The Breakdown First Five - Tuesday, November 19, 2024

Welcome back to The Breakdown First Five — the 5 most interesting and/or important stories in bitcoin, crypto, and markets to start your day.

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5. Bitcoin on the Balance Sheet

It’s go time for Bitcoin holding companies. Marathon Digital announced $700M in convertible notes to retire debt and buy Bitcoin. The issuance was way oversubscribed and delivered a massive premium. Semler Scientific, Genius Group and Cosmos Health all announced Bitcoin purchases or plans. Metaplanet issued $11M in one-year debt to buy more Bitcoin. Capital markets are open and the demand for Bitcoin linked securities is off the charts. 

4. Binance Offering 20% Yield

Binance is launching a 20% yield stablecoin. Although technically they’re calling it “reward-bearing margin asset for futures trading.” Although the product has echoes of Luna, rival protocols are already offering juicy yields on similar tokens, most notably Ethena. No word yet on where the yield is coming from. The product is pretty strictly limited in size and will be offered to VIP tier customers.

3. Bitcoin Options Imminent

Bitcoin ETF options could begin trading as soon as today according to Nasdaq executives. With final regulatory approval earlier this week, no time is being wasted in launching the products. IBIT options are expected to be trading today with Bitwise aiming to go live on Wednesday. Presumably by the end of the week, Bitcoin ETFs will have the full range of options. Then we find out what the significant change in market structure brings. 

2. Trump Buying Bakkt

Trump Media group is reportedly in talks to purchase Bakkt. The ICE-owned crypto exchange was founded in 2018 and never really made a splash. The spiking stock price for DJT has enabled Trump Media group to look seriously at acquisitions, and apparently crypto is a target. Some are pondering whether Bakkt could be a vehicle for the Trump family to start accumulating their own Bitcoin stockpile.

1. Microstrategy Accelerates

Michael Saylor doubled the pace last week, accumulating $4.6B worth of Bitcoin at an average price of around $88,600. The company has already sold around 30% of their $21B stock offering, which was supposed to last 3 years. They have added 20% in BTC terms to their treasury in the past 2 weeks. Reloading, Microstrategy announced a $1.75B in convertible note issuance.