Saylor Is Still Buying Bitcoin ($2B Stock Offering)

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Good Morning.

It’s the first official “work week” since the New Year and Bitcoin is getting close to $100,000 — please don’t let me jinx this by dumping it at the US open. The total crypto market cap is still relatively staying at $3.5-$3.6T level, with liquidities rotating between various altcoin sectors. The whackamole is real.

In Today's Email:

• What Matters: MSTR Plans $2B Preferred Stock Offering for BTC 🪙 

• Product: Ethena’s New Products📱 

• Charts: DEX Futures Volume, Polymarket in 2024 📈 

You read and share. We listen and improve. Send us feedback at [email protected].

TOGETHER WITH

Superseed: Seed Round Hit $4,000,000 With Only Two Days To Go

Superseed is reimagining Layer 2 technology by embedding a CDP platform directly into the protocol, enabling self-repaying loans and introducing innovative DeFi primitives:

• Proof-of-Repayment: Rewards for paying down debt.

• Supercollateral: Maximizing value for participants.

Superseed’s next-gen Layer 2 ensures all protocol revenue flows back to users, automatically paying off their debt and creating a more sustainable DeFi ecosystem.

The Supersale is Live:

• No VC Allocations

• 20% of the total supply available

• Fully unlocked tokens at launch

2 days left until the sale ends, users can still earn up to 3% bonus tokens.

Join the Supersale now and experience the future of Layer 2 and DeFi.

WHAT MATTERS

MicroStrategy Plans $2B Preferred Stock Offering

State of play: MicroStrategy, the largest corporate holder of BTC, announced plans to raise up to $2B through the sale of preferred stock to support even more acquisition of BTC.

• This move aligns with its ongoing "21/21 plan," which aims to raise $42B through equity and fixed-income securities over three years.

• The preferred stock offering, expected in Q1 2025, will be conducted via public underwritten offerings.

• The perpetual preferred stock will hold seniority over the company’s Class A common stock.

Since adopting its Bitcoin treasury reserve strategy, MicroStrategy has amassed over 145,000 BTC, valued at approximately $14B.

• In November 2024, the company raised $3B through a debt offering for Bitcoin purchases.

• As of December 15, it had $7.65B in equity shares available for sale under its broader funding strategy.

• $MSTR, which outperformed Bitcoin in 2024, was recently added to the Nasdaq index.

What’s next: The final decision to proceed with the offering will depend on market conditions.

• While bitcoin purchases have primarily been financed through equity and debt, MicroStrategy also uses earnings from its core business, which has not been profitable in recent quarters.

For builders and investors: Can’t stop won’t stop TradFi (3,3).

Take a peek at our referral reward at the bottom of this issue. Share this newsletter and receive our list of 500 crypto VC individuals 👇

PRODUCT OF THE WEEK

Ethena’s 2025 Roadmap & New Products

Ethena is launching new products in 2025 to position itself as a "neobank." These include:

iUSDe for Institutional Investors: A synthetic dollar savings token designed to attract traditional financial institutions (TradFi).

• iUSDe, a wrapped version of sUSDe, integrates regulatory compliance features to facilitate adoption by asset managers, ETFs, and private credit funds.

• Institutions can access iUSDe indirectly through special purpose vehicles (SPVs) without engaging directly with crypto infrastructure.

• This token offers exposure to "crypto native rates" and scalable arbitrage returns.

Telegram Payments App: Ethena plans to introduce a payments solution integrated with the TON blockchain and Apple Pay within Telegram, targeting its billion-strong user base.

Ethereal and Derive:

• Ethereal: A crypto spot and perpetual exchange leveraging sUSDe for its order book ledger, built as a bespoke appchain.

• Derive: An on-chain options and structured products protocol using sUSDe as collateral.

• USDtb Integrations: A fiat-backed stablecoin backed by US Treasuries through BlackRock's BUIDL fund.

  • USDtb is tailored for centralized exchange platforms, incentivizing them to offer the product through shared economics.

Ethena's product expansion builds on its core offering, USDe, which utilizes a crypto carry trade mechanism to maintain its dollar peg.

Other cool products:

• Gasp, the first DEX built on EigenLayer.

• Newtify, an AI-powered guide to Web3 updates.

• Ponchiqs Studio, a blockchain entertainment platform.

• Satoshi Perps, an on-chain Perpetual Futures exchange.

CHARTS OF THE WEEK

Polymarket in 2024

State of play: Polymarket experienced exponential growth in 2024, reaching record highs across trading volume, active traders, and open interest (OI).

• Cumulative Volume: Surpassed $9B, with a monthly peak of $2.63B in November during the US election.

• Active Traders: Grew to an all-time high of 314,500 in December, a 74% monthly growth rate on average.

• Open Interest (OI): Peaked at $510M in November but dropped to $120M in December after the election.

• Despite a 34% decline in volume and a 76.5% drop in OI post-election, active trader numbers continued to grow.

• The transition from political to sports betting markets drove this shift, with sports-related markets becoming the most popular sector.

• Sports bets, often smaller and short-term, have kept engagement high, even as the platform moves beyond major political events.

Our take: 2024 was the year Polymarket’s found its true PMF.

DEX Futures Surge & Hyperliquid's Dominance

State of play: DEX futures reached a record $285B in trading volume in 2024, marking a significant rise in market share. In December alone, DEX futures accounted for 10.17% of CEX futures volume, the highest share to date.

• Hyperliquid leads the pack and captured 78.8% of total DEX volume, with $225M in December.

• Jupiter (9.8%), ApeX (6.2%), Satori Finance (3.6%), and Drift (1.6%) also showed strong growth.

• DEX volumes grew at an average monthly rate of 26.5%, while CEX futures for Bitcoin and Ethereum saw declines or stagnation in December.

Our Take: Despite CEXs maintaining higher absolute volumes (Bitcoin: $2.14T, Ethereum: $1.28T in December), DEX futures' rising share signals growing adoption.

QUICK BITES

• SPX6900 hits record highs.

• Gaming and L2 indices post losses for 2024.

• Metaplanet aims to boost holdings to 10,000+ BTC this year.

• Aave & MakerDAO shine as DeFi revenues revisit 2021 highs.

• Ripple CEO says 75% of roles are now US-based due to Trump.

• Mara says 16% of its BTC reserves have been loaned to 3rd parties.

• Hyperliquid leads the pack as DEX futures hit $285 billion in 2024.

• BlackRock's IBIT marks the first two-week streak of weekly net outflows.

NOTEWORTHY READS & MEME

• Bridget Harris’ read on a stablecoin bank.

• Foxi’s read on how to make $ in the magnetic economy 2025.

• Evan’s read on 5 categories to watch for in crypto x AI agents.

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Disclaimer: All the information presented in this publication and its affiliates is strictly for educational purposes only. It should not be construed or taken as financial, legal, investment, or any other form of advice.