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Mercurity Fintech raising $800 million to fund bitcoin treasury

Mercurity Fintech, a New York-based company that focuses on blockchain technology and artificial intelligence infrastructure, has become the newest entrant in adopting bitcoin for its corporate treasury

On Wednesday, the firm announced it’s raising $800 million to acquire bitcoin and establish a treasury reserve composed of the cryptocurrency. The press release said:

“The objective is to transition a portion of the Company’s treasury into a yield-generating, blockchain-aligned reserve structure that reinforces long-duration asset exposure and balance sheet resilience.”

The announcement also included the company may be added to the Russell 2000 or Russell 3000 index, which “could broaden the Company’s exposure to institutional investors.”

Shares of Mercurity Fintech surged in premarket trading as much as 33% on the announcement, but have given up all those gains to trade down 2% in early trading. Year to date, the company’s stock has slumped about 40%.

On Wednesday, the firm announced it’s raising $800 million to acquire bitcoin and establish a treasury reserve composed of the cryptocurrency. The press release said:

“The objective is to transition a portion of the Company’s treasury into a yield-generating, blockchain-aligned reserve structure that reinforces long-duration asset exposure and balance sheet resilience.”

The announcement also included the company may be added to the Russell 2000 or Russell 3000 index, which “could broaden the Company’s exposure to institutional investors.”

Shares of Mercurity Fintech surged in premarket trading as much as 33% on the announcement, but have given up all those gains to trade down 2% in early trading. Year to date, the company’s stock has slumped about 40%.

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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.

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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