Crypto World
SoFi Deal Highlights Stablecoins as a Reliable Settlement Rail
Stablecoins are finding a practical use case in payments: not necessarily to change how consumers pay with their cards, but to alter the settlement rail banks use behind the scenes. The latest example comes from SoFi, which says it has begun settling debit and credit card transactions with Mastercard using its SoFiUSD stablecoin.
According to a SoFi spokesperson, the bank is migrating its entire card program—expected to process more than $25 billion in annualized volume—to this blockchain-based settlement approach. Importantly, the bank does not expect the change to remove intermediaries from card payments. Instead, it replaces part of the transaction settlement process with an alternative rail designed to complete obligations faster.
Key takeaways
- SoFi is moving settlement of its debit and credit card transactions to Mastercard using its SoFiUSD stablecoin, while card usage for customers remains unchanged.
- SoFi expects its card program to reach more than $25 billion in annualized processing volume as it migrates the system.
- Payments experts argue this is not “disintermediation” in the card networks’ core operations—Visa/Mastercard and banks still calculate obligations and manage interactions.
- Faster blockchain settlement may reduce timing and some capital friction, but does not automatically guarantee cheaper payments end-to-end due to conversion, compliance, and integration costs.
- Dollar stablecoins can move quickly, but completing payments in local currencies may still require access to domestic liquidity and banking rails.
SoFi’s onchain card settlement shift
SoFi’s update is part of a broader trend in which stablecoins are tested and deployed as settlement mechanisms rather than as consumer-facing payment tools. The bank says it has begun settling debit and credit card transactions with Mastercard using its SoFiUSD stablecoin and is migrating its full card program to the same system.
From the perspective of cardholders, the change is largely invisible. The spokesperson told Cointelegraph that SoFi customers will continue using debit and credit cards normally, while the settlement process is moved onchain to enable faster completion between participants.
That distinction matters for how investors and builders interpret “adoption.” The stablecoin is operating in the plumbing of payments—where obligations between financial institutions are settled—rather than replacing consumer interfaces.
Not a clean break from Visa, Mastercard, or banks
Stablecoin settlement can sound like a direct challenge to traditional intermediaries, but the current card deployments appear to follow a more incremental path. A Federal Reserve note published in March suggested stablecoins could change the economics of payments without necessarily eliminating banks, and the latest industry commentary aligns with that view.
Cointelegraph spoke with Martins Benkitis, co-founder and CEO of emerging-markets liquidity provider Gravity Team. He argued that this stage should not be described as disintermediation: “I wouldn’t call it disintermediation at this stage,” he said. “Visa and Mastercard are still there. The banks are still there. The network is still calculating the obligations, managing the transaction and deciding how participants interact with it.”
In other words, stablecoins are being used to complement existing payment infrastructure, particularly at the settlement layer. That may still meaningfully increase stablecoin usage even if merchants and consumers never interact with the technology directly.
Benkitis added that if stablecoins become a major part of payments, businesses may not care where the stablecoin exists in the process as long as settlement availability matches operational needs. “They’ll care that settlement is available when they need it and that the money arrives,” he said.
The promise: smoother settlement and less capital friction
While cards remain intermediated, faster settlement is a key selling point. Varun Datta, a venture capitalist and founder of Truth Ventures, agreed that moving to continuous settlement can reduce delays and potentially cut the amount of capital financial firms must maintain across locations—an issue that can be especially acute when payments cross borders.
However, Datta cautioned that “speed” alone does not automatically translate into lower costs for end users. Payments still involve conversion steps, compliance requirements, systems integration, and stablecoin-management overhead. In his view, it is not enough to demonstrate operational improvement onchain; the industry needs evidence that these changes reduce total costs and improve liquidity management at scale.
Datta said he would want to see proof of lower end-to-end payment costs before concluding that the economic case is fully established. That framing is significant because many real-world payment projects live or die on unit economics—particularly if costs merely shift from settlement timing to operational complexity elsewhere.
Liquidity doesn’t disappear—especially across currencies
Another practical limitation emerges when stablecoin settlement eventually has to translate into local currency payments. Benkitis emphasized that while dollar-denominated stablecoins can move between balance sheets quickly, completing payments in emerging markets can remain more complex.
