Public Keys: Strategy Skips the Bitcoin Dip as Circle Marks Its Area

Public Keys is a regular collection from that tracks the major officially traded crypto firms. This year’s edition of Public Keys focuses on whether analysts think Michael Saylor’s Strategy, previously MicroStrategy, may have better timed its new Bitcoin buys, a potential gold lining on the trade war fight for would-be U. S. Bitcoin equipment manufacturers, and Investor debate for USDC issuer Circle.

Strategy’s schedule issue

It’s no secret that Strategy, previously MicroStrategy, has spent billions of dollars acquiring Bitcoin. At the time of writing, the software company is sitting on nearly$ 44 billion worth of BTC—an amount that’s equal to 56 % of its$ 78 billion market capitalization. And this year alone, it’s already spent$ 5.3 billion getting Bitcoin.

But investors today seem wary that the business has a sound method for timing its purchases as the post-election buzz enters. Its share advanced hit a 10-month minimal on Monday as the organization noted in an SEC filing that it did not buy the latest Bitcoin fall.

On Friday afternoon, Strategy, which trades on the Nasdaq under the MSTR ticker, closed at$ 287.18, down 5.6 % on the day.

Device off the ol ‘ Block, Inc.

President Donald Trump’s business wars have left economic areas on a rewarding roller coaster. But if the tension lingers, there’s a little chance it could begin to weaken the supremacy of Chinese Bitcoin miners setup manufacturer Bitmain.

That could be excellent news for Jack Dorsey’s Bitcoin-focused Block, Inc. and Core Scientific, the organization to which Doresey’s firm has originally agreed to sell its cards.

Core Scientific noted in its Q4 income phone last month that it’s holding off on making any updates to its fleet of mine rig until it’s able to get Block’s 3-nanometer mine cards up and running in the up half of 2025.

But Bitcoin mining analysts noted that it’s not the only company making moves to challenge Bitmain.

Block, which trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the XYZ ticker, closed the week at$ 59.81 after having gained 0.33 % during trading.

Circle marks its spot

Sure, the details are scant, but USDC stablecoin issuer Circle’s representatives made a trip to Washington to meet with the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Crypto Task Force. The team included Circle President Heath Tarbert, General Counsel Dan Kaleba, Deputy General Counsel Christine Parker, and Vice President Corey Then.

A public memo notes that the company described USDC as a “payment stablecoins” and made its case for the “non-applicability of securities laws to certain payment stablecoins”.

A few months back, ARK Invest hypothesized that Circle, the issuer of the USDC stablecoin, was getting its house in order to make another run at an IPO under the Trump administration.

For a while, Circle was looking to go public via SPAC—but had to call it off in 2022. Then rumors were flying that it wanted to try again in 2024.

Late last year, the company moved its global headquarters from Boston to New York City, saying it wanted to be in the “heart of Wall Street”. It’s also looking to set up shop at One World Trade Center—right across the street from banking behemoth Goldman Sachs.

Of course, crypto exchange Coinbase was the first—and so far, only—major crypto company to go public with a direct listing in 2021. So it’s not surprising that Circle has spent years trying to follow in its footsteps.

Other keys

Meanwhile, newly public Bitcoin rewards company Fold just added$ 41 million to its BTC reserve. It’s not the only corporate player buying the dip. Japan’s Metaplanet saw its stock rise 20 % after it added$ 43 million to its own Bitcoin treasury, which is now valued at roughly$ 252 million.

Wall Street analyst firm Rosenblatt initiated coverage of crypto exchange Coinbase with a buy rating and$ 305 price target on Friday. The firm added that the recent market pullback highlights that investors should stick to “higher ground”, meaning that they should limit their crypto investments to “blue chips” like Coinbase.

Speaking of Coinbase, fellow San Francisco-based crypto exchange Kraken might soon be joining it on Wall Street with an IPO of its own, according to a report late Friday. A Kraken spokesperson told that going public has been in the works for a long time, so the news shouldn’t really come as any surprise.

And finally, Nasdaq President Tal Cohen has a question that’ll resonate with degens: Why sleep? He said in a LinkedIn post that the exchange has begun discussions with regulators to allow for 24-hour trading. But it wouldn’t be 24/7, just 24/5. The suits aren’t ready to give up their weekends.