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Strategy (MSTR) Spends A Whoppin $2 Billion On Bitcoin

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Strategy announced Monday it has acquired an additional 24,869 bitcoin for approximately $2.01 billion, averaging roughly $80,985 per coin, pushing the firm’s total holdings to 843,738 BTC — cementing its standing as the world’s largest corporate bitcoin treasury by a wide margin.

The disclosure came via a Form 8-K filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, continuing the company’s practice of Monday morning acquisition announcements. The purchase marks a significant acceleration from Strategy’s most recent disclosed buy — 535 BTC for $43 million during the week of May 5–11 — which had raised questions among investors about whether the firm was pulling back on its aggressive accumulation pace.

With this latest tranche, Strategy has now acquired a cumulative 843,738 BTC at an aggregate cost of approximately $63.87 billion, translating to an average price of roughly $75,700 per bitcoin. The company has also recorded a BTC Yield of 12.6% year-to-date in 2026 — a proprietary metric that tracks bitcoin accumulation per diluted share and serves as Strategy’s primary benchmark for measuring the accretive value of its capital markets activity for shareholders.

The purchase arrives against a backdrop of renewed investor attention on Strategy’s financing mix. The company has relied heavily on its Variable Rate Series A Perpetual Stretch Preferred Stock — ticker STRC — alongside its MSTR at-the-market equity offering program to fund acquisitions. STRC, which offers an annualized dividend of approximately 11.5%, has grown into a multi-billion dollar preferred equity product and has become an increasingly important pillar of Strategy’s bitcoin-buying engine.

Strategy didn’t sell any bitcoin

Saylor had telegraphed that a sizeable announcement was coming, updating Strategy’s bitcoin acquisition tracker on Sunday and teasing “big dot energy,” a nod to the large new marker that would soon appear on the company’s now-famous chart of cumulative BTC purchases.

The latest acquisition arrives weeks after executive chairman Michael Saylor and CEO Phong Le acknowledged on the company’s Q1 2026 earnings call that Strategy could, under select circumstances, sell a portion of its bitcoin to fund STRC dividends or manage tax obligations — the first time leadership had left the door open to any sales. 

Saylor subsequently walked back the concern, stating the company would buy between 10 and 20 bitcoin for every coin it ever sold.

At bitcoin’s current trading price near $80,000, Strategy’s 843,738-coin treasury carries a market value north of $67 billion, representing one of the most concentrated single-asset corporate balance sheets in financial history.

On Friday, Strategy also moved to retire $1.5 billion in face value of its zero-coupon 2029 convertible notes for roughly $1.38 billion, effectively buying back the debt at about 92 cents on the dollar and signaling a willingness to use its balance sheet more aggressively, including the possibility of funding the transaction with bitcoin sales despite Saylor’s recent emphasis on remaining a “net accumulator” of the asset.

Aave Proposes Principal-Preserving Charitable Giving Layer for Protocol

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Aave governance initiates temp-check on a new charitable mechanism that would allow users to generate yield on deposits while maintaining capital control for humanitarian organizations.

Aave has proposed a principal-preserving charitable giving layer for its application, designed to enable continuous humanitarian funding while allowing donors to retain control of their deposited capital. The proposal, currently undergoing a temp-check vote on Aave governance, addresses a structural gap between traditional charitable models and yield-generating DeFi infrastructure.

The mechanism targets three core inefficiencies in conventional giving: the requirement that donors permanently forfeit capital when donating, unpredictable funding flows that strain humanitarian organizations’ budgets, and opacity around fund deployment and outcomes. By leveraging Aave’s yield-generating capabilities, the protocol would allow users to deposit assets, earn returns, and direct those returns—or principal itself—to charitable causes while maintaining liquidity.

The proposal leverages existing Aave infrastructure and yield mechanisms, enabling donations to generate ongoing returns without requiring capital sacrifice. This approach aligns with DeFi’s capacity to productize financial primitives into consumer-facing tools, extending Aave’s use cases beyond traditional lending and borrowing into social impact.

The temp-check represents an early-stage governance signal from the Aave community. If approved, the proposal would advance to a formal governance vote before implementation. The mechanism could establish a model for yield-generating charitable infrastructure that other DeFi protocols might adopt.

Sources: Aave Governance

This article was produced with the help of AI flows.

Iran Launches Bitcoin-Backed Insurance Service For Strait Of Hormuz Shipping, Eyes $10B In Revenue

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Iran is reportedly launching a bitcoin-settled maritime insurance platform called Hormuz Safe, targeting cargo owners and shipping companies that transit the Strait of Hormuz and Persian Gulf — and projecting more than $10 billion in revenue for the Islamic Republic.

