πΈ When a Bitcoin ETF isn't levered enough
Strive is a publicly traded company that holds Bitcoin as its primary treasury asset β currently fifth among corporate holders with 25,000 BTC on the books. REX Shares and Tuttle Capital thought plain exposure wasn't exciting enough.
On Friday they launched
Per Yahoo Finance, REX and Tuttle already run similar 2x funds on Strategy, BitMine and Circle. Leveraged Bitcoin-treasury ETFs are quietly becoming their own genre.
Cointelegraph
Strive is a publicly traded company that holds Bitcoin as its primary treasury asset β currently fifth among corporate holders with 25,000 BTC on the books. REX Shares and Tuttle Capital thought plain exposure wasn't exciting enough.
On Friday they launched
ASSX on Cboe: a 2x daily ETF targeting 200% of Strive's share-price move. The leverage resets every session, so multi-day math gets complicated fast. No Bitcoin held, no Bitcoin price tracked β just a leveraged bet on Strive's equity.Per Yahoo Finance, REX and Tuttle already run similar 2x funds on Strategy, BitMine and Circle. Leveraged Bitcoin-treasury ETFs are quietly becoming their own genre.
Cointelegraph
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π¬ The tie stays
Jason Calacanis β venture investor and long-time bitcoin sceptic β dropped another obituary as
Michael Saylor's reply was three sentences and a door closing:
Then: *"The orange tie stays."*
Seventeen years in, two serious people look at the same asset and see completely different animals. According to CoinDesk, both are still watching.
Jason Calacanis β venture investor and long-time bitcoin sceptic β dropped another obituary as
BTC slid back to $80K. His verdict: bitcoin feels like a CD in the age of Spotify, a dead cat that keeps bouncing. No killer use case, no mass adoption, and its advocates traded pirate flags for orange ties and cringe memes.Michael Saylor's reply was three sentences and a door closing:
"You've watched Bitcoin grow since 2011. It's now a $1.6 trillion success. Preserving wealth across generations is a bigger ambition than entertaining a dinner party."
Then: *"The orange tie stays."*
Seventeen years in, two serious people look at the same asset and see completely different animals. According to CoinDesk, both are still watching.
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π₯ HYPE just hit an all-time high β and there's a reason
The setup: post
For context: two days prior, Kraken announced onchain perpetual futures for US clients, also routed through Hyperliquid. The platform is quietly becoming infrastructure.
CoinDesk has the details.
Cointelegraph
HYPE, the native token of Hyperliquid's layer-1 blockchain and decentralized derivatives exchange, touched $90.92 on Friday β seconds after the protocol launched manual borrowing.The setup: post
HYPE or Bitcoin as collateral, borrow USDC or USDT directly from real suppliers via HyperCore β no platform-level accounting magic. Day-one borrowing hit $269 million.For context: two days prior, Kraken announced onchain perpetual futures for US clients, also routed through Hyperliquid. The platform is quietly becoming infrastructure.
CoinDesk has the details.
Cointelegraph
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πΈ Congress stalled. Regulators didn't wait.
The Clarity Act β meant to give U.S. crypto markets their first federal framework, splitting oversight between the CFTC and SEC β failed its Senate cloture vote this week, 60 votes needed, not reached. Lead negotiator Sen. Lummis called its chances this year essentially dead.
The CFTC responded by sending a crypto prerule package to the White House's OIRA for review, without waiting for Capitol Hill. Text isn't public yet, but the intent is clear: build a derivatives framework on its own authority. The SEC moved in parallel, rolling out an exemption letting venues trade tokenized U.S. stocks on blockchain without registering as national exchanges.
Treasury Secretary Bessent once called agency rulemaking the fallback option. Per Decrypt, it's now just the option.
The Clarity Act β meant to give U.S. crypto markets their first federal framework, splitting oversight between the CFTC and SEC β failed its Senate cloture vote this week, 60 votes needed, not reached. Lead negotiator Sen. Lummis called its chances this year essentially dead.
The CFTC responded by sending a crypto prerule package to the White House's OIRA for review, without waiting for Capitol Hill. Text isn't public yet, but the intent is clear: build a derivatives framework on its own authority. The SEC moved in parallel, rolling out an exemption letting venues trade tokenized U.S. stocks on blockchain without registering as national exchanges.
