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Strategy slashes STRK offering after falling $25B short of share target

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Strategy slashes STRK offering after falling $25B short of share target

Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) has slashed its $20.33 billion STRK at-the-market (ATM) offering on March 22 after selling just 5% of its 269.8 million share goal.

The bitcoin (BTC) treasury company has slashed the number of authorized STRK shares by 85% from 269.8 million to 40.3 million, and has sold only 14.02 million.

Switching focus, the company simultaneously quadrupled authorized shares of its quasi-pegged preferred, STRC, as well as a massive increase of its MSTR common stock ATM.

The market barely noticed.

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Strategy’s own X account announced the filing by trumpeting new $21 billion STRC and $21 billion MSTR authorizations. It didn’t mention the sunsetting of STRK — the company’s first dividend-paying preferred public share offering — on social media.

Indeed, in January 2025, Michael Saylor’s Strategy announced that it had raised $563.4 million in STRK after targeting just $250 million for that capital raise. 

At the time, publications called that raise “upsized” or “oversubscribed,” even though Saylor offered a 20% discount on liquidation preference to manufacture STRK’s so-called oversubscription.

$700 million sold of a $21 billion goal

By March 2025, Strategy had authorized the sale of up to $21 billion in 8% perpetual preferred shares convertible into MSTR at $1,000 per share. A year later, approximately $20.3 billion of that capacity remained unsold. 

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Demand was weak from the start and ended in a 94.8% shortcoming: 14.02 million shares sold of 269.8 million authorized.

As of March 22, 2026, $20.33 billion STRK remained unsold.

Strategy priced STRK’s initial offering at $80, a 20% discount to its $100 liquidation preference, raising roughly $563 million selling 7.3 million shares from unsurprisingly motivated buyers whose positions had gained 20% within three weeks as STRK traded up to $100 per share.

Barron’s correctly reported on lackluster STRK demand before shares even debuted, with Strategy offering steep discounts to induce buying. 

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Quarterly reductions in STRK demand

Within a few months, STRK sales soon slowed to a trickle. Indeed, by the end of Q1 2025, Strategy had only sold $765 million, or just $202 million more across two months than it had sold in January. 

By the end of Q2, STRK notional had increased 59% to $1.22 billion. That would be its final quarter of substantial growth.

At the end of Q3, the total face value of STRK was $1.36 billion, a mere 11% increase from Q2, and by the end of Q4, STRK notional was $1.4 billion, a mere 2.7% increase.

As of today, STRK’s notional has increased just 0.3% or $3.9 million more year-to-date.

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By the time the company pulled the plug this week, STRK had produced a notional value of $1.4 billion after the company sold roughly 14 million shares out of an authorized 269.8 million. 

Strategy raised about 95% less from STRK than it could have, had investors wanted to its buy its fully authorized quantity of shares.

Read more: Strategy fails to list options on its flagship preferred, STRK

Trading 25% below par

Yesterday, STRK closed for trading at $75.20. That gives its 14 million outstanding shares a market value of roughly $1.05 billion, $348 million below the notional on which Strategy pays its 8% dividend.

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The stock briefly rallied above $129 in July 2025, when optimism around the embedded MSTR conversion feature peaked. It’s since lost 42% of that value. 

The conversion option lets holders swap into MSTR at $1,000. MSTR trades near $140, making that option deeply out of the money and nearly worthless.

Strategy now owes roughly $112 million per year in STRK dividends on the shares it did manage to sell. To service those dividends, the company posted a $5.4 billion operating loss in fiscal year 2025. 

STRK dividends, by design, never stop.

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Sunsetting the first preferreds

Saylor didn’t kill STRK entirely.

The same 8-K registered a new STRK ATM for up to $2.1 billion, a 90% reduction. With 40.3 million shares now authorized and 14 million outstanding, about 26 million shares of issuance remains.

Although the company might sell some more STRK in the future, it seems unlikely given the above quarterly trend toward zero.

The real emphasis at the company is on STRC, Strategy’s variable-rate and quasi-pegged preferred paying 11.5% annualized dividends. STRC raised over $1.18 billion in net proceeds in a single week of March 2026.

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That one week dwarfed STRK’s entire ATM output over twelve months.

Strategy wants investors focused on STRC. The company’s first preferred offering, however, was supposed to raise up to $26.9 billion and will instead be remembered for the $25 billion it never raised.

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XRP spot ETFs defy crypto slump with $1.4B in inflows as Bitcoin, gold and silver funds see outflows, JPMorgan says

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XRP Price Glitch Sends XRP to $126 on CNBC Broadcast

XRP exchange-traded funds are pulling in fresh capital at a pace that puts them at odds with the rest of the market, as investors rotate out of gold and silver ETFs while keeping steady allocations to Bitcoin products amid geopolitical tensions and higher rates.

