Two weeks ago, GD Culture Group (GDC), a bitcoin (BTC) treasury stock with ties to Donald Trump’s TRUMP memecoin, published a “going private proposal” of $10.75 per share. Yesterday, the stock traded to a 52-week low below $0.10.

Aside from evaluating that non-binding, going-private proposal roughly 88 times higher than its actual stock price, GDC says it will soon provide “digital human creation and customization for social media influencers.”

US representatives have also accused the China-backed company of funnelling money toward Trump in exchange for delaying his TikTok ban.

It’s all a little confusing.

On the day of the going-private proposal two weeks ago, shares spiked to $8.18 on momentary optimism that the deal was credible. Shares have subsequently crashed 98% as fact-checkers actually looked into the details.

Below is the rise and fall of a strange, China-linked, TikTok- and TRUMP-supporting, BTC treasury stock.

GD Culture Group and TRUMP

Days before Donald Trump’s May 2025 dinner at Mar-a-Lago for the top 220 holders of his TRUMP memecoin, GDC announced a $300 million stock purchase agreement with an unnamed buyer in the British Virgin Islands (BVI).

The stated purpose was a “crypto asset treasury strategy, including the purchase of BTC and TRUMP.” 

At the time, GDC had essentially no revenue and less than 10 employees and its operations depended on TikTok, a Chinese-founded social media platform.

The generous announcement out of the BVI conveniently coincided with Trump’s decision to delay enforcement actions against TikTok.

The New York Times described GDC as one of the first China-linked companies to publicly acknowledge intentions to buy TRUMP.

Trump-controlled entities CIC Digital LLC and Fight Fight Fight LLC together held 80% of the post-ICO token supply of TRUMP. Therefore, any purchase funded by GDC or its BVI buyer would enrich the president directly through supply reduction and trading fees.

Soon after GDC’s dubious announcement, US representatives Adam Smith and Sean Casten led 35 House Democrats in a letter to the Department of Justice’s Public Integrity Section.

They demanded an investigation into whether GDC’s dinner-for-tokens scheme violated federal bribery laws or the foreign emoluments clause. 

The representatives named GDC in their letter, noting its Chinese subsidiary’s disclosed exposure to government intervention, and connected the TikTok-delay timing to the $300 million pledge.

Based on public filings, it’s unclear whether GDC actually ended up purchasing TRUMP tokens, but the company did end up acquiring BTC through a circuitous path.

Specifically, a China-linked consortium sold 7,500 BTC to a GDC affiliate in September 2025. They received newly issued GDC stock in exchange for that disbursement. 

Members of that same consortium recently announced their dubious going-private proposal.

GDC’s Q1 2026 quarterly report disclosed less than $50,000 in cash and a working capital deficit of $1.7 million. The 2025 annual report listed a mere five full-time employees.

The company has no substantial operating revenue. 

Its only consequential asset is BTC acquired through a transaction that the company itself disclosed as a related-party deal.

Collapse of a TRUMP memecoin and BTC treasury scheme

A Nasdaq-listed penny stock, GDC closed yesterday’s trading session around $0.12, printing a fresh 52-week low yesterday near $0.09 during the day.

Its market capitalization is an embarrassing $7 million. Its 7,500 BTC holdings, if someone can even call them holdings at this point, are worth roughly over half a billion dollars at current prices.

That is a discount of more than 98% or a multiple-to-Net Asset Value (mNAV) of 0.02x. 

In other words, a company holding more than half a billion dollars of BTC has a market cap worth less than an average New York City apartment.

Demand for Bitcoin (BTC) has decreased sharply over the last few days as the price ran into overhead resistance above $80,000. Analysts say BTC’s inability to hold key support levels may be paving the way for a prolonged consolidation.

Key takeaways:

• Bitcoin’s apparent demand fell to -3,138 BTC, its lowest level in four months.
• Weak spot activity and negative ETF flows pressure the BTC price below $80,000.
• Analysts warn that Bitcoin risks prolonged consolidation or a deeper correction if $78,000 is not broken.

Bitcoin’s apparent demand has dropped to its lowest level since mid-January, as traders and investors adopted a risk-off approach due to geopolitical and macroeconomic uncertainties.