His concern is tied to local liquidity and the banking ecosystem that ultimately delivers the payment in the relevant currency. In markets where local currency liquidity is thinner, fewer banks may handle flows, and access to domestic banking rails remains necessary. “The stablecoin gets the value there quickly,” Benkitis said. “You still need the local liquidity to finish the payment.”
This is where the “rail change” narrative can diverge from adoption expectations. Onchain speed may improve settlement between participants, but it does not automatically solve downstream currency conversion, liquidity sourcing, or integration constraints in every geography.
Broader momentum: Visa’s parallel stablecoin efforts
SoFi’s move follows similar experimentation from card-network infrastructure. In April, Visa said its stablecoin settlement pilot had reached a $7 billion annualized run rate after expanding support to nine blockchains, describing blockchain settlement as a “viable complement to traditional settlement rails.” Visa also characterized its approach as an addition to existing settlement methods rather than a replacement of the broader ecosystem.
Taken together, these developments suggest a shared industry view: stablecoins are being tested where they can improve the settlement mechanics of large payment networks without requiring immediate removal of core participants.
Readers should watch whether these pilots expand beyond the largest corridors and what happens when stablecoin settlement meets local-currency liquidity constraints—if the industry can demonstrate not just faster settlement, but reliably lower total operating costs across geographies, stablecoin settlement could move from “complement” to a more durable part of the payments stack.
XRP price is hovering at the $1.50 level, down 8% over the prior 24 hours after failing to hold the $1.60 level. The drop happens even as U.S. spot XRP ETFs pulled in $18.04 million in net inflows during the previous session. The gap forces a blunt question onto the desk: if demand for regulated funds keeps showing up and the token still can’t hold its highs, how much weight does that demand actually carry against spot-market selling?
XRP’s 24-hour range ran from $1.60 down to $1.46, meaning the token was sitting at the bottom of its own daily band. Market capitalization fell to $92 billion, keeping XRP fifth by market cap. Against Bitcoin, XRP slipped 5.6% to 0.00001755 BTC, confirming the move wasn’t purely a dollar-denominated dip.
Discover: Best Crypto IPO this September
Why ETF Inflows Did Not Stop XRP Price Drop?
The Bitwise XRP ETF led Tuesday’s inflows with $11.54 million, lifting its cumulative total to $646.08 million, while Franklin Templeton’s XRPZ added $6.50 million to reach $496.80 million cumulatively. Across all XRP ETFs, net inflows reached $18.04 million, taking cumulative inflows since launch to roughly $1.67 billion.
Total net assets actually fell from $1.731 billion in the prior session despite the fresh inflows. That decline can be explained by XRP’s lower price, which reduced the market value of the tokens already held by the funds.
The scale of the new money also remains relatively small compared with XRP’s spot market. The $18.04 million ETF inflow represented roughly 0.44% of the $4.1 billion in XRP spot volume over 24 hours. The two measurements use different time windows, with ETF flows covering a U.S. trading session and spot volume covering a rolling 24-hour period, but the comparison still shows the ETF inflow was modest relative to overall trading activity.
CoinGecko’s own market note points to profit-taking as the session’s primary driver. XRP price ran from about $1.29 to $1.38 on September 18, then pushed toward $1.60 over the following days. It was a move that left recent buyers sitting on gains once the price stalled below resistance.
Elevated Binance deposits add a possible distribution signal to that story, but a deposit isn’t a sale. Tokens moving onto an exchange can reflect trading, market-making, custody shifts, or collateral posting just as easily as outright liquidation.
On-chain data adds a second layer. Santiment put XRP’s 365-day MVRV ratio at -11.75% on September 23, meaning the average holder active over the past year is sitting on an unrealized loss. That’s consistent with rallies drawing sell orders from traders trying to reduce exposure.
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Technical Levels: $1.60 Rejection and $1.45 Support
The sell-off unfolded in three distinct legs. XRP traded near $1.60 late on September 23 before the first sharp break, which took it from $1.58 to about $1.52. It then chopped sideways between $1.49 and $1.52 overnight, with a failed recovery attempt lifting the price back toward $1.52 near 11:00 IST on September 24 before buyers gave up.
