The Breakdown First Five - Tuesday, November 26, 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. Pump.Chan

We might have seen the craziest week in crypto as pump.fun’s livestreaming feature descended into madness. It started with live ruggings from 13 year olds and quickly spiraled into deeply disturbing shock content. Team members claimed they were doing active moderation. The stream of a girl being tortured in a basement says otherwise. The feature was pulled last night as the team realized they were facilitating a “pipeline of felonies.”

4. Miner Embargo

Reports of Bitmain miners being held at customs have surfaced, with at least 7 US-based miners confirming the issue. One firm said they had 200 miners held for over 2 months and have been charged $200,000 for storage. Recent sanctions concerns about Bitmain sister company Sophgo are presumed to be the issue, with customs holdups only affecting certain latest generation models. This could be a massive disruption for the US mining industry.

3. Rumble Adopts Bitcoin

Alternate streaming platform Rumble has adopted a Bitcoin treasury strategy. The board approved the purchase of up to $20M in Bitcoin, with the company describing the asset as a “valuable inflation hedge” in the face of “endless money-printing.” Rumble have also announced a big push into gaming and crypto content, with the Bitcoin announcement reinforcing their level of commitment to the industry. The stock is up 16% on the news.

2. Saylor Still Going

Another week, another $5.4B buy from Microstrategy. The latest slug of Bitcoin buying from last week was funded by $2.4B in equity sales and the completed $3B convertible note raise. This was a record size for a Microstrategy purchase and also came in at a record level, $97,860. It proves that Saylor wasn’t kidding around in 2021 when he said he would be “buying the top forever.” Bubble speculation continues as the buying intensifies. 

1. Bitcoin Slides

Bitcoin is now heading in the wrong direction. After bouncing off a massive sell wall at $100,000 Bitcoin is moving lower. The price hit $93,000 yesterday evening and slid a little further to begin the morning. On chain analysts are blaming a wave of selling from so-called “long term holders”, the traders who bought in February and are now exiting at a 50% profit. The journey to $100,000 just got a little more challenging.