Watchdog asks for crypto industry feedback on UK investment reforms

Major publicly traded HYPE token holder Hyperliquid Strategies (ticker PURR) is the latest digital asset treasury (DAT) to roll out a stock repurchase program. 

Hyperliquid Strategies’ board has authorized a program to repurchase up to $30 million worth of the company’s outstanding stock over the next 12 months, according to an announcement on Monday. The firm is far from the first to announce a willingness to support its stock price, with everyone from the largest ETH DAT BitMine supporting buybacks to Michael Saylor's Strategy launching a cash reserve to act as a liquidity buffer amid a market pullback. 

“We are fully committed to maximizing shareholder value through disciplined execution of our treasury strategy,” Hyperliquid Strategies CEO David Schamis said. “Our primary objective is providing investors with efficient access to HYPE, the native token of the dominant Hyperliquid ecosystem. We will use our cash to increase our shareholders’ per-share exposure to HYPE in the most efficient way possible.”

Though what is perhaps unique is that the repurchase program was disclosed just days after the digital asset treasury officially launched.

Hyperliquid Strategies Inc. was formed through a merger of the publicly-traded healthtech firm Sonnet BioTherapeutics and Rorschach, a special purpose acquisition company incorporated this year with a connection to Hyperliquid-supporter and prominent crypto VC Paradigm. The merger, announced in July and expected to close in November, was delayed by two weeks after not crossing a key level of support from shareholders and was ultimately completed on Dec. 2.

The Nasdaq-listed stock, which began trading under the ticker symbol PURR on Dec. 3, is down about 1.1% at the time of press to $3.64. The Block has reached out to Schamis for comment.

Venture forward?

In October, Hyperliquid Strategies filed an S-1 statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to raise up to $1 billion to fund its treasury activities. The firm previously said it would stake “substantially all of its HYPE holdings” or deploy funds in non-staking DeFi-related activities.

Somewhat unusually, Hyperliquid did not raise venture capital funding. Instead, about a third of the HYPE token supply, valued at $1.2 billion, was airdropped to early users when it debuted in late 2023. Additional tokens went to the founding team and to set up the Hyper Foundation, with none explicitly earmarked for VCs or investors.

The protocol has since grown to become the largest decentralized perps DEX by accumulated volume, according to The Block’s data, and has only seen meaningful competition in recent months via the rise of BNB Chain-based Aster and Ethereum Layer 2 Liquid. 

Hyperliquid Strategies, which aims to "provide capital-efficient and productive access to the HYPE token for U.S. and institutional investors," counts D1 Capital, Galaxy Digital, Pantera Capital, Republic Digital, and 683 Capital as strategic backers. It has also named former Barclays CEO Bob Diamond as chairman.

The firm is not the only HYPE treasury play. In June, Hong Kong-based brokerage and trading firm Lion Group Holding Ltd. raised $600 million to fund its own HYPE DAT. 

HYPE is relatively flat on the past day at $29. The token hit an all-time high of $59.30 in September, according to The Block’s price page.

Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.

© 2025 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

MicroStrategy announced today that it spent nearly $1 billion to acquire an additional 10,624 BTC, increasing its total Bitcoin holdings to 660,624 BTC.

The purchase comes at a moment of heightened scrutiny for MicroStrategy’s figurehead, Michael Saylor. The company has faced significant pressure during a broader market downturn driven by Bitcoin’s weak price performance.

Accumulation Continues as Pressures Grow

Saylor has continued expanding MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin holdings despite sustained public scrutiny of the company’s approach.

Bitcoin’s price has weakened over the past two months, failing to reclaim the $100,000 level it lost in November and currently trading around $89,950.

MicroStrategy, now effectively a Bitcoin-focused treasury rather than a traditional software firm, has been hit hard as its valuation moves in lockstep with Bitcoin’s volatility, creating persistent headwinds.

Even so, the company has pressed ahead with new purchases. Notably, it did not buy during the recent dip to $86,000 over the weekend but instead announced its latest acquisition as Bitcoin briefly rallied to $90,615.

Some viewed the move as a way to energize supporters and maintain high morale among loyal investors. However, some analysts believe MicroStrategy’s ability to fund future Bitcoin purchases is weakening.

Analyst Novacula Occami noted that, for this latest purchase round, MicroStrategy was only able to sell $44 million of preferred stock last week, which is a very small amount compared to past capital raises.

This suggests the market may be less willing to lend or buy their preferred equity.

Because leverage is becoming more challenging, MicroStrategy is shifting back to issuing regular shares. In this case, it sold 5.1 million MSTR shares at $181 each, which dilutes existing shareholders.