The final leg started after 13:45 IST, when XRP broke below $1.48 and reached $1.46 by roughly 15:00 IST. That marks a second failed attempt this week to establish price above the $1.60 zone, following a similar test on September 22.
These are reference points drawn from recent trading, not forecasts. XRP’s futures positioning around the move matters for how sharp the next leg gets, since a crowded book on either side tends to accelerate whichever direction price breaks.
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The post XRP Price Under Pressure: Spot Selling Overwhelms ETF Demand appeared first on Cryptonews.
Crypto World
Quantum threat to Bitcoin could materialize before commercial viability, EU regulators warn
European financial authorities warned that an advanced quantum computer could undermine cryptography used to secure blockchains, saying the threat could emerge before the technology has a viable commercial application.
The warning from the Joint Committee of the European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs), which includes the European Banking Authority (EBA), European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) and European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA), brings fresh urgency to a long-running question for bitcoin of whether to freeze or not freeze the BTC in legacy wallets. In the event that quantum computers one day do become capable of breaking bitcoin’s cryptography, roughly 6.9 million bitcoin, worth roughly $586 billion, are currently vulnerable, according to Cryptoquant.
“Threats could materialize earlier than any viable commercial application,” the authorities said in their Autumn 2026 Risk and Vulnerabilities report released Wednesday. An advanced quantum computer “could undermine some cryptography systems widely used to secure communications, transactions, databases and blockchains,” according to the report..
Although the report does not mention timelines for quantum computing becoming commercially viable, a recent IBM report says it will be in use in four years or less.
As Deace noted, “If the environment is this bad in my home state, where Trump has been the most popular political figure over the last decade, I can’t imagine where it is everywhere else.”
There’s similar scrambling in Texas, where a super PAC blessed by Senate Majority Leader John Thune is now on track to spend more than $100 million, an add on of $35 million to the $65 million the group had already booked in advertising to boost Ken Paxton’s bid against James Talarico. The total price tag for keeping the Senate seat is on track to approach $200 million just on the GOP side.
It’s little better for House Republicans. Between their official campaign arm, allied outside organizations, and the candidates themselves, there is a massive $485 million well of ad reservations between Aug. 1 and Election Day—and that’s just in districts Trump won, according to a Politico analysis.
Even Speaker Mike Johnson has grown frustrated with Trump and his constant introduction of tumult in the political ether. During his Sept. 13 appearance on NBC’s Meet the Press, Johnson appeared obviously annoyed as he kept getting asked about Trump’s fresh promise to send every American adult a $5,000 check if Republicans keep their House and Senate majorities. “I guess we’re going to spend the whole segment talking about this one issue,” Johnson said. “I want to talk about what we’ve actually done and not ideas on the table.”
Crypto World
Ripple Price Analysis: Is It All Doom and Gloom for XRP After the Latest Rejection at $1.60?
XRP’s breakout from its descending channel delivered a strong rally, but the move has now met substantial selling pressure at a major resistance area. The resulting pullback puts the recent breakout to the test, with the next reaction around former resistance likely to be important for the short-term structure.
Ripple Price Analysis: The Daily Chart
On the daily chart, Ripple’s XRP remains structurally stronger following its sharp rebound from the $1.27 region. The asset rallied rapidly toward the major $1.61-$1.70 resistance zone, briefly entering this area before sellers stepped in aggressively.
The rejection has pushed XRP back toward $1.47, showing that supply around $1.61-$1.70 remains significant. Nevertheless, the broader recovery structure has not yet been invalidated. The price remains well above the moving averages, with the higher one currently positioned around $1.27 and potentially acting as an important dynamic support if a deeper correction develops.
For buyers, reclaiming $1.55 and eventually breaking through the $1.61-$1.70 resistance zone would be required to resume the bullish leg. Conversely, continued selling could lead to a broader retracement, with the $1.40 area becoming relevant before the more substantial $1.27 region comes back into focus.
