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Strategy’s cash squeeze
CryptoQuant challenged the prevailing narrative around Michael Saylor’s Strategy, urging the company to pause Bitcoin purchases and rebuild its cash reserves after dividend coverage fell to just 14 months from roughly seven years.
“Asset manager 21shares has scaled back several of its bullish forecasts for the crypto industry this year, saying institutional adoption continues to strengthen even as weak market conditions and muted retail participation have slowed the pace of growth”
CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju said Strategy’s annual dividend obligations surged to $1.2 billion following large issuances of STRC preferred shares carrying an 11.5% yield, while Strategy’s cash reserve recovered to about $1.4 billion after recent MSTR share sales.
The same analysis said Strategy’s cash reserve remains down 38% year-to-date after the company repurchased $1.5 billion of its 2029 senior notes.
It also pointed to pressure on Strategy’s funding model as STRC preferred shares fell as much as 17.5% below their $100 par value, limiting the company’s ability to raise fresh capital through additional preferred stock sales.
CBOE eyes perpetual shift
The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) is weighing a plan to convert its continuous Bitcoin and Ether futures into perpetual futures, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
The potential move follows recent regulatory changes after the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission approved crypto perpetual futures for Kalshi and outlined a framework for other registered exchanges to offer similar products.
CBOE launched its continuous Bitcoin and Ether futures last December, with contracts extending as far as 10 years, and the report said perpetual contracts have no expiration date so traders can maintain leveraged positions indefinitely.
In parallel, Simply Wall Street said analysts have trimmed the fair value estimate for Cboe Global Markets by about $10 to $319.64, citing competitive pressure from perpetual futures alongside supportive views on retail and prediction market growth potential.
Stablecoin FX and listings
Chainlink joined a cross-border banking initiative with European and South Korean financial institutions to study whether regulated euro and won stablecoins can enable real-time foreign exchange settlement, dubbed Project Pangea.
“Analysts have trimmed the fair value estimate for Cboe Global Markets by about $10 to $319”
Project Pangea’s working group includes FairSquareLab, the Unified Korea Alliance (UniKA), Qivalis and Chainlink to evaluate atomic swaps using blockchain-based settlement infrastructure.
The initiative said the global foreign exchange market handles an estimated $9.6 trillion in daily trading volume, and it framed a bullish scenario where the stablecoin market could reach $4 trillion by 2030.
Meanwhile, Zcash miner Fortitude Mining Holdings is set to go public through an all-stock merger with medical technology company HeartSciences, with the combined company expected to trade on Nasdaq under the ticker TUDE, subject to regulatory approval.
