Kyle Samani, the co-founder and long-time managing partner of Multicoin Capital, is stepping down after a decade shaping crypto investment at the firm. In a Wednesday post, he described the move as bittersweet and said he plans to take time off to explore new areas of technology, including artificial intelligence and robotics. The announcement comes as Multicoin continues to navigate a regulatory and market backdrop that has intensified scrutiny of crypto, while the firm’s public stance on the sector remains resolute: crypto is at a pivotal moment, with potential for widespread adoption as clarity and infrastructure mature.

Key takeaways

• Kyle Samani will relinquish his role as Multicoin Capital’s managing partner after ten years, signaling a leadership transition for one of crypto’s best-known investment shops.
• He frames the move as a personal pivot toward other technologies, notably AI and robotics, while reaffirming his conviction that crypto will fundamentally reshape finance.
• Samani remains bullish on Solana and intends to continue investing personally in crypto and supporting Multicoin portfolio companies, even as he steps back from day-to-day management.
• The discussion around crypto’s structural reforms continues to hinge on regulatory clarity, with Samani suggesting policy developments will unlock a wave of new entrants into the space.
• Multicoin Capital has grown into a prominent firm, managing billions in assets; Samani’s departure coincides with ongoing market cycles and a broader push for scalable crypto infrastructure.

Tickers mentioned: $BTC, $ETH, $SOL

Sentiment: Bullish

Market context: The crypto industry remains attentive to regulatory clarity and infrastructure maturity as capital flows and investor interest shift toward assets with tangible, scalable utility, while venture firms weigh how policy will affect participation and fundraising.

Why it matters

The leadership change at Multicoin Capital underscores the endurance of one of crypto’s most influential investment firms, even as its co-founder pivots toward other technological frontiers. Samani’s exit does not appear to reflect retreat from crypto—rather, it signals a broader personal transition that could intersect with Multicoin’s ongoing strategy and sector bets. He has been a vocal figure in the industry, renowned for his willingness to critique established narratives and to back networks and ecosystems that he believes can deliver real, long-term value.

Samani’s remarks trace a throughline from his early days in crypto to his more recent stance on the technology landscape. He has credited Ethereum’s permissionless finance and smart contracts with catalyzing his initial interest in the space, though he later argued that scaling challenges constrained Ethereum’s progress. His evolving viewpoint reflects a broader industry dialogue about how to balance innovation with practical deployment, and how different ecosystems—Solana included—fit into a diversified strategy for long-term growth. Even as he contemplates stepping away from a formal leadership role, his insights into crypto’s trajectory—particularly around regulatory clarity and infrastructure readiness—remain influential within Multicoin and among its portfolio companies.

Solana’s place in Multicoin’s narrative has been pivotal. The firm identified Solana early and backed it through some of its initial rounds, a move that helped solidify Multicoin’s reputation for spotting promising ecosystems ahead of wider market recognition. Samani’s public remarks in recent years have highlighted Solana as a case study in throughput and user experiences that crypto networks aim to deliver, even as the industry continues to grapple with governance, network upgrades, and competition from other layer-1s. The departure does not alter Multicoin’s long-standing belief in the potential of crypto to disrupt traditional financial rails; it may, however, recalibrate how the firm allocates resources and mentors its portfolio in a slowly maturing market.

Beyond Solana and the broader ecosystem debates, the letter co-authored by Samani and Multicoin’s other co-founder, Tushar Jain, signaled a strategic openness to technologies beyond crypto. They proposed that Samani would explore AI, longevity, and robotics, signaling a shift toward interdisciplinarity that aligns with a broader tech industry trend: investors increasingly seek exposure to adjacent technologies with parallel growth trajectories. Within this context, Samani’s move can be read as a personal exploration that could feed back into Multicoin’s strategy as the crypto market cycles continue to evolve, and as the firm navigates a landscape increasingly defined by capital discipline and regulatory clarity.