XRP/USDT 4-Hour Chart
The 4-hour timeframe provides a clearer view of the current retest. XRP successfully broke above the descending channel that had contained the price action for several weeks and subsequently accelerated toward $1.65. However, the rally was rejected almost immediately after entering the $1.61-$1.69 supply zone.
The resulting correction has now brought XRP back toward the $1.42-$1.45 demand zone. Crucially, this area overlaps with the former descending channel resistance, creating a potential breakout-retest setup.
Therefore, the reaction around $1.42-$1.45 could determine the next short-term move. If buyers defend this zone and price establishes support above the broken trendline, the recent decline could simply represent a healthy retest before another attempt toward $1.60-$1.65.
On the other hand, a decisive breakdown below the $1.42 area would weaken the breakout structure and increase the likelihood of a deeper correction. In that case, attention could shift toward the $1.28-$1.22 major demand zone, where XRP previously attracted strong buying pressure.
The post Ripple Price Analysis: Is It All Doom and Gloom for XRP After the Latest Rejection at $1.60? appeared first on CryptoPotato.
Some changes famously accompany aging. For some people, it gets harder to hear in crowded places; for others, reading a menu in dim light gets trickier. But not everyone knows to expect a loss of muscle mass. Starting around age 30, people lose 3-5% of their lean muscle per decade. For most people, this decline isn’t noticeable until around age 60, when it might start to make daily activities more difficult.
One of the most effective ways to combat muscle loss is to build and protect the muscle you already have through strength training. Not only will that help you avoid frailty and falls, but it can also keep you moving with ease through your daily activities.
When people ask Charlie Grundas, a certified personal trainer and owner of We, The Collective Fitness in Chicago, why it’s important to strength train after 50, he has an easy reply: “Do you ever want there to be a time where you can’t get off the toilet?” he says. “I don’t think there should ever be [a time when] you drop something on the floor, and you’re like, ‘Well, forget it, I don’t own that anymore.’”
You also start losing bone density as you age, and strength training builds healthy bones, which helps prevent falls and fractures. Plus, the muscle you build may offer some insulating protection if you do stumble, says Will Hewitt, certified personal trainer and director of training at Flight House Fitness in Charlestown, Mass.
Strength training can help at any age, whether you want to keep improving in your athletic pursuits, be able to pick up grandchildren, or simply bring your groceries inside in one trip, Grundas says. It’s OK to start with just a few exercises and just a few sets and repetitions: anywhere from one to three sets of six to 15 repetitions is beneficial, according to the American College of Sports Medicine. What’s most important is that you do it—ideally at least twice a week.
It’s always a good idea to get the green light from your doctor before starting any new exercise routine. You might also consider working with a fitness professional, like a certified personal trainer or certified strength and conditioning specialist, if you’re new to strength training at this stage of life or if you’ve had any injuries or surgery. A professional can help you modify movements and swap out equipment that might feel better for your particular circumstances, Hewitt says.
They can also help encourage you to try activities you might think you “shouldn’t” do in your 50s and beyond. “Your days of doing an 18-inch box jump may be over, and that’s a hard pill to swallow, but let’s do a six-inch box, and maybe six months from now, we’ll be doing 12 inches,” he says. “It’s just like eating your vegetables: You just have to keep doing it, and you’ll be better for it.”
Here are some of the best strength-training exercises he and others recommend you try as you get older, plus how to do them with proper form.
Goblet squat
A squat is the movement required to stand up from sitting down, which is something you’ll want to be able to do your whole life long, Grundas says. This particular variation works your quads, hamstrings, glutes, and core, and it’s approachable for people of all fitness levels, Hewitt says. Holding a weight at your chest can help you keep your chest up, and keeping a wide stance can help you squat more deeply, according to the National Academy of Sports Medicine.
How to do it
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Start standing with your feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart, toes pointing slightly out, holding a dumbbell (cupping one end like it’s a heavy goblet) or kettlebell at your chest with both hands.
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Push your hips back and bend your knees to lower your body until your thighs are parallel to the floor or as far as you can comfortably go, keeping the weight close to your chest and your elbows inside your knees.
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Press through your feet to return to the starting position.
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Complete all repetitions, aiming for six to 15.