Given MicroStrategy’s current conditions, this method may soon become unsustainable.

Stock Weakness Threatens Funding Model

MicroStrategy experienced a severe downturn at the start of December when its market cap briefly fell below the net value of its Bitcoin holdings. The event produced fresh concerns about leverage, liquidity, and overall investor confidence.

The share price dropped to $156, reducing the company’s valuation to $45 billion. At the same time, the value of MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin holdings stood at roughly $55.2 billion, marking an unusual period in which the market valued the company below its underlying assets.

MicroStrategy has since regained its foothold. However, if its stock were to again trade below the value of the assets it owns, issuing new shares will become harder and less effective.

As leverage continues to dry up and equity dilution becomes less sustainable, MicroStrategy may face a moment where it cannot raise enough capital to continue its accumulation model. 

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has taken to the X social media network to note that XRP ETFs have become the fastest products to reach $1 billion in assets under management (AUM) in the U.S. since Ethereum-based ones. 

According to Garlinghouse, there is pent-up demand for regulated crypto products.

With platforms like Vanguard enabling access to these ETFs through traditional retirement and brokerage accounts, millions of Americans can now get exposure to cryptocurrencies.

As reported by U.Today, Garlinghouse recently predicted that the overall share of crypto within the ETF market will increase significantly. The Ripple CEO had rejected the notion that the recent ETF enthusiasm was merely hype. 

Current leaders 

A total of 477.93 million XRP is currently held in custody across several U.S. crypto ETFs. 

Canary Capital leads the group, holding 166.1 million XRP, the largest amount among the ETFs. 

Grayscale follows with 104 million XRP, then Bitwise with 91.8 million, Franklin Templeton with 63 million, and REX-Osprey with 53 million XRP. Combined, these five ETF issuers account for the full 477.93 million XRP currently locked in ETFs.

The combined daily trading volume for XRP ETFs is roughly $14.98 million at press time.

Franklin Templeton’s XRPZ leads with $4.57 million traded (201.75K shares), followed by Canary Capital’s XRPC at $4.17 million (187.95K shares). Bitwise XRP has $3.40 million traded (145.50K shares), REX-Osprey XRPR is at $1.79 million (104.50K shares), and Grayscale GXRP has the remaining portion of the volume.

After breaking below $90,000 again, the next direction of the Bitcoin price is being hotly debated once again. This comes with the added burden of a number of major events coming around this week, as well as investor sentiment being stuck in the negative territory for an extended period of time. Crypto analyst, MarcPMarkets, shares his thoughts on the current state of the market and what investors should be looking out for as the next direction is determined.

The Bearish And Bullish Scenarios

In the analysis shared on the TradingView website, MarcPMarkets highlights the different scenarios that could determine where the Bitcoin price could be headed next. Cautioning investors to watch out for confirmation, the first level that the analyst highlights is the $93,500 area, where the Bitcoin price had failed to reclaim a high.

Since the price fell below $90,000 over the weekend, the next major level now lies at $88,000, and it is where bulls must protect their support. In the event that bulls lose this support and the price breaks decisively below this point, the crypto analyst warns investors to expect the Bitcoin price to crash another $10,000. Next would be the $78,000 area, where the cryptocurrency is likely to secure its next support.

On the flip side, where the Bitcoin price could turn bullish once again, the crypto analyst points to the $95,000 resistance. Investors are to pay attention to this resistance, because if broken, then it would mean that strength is building back up, completely canceling out the bearish scenario highlighted above.

The major targets in the case of a bullish takeover would first be $105,581. Above this lies the next major level of $113,213, and then finally, the $120,850 target that would be the final hit before momentum fizzles out.

Developments That Could Affect The Bitcoin Price

Beyond the price action, some events that could affect Bitcoin’s trajectory are expected to unfold this week. The FOMC meeting is drawing closer, with the Fed expected to announce its stance on the financial markets going forward.

If, at the completion of the press conference, the Fed takes on a dovish stance, then the crypto analyst expects that prices will begin to move upward again. Additionally, quantitative tightening ended at the start of December, ushering the markets into an era of quantitative easing, which has always been bullish for risk assets as new liquidity is pumped into the market.

The following article is adapted from The Block’s newsletter, The Daily, which comes out on weekday afternoons.

Happy Monday! Bitcoin opened the week above $90K as whales scooped up roughly 45,000 BTC in seven days, a surge analysts say signals quite large holder accumulation even as markets brace for a pivotal Fed decision on Wednesday.

