Germany’s €1.4 trillion Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe approved bitcoin access for 50 million retail customers, while US-listed Figma quietly disclosed a $70m Bitcoin ETF position and board approval to add more. Fintechs followed suit: SoFi is routing cross-border payments through Bitcoin rails, and a Thiel-backed cohort is building Erebor Bank to serve AI and crypto customers. Corporates kept stacking as MicroStrategy added almost 5,000 more Bitcoin, while DDC Enterprise secured a $528m facility. However, policy winds were mixed: Congress passed the One Big Beautiful Act minus the de-minimis exemption, but Senator Lummis immediately re-floated a narrower Crypto Tax Clarity bill.

Bitcoin Update

Bitcoin ended up roughly flat in a shorter US trading week amid the 4th of July holiday despite a slew of positive headlines.

Early Riders Portfolio Updates

Onramp added Jason Neiss from Custodia as head of product to build seamless integrations with banking partners, fintechs, and other Bitcoin exchanges given the extremely strong demand from B2B partners and new global key partners to be added to the quorums in the future. Onramp also partnered with BPI to create a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve best practices framework on Multi Institution Custody for states and sovereigns.
Acropolis Treasury and regulated investment platform Timestamp released an open-access Bitcoin Treasury Playbook that lets private startups raise capital on Timestamp and, with Acropolis’ multi-institution custody, turn those funds into corporate Bitcoin reserves. Elsewhere, Acropolis remained busy with a full pipeline of public and private businesses looking to securely acquire and manage their corporate Bitcoin treasuries.
Flash now lets users off-ramp Bitcoin to EUR or CAD in just two clicks through integrations with Bringin and Bitcoin Well. Flash plans to roll out several more withdrawal options moving forward.

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

Germany’s €1.4 trn Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe confirmed plans to let its 50 million retail clients buy and hold bitcoin by 2026.
Figma’s S-1 revealed $70m in spot Bitcoin ETF holdings and board approval to add $30m more.
SoFi Bank's CEO Anthony Noto announced the launch of international payments, using Bitcoin to convert USD to foreign fiat currencies. The CEO noted 60% of their customers want Sofi to offer digital assets.
A cohort led by Palmer Luckey, Joe Lonsdale, and Peter Thiel is launching Erebor Bank, a digitally native lender for crypto, AI, and defense start-ups.
Robinhood rolled out tokenized U.S. equities for EU users, a proprietary L2, perpetual-futures, and staking, positioning itself as a full-stack crypto broker.
Michael Saylor’s Strategy bought 4,980 Bitcoin worth $532m, lifting its treasury to 597,325 Bitcoin, roughly 2.8% of eventual supply.
NYSE-listed DDC Enterprise closed a $528m facility to turbo-charge its corporate Bitcoin treasury strategy.
Lightning stalwart Wallet of Satoshi partnered with Spark to beta-ship a "self-custodial" Lightning Network wallet.
Venture studio Thesis* acquired cashback pioneer Lolli to build a broader bitcoin-rewards ecosystem.

Regulatory Updates

The One Big Beautiful Act squeaked through the Senate 51-50, but an amendment to exempt de minimus Bitcoin transactions from capital gains tax was stripped out at the last minute.
However, Senatory Cynthia Lummis re-introduced a Crypto Tax Clarity Act that would exempt transactions under $300 from capital-gains tax and halt double taxation on mining and staking rewards.
Kazakhstan’s central bank is drafting a sovereign Bitcoin & crypto reserve as part of its FX-reserves mix. The country was formerly a large Bitcoin mining hub.

Chart of the Week

Bitcoin's implied volatility is at its lowest level since October 2023, as the introduction of Bitcoin ETFs and options on the ETFs have brought in deeper liquidity around the Bitcoin network.

Please share this with someone in your network who may find this valuable, or reach out to us directly to learn more about Early Riders and how to get involved.

Open Range | Cross-Border Coins & Capitol Compromises

Bitcoin Update

Bitcoin ended up roughly flat in a shorter US trading week amid the 4th of July holiday despite a slew of positive headlines.

Early Riders Portfolio Updates

Flash now lets users off-ramp Bitcoin to EUR or CAD in just two clicks through integrations with Bringin and Bitcoin Well. Flash plans to roll out several more withdrawal options moving forward.

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

Germany’s €1.4 trn Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe confirmed plans to let its 50 million retail clients buy and hold bitcoin by 2026.

Figma’s S-1 revealed $70m in spot Bitcoin ETF holdings and board approval to add $30m more.

