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MARA has record-breaking bitcoin month, stock rises

The bitcoin miner is sitting on a pile of crypto worth over $5 billion.

Yaël Bizouati-Kennedy

MARA Holdings, the second-largest corporate bitcoin holder, had a record-breaking month in May, with 282 blocks won, a 38% month-over-month increase.

“Our total bitcoin holdings surpassed 49,000 BTC during May and the 950 bitcoin produced were the most since the halving event in April 2024,” CEO and Chairman Fred Thiel said in a press release.

The bitcoin miner now holds 49,179 bitcoin. Shares were up over 4% in early trading Tuesday.

MARA said that key drivers include its “fully integrated tech stack,” adding that MARA Pool, “the only self-owned and operated mining pool among public miners,” enables greater efficiency.

Fellow bitcoin miner Riot Platforms produced 514 bitcoin in May, an 11% month-over-month increase. It now holds 19,225 bitcoin and is the fourth-largest bitcoin holder. It was recently pushed down one spot by newcomer Twenty One, the bitcoin-native company launched in May.

Meanwhile, Strategy, the original and largest stockpiler, also added more bitcoin yesterday, buying 705 bitcoin for $75.1 million. The company now holds 580,955 bitcoin.

TD Bank analysts wrote that Strategy’s purchase was “a weekly first,” as the acquisition was “financed entirely via its two preferred stock ATM facilities.”

“Though weekly dollars raised was modest at $75 mil, issue price for both STRK and STRF shares hit new high water marks, with average prices well above stated value,” TD Cowen analysts wrote. “The transactions are likely to generate superior accretion for common stockholders, we believe, relative to the MSTR ATM.”

Strategy also announced that it will offer 2.5 million preferred shares of its 10.00% Series A Perpetual Stride Preferred Stock, dubbed the “STRD Stock,” to purchase more bitcoin.

Japanese company Metaplanet, the top Asian bitcoin corporate holder, acquired 1,088 bitcoin for $117.3 million. The company now holds 8,888 bitcoin, “a symbol of abundance” and “a number of fortune,” CEO Simon Gerovich posted on X.

This latest purchase propelled the company to the 10th global spot, overtaking Block.

 

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Payward, parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, puts plans for IPO on hold

Payward, crypto exchange Kraken’s parent company, has paused its plans for an initial public offering until market conditions improve, according to a report from CoinDesk that cited two people with knowledge of the matter. 

Since the firm announced in November its preparation for an IPO of its common stock, the total market capitalization of the crypto industry has shed around $652.2 billion, from $3.2 trillion to $2.5 trillion as of Wednesday, data from CoinGecko shows. 

The news comes two weeks after Kraken received approval for a master account from the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, allowing the crypto exchange to connect to the Fed’s payment infrastructure used by traditional banks and credit unions. 

Last year, Kraken raised $800 million at a $20 billion valuation from institutional investors such as Jane Street and Citadel Securities.

Payward, parent of crypto exchange Kraken, has put its IPO plans on hold

Payward, parent of crypto exchange Kraken, has put its IPO plans on hold

The news comes two weeks after Kraken received approval for a master account from the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, allowing the crypto exchange to connect to the Fed’s payment infrastructure used by traditional banks and credit unions. 

Last year, Kraken raised $800 million at a $20 billion valuation from institutional investors such as Jane Street and Citadel Securities.

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SEC and CFTC issue new guidance on how securities laws apply to crypto assets

On Tuesday, the US Securities and Exchange Commission, together with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, issued an interpretation clarifying how federal securities law applies to crypto assets, a first step toward developing a clearer regulatory framework. 

The interpretive guidance introduces a token taxonomy for different types of cryptocurrencies, with SEC Chairman Paul S. Atkins adding that “most crypto assets are not themselves securities.”

Examples of a digital commodity, “a crypto asset that is intrinsically linked to and derives its value from the programmatic operation of a crypto system that is ‘functional,’” include:

The guidance also includes definitions of digital collectibles (such as NFTs), stablecoins, digital tools, and digital securities (such as tokenized real-world assets and stocks).

This is a monumental step in the mainstream adoption of the industry and clears a hurdle in how crypto can operate going forward, according to David Pakman, head of venture investments at CoinFund. “This will allow new token designs with the confidence that their existence does not require registration with the SEC, etc.,” Pakman told Sherwood News.

Despite the clarification efforts from the two organizations, the market capitalization of the crypto industry has dropped about 2% in the last 24 hours as each of the tokens mentioned in the guidance are trading lower in the period, data from CoinGecko shows.

The joint agency action also complements congressional efforts to turn a crypto market structure framework into law. With the goal of providing regulations on the offer and sale of digital commodities, the CLARITY Act passed the House of Representatives last year and is now sitting in the Senate.

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Citi analysts cut 12-month bitcoin projection to $112,000 from $143,000

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