What to watch next

• Samani’s next ventures and whether he will formalize new partnerships or ventures in AI, robotics, or related tech sectors.
• Multicoin Capital’s updated leadership and portfolio strategy in response to Samani’s departure, including any changes in fund allocation or emphasis on specific ecosystems.
• Regulatory developments around crypto, including any movement on the policy front that could accelerate or slow institutional participation and mainstream adoption.
• Continued performance and development within Solana’s ecosystem, given Multicoin’s historical early bets and Samani’s stated confidence in crypto’s ongoing evolution.
• Investor sentiment and capital flows into crypto infrastructure projects as the industry positions itself for the next phase of growth amid regulatory clarity and institutional partner engagement.

Sources & verification

• Official post by Kyle Samani announcing his stepping down and outlining future focus areas.
• Past statements indicating Samani’s criticism of Bitcoin and Ethereum ecosystems and subsequent discussions around scaling and governance.
• Historical context on Multicoin Capital’s early involvement with Solana and the firm’s later asset-management figures as of May 2025.
• Public letters co-authored by Samani and Tushar Jain describing Samani’s future interests beyond crypto.
• Public statements linking crypto’s trajectory to regulatory clarity and infrastructure maturity as drivers of adoption.

Samani’s leadership transition and the path ahead

The transition at Multicoin Capital arrives at a moment when the crypto industry is balancing the pursuit of rapid innovation with the demands of a more mature regulatory regime. Samani’s decision to step aside, while continuing to engage with the space through investments and portfolio support, suggests a nuanced approach to leadership during a period of significant opportunity and risk. For investors and builders, the development reinforces a pattern: vision and conviction around a given ecosystem—coupled with a willingness to adapt to new technologies and regulatory realities—remain central to navigating a crypto market that has moved beyond novelty toward mainstream-scale expectations.

As Samani shifts his focus toward AI and robotics, the industry will be watching whether his next ventures generate cross-pollination opportunities for crypto—from data privacy and computing architectures to new forms of digital asset interactions in AI-enabled services. In the near term, Multicoin’s stewardship of its portfolios and its response to evolving policy signals will be scrutinized by fund partners, researchers, and developers who view the firm as a bellwether for venture activity in the crypto space. The enduring takeaway is that leadership changes in high-profile crypto shops often herald reassessments rather than abrupt pivots, with the underlying conviction about crypto’s potential continuing to shape decisions across investment theses and risk tolerance in the months ahead.

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Ripple has announced that its institutional prime brokerage platform, Ripple Prime, now supports the decentralized derivatives trading protocol Hyperliquid.

The integration gives Ripple Prime clients access to Hyperliquid’s onchain perpetuals liquidity while keeping margin and risk managed inside Ripple Prime. The company said clients will be able to cross-margin decentralized finance derivatives exposures, alongside positions in other markets the platform supports.

Ripple Prime currently supports traditional assets that include FX, fixed income, over-the-counter swaps, and more. The platform acts as a single point of access for institutions managing multi-asset portfolios, offering centralized risk management and capital efficiency, Ripple said.

The integration builds on growing interoperability in the space. Earlier this year Flare, a blockchain focused on interoperability, launched the first XRP spot market on Hyperliquid with the listing of FXRP. Ripple’s announcement focuses on derivatives access through Ripple Prime rather than retail spot trading.

Hyperliquid has drawn attention over its rapid growth to become the largest perpetual contracts decentralized exchange. As of mid-January, it had surpassed $5 billion in open interest and $200 billion in monthly trading volume, outpacing several rival exchanges.

Its recent surge in tokenized commodity trades, including silver futures, has attracted interest in the space and helped its HYPE token outperform during the ongoing selloff. The platform is also eyeing prediction markets.

Ripple launched its Prime platform in late 2025 following its $1.25 billion acquisition of prime brokerage firm Hidden Road.