The platform, backed by Iran’s Ministry of Economy and Financial Affairs, was first reported by the IRGC-affiliated Fars News Agency, which cited internal government documents, according to Bloomberg reporting. 

The Hormuz Safe website describes the service as offering “fast, verifiable digital insurance — paid via bitcoin and settled at the speed of blockchain.” Coverage under the proposed scheme includes risks from vessel inspection, detention, and confiscation, with war-damage claims excluded. The Ministry had been developing the framework since April, according to documents obtained by Fars. 

As of the time of reporting, it was not possible to confirm whether the platform was operational or had processed any real policies.

The launch marks a formalization of financial mechanisms Iran has been constructing around the strait for months. In March 2026, Iran’s parliament passed the Strait of Hormuz Management Plan, a law that codified a transit toll system the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had been operating since mid-March. 

Under that framework, the IRGC extracts fees from vessels seeking passage, with operators required to submit vessel ownership details, cargo type, destination, and crew information to an IRGC-linked intermediary before receiving a permit code. Fees have started at around $1 per barrel of oil, with a vessel carrying a full load facing charges of up to $2 million.

Bitcoin as legal payment in Iran

Bitcoin became a formal payment option in April, when Hamid Hosseini, spokesperson for Iran’s Oil, Gas and Petrochemical Products Exporters’ Union, told the Financial Times that shipping companies could settle Hormuz transit fees in bitcoin or other non-dollar currencies including yuan. Iran’s preference for bitcoin stems from the asset’s resistance to seizure or freezing — a critical feature for a government operating under comprehensive U.S. Treasury sanctions.

“No one can freeze it,” Sam Lyman, research director at the Bitcoin Policy Institute, said of Tehran’s calculus.

This move builds on years of state-level bitcoin adoption. Iran legalized industrial bitcoin mining in 2019 and ran as much as 4.2% of global hashrate before U.S. and Israeli military strikes damaged much of that infrastructure. 

Iran’s crypto ecosystem reached an estimated $7.8 billion in 2025, with IRGC-linked transactions accounting for roughly 50% of the country’s total crypto volume by the fourth quarter of that year. The government has used mined bitcoin to fund imports and hedge against oil revenue shortfalls, with state mining costs estimated near $1,300 per coin.

Hormuz Safe represents Iran’s most visible attempt yet to convert its control over a waterway that handles around 20% of global oil supply into a revenue-generating financial product — denominated in a currency no foreign government can touch.

Bitcoin Depot (BTM) Files For Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

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Bitcoin Depot (NASDAQ: BTM), once the largest Bitcoin ATM operator in North America, filed for voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Monday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas. The Atlanta-based fintech company said it intends to wind down all operations and pursue a sale of its assets — marking one of the most visible collapses in the retail cryptocurrency sector to date.

The company’s stock cratered on the news, falling from $3 to around $0.75 on the news.

As part of the filing, Bitcoin Depot took its entire network of Bitcoin ATM kiosks offline. The company operated over 9,000 kiosk locations worldwide as of August 2025, with machines in 47 states and a cash-to-bitcoin checkout product available at retail locations in 31 states.

CEO Alex Holmes cited a hostile shift in the regulatory environment as the force behind the company’s collapse. “The regulatory environment for BTM operators has shifted significantly: states have imposed increasingly stringent compliance obligations, including new transaction limits, and in some jurisdictions, outright restrictions or bans on BTM operations,” Holmes said. “Under these circumstances, the Company’s current business model is unsustainable.”

Indiana became the first state to ban Bitcoin ATM kiosks in March 2026, with Tennessee and Minnesota following. Connecticut suspended Bitcoin Depot’s operating license the same month. 

The regulatory wave reflected a broader crackdown on crypto ATMs tied to escalating fraud concerns — the FBI logged 13,460 crypto-kiosk fraud complaints in 2025 alone, with reported losses of $389 million, a 58% jump from the prior year.

Financial deterioration preceded the filing

The bankruptcy did not arrive without warning. On May 12, Bitcoin Depot filed a notification of late filing with the SEC, disclosing it could not submit its Q1 2026 Form 10-Q on time due to a material weakness in its cash-in-transit reconciliation process. That disclosure also carried a “going concern” warning — a formal signal that management had doubts about the company’s ability to survive the next 12 months.