Treasury Secretary Bessent once called agency rulemaking the fallback option. Per Decrypt, it's now just the option.
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πΈ Lagarde vs. Binance: a license too consequential to grant
MiCA gives bloc-wide operating rights to any exchange approved by a single EU national regulator. Binance picked Greece, met every requirement by its own account β and got rejected at the last minute anyway.
The Wall Street Journal reports the real obstacle was Christine Lagarde herself. Her concern: Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange, would accelerate dollar-based stablecoins across the eurozone, undermining the ECB's digital euro project. The ECB holds no formal role in crypto licensing β yet here we are.
Binance withdrew its Greek application in June and says it will try elsewhere in the bloc. Full paperwork, zero missing items, still a no. Regulation is always a little bit politics.
CoinDesk
MiCA gives bloc-wide operating rights to any exchange approved by a single EU national regulator. Binance picked Greece, met every requirement by its own account β and got rejected at the last minute anyway.
The Wall Street Journal reports the real obstacle was Christine Lagarde herself. Her concern: Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange, would accelerate dollar-based stablecoins across the eurozone, undermining the ECB's digital euro project. The ECB holds no formal role in crypto licensing β yet here we are.
Binance withdrew its Greek application in June and says it will try elsewhere in the bloc. Full paperwork, zero missing items, still a no. Regulation is always a little bit politics.
CoinDesk
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π Daily Recap Β· Sep 22
π Strive holds 25K BTC and someone wanted more leverage
π Calacanis calls Bitcoin a dead cat again at $80K
π HYPE token hits all-time high as borrowing goes live
βοΈ US crypto clarity bill dies in Senate, regulators move anyway
πͺπΊ Binance met every EU requirement and still got rejected
Someone on your feed definitely missed the whole crypto circus today β pass this along
CHEATKOTT - Your Daily News
π Strive holds 25K BTC and someone wanted more leverage
π Calacanis calls Bitcoin a dead cat again at $80K
π HYPE token hits all-time high as borrowing goes live
βοΈ US crypto clarity bill dies in Senate, regulators move anyway
πͺπΊ Binance met every EU requirement and still got rejected
Someone on your feed definitely missed the whole crypto circus today β pass this along
CHEATKOTT - Your Daily News
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π¦ Banks are taking over Europe's crypto register
MiCA is the EU's first comprehensive crypto rulebook, in full force this year. While crypto firms queued for authorization, banks found a shortcut.
Between June 26 and September 16, the bank count on ESMA's register nearly doubled β from ~40 to ~80 β pushing their share from 17% to almost 23%. One in four providers is now a bank.
Germany led the charge: Deutsche Bank plus dozens of regional Volksbank and Raiffeisenbank institutions. Under Article 60 of MiCA, banks skip full CASP authorization β a 40-working-day notice to the home regulator is enough. Crypto startups who spent months on licensing paperwork might have feelings about that.
Via Cointelegraph.
MiCA is the EU's first comprehensive crypto rulebook, in full force this year. While crypto firms queued for authorization, banks found a shortcut.
Between June 26 and September 16, the bank count on ESMA's register nearly doubled β from ~40 to ~80 β pushing their share from 17% to almost 23%. One in four providers is now a bank.
Germany led the charge: Deutsche Bank plus dozens of regional Volksbank and Raiffeisenbank institutions. Under Article 60 of MiCA, banks skip full CASP authorization β a 40-working-day notice to the home regulator is enough. Crypto startups who spent months on licensing paperwork might have feelings about that.
Via Cointelegraph.
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πΈ Coinbase is bringing crypto-style futures to US stocks
Perpetual futures β no expiry date, no need to own the underlying asset β have been crypto-native for years. Coinbase already offers them on Apple and Nvidia to non-US traders. Now it's filed with the CFTC to bring the same product stateside.
Per The Wall Street Journal, the initial list would cover ~50β60 names: Apple, Microsoft, Tesla, Nvidia. Trading runs 24/5; the contracts never expire.