Modify it
You can work all the same muscles by doing a step-down instead. Standing on a stair, start to walk down, and as soon as your heel touches the lower step, press through your standing leg and return both feet to the higher stair, Grundas says. Repeat, alternating feet with each repetition.
Sitting-rising test
At the end of the weekly yoga class he teaches, Grundas challenges his class to stand up from the floor without using their hands. This works many different lower-body muscles and your core, in addition to helping you maintain your mobility and your balance. A 2026 European Journal of Preventive Cardiology study found people who could sit down and stand up from the floor without using their hands or other body parts for support had a four times lower risk of death over the study period compared to people who required more support.
How to do it
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Start standing barefoot on the floor.
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Sit down cross-legged on the floor using as little support from your hands or legs as possible.
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Stand up, once again using as little support as possible.
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Complete all repetitions, aiming for three to five.
Modify it
Use your hands or legs as needed to help you sit and stand. Keep practicing, aiming to be able to do the movement with less help.
If you’re able to sit and rise without support, challenge yourself with a Turkish get-up instead, Grundas says.
Seated overhead press
This movement can help you maintain your ability to put dishes away on the highest shelf in your kitchen or stow your suitcase in the overhead compartment on a plane, Grundas says.
How to do it
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Start sitting on a bench or a sturdy piece of furniture with your feet planted on the floor, holding a dumbbell in each hand at your shoulders with your elbows bent and your palms facing forward.
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Press both dumbbells overhead until your arms are straight but not locked.
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Pause briefly, then lower the dumbbells to return to the starting position.
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Complete all repetitions, aiming for six to 15.
Modify it
If you need something a little easier, use light weights to do a lateral raise, Grundas suggests:
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Start standing with your feet shoulder-width apart, holding a dumbbell in each hand by your sides, palms facing your body.
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Keeping your arms straight and your shoulders back and down, slowly lift the dumbbells up and out to your sides until the dumbbells are level with your shoulders.
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Slowly lower the dumbbells back to the starting position.
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Complete all repetitions, aiming for six to 15.
If you’re ready for a more challenging move, try a bench press, he says:
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Lie on your back on a flat bench with your feet flat on the floor holding a barbell with your hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.
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Press the bar up until your arms are straight, but don’t lock your elbows.
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Slowly lower the bar with control until you’re just about at your chest.
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Complete all repetitions, aiming for six to 15.
Kickstand Romanian deadlift
Grundas recommends a modified deadlift to help you maintain your ability to pick something up off the ground.
How to do it
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Stand on one foot with the toes of your other foot on the floor slightly behind your heel, like you’re in a staggered “kickstand” position. Keep most of your weight in your standing leg and a slight bend in that knee. Hold a dumbbell or kettlebell in your opposite hand.
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Keeping that slight bend in your standing knee, push your hips back and lower the weight in front of your leg until you feel a stretch in the back of your thigh.
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Pause briefly, then press through your standing foot to return to the starting position.
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Complete all repetitions, aiming for six to 15, then repeat on the other side.
Modify it
Try it without any weight at first to get used to the movement. Once you feel comfortable in the kickstand position, you can try a single-leg Romanian deadlift, where you extend your kickstand leg straight behind you instead. You can also lift heavier weight with both feet on the floor in the traditional Romanian deadlift position.
Bear crawl hold
Core exercises help improve balance, which can ward off falls, Hewitt says. Your core muscles also include your pelvic floor, so strengthening these muscles can help prevent bladder and bowel issues that become more common with age.
How to do it
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Start on your hands and knees on the floor.
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Press through your palms and toes to lift your knees a few inches off of the floor.
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Keep your back flat and hips level as you hold this position for 10 to 60 seconds.
Modify it
Elevate your hands on a sturdy bench, step, or couch to make this a little easier.
Once you get comfortable holding this position, make it a little more challenging by lifting one hand off the floor at a time and tapping it to the opposite shoulder or holding one arm and the opposite leg in the air for several seconds, Hewitt says. You can also crawl forward and backward in this position without letting your knees touch the floor.
Bitcoin’s recent price surge has triggered a possible bullish signal for even larger gains.
That signal is the price topping its 365-day rolling simple moving average.