Related: Bitcoin rallies through $77K despite spot BTC ETF outflows topping $2B

Capriole Investment’s Bitcoin Apparent Demand metric shows that demand for Bitcoin has been negative since Dec. 22, 2025 and improved slightly in late February, before reversing sharply to -3,138 BTC on Thursday. 

Bitcoin’s apparent demand. Source: Capriole Investments

“Bitcoin’s overall demand has flipped into net contraction,” CryptoQuant said in its latest Weekly Crypto report, adding:

“Spot apparent demand is contracting at a slightly faster pace than in prior weeks.”

Spot market activity has weakened in recent weeks, with the aggregate spot cumulative volume delta (CVD) across all exchanges “remaining negative into the recent pullback toward the high-$70K range,” Glassnode said in its latest Week On-chain newsletter, adding:

“Despite Bitcoin remaining relatively resilient structurally, the latest spot positioning data suggests broad-based spot accumulation has yet to re-emerge.”

Bitcoin spot CVD. Source: Glassnode

Meanwhile, US-based spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) also turned net sellers, with the 30-day change in ETF holdings falling to its lowest level in nearly three months. 

This suggests that “outright spot demand is becoming less aggressive near the current range highs,” Glassnode added.

US ETF AUM position change. Source: Glassnode

The simultaneous deterioration across spot demand and ETF flows has “historically been more consistent with renewed price weakness than with stable consolidation,” CryptoQuant concluded.

Bitcoin’s price is at an inflection point

Bitcoin’s 38% rally to $82,800 from its $60,000 macro low marked a notable recovery above the true market mean, now sitting at $78,300.

The true market mean is a price model that tracks the average acquisition cost of actively transacted Bitcoin supply and “historically serves as the dividing line between bear and bull market regimes, according to Glassnode.

The onchain data provider said that reclaiming this level is a “necessary but not sufficient condition for a structural transition,” adding:

“Conventionally, pre-bull market phases require weeks to months of sustained consolidation around this model before a credible regime shift can be confirmed.”

Note that the price consolidated around the true market mean for over six months, between March and October 2021, before breaking into a 174% rally to its previous all-time high of $74,00 reached in March 2024.

Bitcoin risk indicator. Source: Glassnode

Glassnode added: 

“Any deeper correction from current levels would therefore reframe the recent rally as a local top within the ongoing bear market, a structure that has recurred multiple times in prior cycles and remains the higher probability outcome until price demonstrates sustained follow-through.”

Other analysts have highlighted weaknesses in Bitcoin’s market, including fading momentum, declining retail investor activity, aggressive selling in the futures markets and a weakening technical structure, putting BTC at risk of dropping to as low as $65,000 over the next few weeks.

Bitcoin’s long-term holder (LTH) supply is approaching all-time highs. Currently, 16.3 million BTC is held by this cohort, defined as investors who have held bitcoin for at least 155 days.

LTH supply has increased from 14.12 million BTC around the time of bitcoin’s record high above $126,000 in October, to the current 16.3 million BTC. In the past month alone, LTH supply has risen by roughly 200,000 BTC.

The only other time LTH supply was higher was in January 2024, when it reached 16.4 million BTC ahead of the U.S. spot bitcoin ETF launch, one of the most anticipated events in bitcoin’s history. In the months that followed, nearly 2 million BTC was distributed by this cohort as bitcoin rallied.

Typically, during periods of price weakness or full bear market conditions, long-term holders, often viewed as the smarter money, begin increasing exposure after divesting during the previous bull market. During both the 2015 and 2019 bear markets, LTH supply increased as investors accumulated during price weakness.

However, since the ETF launch in January 2024, LTH supply has largely fluctuated between 14 million and 16 million BTC. Now, it appears to have broken out of a 2.5-year downtrend, suggesting long-term holders are once again accumulating rather than distributing during bitcoin’s depressed price levels.

Key takeaways

• DOGE is up by nearly 1% and is now trading above $0.10.
• The rally comes as memecoins recorded gains amid the broader crypto market recovery.

