill appears to apply only to custodial digital assets held by a legally defined “holder,” such as exchanges, banks, trust companies, or other licensed custodians, not to self-custodied wallets. 

Per the bill, the three-year abandonment clock begins only after written or electronic communication to the owner is returned as undeliverable, and it stops immediately if the owner shows any sign of activity, including logging in or accessing another account with the same custodian.

Unlike many traditional forms of unclaimed property, the bill allows these assets to be delivered and held in their native digital form, rather than being immediately liquidated.

The legislation also permits the state’s designated qualified custodian to stake digital assets and receive airdrops, subject to direction from the treasurer. 

Any staking rewards or airdropped assets generated after three years would be transferred into the BTC and Digital Assets Reserve Fund, creating a mechanism for the state to accumulate digital assets over time.

In a notable provision, the bill prohibits BTC from being deposited into the state’s general fund.

Instead, Kansas would retain Bitcoin as part of its reserve, while directing 10% of deposits of non-bitcoin digital assets into the general fund, contingent on legislative appropriations. Supporters argue this structure treats BTC as a long-term reserve asset rather than a short-term revenue source.

BREAKING: Kansas Senator Craig Bowser introduces bill to create a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve pic.twitter.com/WeQjtrc3Vi

— Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) January 22, 2026

States are actively pushing for bitcoin reserves 

The bill also lays out how the state would handle the sale of digital assets. Cryptocurrencies that trade on established exchanges would have to be sold at market prices, while assets without active exchange listings could be sold using other commercially reasonable methods. 

The goal of all this is to minimize market disruption while adding clearer guardrails around how state-held digital assets are managed.

If passed, the legislation would put Kansas alongside a growing number of U.S. states exploring how Bitcoin and other digital assets might fit into long-term financial and custodial strategies. 

In recent years, state lawmakers across the country have debated whether Bitcoin could serve as a hedge against inflation, a diversification tool, or a way to modernize public finance infrastructure.

This post Kansas Introduce Bill to Establish Strategic Bitcoin Reserve first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.

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Strive ($ASST) Plans $150 Million Follow-On Offering to Buy More Bitcoin, Retire Convertible Notes

Strive announced today that it intends to raise up to $150 million through a follow-on offering of its Variable Rate Series A Perpetual Preferred Stock, known as SATA Stock, subject to market conditions. 

The offering is registered under the Securities Act of 1933 and marks Strive’s latest move to expand its bitcoin holdings while addressing outstanding debt.

Strive plans to use the proceeds from the offering, along with cash on hand and potentially funds from terminating certain derivative contracts tied to convertible debt, to repurchase or redeem all or a portion of the 4.25% Convertible Senior Notes due 2030 issued by its subsidiary Semler Scientific, Inc. 

These Semler Convertible Notes, guaranteed by Strive, were originally issued under an indenture with U.S. Bank Trust Company, National Association acting as trustee. 

Strive wants to buy more bitcoin

The company may also use funds to pay down Semler Scientific’s borrowings under its loan agreements with Coinbase Credit Inc., acquire additional bitcoin and related products, and support general corporate needs.

In addition, Strive is negotiating with some holders of the Semler Convertible Notes to potentially exchange their notes for shares of SATA Stock. 

SATA Stock is structured as a variable-rate, cumulative dividend security with a stated value of $100 per share. Dividends are currently set at an annualized rate of 12.25%, payable monthly, though Strive reserves the right to adjust the rate within certain limits. 

If a dividend is missed, it accrues additional compounded interest, which can rise up to 20% per year. The company intends to manage the dividend rate to help the stock trade within a target range of $95 to $105 per share.

Strive also retains the right to redeem SATA Stock at $110 per share (or higher at its discretion), plus accrued dividends. Redemption can occur at any time, but the company generally cannot redeem less than $50 million of SATA Stock unless a clean-up or tax-related redemption applies.

The liquidation preference for SATA Stock is $100 per share, adjusted daily to the greater of the stated value, the previous trading day’s closing price, or the 10-day average price. 

Strive said that Barclays and Cantor are joint book-running managers for the offering, with Clear Street acting as co-manager.

After SATA briefly hit $100 today, the company’s approach to set a follow-on offering price based on current market conditions is seen as a cleaner alternative to an “at-the-market” (ATM) offering, avoiding dilution and allowing Strive to capitalize on favorable pricing. 

The raised funds will help the company retire legacy convertible debt and expand its Bitcoin holdings, signaling continued commitment to its crypto-focused growth strategy.

This post Strive ($ASST) Plans $150 Million Follow-On Offering to Buy More Bitcoin, Retire Convertible Notes first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.

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Trump Vows to Sign Major Bitcoin Bill ‘Very Soon,’ Says U.S. Must Remain Crypto Capital

U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he wants to sign sweeping cryptocurrency market structure legislation “very soon,” arguing that digital assets are both a political priority and a strategic battleground in the United States’ economic competition with China.

Speaking during a wide-ranging address to world leaders and financial executives at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Trump framed his administration’s embrace of crypto as central to preserving U.S. leadership in financial innovation. 

His comments came as bitcoin surged above $90,000, extending gains amid optimism that clearer U.S. regulation could further legitimize the asset class.

“To unleash innovation and savings and financing, I’m also working to ensure America remains the crypto capital of the world,” Trump said.

He pointed to legislation he said he signed last year — the GENIUS Act, focused on stablecoins — as a foundational step toward that goal, while signaling that broader crypto market structure rules are now close to becoming law.

“Congress is working very hard on crypto market structure legislation — bitcoin, all of them — which I hope to sign very soon,” Trump said, adding that the effort would unlock new pathways for Americans to achieve what he described as “financial freedom.”

BREAKING: President Trump says he hopes to sign crypto bill soon. pic.twitter.com/kT4nwlPjDq

— Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) January 21, 2026

Trump openly acknowledged the political calculus behind his support for crypto, saying it delivered “tremendous political support,” but stressed that geopolitical competition was the more important driver. 

“China wanted that market too,” he said. “It’s just like they want the AI. And we’ve got that market, I think, pretty well locked up.”

He also took aim at former President Joe Biden, claiming Democrats only softened their stance on crypto late in the 2024 election cycle after realizing how many voters cared about digital assets. 

“All of a sudden they loved it very much, but it was too late,” Trump said. “They blew it.”

Trump’s support for crypto legislation in the United States

Trump’s remarks come as U.S. lawmakers continue to negotiate a long-awaited framework to define how cryptocurrencies are regulated, including whether tokens fall under securities or commodities law and which agencies will oversee the sector. 

The Senate is currently advancing market structure legislation through multiple committees, though final language has yet to be released and markups keep getting delayed.

Political action committees backed by crypto firms spent hundreds of millions of dollars during the 2024 election cycle and are already mobilizing ahead of the 2026 midterms.

As Trump speaks, Bitcoin is trading at $89,942, down 1% over the past 24 hours on $60 billion in volume, leaving it about 1% below its seven-day high of $90,778 and 2% above its seven-day low of $87,902. 

This post Trump Vows to Sign Major Bitcoin Bill ‘Very Soon,’ Says U.S. Must Remain Crypto Capital first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.

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