On Sept. 22, bitcoin rose above its 365-day average near $80,900 for the first time in 310 days, Ryan Horst and Joni Zhuleku, founders of Altcoin Pro, said in an email conversation.
Altcoin Pro found that bitcoin was higher 12 months later in each of the five previous instances in which it regained its 365-day average after spending at least 90 days below it. The gains ranged from about 59% to more than 1,400%, though the largest increase came in 2012, when bitcoin was a fringe asset.
Horst said the pattern is not fail-safe. When the firm included shorter periods below the line, it found two failed breakouts, in July 2018 and March 2022, when bitcoin fell about 27% and 59%, respectively, within 90 days.
“This September’s move is encouraging, especially after 310 days below the line, but we want to see it hold,” Horst said. “It is a signal, not a guarantee.”
A bizarre drama played out on YouTube this past week, when a channel called Mighty Mike Plays posted a video explaining how nine-year-old “Mighty Mike” apparently got a hold of his father Dave’s company card and spent $118,000 on a YouTube ad campaign.
However, the story immediately appeared to have a number of holes, and within a few days there were too many red flags for influencers, who had initially boosted the story’s reach, to ignore.
Just a kid and his dad
Mighty Mike Plays, which features Roblox and Minecraft videos, was created in June of 2024 but only started posting videos in August of this year.
Over the past month, the channel has uploaded 175 long and short form videos — a considerable number for a child of nine.
When it suddenly started reaching the front page of YouTube ads, people began to comment that Mike was going to get in trouble with his father. They were, in fact, being played by the marketing.
On September 14, the channel released a video titled “Message from Dad… Mighty Mike Plays is Over.”
In the video, Dave speaks while Mike plays Minecraft. He states that Mike had spent $118,000 on the YouTube ad campaign and worst of all that the charges were on his company card and now he might get fired.
Dave didn’t explain why he would ever use a company card for anything but company purchases or how using the card even for a $20 ad campaign — as he stated was his intention — wasn’t illegal, but no red flags outside of this were obvious yet.
Read more: Kalshi’s AI ad turned an Asian YouTuber into ‘a white dude’
99 problems and the vid is one
On September 18, a new video was released, once again with Mike playing Minecraft and Dave speaking. Unfortunately, this time the video was nothing but red flags. Dave states that he’s been fired from his job and that the company has demanded that he pay back all $118,000 within 30 days.
He doesn’t clarify what will happen in 30 days if the company isn’t paid back.
Dave doesn’t show any proof of ad spend or any emails with his colleagues where they discuss the circumstances. Instead he suggests that the family will soon lose their home because he’ll have to sell it within the 30-day period.
All of this sounds like fiction, but it only gets more absurd.
Dave states that he doesn’t want to start a GoFundMe or Kickstarter to support his family and doesn’t specify a reason, though it’s thought that if you lie about the reason you need funds on these websites you can get sued and the money can get clawed back.
Instead, he says, he wants to sell merchandise online to try to raise the funds himself — a bizarre decision.
Slop merch, slop campaign
Dave’s website is filled with AI-created merchandise, all selling for immense prices (nearly $100 for t-shirts that say “118k” and “67 wassup chat”), some supposedly already sold out.
And, as eagle-eyed YouTubers quickly pointed out, the terms of service, which previously promised that returns would be allowed within 30 days, now state that ALL SALES ARE FINAL.
It’s unclear if this is legal or binding to anyone who bought the merchandise before the change.
Needless to say, it’s now Dave who’s claiming that he’s going to be suing numerous influencers and YouTubers for suggesting that he’s a scammer, emailing them to say he’s hired a lawyer and will be taking them to court for libel — an expensive move for a man who supposedly just lost his job and owes $118,000.
Regardless, Mike and Dave are posting videos again but have yet to address any of the previous red flags littering their videos.
Protos will follow the story for more information if anything changes.
Got a tip? Send us an email securely via Protos Leaks. For more informed news and investigations, follow us on X, Bluesky, and Google News, or subscribe to our YouTube channel.
Digital asset treasury (DAT) companies—publicly traded firms that hold cryptocurrencies and finance additional crypto buys by trading at a premium to their holdings—are losing the advantage that once made the model attractive to investors, according to a report from DWF Ventures released this week.