Network News

VITALIK BUTERIN SAYS LAYER-2 ROADMAP ‘NO LONGER MAKES SENSE’: Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin said the role of layer-2 networks needs to be reconsidered as the blockchain’s main network continues to scale and transaction costs remain low. In a post on X, Buterin said the original rollup-centric roadmap, which positioned layer-2s as the primary way Ethereum would scale, “no longer makes sense.” That roadmap envisioned layer-2s as secure extensions of Ethereum that would handle most transactions while inheriting Ethereum’s security guarantees, often described as “branded shards” of the network. According to Buterin, two developments have challenged that original vision for layer-2 networks. First, progress among layer 2s toward later stages of decentralization has been slower and more difficult than expected. Second, Ethereum is now scaling directly on layer 1, with fees remaining low and gas limits expected to increase significantly. In his view, because Ethereum itself is scaling, layer-2 networks are no longer required to function as official extensions of Ethereum. He also noted that many layer-2s are “not able or willing” to meet the decentralization and security standards required by the model and that some layer 2s may intentionally choose not to move beyond “stage 1,” including for regulatory reasons. — Margaux Nijkerk Read more.

BITCOIN OPEN-SOURCE ALTERNATIVE: Tether released an open-source operating system for bitcoin mining, pitching it as a way to make running mining infrastructure simpler while reducing reliance on closed, vendor-controlled software. The stablecoin issuer said it rolled out MiningOS (MOS), describing it as a modular, scalable mining operating system designed for anyone from hobbyist miners to large institutions. The stack is intended to remove the “black box” nature of many mining setups, where hardware and monitoring tools are tightly tied to proprietary platforms. “MiningOS changes that — introducing transparency, openness, and collaboration into the core of Bitcoin infrastructure,” Tether said on the project’s website, adding that the system is built with “no lock-in.” According to Tether, MOS uses a self-hosted architecture and communicates with connected devices through an integrated peer-to-peer network, allowing operators to manage mining activity without relying on centralized services. The company said miners can adjust settings through a companion platform depending on the scale of their operation and output requirements. CEO Paolo Ardoino called MOS a “complete operational platform” that can scale from a home setup to an “industrial grade” site spread across multiple geographies. Tether first previewed plans for an open-source mining OS in June, arguing that new miners should be able to compete without having to depend on expensive third-party vendors for software and management tools. — Shaurya Malwa Read more.

ETHEREUM FOUNDATION POST-QUANTUM TEAM: Quantum computing has long been a distant, theoretical threat to blockchain cryptography. But over the past few months, that calculus has shifted. While the Bitcoin community has been debating threats to its protocol for the past year, the Ethereum community seems to be only now taking its first steps. “Quantum computing is moving from theory into engineering,” said Thomas Coratger, who leads the Ethereum Foundation’s (EF) post-quantum (PQ) team. “That changes the timeline, and it means we need to prepare.” Earlier in January, the foundation formally elevated post-quantum security to a strategic priority, creating that dedicated team to drive research, tooling and real-world upgrades to protect the network’s cryptographic foundations. At the same time, major industry participants are building their own defenses: Coinbase announced an independent quantum advisory board staffed with leading cryptographers to guide long-term blockchain security planning, signaling that even custodial infrastructure must prepare for quantum-era risks. And across the ecosystem, Optimism, is one of Ethereum’s largest layer-2 networks, laid out a formal 10-year roadmap to transition its Superchain stack, from wallets to sequencers, toward post-quantum cryptography, committing to phase out vulnerable signatures and ensure continuity across layer-2 networks. Together, these moves mark a noticeable shift: post-quantum security is no longer a fringe topic for the far future, but a live concern shaping development roadmaps, governance discussions and ecosystem coordination across Ethereum and beyond. For the EF, the move toward post-quantum security isn’t about sounding an alarm, it’s about not being caught flat-footed. — Margaux Nijkerk Read more.

NEW LENDING PROTOCOL FOR XRP ASSETS: The Flare blockchain introduced lending and borrowing for XRP-linked assets through an integration with Morpho, a crypto lending protocol that runs across multiple Ethereum compatible chains. The update lets users lend and borrow with FXRP, a version of XRP designed for use on Flare, the team behind the blockchain said. Flare pitched the move as a step toward giving XRP owners more ways to earn yield and use their tokens beyond holding or trading. For years, XRP has had fewer decentralized finance (DeFi) options than tokens built on smart contract networks. Flare has been trying to change that by building tools that let XRP be used in onchain apps while keeping the original XRP on the XRP Ledger. FXRP holders can now deposit their tokens to earn interest, or use FXRP as collateral to borrow other assets such as stablecoins. Flare said these positions can also be combined with other features on the network, including staking and yield products, for users who want more active strategies. Morpho differs from older lending apps that mix many assets into one shared pool. Each lending market is set up with one collateral asset and one borrowed asset, and the rules for that market are set when it is created. This structure is meant to keep problems in one market from spilling into others. — Shaurya Malwa Read more.