In today's newsletter, Robinhood acquires an Indonesian crypto trading firm, BlackRock files for a staked Ethereum ETF, Strategy buys another 10,624 BTC for $963 million, and more.

Meanwhile, Binance's post confirming insider trading sends the "year of the yellow fruit" memecoin even higher.

P.S. Don't forget to check out The Funding, a biweekly rundown of crypto VC trends. It's a great read — and just like The Daily, it's free to subscribe!

Robinhood to enter Indonesia by acquiring local crypto trading firm

Robinhood is eyeing a move into Indonesia by agreeing to buy brokerage firm Buana Capital Sekuritas and crypto trading platform Pedagang Aset Kripto.

• The company is targeting Southeast Asia's largest economy as its next growth market and awaits regulatory approval to close the deals in early 2026.
• Robinhood plans to keep serving Buana Capital's existing clients while rolling out U.S. equities and crypto trading to Indonesian users.
• Head of Asia at Robinhood, Patrick Chan, framed Indonesia as a fast-growing trading market that fits the company's mission to democratize finance.
• Pieter Tanuri, the majority owner of both Buana Capital and Pedagang Aset Kripto, is expected to remain involved as a strategic advisor to Robinhood following the acquisitions.
• Meanwhile, in the U.S., Robinhood is courting high-volume crypto traders by expanding its fee tiers from three to seven, cutting rates as low as 0.03%.
• Simultaneously, EU users are gaining access to XRP, SOL, DOGE, and SUI perpetual futures with up to 7x leverage as Robinhood races to win more traders.

BlackRock moves to add staked Ethereum ETF with fresh SEC filing

BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, filed an S-1 registration statement for its iShares Staked Ethereum Trust ETF, moving to add a staked ETH product to its lineup.

• The filing follows a recent Delaware entity registration for the ETF, confirming expectations that a formal SEC submission was imminent.
• BlackRock said the fund aims to track the cryptocurrency's price and staking rewards from a portion of its ETH, when it can do so without triggering legal or tax risks for the trust.
• The firm's filing builds on momentum from its existing $17 billion AUM spot Ethereum ETF as more issuers race to add staking and diversify their crypto offerings under a friendlier U.S. regulatory climate.

Michael Saylor's Strategy buys another 10,624 BTC for $963 million

Strategy bought another 10,624 BTC for $963 million at an average price of $90,615 per bitcoin between Dec. 1 and Dec. 7, according to an 8-K filing with the SEC on Monday — its largest purchase block since July.

• Strategy now holds a total of 660,624 BTC — worth around $60 billion — bought at an average price of $74,696 per bitcoin for a total cost of around $49.4 billion, according to the company's co-founder and executive chairman, Michael Saylor.
• The firm funded the latest purchases through fresh at-the-market sales of its MSTR common stock and STRD perpetual preferred shares.
• The haul pushes Strategy's paper gains above $10 billion, while its recently established $1.44 billion USD Reserve gives it runway to meet dividend and debt obligations for the next 12 to 24 months.

Vitalik Buterin pushes for trustless gas futures market to hedge Ethereum fees

Vitalik Buterin proposed a trustless onchain gas futures market to let users hedge future Ethereum fee spikes and gain clearer visibility into expected base fee levels.

• Industry leaders pushed back, with Flashbots' Hasu arguing the market lacks a natural short side and would struggle to scale meaningfully.
• Buterin floated the idea of the protocol itself taking the short side, but other critics said Ethereum's burn mechanism and incentive design still make viable shorting difficult.
• The debate follows recent network upgrades — including Fusaka and a higher block gas limit — as the Ethereum community advances broader work on cost structure, privacy, and scaling.

Paradigm bets $13.5 million on stablecoin startup Crown in first Brazil investment

Paradigm made its first investment in Brazil by backing stablecoin startup Crown with $13.5 million at a $90 million valuation as the crypto VC firm targets the country's fast-growing digital asset market.

• Crown claims its BRLV token, pegged to the Brazilian real and backed by government bonds, has already become the world's largest emerging-market stablecoin with strong institutional demand.
• Crown's co-founders said they built BRLV to offer native yield and institutional-grade safety, positioning the stablecoin to scale toward an ambitious R$1 trillion circulation target over the next decade.

In the next 24 hours

• It's quiet on the economic calendar front.
• Movement is among the crypto projects set for token unlocks.
• Bitcoin MENA concludes in Abu Dhabi.

Never miss a beat with The Block's daily digest of the most influential events happening across the digital asset ecosystem.

Disclaimer: This article was produced with the assistance of OpenAI’s ChatGPT and reviewed and edited by our editorial team.

Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.

© 2025 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.