Seeing Red

BTC has tumbled below $90,000 ($87k as of writing) to hit the lowest mark since Trump’s win in mid-November. Like most crypto drops, there isn’t one specific reason to point to. Tariffs, the Bybit hack, memecoins collapsing, elevated inflation — these are all viable catalysts. Mind you, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent did just openly admit that “America’s private sector is in recession.” Put simply, despite all the positive news on the regulatory front for us crypto enthusiasts, we’re still far away from an ideal risk-on environment.

But for all the newcomers, zoom out – we’re still up 68% over the past year.

While BTC and crypto are tumbling (see story above) it’s worth taking a look across the pond at the other much-touted crypto investment, MSTR. Since reaching a high of $474 on November 20, MSTR is down nearly 50%. BTC over the same period by comparison is down ~5%. As we pointed out a few months ago, MSTRs premium to NAV was simply unsustainable. If you like BTC, buy BTC.

South Dakota’s HB1202 just died in committee, and Montana’s HB429 failed on the House floor (41–59). Both would have let their states invest public funds in Bitcoin. Not the end of the story, though – 18 other states are still mulling similar “Strategic Bitcoin Reserve” measures. Click here to track the latest on state-level crypto legislation.

Jailed former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried tweeted for the first time since beginning his 25-year sentence. In a bizarre 10-tweet thread, SBF discusses hiring and firing employees. Odd behavior to say the least. Of course, FTT, the token associated with FTX, briefly spiked from roughly $1.55 to $2.07 after his tweets before falling back to around $1.78.

Ken Griffin’s market-making giant Citadel Securities is looking to become a liquidity provider for cryptocurrencies. This marks a clear pivot from the firm’s previously cautious – some may say dismissive – stance on crypto. Lest us not forget Citadel’s role in the Gamestop short squeeze.