Bitcoin was down (1.7%) this week to a market capitalization of $1.54T

Early Riders Media

On this week's podcast, the team celebrated Onramp's Series A close led by Early Riders, covered the Clarity Act's path to the Senate floor, Standard Chartered's full acquisition of Zodia Custody, and Prime Trust's $970 million lawsuit against Swan Bitcoin.

You can find all our episodes on our podcast website as well as listen on YouTube, Apple, and Spotify.

Industry & Institutional Updates

SpaceX filed its IPO S-1 with the SEC, disclosing 18,712 BTC worth $1.45 billion at a $35,000 cost basis, making it the seventh-largest known corporate Bitcoin holder.
Tether acquired SoftBank's 26% stake in Twenty One Capital, deepening its control over the $3.4 billion Bitcoin-native public company co-founded by Jack Mallers.
Bitcoin Depot filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and took its 9,276-kiosk ATM network offline, citing state regulatory pressure and mounting fraud enforcement actions.
Truth Social withdrew its Bitcoin and digital asset ETF applications from SEC review, with manager Yorkville America pivoting to 1940 Act fund structures.
Standard Chartered agreed to acquire the remaining stake in Zodia Custody, folding operations into its global digital asset custody business while spinning off infrastructure into a new Zodia Solutions entity.
ZeroHash sought new funding above a $1.5 billion valuation after Mastercard dropped investment plans following a $2 billion acquisition discussion that never closed.
Copper put itself up for sale at a $500 million target, appointing Cantor Fitzgerald to run the process after abandoning earlier IPO plans amid weak digital asset markets.
Blockchain.com filed a confidential S-1 draft with the SEC targeting a 2026 IPO, reporting three consecutive years of adjusted profitability with 500 employees.
Strategy purchased 24,869 BTC for $2 billion between May 11-17, bringing total holdings to 843,738 BTC, now more than 4% of Bitcoin's fixed supply.
Foundation raised $6.4 million led by Fulgur Ventures to expand beyond Bitcoin hardware wallets into AI agent authorization, shipping its Passport Prime device for general sale.
Coinbase launched USDF with Flipcash on Solana via its Custom Stablecoin platform, a USDC-backed branded currency powering Flipcash's community commerce application.
ZeroHash secured an EU Electronic Money Institution license from the Dutch central bank, becoming the first company to hold both a MiCA digital asset license and full EMI qualifications.
Tokenized gold and silver attracted record digital demand as gold near $5,000 per ounce drove new tokenized product launches and surging trading volumes across major digital asset exchanges.
Jane Street moved to dismiss Terraform's $134 million insider trading lawsuit, arguing its UST trades during the 2022 collapse used no material nonpublic information.

Regulatory & Sovereign Updates

Reps. Begich and Golden introduced the American Reserve Modernization Act, bipartisan legislation directing the Treasury to acquire up to 1 million BTC over five years and hold it for a minimum of 20 years.
The SEC readied an innovation exemption for tokenized stock trading, with the DTCC planning limited live production trades by July, ahead of a broader October launch.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz signed HF 3709 into law, allowing state-chartered banks and credit unions to offer digital asset custody services to customers starting August 1.
South Carolina Governor McMaster signed S.163, banning CBDC payments by state entities and protecting Bitcoin mining, self-custody, and digital asset transactions from additional state taxes in a 110-1 House vote.
The Bank of England and FCA published a joint tokenisation vision for UK wholesale markets, opening a call for industry input on regulatory frameworks and digital asset collateral with feedback due July 3.
Binance disputed a Wall Street Journal report alleging Iran-linked transactions, calling the report false and misleading and defending its compliance program.

What We're Watching: Prime Trust Estate Sues Swan, Strike & Others

On May 15, 2026, the PCT Litigation Trust filed a complaint in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware against Swan Bitcoin, seeking to recover nearly $1 billion in digital assets, including 11,994 BTC, $24.66 million in cash, and $5 million in stablecoins withdrawn in the 90 days before Prime Trust's August 2023 bankruptcy.The case files name Strike, Compass Mining, Fold, and Galaxy Digital among others who held assets at Prime Trust in the period before bankruptcy involved in litigation.

What Happened at Prime Trust

Prime Trust was one of the largest qualified custodians in the digital asset space, although it lost access to customer funds and operated with less assets on its balance sheet than customer claims for most of its life.

The Insider Tip Allegation

The complaint alleges that a Senior Executive at Prime Trust, who was simultaneously serving as a paid advisor to Swan Bitcoin, contacted Swan CEO Cory Klippsten four days before the Nevada regulatory meeting, sent on an encrypted platform with auto-delete set to 24 hours. The next preserved message is from the day after that meeting, the same day Swan transferred 10,080 BTC off Prime. The report alleges Swan began moving assets almost immediately, ultimately withdrawing the entirety of the holdings the complaint seeks to recover before any public announcement of Prime's financial distress.

Chart of the Week

The federal government spent $1.23 trillion on interest in 2025, more than the entire defense budget of $893 billion. Interest costs have compounded at 17% annually since 2020, a direct consequence of tripling rates against $36 trillion in accumulated debt. The U.S. now spends more servicing that debt than on any single discretionary program. At 17% annual growth, the bill will cross $2 trillion before the end of the decade, with no new spending required. Bitcoin was designed specifically to exist outside of this system.

Early Riders is the first bitcoin-denominated venture firm, raising, holding, investing, and returning capital in bitcoin. Learn more about how to get involved www.earlyriders.com.

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Early Riders | Open Range Weekly | 05.24.26