Preliminary Q1 2026 results told a stark story. Revenue fell $80.7 million year-over-year — a 49.2% decline — to approximately $83.5 million for the quarter ending March 31, 2026. Gross profit collapsed 85.5%, dropping from $31.2 million to $4.5 million, and the company swung to a net loss of $9.5 million from net income of $12.2 million in the same period a year earlier. Total operating expenses rose 32.3%, driven by litigation costs, and the company had accrued over $20 million in legal judgments during Q4 2025. Cash reserves fell from $65.6 million at the end of 2025 to $44.0 million by March 31.

Bitcoin Depot’s legal battles

Beyond state-level restrictions, Bitcoin Depot faced active litigation from law enforcement authorities in multiple states. 

In February 2026, Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell filed suit against the company, alleging it facilitated cryptocurrency scams targeting consumers. Iowa’s attorney general brought similar claims, asserting that Bitcoin Depot’s pricing was deceptive, that the company allowed known fraud transactions to proceed, and that its refund policies exploited victims.

“I also want to thank our employees across the globe for their continued hard work and dedication,” Holmes said. Bitcoin Depot’s collapse stands as a cautionary benchmark for the crypto ATM industry — a sector that saw rapid expansion during the bitcoin adoption wave of the early 2020s, only to face a wall of regulatory and legal opposition it could not overcome.

South Korea FSC Reportedly Reviews Hana Bank Dunamu Stake

South Korea’s financial regulator is reportedly reviewing Hana Bank’s planned $668 million purchase of a 6.55% stake in Dunamu, the operator of the largest domestic cryptocurrency exchange, Upbit.

Local outlet iNews24 cited an unnamed Financial Services Commission official to report that regulators are examining whether Hana Bank’s share purchase from Kakao Investment, rather than directly from Dunamu, falls under broader “banking-commerce separation” rules.

The official said Hana’s investment would be assessed under the same standards as a direct stake in the exchange operator.

Hana Financial Group’s banking unit agreed to buy about 2.2 million Dunamu shares from Kakao Investment for 1 trillion won (roughly $668 million) on Friday.

The transaction would make Hana Bank the fourth-largest shareholder of Upbit. Source: DART

South Korea scrutinizes bank ties to crypto firms

South Korea’s crypto market has long operated under a supervisory principle known locally as “banking-commerce separation,” which limits ownership ties between traditional financial institutions and non-financial businesses.

Related: South Korea plans July rules for tokenized securities

Crypto firms such as Dunamu occupy a gray area under the framework because virtual asset operators are not classified as traditional financial institutions.

In the local outlet Maeil Business Newspaper on Monday, a high-ranking FSC official was cited as saying that “banking-commerce separation” constraints on crypto are not explicitly written into current law and instead operate through policy and supervision.

Some restrictions involving bank participation in crypto operate through supervisory policy and regulatory interpretation rather than explicit legislation.

Related: South Korea crypto holdings halve in a year as investors turn to stock market

Broader finance push into South Korea’s crypto market

Hana’s move comes amid a broader push by financial groups into South Korea’s tightly regulated crypto market.

In February, Mirae Asset agreed to buy a 92.06% stake in exchange Korbit via Mirae Asset Consulting for about 133.5 billion won (roughly $93 million), rather than through its securities arm.

On Friday, local media reported that OKX and Korea Investment & Securities are in talks to take roughly 20% stakes each in local exchange Coinone via a new share issuance.

Asia Express: North Korea denies crypto hacks, Upbit’s bank tests Ripple

Cointelegraph is committed to independent, transparent journalism. This news article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph’s Editorial Policy and aims to provide accurate and timely information. Readers are encouraged to verify information independently.

Strategy made mammoth $2 billion bitcoin purchase last week

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Michael Saylor and team added 24,869 BTC last week, bringing total holdings to 843,738 coins.

Aave Restores Wrapped Ether Borrowing Following Kelp DAO Hack

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Aave users are now able to borrow against wrapped Ether on the decentralized finance protocol again, as the Kelp DAO exploit recovery plan continues to progress. 

Aave founder Stani Kulechov said in an X post Sunday that the protocol restored loan-to-value (LTV) ratios for wrapped Ether (WETH) to pre-incident levels across all affected networks: Aave V3 Ethereum Core, Ethereum Prime, Arbitrum, Base, Mantle and Linea. 

“The next step in the rsETH technical recovery plan has been completed with the restoration of WETH LTVs to their pre-incident levels across all affected networks. Users can now once again borrow against WETH on Aave, including through collateral and debt swaps,” Kulechov said.

