Trump Media Raises $2.5B for Bitcoin Treasury

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Good Morning.

There is A LOT of news in the past 48 hours. You can jump to the quick bites section below to understand the scale. But here’s the TLDR → more crypto equity wrapper strategy, more institutional adoption, and more legitimacy for our industry. Yachtzee!

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In Today's Email:

• What Matters: Trump Media Raises $2.5B for Bitcoin Treasury 💰️ 

• Case Study: SharpLink’s $425M Ethereum Play 🔎 

• Governance & Features: Cantor Launches $2B BTC Lending 🚀 

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WHAT MATTERS

Trump Media Raises $2.5B for Bitcoin Treasury

State of play: Trump Media & Technology Group is raising $2.5B through a private offering to build a corporate Bitcoin treasury. The deal includes $1.5B in common stock and $1B in convertible notes priced at a 35% premium.

• The company plans to hold Bitcoin alongside its $759M in liquid assets, viewing it as a "financial freedom" hedge.

• Crypto.com and Anchorage Digital will custody the Bitcoin.

• Trump Media aims to integrate crypto into its ecosystem, including potential subscription payments and utility tokens across Truth Social and Truth+.

Why it matters: Trump Media's $2.5B move into Bitcoin marks one of the largest corporate crypto treasury plays since MicroStrategy. It signals growing institutional confidence in Bitcoin as a reserve asset and could further normalize crypto adoption.

Our take: I’m a broken record at this point, but BTC treasury strategy will only expand from here onwards, and being replicated by foundations of major assets (SOL, ETH, SUI), to support their price dynamics.

For builders and investors: Understand how this will affect the broader crypto markets; build tools to complement the momentum; or find ways for these capital to trickle down to the broader crypto economy.

CASE STUDY

SharpLink’s $425M Ethereum Play

SharpLink Gaming, a Minneapolis-based sports marketing firm, announced plans to adopt Ethereum as its primary treasury reserve asset. The company secured $425M through a private investment in public equity round, led by Joseph Lubin’s ConsenSys.

• Lubin will also join SharpLink’s board as chairman once the deal closes on May 29.

• Following the announcement, SharpLink’s stock surged over 400%, rising from $7 to $34.45 and boosting its market cap to around $23M.

• The funding round also included investments from Pantera Capital, Galaxy Digital, and Ondo.

SharpLink’s move follows the footsteps of MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin treasury play but marks one of the first public shifts toward Ethereum. The announcement came just hours after Trump Media revealed its own $2.5B Bitcoin treasury strategy.

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INSIGHTS

Circle Targets $600M IPO at $5.4B Valuation

Circle is aiming to raise around $600M through its IPO, offering 24M Class A shares priced between $24 and $26 each. Of the total, 9.6M shares will be issued by Circle and 14.4M by existing shareholders.

• The offering values the company at approximately $5.43B.

• Circle has applied to list on the NYSE under the ticker "CRCL" with JPMorgan, Citigroup, and Goldman Sachs as lead underwriters.

• This IPO move comes after Circle dismissed rumours of a potential acquisition by Coinbase or Ripple.

FEATURES & GOVERNANCE UPDATE

Cantor Launches $2B BTC Lending with Maple & FalconX

Cantor Fitzgerald has officially entered the crypto lending space, launching its Bitcoin Financing Business and completing its first deals with Maple Finance and FalconX. The firm plans to offer up to $2B in financing to institutional clients.

• Cantor is partnering with Anchorage Digital and Copper.co for custody services.

• Executives from both Maple and FalconX are pointing to the growing institutional demand and the need for a reliable credit infrastructure in crypto.

• The initiative further cements Cantor's role as a major Wall Street player in the digital asset sector.

Other notable feature updates:

• Aptos announced LFM.

• Kamino has launched V2.

• LayerZero integrated with Bittensor.

• Nillion announced "The Nillion Standard."

• EigenLayer has launched the Verifiable Apps page v1.

• Sky Protocol has introduced SKY as its sole governance token.

• Circle has launched the Circle Payments Network (CPN) on mainnet.

QUICK BITES

• SOL Strategies filed to raise $1B.

• SharpLink’s $425M Ethereum Play.

• Telegram plans to raise $1.5B in bond issue.

• UK outpaces global crypto ownership growth in 2025.

• TON Foundation hires former crypto-focused Visa exec.

• Circle's IPO targets a $600M raise at an over $5B valuation.

• IMF to 'ensure' that El Salvador does not buy any more Bitcoin.

• Cantor closes first Bitcoin financing deals with Maple and FalconX.

• Circle paid $100M for Hashnote, used mostly shares, IPO filings reveal.

• Trump Media establishes corporate bitcoin treasury with $2.5B offering.

• The Blockchain Group completes $72M bond issuance to fuel BTC strategy.

• Cetus poses a vote to possibly return 100% of funds affected by the $223M exploit.

• Echo releases new ICO product called Sonar, starts with Plasma $50M at $500M raise.

NOTEWORTHY READS & MEME

• Redphone’s read on being here still.

• Pix’s read on HyperEVM farming guide.

• Felipe Montealgre’s presentation on why tokens are broken.

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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.