Bitcoin Plays Footsie With $73K While Saylor's STRC Machine Prints More sats

Bitcoin briefly touched $73,000 on Thursday before retreating to hold just above $72K this morning, reversing an early sell-off after Netanyahu signaled Lebanon negotiations. The options market is even more bullish—the $80,000 level is seeing the most volume in June expiry contracts with over $1.6 billion in open interest, representing a full 10% move from current levels. For those keeping score at home, that's a lot of degen calls betting on lambos, or at the very least, slightly less cramped apartments.

As for why traders are bullish, it might be Saylor-driven. Strategy's STRC had another massive day Thursday with over 3 million preferred shares moved, generating capital to purchase 2,000+ Bitcoin worth $144 million. Wednesday's numbers were similar, and totals historically rise into the dividend cutoff date next Wednesday. Expect three more days of increasing STRC flows—it's a strong near-term setup for Bitcoin. Saylor's printing sats like a medieval goldsmith with a printing press and no king to answer to.

Galaxy's 2025 annual report buried an important detail in its $241 million net loss headline: the firm's Digital Assets segment generated $505 million in adjusted gross profit. GLXY closed up 11.3% Thursday, the second-best crypto equity on the day. Nothing says "we're totally fine" like losing money on paper while printing profits in the segment that actually matters. Classic Wall Street theater.

The thesis Mike Novogratz is selling isn't a crypto trading story anymore—it's AI infrastructure. Galaxy's Helios campus, once one of North America's largest Bitcoin mines, is an 800-megawatt facility fully leased to CoreWeave that's beginning to generate compute revenue in 2026. "The most consequential shift right now is the move from narrative to infrastructure," he wrote. Nothing says "I still believe in crypto" quite like pivoting to renting out server racks to AI companies. The Bitcoin mining to AI hosting pipeline: truly the evolution we didn't know we needed.

Potential buyers are circling Gemini, but not in the way the Winklevoss twins might want. Interested parties are evaluating an acquisition of Gemini's shuttered EU and UK operations specifically to obtain MiCA and FCA regulatory licenses. Nobody is pursuing a full takeover. Gemini IPO'd at $28 in September 2025 and now trades around $4.70, down 83%. The company cut 25% of its workforce in February, exited the EU, UK, and Australia, lost three senior executives, and faces a shareholder class-action lawsuit filed in March. The ultimate crypto startup arc: IPO at $28, become a regulatory license farm for $4.70. At this rate, someone will buy the office furniture just to get the filing cabinets.

Treasury Secretary Bessent made his most direct push yet Thursday, urging the Senate to pass the Clarity Act and resolve the stablecoin yield dispute still stalling the bill. This comes one day after the White House Council of Economic Advisors found a yield ban would boost lending by just $2.1 billion, a 0.02% increase. Brian Armstrong tweeted "It's time to pass the Clarity Act" in union with Bessent. The stablecoin yield debate: where the entire industry argues about whether your USDT should earn enough to buy a coffee or just enough to buy regret.

Florida AG James Uthmeier launched a formal investigation into OpenAI and ChatGPT Thursday, citing the chatbot's alleged role in the April 2025 FSU mass shooting, child safety concerns, and the risk of OpenAI data reaching the Chinese government. The quote Uthmeier posted: "AI should advance mankind, not destroy it." Nothing says "we take this seriously" quite like blaming a language model for mass shootings. Next up: investigating the spoon for making people obese.

The investigation arrives as AI infrastructure faces headwinds. Per Bloomberg and Sightline Climate, 30-50% of data centers planned to come online this year are facing delays or outright cancellations. Of the 12 gigawatts of capacity announced for 2026, only a third is currently under construction. Bernie Sanders and AOC introduced the AI Data Center Moratorium Act in March to stop all new construction until federal safeguards are in place. The AI boom meets the "let's pause everything" crowd—truly a match made in regulatory heaven. Nothing like banning data centers while demanding more AI compute. Classic government energy.