Regulatory approval is pending. Coinbase is clearly betting the wall between crypto and traditional equity markets keeps getting thinner β and wants a desk on both sides.
Cointelegraph
Perpetual futures β no expiry date, no need to own the underlying asset β have been crypto-native for years. Coinbase already offers them on Apple and Nvidia to non-US traders. Now it's filed with the CFTC to bring the same product stateside.
Per The Wall Street Journal, the initial list would cover ~50β60 names: Apple, Microsoft, Tesla, Nvidia. Trading runs 24/5; the contracts never expire.
Regulatory approval is pending. Coinbase is clearly betting the wall between crypto and traditional equity markets keeps getting thinner β and wants a desk on both sides.
Cointelegraph
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π‘ NEAR is up 80% in a week β and the reason is worth knowing
NEAR Intents β Near Protocol's cross-chain swap system β has crossed $29.3 billion in cumulative volume. Over seven days NEAR jumped 78%, from ~$2.41 to
The rally coincided with a privacy push: perpetual futures deposits on near.com are now confidential by default, and Zcash wallet ZODL ranked third by Intents volume β $3.8 million in a single day.
Bitwise analyst Camran Khosravi calls Near and Zcash "complements." His caveat: TVL can rise simply because ZEC held inside the system appreciates, no new deposits needed. Good to remember before the numbers do the talking.
Via CoinDesk.
Cointelegraph
NEAR Intents β Near Protocol's cross-chain swap system β has crossed $29.3 billion in cumulative volume. Over seven days NEAR jumped 78%, from ~$2.41 to
$4.29, while the broader crypto market gained around 6%.The rally coincided with a privacy push: perpetual futures deposits on near.com are now confidential by default, and Zcash wallet ZODL ranked third by Intents volume β $3.8 million in a single day.
Bitwise analyst Camran Khosravi calls Near and Zcash "complements." His caveat: TVL can rise simply because ZEC held inside the system appreciates, no new deposits needed. Good to remember before the numbers do the talking.
Via CoinDesk.
Cointelegraph
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πΈ Fake paper, real crypto, genuine prison
Lam Chun-yin, a customer relationship manager at China Construction Bank (Asia), falsely authenticated letters of credit worth $1.6 billion and pocketed $470,000 in crypto bribes for his trouble.
A Hong Kong court handed him four years. The judge's reasoning was blunt: banking is the backbone of Hong Kong's economy, and this kind of scheme corrodes the city's reputation as a global financial hub. First-time offender? Noted. Irrelevant.
Hong Kong's anti-graft agency ICAC has arrest warrants out for others involved, per The Standard β so the story isn't over. Lam had pleaded guilty in advance. No drama in the courtroom. The numbers did that job already.
Cointelegraph
Lam Chun-yin, a customer relationship manager at China Construction Bank (Asia), falsely authenticated letters of credit worth $1.6 billion and pocketed $470,000 in crypto bribes for his trouble.
A Hong Kong court handed him four years. The judge's reasoning was blunt: banking is the backbone of Hong Kong's economy, and this kind of scheme corrodes the city's reputation as a global financial hub. First-time offender? Noted. Irrelevant.
Hong Kong's anti-graft agency ICAC has arrest warrants out for others involved, per The Standard β so the story isn't over. Lam had pleaded guilty in advance. No drama in the courtroom. The numbers did that job already.
Cointelegraph
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πΈ Down 80% β and suddenly Gemini looks like a bargain
Gemini, the crypto exchange founded by the Winklevoss twins, has lost 80% of its value since its IPO β from a $4B peak to $753M today. Q2 revenue fell 38%, spot trading volume dropped 66%.
That kind of slide triggers a familiar calculation: why build when you can buy? An ARK Invest analyst publicly floated the idea of Hyperliquid acquiring Gemini as a shortcut to U.S. regulatory licenses β the kind that take years to obtain organically. Per CoinDesk, prospective buyers were already eyeing Gemini's shuttered European units back in April, drawn by the permits, not the users.
One catch: the twins control 94.5% of voting power. Any deal needs their blessing. Which makes the negotiation simple β right up until they say no.
Gemini, the crypto exchange founded by the Winklevoss twins, has lost 80% of its value since its IPO β from a $4B peak to $753M today. Q2 revenue fell 38%, spot trading volume dropped 66%.
