Connect with us

Uncategorized

Strategy Bears Cave In as Anti-MSTR Leveraged ETF Hits Rock Bottom

Published

on

Those betting against bitcoin (BTC)-holder MicroStrategy (MSTR) seem to have run out of patience and look to be exiting bearish bets.

On Monday, a U.S.-listed exchange-traded fund (ETF) that provides a leveraged bearish exposure to shares of bitcoin holder MicroStrategy sank to lifetime lows on the back of near-record trading activity.

Prices for the Defiance daily target 2x short MSTR ETF, listed under the ticker SMST on Nasdaq, slipped 7.58% to $18.17 on Monday, hitting a record low for the fourth consecutive day, according to data source TradingView.

The decline happened as 2.88 million shares changed hands, the second-largest trading volume tally ever.

SMST's daily chart. (TradingView)

Bears capitulate as BTC surges

SMST’s high-volume collapse points to capitulation of bears – those betting against MSTR have likely given up and are exiting the market.

A high-volume record low typically indicates capitulation – market participants surrendering to the relentless bearish trend and exiting all their positions, giving up all hope of a recovery. This type of price action often marks peak bearishness in the market or bottoms.

Bitcoin’s price tapped record highs above $122,000 during Monday’s Asian trading hours, providing bullish cues to all things tied to crypto. Later in the day, shares in MSTR rose over 3% to $456, the highest since November.

Leveraged bearish bet

The 2x short ETF seeks to deliver daily investment results that are -200%, or minus 2x, the daily percentage change in the MSTR share price. In other words, it’s a leveraged bearish bet.

The ETF’s price, however, has collapsed from over $2,000 on the inception day in August last year, and has been primarily in a downtrend, barring the brief uptrend from $1,600 to $2,368 in late August last year. As of Friday, the fund had a net inflow of $8.2 million in six months, according to VettaFi.

MSTR’s share price has increased multi-fold from $100 to over $440 during the same time. MicroStrategy is the largest publicly-listed bitcoin holder in the world, boasting a coin stash of 601,550 BTC ($70.56 million) as of writing.

2x long MSTR ETF rises

The Defiance daily target 2x long MSTR ETF rose to nearly $50 on Monday, the highest since January 24, with trading volumes rising for the fourth straight day to tally 9.2 million.

As of Friday, MSTX had a net six-month outflow of over $175 million, per VettaFi.

Read more: Anti-Bitcoin Vanguard Might Be the Largest Institutional Holder of MSTR Stock

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Ваш адрес email не будет опубликован. Обязательные поля помечены *

Uncategorized

U.S. House Sees Hiccup in Crypto Bills Procedural Votes as Freedom Caucus Objects

Published

on

By

As it sped into Crypto Week on Tuesday, the U.S. House’s process toward passing digital assets bills ground to a sudden halt over a procedural vote as members of the House Freedom Caucus objected to the way some of the legislation has developed under Senate dominance.

The misfire on the procedural vote quickly slammed the crypto markets over uncertainty about the good news expected this week as the House has moved toward passage of two of the industry’s top priorities. The legislation still has strong, bipartisan support, suggesting the procedural mishap may be overcome as a further vote was scheduled for later Tuesday afternoon. More than a dozen Republicans joined Democrats in voting against the motion.

Two people familiar with the matter told CoinDesk another vote has been aimed for 5:00 p.m. ET, meaning this disruption could be resolved without delaying the more important votes currently expected on Wednesday and Thursday.

U.S. President Donald Trump urged Republicans to vote in favor of the rule earlier Tuesday in a post on Truth Social, saying passing GENIUS would help keep the U.S. ahead of other countries in crypto development.

Bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) each knee-jerked lower by about 0.5% on the news, but both have recovered most of those declines. High-flying stablecoin issuer Circle (CRCL) has moved to its session low, down 5.3% on the day. The stock remains higher by roughly six-fold since its IPO last month.

Procedural disruptions can be the norm in the legislative process. As the GENIUS Act headed toward passage in the Senate, a group of Democrats slammed the breaks to object to certain provisions and force more discussion. It’s uncertain whether a similar delay could be forced by unhappy Republicans on this week’s bills.

Continue Reading

Uncategorized

Jamie Dimon Says JPMorgan to Get More Involved With Stablecoins

Published

on

By

Jamie Dimon, CEO of global banking giant JPMorgan (JPM), said the bank plans to get more involved in stablecoins, even as he questioned their practical utility compared to traditional payments.

«We’re going to be involved in both JPMorgan Depositcoin and stablecoins to understand it, to be good at it,» Dimon said during the bank’s Tuesday earnings call. «I think they’re real, but I don’t know why you’d want a stablecoin as opposed to just payment.»

His comments came as stablecoins, a subset of cryptocurrencies with prices tied to predominantly to fiat money like the U.S. dollar, are having a breakthrough moment in the broader financial system. They are increasingly being used as a cheaper, faster alternative for cross-border payments, especially in emerging countries. Looming U.S. regulation provides another tailwind for the sector, with the Senate already having passed the GENIUS Act and the House aiming to vote on the proposal this week.

Read more: House Gears Up for Crypto Market Structure Vote on Wednesday, Stablecoins Thursday

Dimon has been a long-time skeptic of cryptocurrencies. Despite that, the bank has been an early leader in tokenization with its private blockchain network Kinexys, formerly known as Onyx. The bank now settles $2 billion in transactions daily using JPM Coin. It also piloted last month a deposit token, JPMD, on the Base network, a blockchain built by Coinbase that runs on Ethereum.

Dimon also suggested that financial technology firms, fintechs in short, are using stablecoins and blockchain tools to edge into traditional banking. «These guys are very smart,» he said during the call. «They’re trying to figure out a way to create bank accounts and get into payment systems and rewards programs.»

«We have to be cognizant of that,» he said. «Way to be cognizant is to be involved.»

For example, crypto-powered banking startup Dakota offers cross-border U.S. dollar payments using stablecoins in the backend and has raised $12.5 million to expand its services to over 100 countries, CoinDesk reported.

Continue Reading

Uncategorized

Citigroup CEO Confirms the Bank Is ‘Looking at the Issuance of a Citi Stablecoin’

Published

on

By

On Tuesday, Citigroup (C) had its second quarter of 2025 earnings call.

During the call, Ebrahim Poonawala, Head of North American Banks Research at BofA Securities, asked how Citi is using stablecoins internally for treasury and global liquidity management and whether their adoption could disrupt the bank’s service revenues.

Citi CEO Jane Fraser said the bank views digital assets as the next step in the broader digitization of finance, echoing the earlier shift brought on by fintech. She emphasized that Citi’s strategy is centered on meeting client demand for seamless, cross-border, multi-bank, always-on solutions with built-in compliance, reporting, and accounting features.

She outlined four key areas Citi is pursuing: stablecoin reserve management, on- and off-ramps between fiat and digital currencies, custodial services for crypto, and tokenized deposits — calling the last of these its most active area.

Fraser confirmed, “We are looking at the issuance of a Citi stablecoin,” but made clear that tokenized deposits currently represent the more immediate focus. She added that these innovations are helping Citi modernize internal operations, unlock new revenue streams, and acquire clients.

Citigroup reported second-quarter 2025 net income of $4.0 billion, or $1.96 per diluted share, up from $3.2 billion, or $1.52 per share, a year earlier. Revenue rose to $21.7 billion, an 8% increase from Q2 2024, driven by growth across all five of the bank’s core businesses.

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © 2017 Zox News Theme. Theme by MVP Themes, powered by WordPress.