The temporary freeze on WETH was a precautionary safety measure enacted in response to the exploit, according to Aave, alongside freezes on the rsETH and wrsETH reserves. However, in a governance proposal that passed on Saturday, the protocol said that given the demonstrated progress in recovery, the freeze can be “lifted now without compromising user protection.”

The development marks the final part of “Phase II” of the rsETH recovery plan, which also included restoring rsETH’s backing and allowing withdrawals, using Ether frozen after the exploit and donated tokens from the DeFi United coalition.

Source: Stani Kulechov

Total value locked on Aave down after Kelp exploit

Hackers believed to be linked to North Korean state-backed actors stole 116,500 Kelp DAO Restaked Ether tokens on April 18 from Kelp DAO’s LayerZero-powered bridge, then used them as collateral on Aave V3 to borrow wrapped Ether, resulting in about $195 million in bad debt on Aave.

Total value locked (TVL) on Aave dropped by more than $8 billion following the exploit, according to DefiLlama. As of Monday, its TVL is about $14.8 billion, down from $23.5 billion in March.

Tom Wan, head of data at consulting firm Entropy Advisors, which partners with the Arbitrum DAO, said that since the hack, wrapped stETH and wrapped Ether deposits have fallen.

However, there is now more unused Ether liquidity in the system, and the annualized borrowing rate has fallen to 1.9%, which he said could bring back traders interested in leveraged Ether yield strategies.

Ether utilization has dropped back below 90%. Source: Tom Wan

“ETH utilisation has dropped back below 90% with borrow APY now at 1.9%. Since the rsETH LZ hack, wstETH and weETH deposits are down $1.2B and $1.76B respectively,” Wan said.

“With wstETH/weETH to ETH loops now back to profitable, the question is whether ETH loop demand returns or if the capital stays on the sidelines/flows to Spark/Morpho,” he added.

Kelp sunsetting rsETH bridging on some networks

Meanwhile, Kelp DAO is also in the process of its own recovery efforts. On Sunday, the protocol said it’s “consolidating our supported networks to ensure the highest security standards for rsETH based on usage and integrations,” by sunsetting rsETH bridging in select networks after June 15, including Optimism, HyperEVM, Unichain, Avalanche and MegaETH. 

Related: Aave files emergency motion to lift restraining notice on frozen ETH

After the deadline, recovery of funds will cost 100 USDC (USDC) per address, according to Kelp.

Earlier this month, Kelp DAO migrated its restaking token, rsETH, to the Chainlink oracle platform while continuing to blame the attack on LayerZero’s cross-chain infrastructure, its previous provider. 

Magazine: The legal battle over who can claim DeFi’s stolen millions

Bitcoin Drops to $76K as Fresh US-Iran Tensions Resurface

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Bitcoin (BTC) dropped to $76,000 during the early Asian trading hours on Monday as US-Iran tensions resurfaced. 

Key takeaways

  • Bitcoin falls to $76,500 as bearish momentum becomes increasingly tied to geopolitical developments.
  • Over $607 million in long positions have been liquidated in the last 24 hours.
  • Bitcoin traders say support at $76,000 should hold to avoid a BTC price drop to $65,000.

Bitcoin hits three-week lows with 7% drop

Data from TradingView showed BTC price dropped as much as 7% over the last three days to three-week lows of $76,500, erasing all the gains made since May 1. 

BTC/USD one-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

The losses come just days after BTC/USD reached 13-week highs around $83,000, boosted by strong inflows into spot exchange-traded funds and optimism surrounding the US CLARITY Act.

Related: BTC price ‘bull trap’ at $76.5K? Five things to know in Bitcoin this week

On Sunday, however, US President Donald Trump issued fresh threats against Iran regarding delays in the peace agreement, warning that the “clock is ticking.”

Source: TruthSocial/Donald J. Trump

“Trump confirms the clock is ticking for Iran. The US is allegedly preparing for a potential new military operation against Iran,” analyst CryptoRover said in a Monday post on X, adding:

“This is extremely dangerous for $BTC.”

The move in Bitcoin was accompanied by $607 million in long liquidations over the last 24 hours, with BTC long liquidations accounting for $190 million.

This brought the total liquidations across the crypto market over the last 24 hours to $677 million.

Total crypto liquidation across all exchanges. Source: CoinGlass

Oil also saw volatility, with WTI rising over 3% in a matter of hours to $104 per barrel before correcting to $101.