SoFi Bank's CEO Anthony Noto announced the launch of international payments, using Bitcoin to convert USD to foreign fiat currencies. The CEO noted 60% of their customers want Sofi to offer digital assets.

A cohort led by Palmer Luckey, Joe Lonsdale, and Peter Thiel is launching Erebor Bank, a digitally native lender for crypto, AI, and defense start-ups.

Robinhood rolled out tokenized U.S. equities for EU users, a proprietary L2, perpetual-futures, and staking, positioning itself as a full-stack crypto broker.

Michael Saylor’s Strategy bought 4,980 Bitcoin worth $532m, lifting its treasury to 597,325 Bitcoin, roughly 2.8% of eventual supply.

NYSE-listed DDC Enterprise closed a $528m facility to turbo-charge its corporate Bitcoin treasury strategy.

Lightning stalwart Wallet of Satoshi partnered with Spark to beta-ship a "self-custodial" Lightning Network wallet.

Venture studio Thesis* acquired cashback pioneer Lolli to build a broader bitcoin-rewards ecosystem.

Regulatory Updates

The One Big Beautiful Act squeaked through the Senate 51-50, but an amendment to exempt de minimus Bitcoin transactions from capital gains tax was stripped out at the last minute.

However, Senatory Cynthia Lummis re-introduced a Crypto Tax Clarity Act that would exempt transactions under $300 from capital-gains tax and halt double taxation on mining and staking rewards.

Kazakhstan’s central bank is drafting a sovereign Bitcoin & crypto reserve as part of its FX-reserves mix. The country was formerly a large Bitcoin mining hub.

Chart of the Week

Bitcoin's implied volatility is at its lowest level since October 2023, as the introduction of Bitcoin ETFs and options on the ETFs have brought in deeper liquidity around the Bitcoin network.

Please share this with someone in your network who may find this valuable, or reach out to us directly to learn more about Early Riders and how to get involved.

Make sure to keep up with all research at earlyriders.com/research.

Open Range | Cross-Border Coins & Capitol Compromises

Bitcoin Update

Bitcoin ended up roughly flat in a shorter US trading week amid the 4th of July holiday despite a slew of positive headlines.

Early Riders Portfolio Updates

Flash now lets users off-ramp Bitcoin to EUR or CAD in just two clicks through integrations with Bringin and Bitcoin Well. Flash plans to roll out several more withdrawal options moving forward.

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

Germany’s €1.4 trn Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe confirmed plans to let its 50 million retail clients buy and hold bitcoin by 2026.

Figma’s S-1 revealed $70m in spot Bitcoin ETF holdings and board approval to add $30m more.

SoFi Bank's CEO Anthony Noto announced the launch of international payments, using Bitcoin to convert USD to foreign fiat currencies. The CEO noted 60% of their customers want Sofi to offer digital assets.

A cohort led by Palmer Luckey, Joe Lonsdale, and Peter Thiel is launching Erebor Bank, a digitally native lender for crypto, AI, and defense start-ups.

Robinhood rolled out tokenized U.S. equities for EU users, a proprietary L2, perpetual-futures, and staking, positioning itself as a full-stack crypto broker.

Michael Saylor’s Strategy bought 4,980 Bitcoin worth $532m, lifting its treasury to 597,325 Bitcoin, roughly 2.8% of eventual supply.

NYSE-listed DDC Enterprise closed a $528m facility to turbo-charge its corporate Bitcoin treasury strategy.

Lightning stalwart Wallet of Satoshi partnered with Spark to beta-ship a "self-custodial" Lightning Network wallet.

Venture studio Thesis* acquired cashback pioneer Lolli to build a broader bitcoin-rewards ecosystem.

Regulatory Updates

The One Big Beautiful Act squeaked through the Senate 51-50, but an amendment to exempt de minimus Bitcoin transactions from capital gains tax was stripped out at the last minute.

However, Senatory Cynthia Lummis re-introduced a Crypto Tax Clarity Act that would exempt transactions under $300 from capital-gains tax and halt double taxation on mining and staking rewards.

Kazakhstan’s central bank is drafting a sovereign Bitcoin & crypto reserve as part of its FX-reserves mix. The country was formerly a large Bitcoin mining hub.

Chart of the Week

Bitcoin's implied volatility is at its lowest level since October 2023, as the introduction of Bitcoin ETFs and options on the ETFs have brought in deeper liquidity around the Bitcoin network.

Please share this with someone in your network who may find this valuable, or reach out to us directly to learn more about Early Riders and how to get involved.

Make sure to keep up with all research at earlyriders.com/research.

Open Range | SBR Standards & Public Policy on Bitcoin