That kind of slide triggers a familiar calculation: why build when you can buy? An ARK Invest analyst publicly floated the idea of Hyperliquid acquiring Gemini as a shortcut to U.S. regulatory licenses β the kind that take years to obtain organically. Per CoinDesk, prospective buyers were already eyeing Gemini's shuttered European units back in April, drawn by the permits, not the users.
One catch: the twins control 94.5% of voting power. Any deal needs their blessing. Which makes the negotiation simple β right up until they say no.
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π Daily Recap Β· Sep 23
π¦ Banks quietly doubled their spots on Europe's crypto register
π Coinbase wants to bring perp futures to US stocks
π‘ NEAR jumped 80% in a week β here's the actual reason
π Banker faked $1.6B in letters, took crypto bribes, got four years
π Gemini lost 80% since IPO β now suddenly looks cheap
That one person in your group chat who was heads-down all day? This is exactly for them.
CHEATKOTT - Your Daily News
π¦ Banks quietly doubled their spots on Europe's crypto register
π Coinbase wants to bring perp futures to US stocks
π‘ NEAR jumped 80% in a week β here's the actual reason
π Banker faked $1.6B in letters, took crypto bribes, got four years
π Gemini lost 80% since IPO β now suddenly looks cheap
That one person in your group chat who was heads-down all day? This is exactly for them.
CHEATKOTT - Your Daily News
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π Bitcoin's best quarter since late 2024 β and it's still not expensive
Altcoins kept pace:
FxPro calls it a bull market but urges patience. CoinDesk notes bitcoin closed above its 50-week moving average for the first time in 45 weeks β historically, that's where bear markets end.
BTC gained 44% this quarter, beating gold (+8.7%), the S&P 500 (+2%) and even NVDA (+11%). Yet it's still 48% below its $126,000 all-time high β hard to call that stretched.Altcoins kept pace:
ETH, XRP, SOL and others are up 40β150%. The rally started with classic oversold mechanics, then got a regulatory boost β on September 17 the SEC granted a five-year exemption for venues trading tokenized U.S. stocks via blockchain. Tagus Capital sees ETH as the biggest beneficiary.FxPro calls it a bull market but urges patience. CoinDesk notes bitcoin closed above its 50-week moving average for the first time in 45 weeks β historically, that's where bear markets end.
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πΈ Strategy is back in the game
Two weeks of silence β then Michael Saylor did exactly what everyone expected. Strategy picked up 950 BTC for $75.7 million last week, averaging
The running total now sits at
At the same time, the company bought back 1.77 million shares of its
Strategy shares jumped 7.4% to $165.2 in pre-market trading Monday. The market, apparently, missed this.
Via CoinDesk.
Cointelegraph
Two weeks of silence β then Michael Saylor did exactly what everyone expected. Strategy picked up 950 BTC for $75.7 million last week, averaging
$79,670 per coin.The running total now sits at
846,000 BTC, acquired at an average of $75,416. With Bitcoin trading around $84,925, that's an unrealized gain of $8.05 billion β not bad for a "pause."At the same time, the company bought back 1.77 million shares of its
STRC preferred stock for $174 million, with $875 million still available for more. The cash pile took a hit though: USD Cash dropped nearly 20% to $1.05 billion.Strategy shares jumped 7.4% to $165.2 in pre-market trading Monday. The market, apparently, missed this.
Via CoinDesk.
Cointelegraph
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πΈ Crypto's back in Ohio β with $30 million and a long memory
Fairshake β the crypto super PAC backed mainly by Coinbase, Ripple and a16z β spent $40 million to unseat Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown in 2024. It worked: with Brown gone from the Senate Banking Committee, a major stablecoin bill moved forward fast. Now he's running to return, and Fairshake has committed $30 million to stop him again.
Polls show Brown ahead 48% to 45%, Polymarket gives him 57%. The PAC sees those numbers and spends anyway β with
Not one ad will mention crypto. Just whatever argument moves an Ohio voter. The industry isn't selling itself β it's buying the outcome, per CoinDesk.