Summary

  • XRP spot ETFs have amassed about $1.4 billion in net inflows since launch in November 2025, even as XRP’s price slid more than 30% from recent highs.
  • By contrast, gold ETFs have seen nearly $11 billion in outflows in three weeks, while silver products also bled capital as rising rates and a stronger dollar pressured precious metals.
  • JPMorgan says Bitcoin ETFs are holding net inflows and showing “greater resilience” than gold and silver, underscoring a shift in how investors hedge geopolitical and macro risk.

Since their launch in November 2025, XRP (XRP)-linked ETFs have attracted more than $1.4 billion in cumulative net inflows, according to data highlighted by Bloomberg analyst James Seyffart, even as XRP has dropped roughly 33% over the past 90 days and 24% year-to-date to around $1.38. JPMorgan, meanwhile, reports that gold ETFs have suffered close to $11 billion in outflows over a three‑week stretch leading into March, with silver products seeing similarly heavy withdrawals as rising interest rates and a stronger dollar undercut the traditional safe havens.

In a recent note on ETF flows, Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou, managing director at JPMorgan, said Bitcoin spot funds “have attracted approximately 1.5% in new assets” since the latest Middle East flare‑up began, while the largest gold ETF, SPDR Gold Shares (GLD), “has experienced outflows totaling about 2.7% of its assets under management.” He argued this divergence “represents a significant departure from historical patterns where investors typically flock to gold during geopolitical uncertainty,” suggesting that BTC is increasingly viewed as “a viable alternative to traditional safe‑haven assets.” According to CoinDesk, Bitcoin briefly fell into the $60,000 range alongside other risk assets at the onset of the conflict but quickly stabilized and is now trading between $68,000 and $70,000, a range JPMorgan reads as evidence that “long‑term capital is re‑entering the market to support prices after the panic.”

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For XRP, the contrast between price action and ETF demand has become increasingly stark. Data compiled by SoSoValue and cited by Seyffart show cumulative XRP ETF inflows climbing from roughly $150 million in mid‑November to about $1.44 billion by early March, even as the token slid from recent peaks toward the low‑$1.30s. Bloomberg senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas called the performance “really impressive given these launched into a brutal 45% drawdown,” adding that such consistent buying is rare for newly listed products trading through a “reverse shiny object moment.” “My guess is this is largely XRP super fans vs casual retail,” Balchunas wrote, pointing to concentrated conviction rather than broad speculative froth.

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has framed the flows as a structural shift in how investors access the token, saying the ETFs are “a sign of XRP’s long‑term payments potential” after the company’s courtroom win against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission unlocked the path for regulated products. According to a previous crypto.news story, spot XRP ETFs neared $1 billion in assets after just 13 days of consecutive inflows, following patterns seen after the approval of U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs. That momentum has since pushed cumulative net inflows to around $1.4 billion, with February alone contributing between $58 million and $106.8 million depending on the dataset, even as the broader crypto complex cooled.

JPMorgan’s latest work on cross‑asset positioning suggests that institutional traders have been steadily cutting exposure to gold and silver while leaving Bitcoin allocations broadly intact. The bank notes that positions in precious‑metal futures have “significantly declined since the beginning of the year,” with trend‑following funds flipping from “overbought” to “below neutral,” which has “exacerbated their downward pressure” as ETF outflows accelerated. Bitcoin, by comparison, has moved out of an “oversold” momentum regime, and selling pressure has eased as ETF demand stabilized, helping support the $68,000–$70,000 trading band.

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Liquidity indicators in JPMorgan’s framework now show market breadth in gold slipping below that of Bitcoin, while silver liquidity has weakened even further, a reversal of the typical hierarchy in traditional macro stress episodes. The bank argues that this shift “highlights Bitcoin’s gradually emerging performance characteristics that differ from traditional safe‑haven assets in the current macro and geopolitical environment,” with deeper ETF markets and institutional participation helping compress volatility relative to earlier cycles.

XRP’s ETF complex, though far smaller in absolute terms, appears to be tracking a similar institutionalization arc. By mid‑March, total net assets across XRP ETFs sat just under $1 billion, representing roughly 1.16% of the token’s market capitalization, while some estimates suggest custodians are removing close to 1% of circulating supply from exchanges each month to back new creations. An earlier crypto.news story on XRP ETFs noted that 13 straight days of inflows pulled nearly $900 million into the products within weeks of launch, underscoring how quickly regulated wrappers can tighten free‑float supply once they catch on with allocators.

For JPMorgan, the ETF flow divergence sits atop a macro mix that still looks hostile to precious metals. The bank points to rising real yields and a firmer dollar as key reasons why gold and silver have struggled to hold recent highs, even as geopolitical risk flared. CoinMarketCap data cited in the note show gold correcting from a record peak while SPDR Gold Shares shed about 2.7% of its assets over the crisis window, against positive net inflows for BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust of roughly 1.5% of AUM. In aggregate, gold ETFs have lost nearly $11 billion over three weeks, JPMorgan estimates, with silver funds recording “significant” redemptions as well.