In Other News

• The next evolution of asset management will be “wallet-native,” not just digital, according to Franklin Templeton’s head of innovation, Sandy Kaul. Speaking at the Ondo Summit in New York on Tuesday, Kaul said she envisions a future where all financial assets — stocks, bonds, funds, and more — are held and managed through tokenized digital wallets. “The totality of people’s assets is going to be represented in these wallets,” she said. The panel, which included Cynthia Lo Bessette of Fidelity, Kim Hochfeld of State Street and Will Peck of WisdomTree, agreed that tokenization is no longer a theoretical concept. After years of slow progress, infrastructure is now in place, and use cases are expanding beyond early experiments. The panelists cautioned that building utility and trust is now the industry’s biggest challenge. “The idea of bringing an asset and representing it onchain with a token is the easiest part,” said Lo Bessette, head of digital asset management at Fidelity. “The hardest part is building the ecosystem for utility.” Despite recent growth, adoption remains early. Hochfeld, State Street’s global head of digital and cash, said much of the current work is focused on internal and client education. “We’re not yet seeing a rush to the door,” Hochfeld said. “We’ve got to experiment … and see what works.” — Helene Braun Read more.
• TRM Labs, a blockchain analytics startup used by global law enforcement and financial firms, raised $70 million in a new funding round that pushed its valuation to $1 billion. The Series C round, Fortune reports, was led by Blockchain Capital with participation from Goldman Sachs, Citi Ventures, Bessemer, Thoma Bravo and Brevan Howard. The firm, according to data from TheTie, has raised nearly $150 million to date, having seen another $70 million fundraise back in 2023, along with other smaller fundraising rounds That bring the total to $220 million. The firm’s software helps trace cryptocurrency transactions across multiple blockchains, a service increasingly in demand as crypto crime grows more complex.TRM counts several major government agencies, including the IRS and FBI, among its clients, as well as major banks. It was an early mover in tracking not just bitcoin but various other cryptocurrencies, a decision that set it apart from competitors. That edge has become more valuable as criminal networks diversify their use of tokens and platforms. — Francisco Rodrigues Read more.

Regulatory and Policy

• At a White House meeting called to thaw the ice between crypto firms and Wall Street bankers, the crypto insiders — who outnumbered the bankers by a wide margin — came away feeling the banks were dragging their heels on making a deal on crypto market structure legislation. The White House gave them all new marching orders, according to people familiar with the talks: Get to a compromise on new language on stablecoin yields before the month is out. The crypto industry’s top policy priority is still struggling to make headway in the U.S. Senate, and the longer it’s delayed from getting a floor vote in the overall Senate, the less likely it is to happen this year. The gathering — led by President Donald Trump’s crypto adviser Patrick Witt — was largely focused on whether stablecoins should be associated with yield and rewards. Policy experts from the crypto industry and Wall Street banks gathered in the White House’s Diplomatic Reception Room for more than two hours to discuss how to overhaul the stickiest provisions of the bill, the people said. The talks will continue with a narrower group, the people said, and the White House has asked them to come to the table ready to agree on actual changes to the bill’s language. One of the people said that the banking representatives were members of trade associations and may need to get buy-in from their members before they can make a move in the negotiation. — Jesse Hamilton Read more.
• Rui-Siang Lin, the alleged operator of the dark web narcotics marketplace “Incognito Market,” was sentenced to 30 years in U.S. federal prison, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, bringing to a close one of the largest online drug market prosecutions since Silk Road. Lin, a 24-year-old Taiwanese national who used the online alias “Pharaoh,” pleaded guilty in December 2024 to narcotics conspiracy, money laundering and conspiring to sell adulterated and misbranded medication. Prosecutors said the platform processed more than $105 million in illegal drug sales between October 2020 and March 2024, facilitating more than 640,000 transactions and serving hundreds of thousands of buyers worldwide. “Rui-Siang Lin was one of the world’s most prolific drug traffickers, using the internet to sell more than $105 million of illegal drugs throughout this country and across the globe,” U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said in a statement. “While Lin made millions, his offenses had devastating consequences. He is responsible for at least one tragic death, and he exacerbated the opioid crisis and caused misery for more than 470,000 narcotics users and their families.” — Sam Reynolds Read more.

