← Coin Stories with Natalie Brunell
Coin Stories with Natalie Brunell
News Block: Bond Markets Crash, Pro-Bitcoin Fed Chair Takes Over, Strategy Wipes Out $1.5B in Debt, and Strive Pays Daily Dividends
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Welcome to the Coin Stories news block, powered exclusively by LEDN. I'm Natalie Brunel, and in about 10 minutes or less, I'll provide you with insightful updates on bitcoin, financial markets and the global economy. Everything you need to know in one block. Let's go. All right. We had a packed week of news. Strategy made two major moves on its balance sheet. Strive did something no publicly traded company has ever done. And Washington, D.C. came in delivering a one, two punch. We have a new Federal Reserve chairman and the most important piece of crypto legislation in US History. Moving forward, let's get into it, starting with Strategy. Now, last week, we broke down why Strategy saying it would sell some bitcoin was actually bullish. And we walked through the S and P credit rating checklist. The company appeared to be quietly working through to upgrade its B minus rating. And this week, the company started executing on it. Strategy announced its repurchasing $1.5 billion in 2029 convertible notes. For anyone unfamiliar, a convertible note is a type of corporate debt where the lender can choose to convert what they're owed into company stock. Strategy buying back 1.5 billion of those notes means they're off the balance sheet. Gone. And why does that matter? Reducing reliance on this type of debt is one of the three things strategy needs to do for a credit rating upgrade. The others hold more cash to cover obligations and keep proving it can raise money even through bitcoin stress events. Well, Strategy appears to be checking off all the boxes. And the reason is clear. A better credit rating means bigger, more conservative pools of capital can invest in Strategy's preferred products. This is the difference between a $4.9 trillion addressable market and a $23.6 trillion one. And that wasn't Strategy's only move. Last week, the company also announced that Stretch, its preferred Stock Paying an 11.5% yield, is asking shareholders to approve paying those dividends twice a month. Month. Almost every dividend stock pays quarterly. A small number pay monthly. And Stretch would be the first to go semi monthly. For retirees and people who live off their portfolios, more frequent payouts mean more predictable cash flows and faster compounding. So it's a real edge. But strategy isn't the only one innovating. Strive, the ninth largest corporate bitcoin holder in the world, just did something no publicly traded company has ever done. Starting June 16, its preferred stock SEDA will pay dividends every single business day. Not monthly, not twice a month, but every day the market is open, you get paid a 13% annual rate that makes SATA the first listed security in U.S. history to pay daily dividends. Strive also announced it's now completely debt free. Zero debt, no margin, no encumbered Bitcoin. It holds over 15,000 bitcoin with a clean balance sheet. So you have two bitcoin treasury companies racing to build the most attractive yield products in the market. Strategy going semi monthly, Strive going daily, both pushing each other to move faster. And if we zoom out, this is all happening against a macro backdrop that makes it even more significant. The 10 year treasury yield surged to roughly 4.6% this week, its highest in a year. And the 30 year treasury crossed above 5%, the highest it's been since 2007. Investors are fleeing government bonds after back to back hot inflation reports. And traders are now pricing in the possibility that the Fed actually raises rates before year's end. This isn't just an American story, by the way. In the UK, 30 year gilt yields hit their highest level in 28 years. In Japan, the 30 year touched 4% for the first time since that bond was created in 1999. So from Tokyo to London to Washington, the message is the same. Investors want to be paid more to lend to highly indebted governments. And they're losing patience with how much those governments owe and keep spending as inflation builds. When the foundation of the financial system is cracking in this many places at once, that's not noise, that is a signal. So sit with the contrast. Government bonds, the assets the whole system treats as risk free are losing money and forcing governments to pay up just to find buyers. On the other side, Bitcoin treasury companies are issuing instruments that pay 11.5 and 13% backed by the hardest, scarcest asset in the world. So the safe asset is bleeding and the risky asset is paying. This is the environment Bitcoin was built for. LEDN just introduced their lowest rates ever. The larger the loan, the lower the rate. These new rates apply to all new loans, refinances and renewals. With LEDN's gold standard protection, your Bitcoin stays custodied, never lent out. You can activate auto top ups and alerts so you're never caught off guard and you can repay anytime with zero penalties. Don't choose between a great rate and the safety of your bitcoin. Get both at Leaden and a quarter percentage point off your first loan at leaden IO Natalie okay, turning now to Washington D.C. because two historic developments happened last week. The first, the United States has a new Federal Reserve chairman. The Senate confirmed Kevin Warsh in a 54 to 45 vote. And he'll replace Jerome Powell as the most powerful central banker in the world. War is the most openly pro bitcoin Fed chair in history. He says he discovered Bitcoin in 2011 and that it doesn't make him nervous, doesn't undermine the Fed, and isn't a threat to the dollar. He's called bitcoin a kind of market signal that keeps policymakers honest and added that if you're under 40, Bitcoin is your new gold. And it's not just Warsh. According to river, this is now the most bitcoin friendly Federal Reserve Board in history. Warsh, vice chair for supervision Michelle Bauman and Governor Chris Waller have all been openly positive, with Waller saying for years that bitcoin would end up as electronic gold. For most of bitcoin's existence, the Fed treated it as a curiosity at best and a threat at worst. But that's no longer the case, and that shift is a real potential tailwind for bitcoin going forward. The second historic development happened a few blocks away at the Senate Banking Committee. The committee voted 15 to 9 to advance the Clarity act, the most significant piece of crypto market structure legislation to ever make it this far. This is the bill that would finally give the digital asset industry clear rules to build on. And it advanced with bipartisan support. Two Democrats joining every Republican on the panel. But the moment that really stuck with me came during the markup. Senator Cynthia Lummis made a case for bitcoin that I don't think has ever been made in a Senate hearing room. She said bitcoin gives people living under repressive governments the ability to walk away with their money in their head. Because bitcoin can be memorized. No bank, no passport, no permission needed. 12 words in your memory and your savings come with you. She was talking about real people. Refugees, domestic abuse survivors, people whose governments have taken everything from them. Bitcoin is the one asset that can't be confiscated if it's stored in your mind. That is one of the most powerful cases for bitcoin I've ever heard a US Senator make. And it happened during a formal committee vote on real legislation. The Bill still needs 60 votes on the Senate floor, and the clock is ticking before Memorial Day recess. But the direction of travel is unmistakable. Washington spent a decade ignoring bitcoin, but now it's working to build rules around it. So look at the full picture. We have two bitcoin treasury companies building yield products that compete directly with traditional fixed income at a moment when bond markets are selling off worldwide. And the world's most powerful central bank just got a chairman who calls Bitcoin the new gold. And the Clarity act is advancing with a sitting senator calling Bitcoin a tool for human freedom. A few years ago, none of this was happening, so pay attention to what's being built, because it might not be reflected in bitcoin's price, but soon it will be now. One more thing before I go. Coming up this week on Coin Stories, I sat down with analyst Craig Tyndale for a conversation about what's happening beneath the surface of the global economy. First, read Craig's work. Thanks to Luke Grohman. And he writes all about rare earth minerals, the supply chains behind everything from your phone to military equipment, and why America is dangerously dependent on China for materials that we can't afford to lose. If you want to understand why sound money and economic sovereignty matter beyond just the bitcoin price, this is an episode you don't want to miss. That's it for the news block, your weekly Bitcoin and economic news update. Powered exclusively by ledn. I'm Natalie Brunel. Make sure you're subscribed to Coinstory so you never miss an episode. This show is for educational purposes and should not be construed as investment advice. Until next time, keep stacking.