DWF found that among the 20 largest DATs by assets under management, only four trade above their holdings’ value. When the market stops paying that premium, the financing mechanism behind the strategy can weaken, making it harder for these companies to expand without diluting shareholders.
Key takeaways
- According to DWF Ventures, only four of the 20 largest DATs by assets under management trade above an mNAV of 1, indicating a premium over their crypto holdings.
- The report points to broad discounts as evidence that investors are paying less for public “crypto exposure” than they did when the model was new.
- DWF says the mNAV premium investors historically paid tends to have peaked when the strategy drew the most attention and leveraged Bitcoin demand was strongest.
- Separately, Sequans Communications has exited its Bitcoin treasury position entirely after selling its remaining 314 BTC, illustrating how companies may unwind when the model stops working.
Premiums fade for the largest treasury funds
DWF Ventures’ analysis centers on mNAV, a measure designed to compare a company’s market value to the value of its cryptocurrency holdings. The firm reported that just four of the 20 largest DAT companies trade with mNAV above 1—meaning their market capitalization exceeds the value of their crypto assets.
The four companies identified by DWF are Bit Digital, Strive, Hyperliquid Strategies, and BitMine. For the rest of the cohort, the market values their equity below the value of the crypto they hold, signaling that the typical “equity premium” narrative is no longer broadly supported.
DWF attributes this shift to investor behavior: where earlier demand helped these stocks command premiums, current discounting suggests capital markets participants are less willing to pay extra for crypto exposure through a treasury structure rather than simply owning the underlying asset.
The strategy’s origin—and why performance has mattered
DAT branding grew around a model associated with Michael Saylor’s Strategy, which pioneered the Bitcoin treasury approach in 2020. As DWF notes, once that blueprint became widely known, many DAT stocks began to underperform a simpler alternative: holding Bitcoin directly.
Even for companies that did manage to outperform in certain periods, DWF says the edge over holding the cryptocurrency itself has generally been small. That matters because the treasury thesis does not rely only on asset price exposure—it relies on being able to access capital efficiently. When the market no longer offers a premium, the structural advantage can evaporate.
DWF also highlights that the premiums investors paid for DAT stocks were not constant over time. The firm points to a pattern where the “equity premium to NAV” was strongest when investor attention surged and leverage demand for Bitcoin was elevated.
Where the premium peaked—and what the market is now signaling
According to DWF, the premium cycle appears tied to timing and market conditions. The report states that the strategy’s premium investors paid generally peaked when the approach was new and attracting fresh interest.
As an example, DWF cites Strategy’s mNAV peak in late 2024 during Bitcoin’s rally, when demand for leveraged BTC exposure was strong. The broader inference is that DAT valuations may improve when markets are eager to buy more Bitcoin exposure—especially through structures that can, at least in theory, expand holdings over time using equity issuance.
However, the latest data suggests those conditions have changed. DWF’s findings describe a market that is increasingly unwilling to price treasury companies above their crypto holdings, leaving less room for the strategy to compound through incremental capital raises.
Exits and earlier warnings about a “model break”
The new DWF report arrives as another example of treasury model unwinding comes into view. Earlier this week, French semiconductor company Sequans Communications disclosed it has sold its remaining 314 BTC, completing an exit that began with a redemption of convertible debt in May. After the sale, Sequans reported it holds no cryptocurrency on its balance sheet.
While Sequans’ disclosure is specific to its own balance sheet, it fits a broader theme raised in prior research: if DAT stocks trade at discounts to NAV, the economics of raising new equity to buy more crypto can become counterproductive.
DWF is not alone in making that case. In September 2025, Standard Chartered raised concerns about an “mNAV collapse” even as Bitcoin and crypto markets were rising, warning that such a shift could prompt consolidation among DAT firms. Galaxy Digital also sounded a similar note, arguing that the DAT model “critically depends on a persistent equity premium to NAV.”
The logic is straightforward. When shares trade at a premium to the value of holdings, companies can issue stock and use the proceeds to acquire additional crypto without diluting existing shareholders’ stake relative to NAV. But if shares trade below NAV, new fundraising becomes more dilutive and can undermine the central mechanism that makes the strategy attractive.