Calendar

• Feb. 10-12, 2026: Consensus, Hong Kong
• Feb. 17-21, 2026: EthDenver, Denver
• Feb. 23-24, 2026: NearCon, San Francisco
• Mar. 30-Apr. 2, 2026: EthCC, Cannes
• Apr.15-16, 2026: Paris Blockchain Week, Paris
• May 5-7, 2026: Consensus, Miami
• Nov. 3-6, 2026: Devcon, Mumbai
• Nov. 15-17, 2026: Solana Breakpoint, London

Bitcoin briefly dipped below $72,000 on Thursday morning in early Asian trading hours, hitting its lowest level in nearly 16 months. As the selloff deepens, prediction market traders on Polymarket are rapidly repricing their expectations — and the data paints a sobering picture for the short term, even as longer-term optimism persists.

Polymarket’s real-money contracts show a market caught between defending $70,000 as a floor and clinging to $100,000 in annual returns.

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February Outlook: $70K Is the Line in the Sand

Polymarket’s February Bitcoin price contract, with 24 days remaining and nearly $1.78 million in volume on the $70,000 target alone, tells a clear story.

The $70,000 contract surged to 74% probability — up 65% — making it the most heavily traded target for the month. Upside expectations have collapsed: the $85,000 contract plunged 61% to just 29%, while $90,000 sits at 12% and $95,000 at only 7%.

On the downside, the $65,000 contract dropped 13% to 39%, while $60,000 holds at 19%. Probabilities of a crash below $55,000 are in the single digits. The implied range for February is $65,000–$85,000, with $70,000 as the most probable point.

2026 Annual Contract: Still Bullish, but Fraying

The longer-term Polymarket contract shows a more nuanced picture. The $100,000 level has a 55% probability but is down 29%, while $110,000 is at 42% and down 29%. These are significant declines from just weeks ago, when traders were pricing in a continuation of 2025’s rally.

The $65,000 contract for 2026 surged 24% to 83% with over $1 million in volume — the highest on the board — signaling traders are focused on downside protection rather than upside speculation. The upper curve drops steeply: $130,000 at 20%, $140,000 at 15%, and $250,000 near 5%.

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What’s Driving the Selloff

Bitcoin was trading at approximately $73,199 at the time of writing, after briefly dipping below $72,000 earlier Thursday. The token has fallen 16% year-to-date and roughly 40% from its October 2025 all-time high of $126,000.

Multiple factors are converging: rising geopolitical tensions, lingering data gaps from last fall’s record 43-day government shutdown, and a hawkish Federal Reserve chair nomination, strengthening the dollar

The technical damage has been severe. Over $5.4 billion in liquidations have occurred since late January, pushing open interest to a nine-month low. US spot Bitcoin ETFs have bled capital for most of the past three weeks, with outflows of $817 million on January 29, $509 million on January 30, and $272 million on February 3, punctuated by a single $561 million inflow day on February 2. Total net assets across spot Bitcoin ETFs have fallen from over $128 billion in mid-January to $97 billion.

The Crypto Fear and Greed Index has plunged to 12 — deep in “Extreme Fear” and its lowest since November 2025. Gold, meanwhile, has surged past $5,000 per ounce, underscoring a broad rotation into safe havens.

The Bottom Line

Polymarket’s data offers a real-time window into how traders with money on the line are positioned. February expectations center on $65,000–$85,000 with almost no chance of reclaiming $95,000.

