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Strategy (MSTR) overtakes BlackRock’s IBIT after aggressive bear market BTC buying

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Strategy (MSTR) overtakes BlackRock’s IBIT after aggressive bear market BTC buying

Strategy (MSTR), now holds more bitcoin BTC$75,839.29 than BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) for the first time since Q2 2024.

The world’s largest publicly traded BTC holder recently announced its third-largest bitcoin purchase on record, acquiring 34,164 BTC and bringing its total holdings to 815,061 BTC.

IBIT currently holds 802,824 BTC, leaving Strategy ahead by more than 12,000 BTC. While the gap is not anything meaningful in relative terms, it is symbolically important given IBIT’s rapid growth since launch. IBIT became the fastest ETF in history to reach $70 billion in assets, while IBIT ranks among BlackRock’s top revenue drivers.

Strategy held 189,150 BTC at the start of Q1 2024. IBIT surpassed it by early Q2 with roughly 273,000 BTC, compared with Strategy’s 214,400 BTC, a lead which it consistently maintained until now.

However, the two vehicles are fundamentally different. Strategy is an operating company that uses financial engineering, including at-the-market (ATM) equity issuance, convertible debt, and perpetual preferred securities, to accumulate bitcoin in a leveraged manner. IBIT, by contrast, is a spot ETF designed to passively track bitcoin’s price, offering investors straightforward exposure without leverage or corporate risk.

IBIT has gained around 55% since listing in January 2024, while Strategy has risen roughly 250%, driven by its leveraged structure.

Notably, Strategy accelerated accumulation during the recent market downturn, as bitcoin fell over 50% from its October all-time high, while adding nearly 80,000 BTC in 2026.

The perpetual preferred equity STRC has been a key differentiator for Strategy, providing a scalable source of capital that has funded a significant portion of its recent bitcoin accumulation.

Meanwhile, IBIT’s holdings remained relatively stable, with only a modest decline in assets under management.

Started PR Named Official Partner for Banking Transformation Summit Europe 2026

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Started PR Named Official Partner for Banking Transformation Summit Europe 2026

Started PR has been appointed as the official PR partner for the Banking Transformation Summit Europe 2026. The strategic partnership aims to strengthen how the industry’s most critical conversations are amplified and carried beyond the event space.

Taking place from 19 to 20 May at Tobacco Dock in London, the summit brings together one of the most concentrated groups of banking decision-makers in Europe. The highly curated environment is designed to preserve the quality of discussion and ensure meaningful access to senior leaders, featuring representation from over 170 banks and building societies alongside more than 150 speakers.

From vision to direction

Built specifically for the professionals responsible for driving real change inside financial institutions, the summit’s agenda moves from “Vision”—where the banking industry is heading—to “Direction”—how change is actually delivered in practice.

The programme spans six core themes, focusing heavily on real-world insight and peer-led discussion:

  • AI and its real-world implementation inside banks.

  • Infrastructure transformation at scale.

  • Payments innovation and ecosystem shifts.

  • Trust, regulation, and customer expectations.

  • Leadership and the execution of change.

Bridging the gap between intent and action
Kimberley Waldron, founder of Started PR

Through the new partnership, Started PR will help shape how the most important developments emerging from the summit are understood and communicated, connecting the media with the leaders defining the future of banking.

Kimberley Waldron, founder of Started PR, commented on the pressing need for operational execution within the sector.

“Banking is at a point where the gap between what’s possible and what’s being delivered has never been more exposed,” Waldron stated. “AI, infrastructure and customer expectations are moving faster than most institutions can adapt, and the pressure is now on turning intent into real, operational change.”

Mark Johnstone, founder of the Banking Transformation Summit

She added: “The real story is in how banks are navigating that tension in practice, and the decisions being made now will shape how people experience money, trust and access to financial services in the years ahead.”

Mark Johnstone, founder of the Banking Transformation Summit, emphasized the importance of fostering the right environment for these critical conversations.

“I’ve spent the last two decades building events around the world, and the difference always comes down to who’s in the room and what they’re willing to share,” Johnstone said. “This is about bringing together senior people who are actually delivering change inside banks, not talking about it from the sidelines.”

Johnstone concluded: “We care deeply about the quality of the audience, the standards of discussion, and creating an environment where people stay, engage and have the conversations that actually move things forward. Partnering with Started PR is about making sure those conversations don’t stop in the room, but reach the audiences that matter across the industry.”

Stellar (XLM) gains 3.3% while index moves lower

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Stellar (XLM) gains 3.3% while index moves lower

CoinDesk Indices presents its daily market update, highlighting the performance of leaders and laggards in the CoinDesk 20 Index.

The CoinDesk 20 is currently trading at 2101.48, down 0.2% (-4.06) since 4 p.m. ET on Monday.

Ten of 20 assets are trading higher.

Leaders: XLM (+3.3%) and AAVE (+1.9%).

Laggards: ETH (-0.9%) and APT (-0.6%).