Galaxy research analyst Will Owens captured the risk succinctly, writing that “if the premium collapses, or worse, flips to a discount, the model begins to break.”
That concern has become more relevant during the current market backdrop. The article notes Bitcoin moved from a record high of more than $126,000 in October to below $60,000 before recovering to around $86,000. Even with the rebound, the relationship between crypto prices, leverage demand, and treasury-company valuation premiums appears to have weakened compared with earlier phases of the cycle.
What investors should watch next
With DWF showing that most of the largest DAT firms now trade below the value of their crypto holdings, the key question for shareholders is whether any renewed equity premium emerges as leverage demand and market sentiment improve—or whether discounts persist, forcing more companies to restructure, dilute, or exit treasury strategies entirely.
Crypto World
No More ‘Trump Avenue’: Canada’s Capital Votes to Rename Residential Street Amid Tense Trade War
Canada is seeking to further strengthen ties overseas by becoming the European Union’s first “associate member”—a goal European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has vowed to help make a reality. The proposed arrangement, the details of which have yet to be ironed out, would likely deepen cooperation on trade, defense, AI, and Arctic security.
Carney made his pledge to E.U. lawmakers when he addressed the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, on Sept. 17. Touting closer ties with the bloc, he said “Europe and Canada are stronger together” and insisted “we are not fair-weather allies, we believe that our prosperity grows when it is shared.”
During Carney’s trip to Europe, Canada applied to join the British-led Joint Expeditionary Force military coalition—a force launched in 2014 and made up of 10 North Atlantic NATO member states that conduct rapid-response and security operations.
Juneau warns that despite Carney’s current push to diversify trade and defense away from the U.S., the results of these deals may take a long time to truly stand up, as “in practice, diversifying trade and security relationships is measured in years and decades.”
Sequans Communications has sold its remaining 314 Bitcoin, completing its exit from a Bitcoin treasury strategy that once saw the semiconductor company hold more than 3,200 BTC.
On Thursday, the French semiconductor company said the exit follows the redemption of its convertible debt in May and will allow it to refocus on its core cellular internet-of-things (IoT) and software-defined radio businesses.
CEO Georges Karam said the company used Bitcoin sales to eliminate its convertible debt and strengthen its balance sheet, leaving Sequans with no cryptocurrency holdings and no outstanding debt beyond government-financed research and development obligations.
Sequans launched its Bitcoin treasury strategy in June 2025 after announcing a $384 million sale of equity securities and convertible secured debentures. At the time, Karam called Bitcoin “a premier asset and a compelling long-term investment.”
The company began reducing its holdings less than six months later, selling 970 BTC in November to redeem half its convertible debt. By May 2026, Sequans said it was “no longer pursuing” the treasury strategy and would monetize its remaining Bitcoin over time.
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Bitcoin treasury exits mount in 2026
A growing number of digital asset treasury companies have abandoned or scaled back their accumulation strategies in 2026 amid the crypto bear market.
In late July, Matthew Sigel, head of digital assets research at VanEck, identified at least nine companies that had fully liquidated or abandoned their Bitcoin and crypto treasury strategies in 2026, alongside several others that had reduced their holdings.
Source: Mathew Sigel
UK-listed Satsuma Technology was among the more drastic reversals. In July 2025, the company raised 100 million British pounds ($135 million) through convertible loan notes to expand its Bitcoin treasury, in what Cointelegraph reported at the time was a UK record for a Bitcoin treasury raise.
A year later, shareholders voted overwhelmingly to return substantially all of the company’s capital and cancel its listing. The board subsequently authorized the closure of its trading activities and the sale of its entire 669 BTC position.
Other companies to fully liquidate their Bitcoin holdings this year include Bitdeer, Genius Group and Prenetics. MARA Holdings and Empery Digital have also made substantial sales without abandoning their treasury strategies altogether.
The companies cited by VanEck’s Sigel exited or reduced their holdings for a range of reasons, including debt repayments, working capital needs, shareholder returns and shifts in business strategy.
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