The annual contract is more forgiving, with a slim majority still expecting $100,000 sometime in 2026. But even that conviction is weakening. For now, $70,000 is the number everyone is watching.

Ripple integrates Hyperliquid for its prime brokerage solution.

Hyperliquid seems to be the talk of the town lately, and Ripple just announced that its Ripple Prime brokerage platform will support the perp DEX. In other words, the firm’s institutional clients will be able to access on-chain derivatives while cross-margining their exposure to decentralized finance with all other assets that are supported by Ripple Prime.

These include cleared derivatives, OTC swaps, fixed income, forex, and other digital assets.

According to the official release, “clients can access Hyperliquid liquidity while benefiting from a single counterparty relationship.”

Speaking on the matter was Michael Higgins, the international CEO of Ripple Primer, who said:

“At Ripple Prime, we are excited to continue leading the way in merging decentralized finance with traditional prime brokerage services, offering direct support to trading, yield generation, and a wider range of digital assets. This strategic extension of our prime brokerage platform into DeFi will enhance our clients’ access to liquidity, providing the greater efficiency and innovation that our institutional clients demand.”

Ripple continues to expand its product offering while also working on licensing and regulatory issues worldwide. Recently, they secured a preliminary electronic money institution license in Luxembourg.

The move to integrate Hyperliquid into their prime brokerage solution also comes at a time when the decentralized perpetual futures exchange is attracting billions in daily volumes across a variety of assets, providing the deepest on-chain liquidity order book in the industry.

[PRESS RELEASE – George town, Cayman Islands, February 4th, 2026]

Tramplin, a premium staking platform built on Solana, backed by iTreasury Ventures, today announced its public launch, introducing a proven real-world savings model rebuilt for crypto.

Built on Solana’s native staking architecture, Tramplin features a premium bonds-inspired reward redistribution mechanism designed to give smaller SOL holders access to meaningful upside without compromising capital safety.

By collecting staking rewards and redistributing them probabilistically, Tramplin creates opportunities for potential outsized returns while ensuring users retain full control of their principal.

The project’s mission is to empower SOL holders—the backbone of the Solana ecosystem—by offering upside potential previously accessible only to large stakeholders. During its test phase, Tramplin observed periods of elevated effective APY for small stakers, driven by initial committed stake and redistribution dynamics.

Market Context

The idea behind Tramplin originated in a broader concern about how retail users have participated in crypto over the past market cycles.

Since 2021, a significant share of new activity has been driven by memecoin speculation, extreme leverage, and short-term trading models where smaller participants consistently enter late and exit at a disadvantage.

Rather than creating long-term value, much of the market has become optimized for volatility and rapid capital redistribution, often resulting in systematic losses for retail users.

Built on Native Staking, Without Added Risk

Tramplin operates entirely within Solana’s native staking framework, with users delegating directly to the validator node and no smart-contract custody or counterparty risk.

By combining provably fair randomness (via VRF), Merkle-based transparency, and the security of native staking, Tramplin is designed to make staking more engaging, equitable, and accessible, without introducing new risk vectors.

Public Launch and Partner Program

Alongside its launch, Tramplin is opening its Strategic Partner Program, inviting creators, analysts, auditors, and ecosystem builders to participate in reviewing, validating, and sharing the protocol with their communities.

The Partner Program is designed to offer a low-overhead, transparent alternative to running a private validator, while preserving Solana’s native security model.

The program features audit-first transparency, lifetime revenue sharing, and community Boost Points. Additional details about Tramplin and its Partner Program are available at https://tramplin.io

About Tramplin

Tramplin is a premium staking platform built on Solana with verifiable and random distribution of outsized rewards.

Founded in early 2025, Tramplin’s mission is to empower SOL holders — the backbone of the Solana ecosystem — with opportunities traditionally reserved for whales, without compromising capital safety.

Tramplin is backed by iTreasury ventures, an early investor in Solana, Polkadot, and several other category-defining blockchain projects.

TLDR

• Joseph Vafi from Canaccord has reduced his MSTR stock price target by 61%.
• The new MSTR stock price target is now set at $185, down from $474.
• Vafi still maintains a buy rating despite the steep cut in his price estimate.
• Strategy’s stock has dropped 15% in 2026 and 62% over the past year.
• The company’s value is now closely tied to the performance of Bitcoin.

