Finance
Strategy shares traded near $130 Thursday after Benchmark reiterated its “buy” rating and backed the firm’s pivot to its perpetual preferred, STRC. The call signals analyst support for a funding model designed to accelerate bitcoin per-share growth despite recent market pressure. Executive Chairman Michael Saylor outlined the shift during
Markets
American Bitcoin posted a $153.2 million net loss for 2025 despite expanding its bitcoin treasury beyond 6,000 BTC. The deficit was driven primarily by non-cash accounting adjustments rather than operational contraction. The company generated $185.2 million in revenue during its first year as a standalone public entity.
DeFi
Starknet is preparing to launch strkBTC, a bitcoin-based asset designed for shielded balances and confidential transfers on its Layer 2 network. The initiative seeks to combine privacy with full decentralized finance composability, a tradeoff that has historically limited bitcoin’s utility in onchain markets. Developed by StarkWare in coordination with
DeFi
STS Digital has secured $30 million in strategic capital to expand its institutional crypto derivatives platform. The raise signals continued investor appetite for infrastructure tied to options and structured products rather than spot speculation. CMT Digital led the round, with participation from Payward, Strobe Ventures, Arrington Capital, F-Prime, and BitRock
Finance
Telegram’s embedded crypto wallet is rolling out onchain yield for Bitcoin, Ethereum, and USDT holders. The move introduces decentralized finance strategies to a platform with more than 150 million registered users. The feature is available through TON Wallet, the self-custodial component of Wallet in Telegram. Users can deposit assets
Finance
Ethereum Foundation researchers have outlined seven network upgrades extending through 2029. The draft roadmap targets materially faster slot times, near-instant finality, and base-layer privacy features that would reshape Ethereum’s performance envelope. The document, dubbed a “strawmap,” was introduced by researcher Justin Drake following a January 2026 Ethereum Foundation workshop.
Markets
U.S. spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds recorded $506.5 million in net inflows on Wednesday, their strongest single-day intake in three weeks. The reversal interrupts a five-week stretch of sustained withdrawals and signals tentative institutional re-engagement. Data from SoSoValue shows BlackRock’s IBIT led flows with $297.4 million in
AI
Microsoft has introduced fully disconnected cloud deployments for regulated sectors running artificial intelligence workloads. The shift addresses mounting regulatory pressure around data sovereignty, operational continuity, and enforceable governance controls. Cloud Computing Services | Microsoft AzureInvent with purpose, realize cost savings, and make your organisation more efficient with Microsoft Azure’s open
Markets
Vitalik Buterin has sold 17,196 Ether since early February, worth roughly $34.96 million. The figure exceeds the 16,384 ETH allocation he disclosed in January and raises fresh questions about insider supply dynamics. Arkham data flagged by Lookonchain shows the transactions occurred across multiple tranches beginning Feb. 1.
Finance
World Liberty Financial’s new governance proposal would require holders to stake unlocked WLFI tokens for 180 days to vote. The shift ties voting rights to capital lockups, potentially tightening token supply while formalizing incentives funded by the protocol treasury. The proposal was published Wednesday on the WLFI governance forum.
Finance
Stripe’s $159 billion valuation towers over PayPal’s roughly $43 billion market capitalization, a gap analysts say makes a takeover financially plausible. The scale mismatch has reignited speculation that a deal could redraw competitive lines across consumer payments, merchant acquiring, and stablecoins. Mizuho analysts Dan Dolev and Alexander Jenkins
AI
Nokia and Amazon Web Services are testing an AI-driven system that allows 5G networks to adjust traffic and service quality automatically in real time. The pilot signals a shift toward autonomous telecom operations, where software agents — not engineers — make live decisions about network performance. The system combines Nokia’s network