Appold Market Watch - Week ending 9 May 2025
Market Update & Industry News - Week ending 9 May 2025
🔷 Nasdaq-listed exchange Coinbase has agreed to acquire digital asset options exchange Deribit for $2.9 billion, comprised of $700 million in cash and 11 million Coinbase Class A common stock shares. This acquisition positions Coinbase as the largest global platform for digital asset derivatives, surpassing Binance. The transaction is pending regulatory approval and is expected to close by year-end.
Appold view: Earlier this year, Kraken Digital Asset Exchange appeared positioned to acquire Deribit until the former purchased NinjaTrader in May. For Coinbase, this transaction is a major strategic play, with Deribit holding an estimated 85% market share in digital asset options.
🔷 Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy. NASDAQ: MSTR) has acquired an additional 1,895 bitcoin for $180.3 million, increasing its total holdings to 555,450 BTC valued at over $52 billion. This acquisition concludes the company's 2024 $21 billion at-the-market offering, with a new $21 billion offering initiated last week.
Appold view: MSTR’s renewed $21 billion equity offering and ongoing bitcoin accumulation suggest a high conviction in a precarious strategy, with MSTR’s entire investment thesis resting on bitcoin’s performance.
🔷 The U.S. Senate failed to advance the GENIUS Act, a bipartisan bill aimed at establishing a regulatory framework for stablecoins. Senate Democrats withdrew support, citing concerns over President Trump's involvement in digital asset ventures, and demanded stricter provisions on anti-money laundering, foreign issuer oversight, and accountability measures.
Appold view: As we reported last week, the use of Trump-backed stablecoin USD1 in MGX’s $2 billion investment in Binance was likely to have political repercussions. Despite prior bipartisan backing, the bill's future remains uncertain as negotiations continue.
🔷 Multinational payments firm Stripe has enabled businesses within its global payment processing network to hold and transfer dollar-backed stablecoins USDC and USDB. This development follows Stripe’s $1.1 billion acquisition of Bridge, a stablecoin infrastructure platform, in February.
Appold view: Competition among institutions over the stablecoins market has been ramping up for some time now. Through this announcement, Stripe is trying to close the gap with its competitors; Worldpay has allowed businesses access to USDC since 2022, and PayPal has been pushing vendors to use its own PYUSD since 2023.
#Marketwatch #Blockchain #Investments