As the ongoing crypto winter continues, investors are looking for signs that the bearish trend has reached its peak. A notable update comes from Canaccord’s Joseph Vafi, who dramatically slashed his price target on Michael Saylor’s Strategy (MSTR) stock. Vafi reduced his target by 61%, setting it at $185 from the previous $474, reflecting the significant impact of the current market conditions.

Strategy (MSTR) Faces Setback Amid Market Volatility

Joseph Vafi’s revised price target fo MSTR stock marks a stark change in outlook. After maintaining a bullish stance on the stock just a few months ago, Vafi is now adjusting his expectations to reflect the ongoing struggles within the crypto space. The analyst still holds a buy rating on the stock, despite the massive cut in his price target.

Strategy Inc, MSTR

At $185, the new target implies about 40% upside from the most recent closing price of $133. However, this outlook comes after Strategy has suffered significant losses, down 15% year-to-date, 62% year-over-year, and 72% from its record high in November 2024. The bearish trend is in line with the broader decline in the cryptocurrency market, which has faced immense pressure over the past year.

Bitcoin’s Ongoing Struggles Impact MSTR Stock

In his analysis, Vafi pointed to Bitcoin’s “identity crisis” as a key factor in the struggles of MSTR. While Bitcoin is still seen as a long-term store of value, its recent price movements resemble that of a risk asset, making it more susceptible to volatility. “Bitcoin is increasingly trading like a risk asset rather than a safe-haven asset,” Vafi remarked, highlighting how the cryptocurrency failed to track with precious metals like gold.

The Bitcoin-led company Strategy has been hit hard by these developments. Despite holding more than $44 billion in Bitcoin, the company has seen its market cap drop to levels close to its Bitcoin holdings. This correlation between Bitcoin’s price and the stock’s performance has made Strategy’s financial health more reliant on the digital asset’s price fluctuations than anticipated.

MSTR’s Near-Complete Dependence on Bitcoin

With Bitcoin’s price fluctuations dominating its financial outlook, quarterly results for MSTR have become less relevant. Investors are increasingly focused on the value of the company’s Bitcoin holdings rather than its operational performance. The upcoming quarterly results are expected to show a sizable unrealized loss due to Bitcoin’s fourth-quarter selloff.

Vafi’s revised price target assumes a 20% rebound in Bitcoin prices, which would help stabilize Strategy’s mNAV. However, the stock’s future remains closely tied to Bitcoin’s performance in the coming months. Despite this, Vafi remains optimistic, stating that Strategy is still built to weather volatility, given its strong Bitcoin position.

Multicoin Capital’s co-founder, Kyle Samani, said he is stepping down as managing partner of the crypto investment firm after 10 years in the industry. 

Samani called it a “bittersweet moment” in a post on Wednesday, adding, “I am excited to take some time off and explore new areas of technology,” which he later revealed would include AI and robotics.

He added that he is “more confident than ever that crypto is going to fundamentally rewire the circuitry of finance.”

“The Clarity Act will unlock a tidal wave of new entrants and spur adoption unlike anything we’ve seen,” Samani said, adding that he is particularly bullish on Solana and intends to continue making personal investments in the space and supporting Multicoin portfolio companies.

However, the post appears to conflict with a reportedly deleted earlier X post, in which he stated: “I once believed in the web3 vision. dapps. I don’t anymore…Crypto is just fundamentally not as interesting as many crypto enthusiasts wanted. Myself included.” 

Samani has previously criticized the Bitcoin and Ethereum ecosystems.

Last month, Samani said discovering Ethereum was his “entry into crypto” in 2016, after becoming convinced by permissionless finance and smart contracts.

However, he later lost faith in Ethereum, saying he was dissatisfied with how Ethereum developers addressed scaling.

Samani helped turn Multicoin into a $5.9 billion company

He came across the Solana shortly after founding Multicoin in May 2017, which went on to lead some of Solana’s earliest investment rounds in 2018.