Crypto Currents: Strategy establishes $1.44B U.S. dollar reserve

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STRATEGY ESTABLISHES $1.44B U.S. DOLLAR RESERVE: Strategy (MSTR) announced Monday the establishment of a U.S. dollar reserve of $1.44B and updates to its assumptions underlying its previously issued forward guidance and bitcoin key performance indicator targets for the fiscal year ending December 31. Strategy announced that it has established a USD Reserve of $1.44B to support the payment of dividends on its preferred stock and interest on its outstanding indebtedness. The USD Reserve was funded using proceeds from the sale of shares of class A common stock under Strategy’s at-the-market offering program. Strategy’s current intention is to maintain a USD Reserve in an amount sufficient to fund at least twelve months of its dividends, and Strategy intends to strengthen the USD Reserve over time, with the goal of ultimately covering 24 months or more of its dividends.

“Establishing a USD Reserve to complement our BTC Reserve marks the next step in our evolution, and we believe it will better position us to navigate short-term market volatility while delivering on our vision of being the world’s leading issuer of Digital Credit,” said Michael Saylor, Founder and Executive Chairman.

The company also cut its fiscal year 2025 earnings per share view to ($17.00)-$19.00 from a previous estimate of $80.00, which compared to analysts’ estimates of $49.15. Strategy also guided to FY25 operating income loss of (7B) to gain of $9.5B and FY25 net income loss of ($5.5B) to gain of $6.3B. The company also updated its FY25 Bitcoin KPI targets with the FY25 BTC Yield Target between 22% and 26% and the FY25 BTC Dollar Gain Target between $8.4B and $12.8B.

Strategy also announced that during the period of November 17 to November 30, it acquired an additional 130 bitcoin for approximately $11.7M, at an average purchase price of $89,960 per bitcoin. As of November 30, the company’s aggregate bitcoin holdings were 650,000 BTC, acquired for a total of $48.38B at an average price of $74,436 per bitcoin.

Cantor Fitzgerald lowered the firm’s price target on Strategy to $229 from $560 and kept an Overweight rating on the shares. It sees fears around the company as overblown. With 650,000 bitcoin priced at $92,600 each, Strategy has an estimated $155 per share of bitcoin on a fully adjusted share count basis, which also backs out the value of its preferreds, the analyst said. Cantor reduced Strategy’s annual capital market proceeds from $22.5B to $7.8B and the stock’s assumed net asset value at which it can raise those funds with the recent pullback in bitcoin prices. However, the firm believes Strategy’s current share price to net asset value dynamic “gives shares positive convexity to bitcoin price appreciation.” Cantor said fears around the company being forced to sell its bitcoin are not warranted. Strategy has enough cash to fund dividends for 21 months, and its bitcoin position, worth $60.7B, compares to its notional debt of $8.2B, the firm contended.

CIRCLE INITIATED WITH UNDERPERFORM: Wolfe Research initiated coverage of Circle Internet (CRCL) with an Underperform rating and $60 price target. Circle is the “undisputed leader” in globally regulated stablecoin, but the company now faces interest rate and competition headwinds, the analyst said. Meanwhile, the shares are still trading at a premium valuation, contended Wolfe.

TRUMP MEDIA GROUP CRO STRATEGY NAMES CEO, CFO: Yorkville Acquisition Corp. (MCGA) announced Monday(DJT) and Crypto.com, contributing assets to establish a digital asset treasury company focused on acquisition of the native cryptocurrency token of the Cronos ecosystem. Gutterman most recently headed Gryphon Digital Mining (GRYP), where Salzman most recently served as CFO.

“CRO is a high-performance token, and Trump Media Group CRO Strategy, which will aggregate CRO, is poised to unlock significant value for shareholders,” said Kevin McGurn, CEO of Yorkville Acquisition Corp. “To capitalize on this opportunity, we need strong strategic partners in the industry and an experienced management team. We already had the partners; now we’ve added the team.”

Yorkville Acquisition Corp. also announced Monday that the company has confidentially submitted a draft registration statement of Form S-4 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

DEFI DEVELOPMENT PARTNERS WITH HARMONIC, PERENA: DeFi Development Corp. (DFDV) announced Monday it has begun integrating and running the open block-building infrastructure provided by Harmonic across its Solana validator operations. Harmonic introduces competition and choice into Solana’s block-building pipeline. Instead of relying on a single builder, validators can select from multiple block candidates each slot. This improves revenue potential, strengthens decentralization, and gives operators more control over the types of order flow they accept. The company has already integrated Harmonic into its validator stack and expects to see measurable improvements in validator performance and revenue capture in the coming weeks.

Additionally on Thursday, DeFi Development announced a strategic partnership with Perena. Through this partnership, DFDV will leverage its existing stablecoin reserves by minting Perena’s USD STAR stablecoin, capturing attractive yield while preserving capital stability. By placing part of its stable reserves into USD STAR, DeFi Development expects to generate stablecoin-native yield, currently around 15% APY, serving as a new revenue stream. Earnings from this stablecoin yield will be used to cover operational expenses, facilitate share buybacks, and acquire additional SOL. This structure is designed to accelerate growth in the company’s core metric, SOL Per Share, delivering long-term value to shareholders. As part of the partnership, DeFi Development also plans to participate in Perena’s points program, which rewards users based on their USD STAR holdings and platform activity.

CSLM DIGITAL ASSET, FIRST DIGITAL ENTER COMBINATION AGREEMENT: First Digital Group and CSLM Digital Asset Acquisition Corp III (KOYN) announced Tuesday that they have entered into a non-binding letter of intent for a proposed business combination. Upon completion, the combined company is expected to be publicly listed on a national securities exchange in the United States. At the center of First Digital’s offering is FDUSD, a USD-denominated stablecoin fully backed by cash and cash equivalents held in a Hong Kong-registered, bankruptcy-remote trust structure.

The companies said, “FDUSD has rapidly established itself as one of the most actively traded stablecoins on centralized exchanges, reaching more than $1B in market capitalization within its first four months and later surpassing a peak circulation of more than $4.4B as adoption accelerated. Supported by tier-1 exchange integrations and world-class liquidity partners, FDUSD has processed more than $2T in cumulative trading volume since launch, demonstrating deep liquidity and sustained demand across global markets. Fully backed by segregated reserves held with its licensed custodian affiliate and supported by independent monthly attestations and robust AML/KYC controls, FDUSD has become a trusted and scalable digital dollar for exchanges, institutional users, and on-chain payment applications.”

OTHER CRYPTO NEWS:

• Galaxy (GLXY) expands into liquid staking as development company for Liquid Collective
• Bitmine Immersion (BMNR) announces holdings reach 3.73M ETH, 192 BTC
• Figure (FIGR) announces launch of an RWA consortium
• IP Strategy (IPST) announces transition to custodied long-term validator staking
• Solmate (SLMT) to acquire RockawayX in all-stock transaction

CRYPTO STOCK PLAYS: Publicly traded companies in the space include Bit Digital (BTBT), Coinbase (COIN), Core Scientific (CORZ), Greenidge Generation (GREE), Mara Holdings (MARA), Strategy, Riot Platforms (RIOT) and TeraWulf (WULF).

PRICE ACTION: As of time of writing, bitcoin stayed roughly flat this week at $91,042 in U.S. dollars, according to CoinDesk.