Fairshake β the crypto super PAC backed mainly by Coinbase, Ripple and a16z β spent $40 million to unseat Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown in 2024. It worked: with Brown gone from the Senate Banking Committee, a major stablecoin bill moved forward fast. Now he's running to return, and Fairshake has committed $30 million to stop him again.
Polls show Brown ahead 48% to 45%, Polymarket gives him 57%. The PAC sees those numbers and spends anyway β with
$90 million+ still in reserve for the November 3rd finish line.Not one ad will mention crypto. Just whatever argument moves an Ohio voter. The industry isn't selling itself β it's buying the outcome, per CoinDesk.
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π $1 billion in a day β and that's only ninth place
U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs pulled in $998.95 million on Monday β the biggest single-day haul since October 6, 2025, the day
The day's leaderboard:
πΈ
πΈ
πΈ
What makes the number interesting: it landed just days after the Senate blocked the Clarity Act and the Fed hiked rates. Institutions, apparently, read the room differently than the headlines did.
Via SoSoValue data, as reported by CoinDesk.
U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs pulled in $998.95 million on Monday β the biggest single-day haul since October 6, 2025, the day
BTC hit its all-time high of around $126,200. Historically, it ranks ninth since the funds launched in January 2024.The day's leaderboard:
πΈ
IBIT (BlackRock) β $381.37MπΈ
ARKB (Ark) β $289.12MπΈ
FBTC (Fidelity) β $238.84MWhat makes the number interesting: it landed just days after the Senate blocked the Clarity Act and the Fed hiked rates. Institutions, apparently, read the room differently than the headlines did.
BTC is up 44% this quarter to $85,000, outpacing every major asset including gold. Though spot ETFs are still $450M in the red year-to-date β so the champagne can wait.Via SoSoValue data, as reported by CoinDesk.
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πΈ X is suing a Bitcoin account network for faking engagement
X's creator program paid out based on genuine audience engagement β someone treated "genuine" as a suggestion.
X filed suit in the High Court of England and Wales against Vivek Kumar Sen and Zamyang Sherpa, alleging they ran six Bitcoin-themed accounts that gamed at least Β£207,384 (~$278K) in payouts by liking, reposting, and mirroring each other's content. On August 5th, two accounts posted near-identical text within 11 seconds of each other.
X suspended the accounts on August 18th, shut down the old revenue program in September, and is now tacking on Β£75,000 in investigation costs β total claim: over Β£282,000.
A Bitcoin influencer ring caught gaming the platform of crypto's loudest CEO. The irony earned its keep.
*Cointelegraph has the filing.*
X's creator program paid out based on genuine audience engagement β someone treated "genuine" as a suggestion.
X filed suit in the High Court of England and Wales against Vivek Kumar Sen and Zamyang Sherpa, alleging they ran six Bitcoin-themed accounts that gamed at least Β£207,384 (~$278K) in payouts by liking, reposting, and mirroring each other's content. On August 5th, two accounts posted near-identical text within 11 seconds of each other.
X suspended the accounts on August 18th, shut down the old revenue program in September, and is now tacking on Β£75,000 in investigation costs β total claim: over Β£282,000.
A Bitcoin influencer ring caught gaming the platform of crypto's loudest CEO. The irony earned its keep.
*Cointelegraph has the filing.*
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π Daily Recap Β· Sep 24
π BTC up 44% this quarter β still 48% off peak
πΈ Saylor breaks silence, snaps up 950 more BTC
π³οΈ Crypto PAC returns to Ohio with $30 million war chest
π Bitcoin ETFs nearly hit $1 billion in a single day
βοΈ X sues fake Bitcoin accounts gaming its creator payouts
Whoever had their head down in meetings today β this is the tab they should've had open
CHEATKOTT - Your Daily News
π BTC up 44% this quarter β still 48% off peak
πΈ Saylor breaks silence, snaps up 950 more BTC
π³οΈ Crypto PAC returns to Ohio with $30 million war chest
π Bitcoin ETFs nearly hit $1 billion in a single day
βοΈ X sues fake Bitcoin accounts gaming its creator payouts
Whoever had their head down in meetings today β this is the tab they should've had open
CHEATKOTT - Your Daily News
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