Bitcoin’s ability to stabilize after an initial risk‑off impulse, and to keep pulling capital into ETFs, has led JPMorgan to reiterate its long‑term price target of $266,000, derived from a volatility‑adjusted comparison to gold’s market structure. While XRP lacks that kind of formal target, the resilience of its ETF flows relative to price has drawn similar interpretations from market participants who see regulated products as a bridge for institutional money. In previous crypto.news coverage, analysts noted that XRP’s ETF trajectory and the post‑SEC‑case regulatory clarity could help the token close its underperformance gap versus peers if macro headwinds ease and capital rotates back into higher‑beta assets.

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Amid ETF outflows from gold and silver, deteriorating liquidity in those markets, and continued institutional deleveraging, JPMorgan’s takeaway is blunt: Bitcoin is holding up better than traditional safe havens, and regulated crypto wrappers are no longer a sideshow. For XRP, the early data suggest that even in a choppy tape, a committed ETF bid can quietly rewire the supply‑demand balance — and position the token as one of the key beneficiaries if risk appetite returns.

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XRP Risks 50% Crash as Goldman Sachs ETF Exposure Fails to Lift Price

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XRP Risks 50% Crash as Goldman Sachs ETF Exposure Fails to Lift Price

XRP (XRP) traded at $1.37 after a 3.5% decline in the last 24 hours, shrugging off Goldman Sachs’ disclosure of exposure to spot XRP exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

While this highlights long-term institutional confidence, it comes amid fragile risk sentiment and a typical breakdown from a bearish setup.

Key takeaways:

  • Goldman Sachs disclosed $152.17 million in spot XRP ETF holdings across four funds, making it the largest institutional holder in this segment.

  • XRP maintains its bear pennant breakdown setup targeting $0.72.

Goldman Sachs discloses $152 million exposure to XRP ETFs

Goldman Sachs has emerged as the largest disclosed institutional holder of US spot XRP ETFs, revealing a $152 million position in its Q4 2025 13F filing with the SEC. 

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Related: XRP treasury Evernorth files with SEC to list shares on Nasdaq

The $3.5 trillion asset manager has spread its exposure across four funds: $39.8 million in Bitwise XRP ETF, $38.5 million in Franklin XRP Trust, $38 million in Grayscale XRP ETF, and $35.9 million in 21Shares XRP ETF. 

Goldman isn’t alone. Its allocation accounts for roughly 73% of the about $211 million held by the top 30 institutional investors in XRP ETFs, according to Bloomberg Senior ETF analyst James  Seyffart.

Top 30 institutional spot XRP investors. Source: X/James/Seyffart

While this institutional move highlights long-term confidence, XRP price remains 25% below its yearly open around $1.84, driven by slowing ETF inflows and macro headwinds.

Cumulative net inflows into US-based XRP ETFs crossed the $1 billion mark within the first few months of trading, peaking at $1.28 billion on Jan. 16. The pace has since cooled to $1.21 billion today.

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Total assets under management peaked around $1.65 billion in early January but have dropped to roughly $995 billion, dragged down by XRP’s price decline and a stretch of net outflows, according to data from SoSoValue.

XRP ETFs recorded a total of $56.5 million in net outflows between March 3 and March 16. Since then, the daily inflows have been muted below $5 million. 

Spot XRP ETF flows chart. Source: SoSoValue

XRP bear pennant breakdown underway

XRP price broke down from its prevailing bear pennant when it dropped below the lower trend line of the pattern at $1.40 on Thursday. The price could retest the lower trend line as new resistance, a move that could confirm the breakdown.

XRP/USD weekly chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

Bull pennants form when price consolidates inside a triangle following a steep decline. Once the price breaks below that triangle, it triggers another massive downward move.

For XRP, the measured target of the bear pennant is $0.72, roughly 48% below the current price. 

As Cointelegraph reported, a break below $1.27 would suggest that the bears are still in control, fueling XRP/USD drop toward $1.

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Declining XRP volatility hints at “sharp” price move next

XRP’s volatility metrics are warning of an imminent massive price move.

The 30-day Realized Volatility (RV 30D) has dropped to around 0.5266, marking the lowest level for 2026. 

Meanwhile, the Volatility Z-Score is at -0.9048, “reflecting a clear decline in volatility compared to the historical average,” CryptoQuant analyst Arab Chain said in a recent Quicktake note, adding:

“This type of volatility contraction is commonly referred to as volatility compression, a phase that often precedes a sharp price movement in either direction.”

XRP realized volatility on Binance