Memecoins surge higher as market rebounds

Dogecoin (DOGE), Shiba Inu (SHIB), and Pepe (PEPE) are extending their recovery on Thursday following recent corrections.

The positive performance comes as market sentiment helps lift major meme coins. Renewed optimism around a potential peace agreement between the United States and Iran has also contributed to the broader rebound across crypto markets.

Dogecoin is showing a very strong technical structure after rebounding from a key support zone. The coin is now approaching a major moving average level that could determine its next directional move.

Dogecoin price outlook: DOGE rebounds from key support zone

The DOGE/USD 4-hour chart is bearish and efficient despite Dogecoin adding 1% to its value. The leading memecoin faced rejection at the weekly resistance level of $0.119 last week, triggering a decline of more than 11% through Tuesday.

However, it has now bounced back above $0.10 after retesting a key support area around the previous trendline breakout zone, which aligns with the daily support at $0.102,

At the moment, DOGE is approaching the 200-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA) at $0.106.

If the memecoin closes the daily candle above the 200-day EMA, it could strengthen its bullish momentum and open the path toward a retest of the $0.119 weekly resistance.

The momentum indicators suggest that the buyers are stepping in. The Relative Strength Index (RSI) is hovering near 43, indicating neutral conditions after the recent pullback. 

Meanwhile, the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) remains in negative territory, suggesting that upside momentum is still fragile and could face resistance from overhead moving averages.

However, if the sellers return and DOGE drops below the $0.102 support, the bearish trend could push the price below the psychological level of $0.100.

Currently, DOGE remains in a short-term recovery phase, but traders are closely watching whether it can reclaim key technical levels to confirm a stronger bullish continuation.

Boerse Stuttgart Group’s Seturion has added Societe Generale, SG-FORGE and flatexDEGIRO to expand blockchain-based securities settlement across Europe.

The May 21 announcement said Seturion will provide settlement for tokenized securities transactions between the partners. The platform is part of Boerse Stuttgart Group and is designed as an open settlement network for banks, brokers and trading venues.

Seturion will support public and private blockchains. It will also allow settlement against onchain money, including MiCA-compliant stablecoins, and central bank money. Boerse Stuttgart said Nasdaq’s European trading venues will also connect to Seturion.

SocGen and SG-FORGE join tokenized securities plan

Societe Generale plans to issue tokenized structured securities through Seturion. These products include turbo warrants and investment certificates, which are expected to trade on European venues connected to the settlement platform.

SG-FORGE, Societe Generale’s crypto-asset unit, will provide its euro and dollar CoinVertible stablecoins for settlement. The release describes SG-FORGE as the first MiCA-compliant stablecoin issuer backed by a major European bank.

Jean-Marc Stenger, CEO of SG-FORGE, said the company aims to connect digital assets with traditional finance. He said “reference MiCA-compliant stablecoins” can help enable secure onchain settlement.

flatexDEGIRO brings retail investor flow

FlatexDEGIRO will connect its European retail investor flow to Seturion. The online broker serves more than 3.5 million customers across 16 countries and processed more than 75 million securities transactions in 2025.

The move gives Seturion access to retail trading activity tied to Societe Generale’s tokenized structured securities. It also gives flatexDEGIRO a role in testing how tokenized products can move through regulated European market pipes.

Europe’s stablecoin race adds pressure

The Seturion deal comes as European financial firms push deeper into stablecoins and tokenized finance. Related reports show Qivalis expanded to 37 member institutions after adding 25 banks across 15 countries ahead of its planned euro stablecoin launch in the second half of 2026.

Separate market coverage noted that dollar stablecoins still account for nearly all global stablecoin supply. Non-dollar stablecoins reached $771 million by April 2026, but held only 0.24% of the market. That gap keeps pressure on European firms to build deeper euro-denominated digital finance rails.

SG-FORGE has also expanded CoinVertible beyond Seturion. Earlier coverage said the firm deployed EURCV and USDCV on Canton Network for institutional collateral management and repo finance use cases.

For Boerse Stuttgart, the new partners bring issuers, stablecoin settlement and retail order flow into one structure. The project now gives Europe another test case for blockchain securities settlement under regulated market conditions.