Happy Hump Day. Do yourself a favor and fade all strategic reserve talk for time being.
Bank of America. UBS. JP Morgan. They’re all building massive investments in one $2.1tn asset class—and it’s not what you think. It’s not private equity or real estate, but fine art. Why? Because fine art has outpaced the S&P 500 by 64%* (1995-2023). Learn more (and skip the waitlist) here →
Forgive yourself if you’ve never heard of Bullish Exchange… even we don’t know anybody who transacts with them. What we do know is that Bullish is highly capitalized. Bullish was launched with $400 million in cash and 164,000 BTC. Assuming they still hold that BTC, it alone is worth over $16 billion. The company also acquired CoinDesk from DCG in 2023 for an undisclosed amount.
While we’ll wait for the S1 to make any statement regarding whether the stock is a buy, we’ll leave you with this: Bullish was launched as a subsidiary of BlockOne, the parent of the sketchy EOS token launch from 2018. Regardless, Bullish has been listed on our 2025 IPO tracker. See who else we are eyeing to go public this year here.
Who is Satoshi Nakamoto? While we hope we never actually get an answer to the question, it won’t stop blockchain investigators from looking. This week, we got some new lore from Conor Rogan about who might know who Satoshi is.
I went through Satoshi Nakamoto's wallets; thread of new findings that I don't think have been previously reported including:
-My best guess is that Satoshi was last active onchain in 2014
-He may have used a Canadian BTC exchange (!)
-Kraken may know the identity of Satoshi— Conor (@jconorgrogan)
3:01 PM • Feb 5, 2025
As reported by the New York Times, the SEC is cutting jobs at a special unit of more than 50 lawyers and staff members that had been dedicated to bringing crypto enforcement actions. The report comes just hours after SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce outlined the regulator’s new approach to regulating the crypto markets.
🔥SEC Commissioner @HesterPeirce announces the initial list of priorities the SEC Crypto Task Force will tackle:
-security/commodity status
-scoping out: identify areas outside the SEC's purview, and define them as such (no-action letters, etc)
-token offerings: (potentially… x.com/i/web/status/1…— Alexander Grieve (@AlexanderGrieve)
8:08 PM • Feb 4, 2025
While “Digital Gold” is gyrating at the $100k mark, real gold is hitting ATHs. And while there is a lot of hoopla about Strategic Bitcoin Reserves (see story below), central banks during 2024 bought more than 1,000 tonnes of gold for the third straight year. Not only that, but gold ETF inflows are also on the rise. Gold and bitcoin prices are telling you something… are you listening?
At a DC presser, House and Senate leaders – joined by new crypto czar David Sacks – declared stablecoin legislation first in line for Trump’s signature, ahead of any broader market structure bill. Sacks also teased a potential US bitcoin reserve as a “top priority,” saying it will be separate from the new sovereign wealth fund. The big picture? Team Trump wants to boost dollar dominance via stablecoins and finally give US crypto a clear rulebook. Despite the positive outlook, it's safe to say onlookers weren’t particularly amped up with BTC falling shortly after the meeting.
Most Americans haven't heard this story yet... but one small Texas town has sent shockwaves through the world economy by embracing a new, alternative currency…
This new currency has nothing to do with gold, silver, or oil. But it's a direct alternative to the dollar. A top currency expert just returned from the Lone Star state to investigate, and he found three smoking guns – undeniable proof that Texas is laying the groundwork to challenge the U.S. dollar and send massive shockwaves throughout the U.S. financial system.
*See important Reg A disclosures at masterworks.com/cd.