CFDs on WTI crude oil one-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

“WTI surged above $103 as Trump publicly lost patience with stalled peace talks and a waiver for Russian crude sales expired, adding to supply fears around the still-disrupted Strait of Hormuz,” trading resource Capital.com said in a Monday X post, adding:

“Higher oil means hotter future inflation, reinforcing higher-for-longer Fed expectations and lifting both the dollar and yields — a tough combination.”

Bitcoin traders say bears “back in the driver’s seat”

Bitcoin traders, meanwhile, looked at the technical setup for clues as to where the price might head next.

Analyst CryptoJelleNL said that a bearish divergence from the relative index as BTC/USD ran into resistance at $82,000 was responsible for the “pullback we’re in right now,” adding:

“Bears getting back in the driver’s seat?”

BTC/USD daily chart. Source: X/CryptoJelleNL

MN Capital founder Michael van de Poppe said immediate support at $76,000 should hold to “prevent a market-wide crash.”

An accompanying chart showed other support levels to watch if this area is lost, including the $71,000-$73,000 demand zone and the local low at $65,000.

BTC/USD chart. Source: X/Michael van de Poppe

The local low at $65,000 coincides with the target of an inverted V-shaped pattern, as shown on the daily chart below. This represents a 16% drop from the current price.

BTC/USD daily chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

Note that the BTC/USD pair experienced a similar sharp correction of the same magnitude after being rejected by the 200-day moving averages in April 2025.

Bitcoin slides below $77,000 as Trump’s Iran warning rattles risk assets

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Bitcoin and ether sank after the U.S. president told Iran the “clock is ticking,” sending oil higher and triggering broad crypto liquidations.

Senate Crypto Bill Might Pass as Late as August: NYDIG

The US Senate’s crypto market structure bill could take until August to pass and risks not advancing at all if lawmakers cannot pass it before the midterms, said Greg Cipolaro, head of research at financial services firm NYDIG.

Patrick Witt, a senior White House crypto adviser, said earlier this month that he was targeting July 4 for the Senate’s crypto bill to pass, saying there was enough time for a Senate markup, floor vote and House vote. 

“This may represent an aspirational benchmark rather than a fixed legislative deadline,” Cipolaro said in a note on Friday. “The realistic window, however, is June through early August.”

The crypto market structure bill would outline how US watchdogs would regulate crypto and is seen as one of the most important pieces of crypto legislation this year. However, it has been marred by delays as lawmakers and lobbyists have sought to add or amend provisions around stablecoins and government officials’ use of crypto, among other issues.

The bill passed a long-delayed markup in the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday, which voted largely along party lines to advance it to the Senate floor, where it will need 60 votes to avoid prolonged debate and pass.

Senate Banking Chair Tim Scott, pictured at the markup. Source: US Senate

Republicans hold a 53-seat Senate majority and will need at least seven Democrats on board to pass the bill quickly, but some Democrats are concerned that the bill does not go far enough in preventing crime and sanctions evasion.

Cipolaro said Congress has a recess from late July to early September and will then return to a period ahead of the midterm elections in November, when Senate leadership “is unlikely to schedule a contested 60-vote floor fight.”

“If the bill misses that window, the highest-probability remaining pathway becomes a post-election lame-duck session, available only if Republicans hold the Senate and Majority Leader [John] Thune prioritizes it over government funding deadlines,” he added.

Current polling and predictions show a tight race for control of the Senate, with some forecasts showing Republicans with a slight edge, while others put key seats as tossups that could put Democrats in control of the chamber.

Cipolaro said that if Democrats gain control of the Senate, the current Republican-backed crypto market structure bill is unlikely to advance in the next Congress when it begins in January.

“Congressional negotiators face a tradeoff between accepting an imperfect bipartisan framework in 2026 versus risking a substantially different legislative environment after the midterms.”

Cipolaro said that if the bill is passed and signed into law, crypto markets would get a boost as major institutions would be confident enough to invest in the space because of the legal clarity. 

It would also grant regulatory certainty to Bitcoin, classifying it as a commodity under the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and closing “the last significant regulatory overhang for Bitcoin as an institutional asset class,” he added.

However, Cipolaro said the bill could fail because of stalled negotiations over provisions regarding ethics or decentralized finance enforcement, or because of scheduling delays, which would mean the crypto industry would continue to operate under “permanent jurisdictional ambiguity.”

Magazine: Clarity Act risks repeat of Europe’s mistakes, crypto lawyer warns