Open Range | SBR Standards & Public Policy on Bitcoin
The gang went to Washington this past week as many policy makers, operators, and investors converged in The District. Bitcoin Policy Institute put on a high quality event laying out everything from the first principles reasons for why Bitcoin protects private property and empowers human rights to the rationale for Bitcoin as a strategic asset for statecraft, and the best practices for Strategic Bitcoin Reserve implementations. This backdrop of coordinated thought-leadership and rule-making set the tone for a week in which corporate treasuries kept stacking sats and lawmakers fast-tracked bills that could soon make such moves routine.
Bitcoin Update
Bitcoin shrugged off an early week dip and finished the seven-day stretch up about 5.5%, ticking back to ~$108K and edging toward its prior highs. The steady grind higher has coincided with a 12-day streak of net inflows into U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs, with traders are pointing to persistent institutional bid as the key demand driver.
Early Riders Media
Michael, Brian, and Liam discuss the latest in bitcoin adoption amid volatility, public corporate adoption, and capital mismanagement on this week's podcast.
You can find all our episodes on our podcast website as well as listen on YouTube and Spotify.
Industry & Institutional Updates
ProCap Financial bought 3,724 Bitcoin to seed a reserve and lending desk, with a differentiated plan to use the bitcoin on its balance sheet as a way to acquire more through lending, derivatives, and other products.
Tokyo-listed Metaplanet bought 1,234 Bitcoin ($133m), lifting holdings to 12,345 Bitcoin and leap-frogging Tesla as the seventh largest public holder.
~$75B Coreweave renewed discussions to acquire Bitcoin miner Core Scientific.
Coinbase will launch CFTC compliant “US Perpetual-Style Futures” on July 21, giving domestic traders a regulated alternative to offshore perps.
Kraken officially moved its global headquarters to Cheyenne, Wyoming, citing the state’s crypto-friendly trust charter and clear rules for custody and staking.
Kraken also launched “Krak,” a no-fee global money app supporting 300+ assets across 100+ countries, positioning the exchange against PayPal and Cash App.
Philippe Laffont of Coatue, with $70B AUM, told CNBC he wakes up asking, “Why don’t I own Bitcoin?” and sees Bitcoin doubling as it captures 1-2% of global net worth.
Bakkt filed a $1B shelf registration, signaling a pivot toward a Bitcoin reserve with custody, settlement, and derivatives revenue.
Regulatory Updates
Zach Shapiro of Bitcoin Policy Institute sat down with SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce to discuss qualified custody rules, how it relates to Bitcoin, and how the laws need to keep up with different technology developments around multi-signature.
The Federal Reserve dropped “reputational risk” as a formal exam factor, narrowing supervision to purely financial metrics, which is welcome news for Bitcoin companies which have been debanked, as well as banks looking to offer further financial services around digital assets.
The Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency ordered Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to consider cryptocurrency as an asset for mortgage applications.
House leadership will bundle the GENIUS stablecoin bill and CLARITY market-structure act into one procedural vote, targeting early-July passage.
The Senate Banking Committee published draft principles separating digital-asset commodities from securities, as a precursor to its own CLARITY companion.
President Trump reiterated his interest in Bitcoin and noted the asset “takes a lot of pressure off the dollar and is great for our country.”
Arizona’s HB 2324 Bitcoin Reserve Fund cleared the House on Jun 24 and now awaits Gov. Hobbs’s signature, which creates a reserve fund for seized Bitcoin.
The Federal Reserve proposed easing supplementary leverage ratio rules, potentially freeing banks to warehouse more treasury bonds, while maintaining a lower reserve of cash consumer deposits.
The European Central Bank expressed there is “an urgent need to channel retail savings into capital markets to develop those markets and finance EU priorities,” hinting that Brussels may amplify the current uses of consumer bank deposits for investment purposes, raising ethical questions.
White House deputy director said the U.S. has an “accumulation plan” to buy additional Bitcoin for national reserves.
Chart of the Week
Bitcoin's hashrate has dropped more than 25% over the past two months, likely a result of demand response from the recent heatwave across the U.S. and most of the world driving higher electricity prices, thus causing miners to temporarily cease unprofitable mining.
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