The CoinDesk 20 is a broad-based index traded on multiple platforms in several regions globally.

Zachxbt Identifies Other Cryptos Like RAVE With The Same Trajectory, What Do They Have In Common?

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Zachxbt Identifies Other Cryptos Like RAVE With The Same Trajectory, What Do They Have In Common?

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Over the last two weeks, RaveDao (RAVE) burst into the crypto scene in a rapid price surge and a trajectory that led many in the community to call it a blatant market manipulation from insiders. In less than two weeks, the RAVE price had risen by more than 5,000%, with its fully diluted value reaching $20 billion and placing it in the top 20 coins by market cap as a result.

At its peak, the RAVE trajectory drew attention and backlash from the community when it was found out that around 90% of the total supply was being controlled by insider wallets. This allowed for the manipulation, and popular on-chain investigator ZachXBT got on the case.

ZachXBT exposed the scheme, calling on crypto exchanges Binance, Bitget, and Gate to actually investigate the coin. In addition, the on-chain investigation shared a bounty for any information on the insiders behind the token’s price manipulation, offering up to $25,000 in crypto in return. This move quickly toppled the whole scheme like a house made of straws, and in a matter of hours, the RAVE price fell by over 90% in one day.

During the course of the investigation, representatives from exchanges such as Bitget, Binance, and Gate had agreed to investigate the price action. So, ZachXBT took this time to call out other cryptocurrencies that have actually followed the same trajectory in recent times.

Other Cryptos That Have Performed Similarly To RAVE

Prior to the RAVE market manipulation, other cryptocurrencies have come before it, where there have been clear signs of market manipulation. One of the most popular of these is the RIVER move, which saw the price go from around $1 to almost $90 at its peak. Just like RAVE, this move happened in the course of weeks as market makers squeezed the price upwards.

Other examples of such a move include PIPPIN, a meme coin that seemingly came out of obscurity to rise by over 2,000%. Similar manipulations were also noted with other crypto coins such as SIREN, MYX, COAI, and MemeCore (M). One thing that all of these crypto coins have in common is that they all rose rapidly in a matter of weeks without a clear catalyst.

Given this, ZachXBT has called on crypto exchanges to intervene faster in cases of market manipulation. This is because any delay would cause unfathomable losses to traders while the crypto exchanges collect on the fees. “While it’s good the exchanges responded, I find it unlikely this activity wasn’t spotted internally before I raised it publicly,” the investigator said.

For now, ZachXBT says that the $25,000 bounty is still open as there hasn’t been any verifiable information provided in regard to the actors behind the RAVE manipulation. Thus, he continues to urge anyone with solid information behind the scheme to come forward.

RAVE price chart from Tradingview.com (Crypto)
RAVE tries to recover again | Source: RAVEUSDT on Tradingview.com

Featured image from Dall.E, chart from TradingView.com

Editorial Process for bitcoinist is centered on delivering thoroughly researched, accurate, and unbiased content. We uphold strict sourcing standards, and each page undergoes diligent review by our team of top technology experts and seasoned editors. This process ensures the integrity, relevance, and value of our content for our readers.

Arbitrum Freezes 30K ETH Tied to Kelp Hack

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Arbitrum Freezes 30K ETH Tied to Kelp Hack

Ethereum layer-2 blockchain Arbitrum on Monday froze more than 30,000 Ether worth about $71.2 million held in a wallet connected to the recent exploit of the Kelp protocol.

Arbitrum said on Monday that its security council, a 12-member body elected by the Arbitrum community, took “emergency action” to freeze 30,766 Ether (ETH) that was held in a wallet connected to the Kelp exploit.

It added that the ETH had been moved to “an intermediary frozen wallet” and was “no longer accessible to the address that originally held the funds, and can only be moved by further action by Arbitrum governance.”

Kelp, a liquid restaking protocol, was hacked for at least $293 million on Saturday through its LayerZero-powered bridge, with LayerZero accusing North Korea of carrying out the attack.

Source: Arbitrum

The exploit has caused millions of dollars’ worth of “bad debt” in the highly interconnected crypto lending market, as the attackers used stolen Kelp tokens to borrow cryptocurrencies on the lending platform Aave.

A blockchain freezing crypto is a divisive measure in the crypto sector, with opponents of freezes arguing that such action is antithetical to the purpose of the technology, while supporters argue it enhances security and maintains a network’s integrity.

Multiple users on X criticized Arbitrum over the freeze and questioned its decentralization in light of funds being frozen by decree of a council.

Related: Hackers impersonated eth.limo team to hijack its domain: Post-mortem

Griff Green, a member of the Arbitrum Security Council, posted to X that the group “did not make this decision lightly, there were countless hours of debates, technical, practical, ethical and political.”

Green added that nine members of the 12-member council voted to freeze the funds, but did not share further details.

Arbitrum said its council acted with input from law enforcement and “weighed its commitment to the security and integrity of the Arbitrum community without impacting any Arbitrum users or applications.”

Magazine: South Korea gets rich from crypto… North Korea gets weapons