Strategy's STRC Hits $1.5B Volume, Bullish Loses $605M, Strive Clears Debt

Crypto News

Strategy's Variable Rate Series A Perpetual Stretch Preferred Stock, known as STRC, registered an all-time daily trading volume of $1.53 billion on Thursday, the highest single-session liquidity print since the instrument launched. Executive chairman Michael Saylor confirmed the figure publicly, and a tracker monitoring the issuance estimates the firm could theoretically raise roughly $735.4 million in proceeds, enough to acquire approximately 9,066 Bitcoin at prevailing prices. Strategy has already added 56,770 BTC to its treasury since April and 101,147 BTC since March, lifting total holdings to 818,869 coins valued near $66.5 billion and cementing its lead among nearly 200 publicly listed Bitcoin holders.

Bullish disclosed a first-quarter net loss of $604.9 million, deeper than the $348.6 million shortfall a year earlier, alongside adjusted revenue of $92.8 million that fell short of the $95.4 million Wall Street consensus. Adjusted earnings per share landed at 13 cents versus expectations of 17 cents, weighed down by $559 million in unrealized losses on the exchange's digital asset holdings during a quarter when Bitcoin declined 24%. Shares fell 5.6% to $39.46 during the regular session before recovering slightly after hours. Chief executive Tom Farley pointed to the proposed $4.2 billion Equiniti acquisition as central to the firm's tokenization and transfer-agent ambitions in a softer bear market.

Gemini delivered a contrasting print, reporting Q1 2026 revenue of $50.3 million, a 42% year-over-year jump driven almost entirely by non-trading lines. Credit card revenue surged nearly 300% to $14.7 million, while pure exchange revenue slid 27% to $17.2 million as total trading volume halved to $6.3 billion from $13.5 billion in the prior-year period. Operating expenses climbed 73% to $144.5 million on marketing and credit-card costs, producing an adjusted EBITDA loss of just under $60 million. The Winklevoss-led firm also closed a $100 million strategic investment from Winklevoss Capital, funded in Bitcoin, in exchange for 7.1 million shares.

Onchain analytics provider Dune confirmed it is laying off 25% of its workforce, with co-founder Fredrik Haga framing the cut as a refocus on core data products. The firm's LinkedIn listed roughly 150 staff prior to the reduction, implying around 38 roles eliminated. Haga said the company remains well capitalized and is leaning into artificial intelligence and institutional demand, citing its Model Context Protocol that allows AI agents to build dashboards without SQL knowledge. The move adds to more than 5,000 crypto-sector job losses in 2026, including Coinbase's 700-employee cut on May 5 and Block Inc.'s 4,000-person reduction in February.

Strive shares closed 5.8% higher at $17.70 on Thursday after the Vivek Ramaswamy-founded firm rebranded itself as the "Daily Dividend Company" and confirmed it eliminated all outstanding debt during the first quarter. The Variable Rate Series A Perpetual Preferred Stock, ticker SATA, will begin paying dividends every business day from June 16 at an annualized rate of 13%, a more frequent payout cadence than Strategy's biweekly STRC schedule. Strive reported an unrealized net loss of $265.9 million for Q1 tied to Bitcoin's 23% quarterly drawdown, and ended the period with 13,628 BTC, including 5,048 coins acquired through its Semler Scientific takeover, with another 1,381 added since.

UK Reform Party leader Nigel Farage is facing a parliamentary probe after closing on a 1.4 million pound property in May 2024, weeks after receiving a 5 million pound personal gift in cryptocurrency from billionaire Christopher Harborne. The real estate purchase occurred shortly before Farage announced his run for general office, and critics argue the gift should have been declared once he took his seat. The Reform Party denies any wrongdoing, maintaining that pre-office gifts fall outside parliamentary disclosure rules. The case has reignited calls from UK lawmakers, including Joint Committee chair Matt Western, for a temporary ban on crypto-denominated political donations citing foreign-influence concerns.

Taken together, this week's news points to a widening split between corporate treasury innovation and exchange-side profitability stress. Bitcoin treasuries are accelerating capital-formation through perpetual preferred instruments, with Strategy, Strive, and Tokyo's Metaplanet all racing to refine dividend cadence and yield structures even as spot prices remain pressured. At the same time, listed exchanges from Bullish to Gemini and Coinbase are absorbing earnings misses tied to lower trading volumes, while AI-driven cost discipline is reshaping headcount across data and consumer platforms. Regulatory scrutiny on political donations and prediction markets rounds out a cycle defined less by retail euphoria than by institutional consolidation and balance-sheet engineering.