Crypto Market Update: Strive Outpaces Strategy in Bitcoin Race

Bitcoin price update

Bitcoin (BTC) was priced at US$81,733.78, trading 1.6 percent lower over the past 24 hours.

Bitcoin inched higher earlier in the week, moving from about US$82,300 at the end of last week to more than US$83,000 on Tuesday (October 13). The popular cryptocurrency briefly reached US$84,000 early on Wednesday ahead of the latest US consumer price index data, which came in hotter than expected.

The all-items index was up 3.7 percent year-on-year, higher than the 3.4 percent seen in August. Core inflation, which leaves out food and energy, rose 2.6 percent, above the 2.5 percent analysts expected.

Bitcoion's gains faded after the report, slipping below US$82,000; on Monday (October 12), Bitfire Research said that level could open the door to a drop toward US$79,000.

Before the report was released, Lacie Zhang, research lead at Bitget Wallet, said that “the biggest risk investors may be underpricing is that sticky core inflation keeps the Fed on a higher-for-longer path beyond the single additional hike many still expect later this year." Meanwhile, Glassnode analysts said Bitcoin is “boxed in."

Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan took a longer-term view in his weekly memo.

He argues that whether the economy booms, slips into a recession or just muddles along, Bitcoin is likely to end up higher over time — though he cautioned that the path won’t be a straight line.

“But for long-term investors, the big macro questions matter less than most people think. That’s because, of all the different paths the economy can take, virtually all of them still lead to bitcoin,” he wrote.

Bitcoin price chart

Ether and altcoin price update

• Ethereum (ETH) was priced at US$2,428.94, trading 2.7 percent lower over the last 24 hours.

• XRP (XRP) was priced at US$1.33, trading 2.6 percent lower over the past 24 hours.

• Solana (SOL) was trading at US$104.14, trading 2.6 percent lower over the past 24 hours.

Today's crypto news to know

Read on for a round-up of the biggest crypto market news:

• Strive doubles down with US$235 million Bitcoin purchase
• Perpetuals.com files to offer tokenized US stocks under new SEC exemption
• Payward to acquire Lithuania's Saldo Bank
• Coinbase warns of quantum computing threats to Bitcoin security

Strive doubles down with US$235 million Bitcoin purchase

Bitcoin treasury firm Strive (NASDAQ: ASST) acquired an additional 2,822 BTC for US$235 million through Tuesday (October 13), following a purchase of 3,311 BTC the previous week.

The firm now holds 35,595 BTC, placing it fourth among corporate treasuries behind Strategy (NASDAQ:MSTR), Metaplanet (TSE:3350,OTCQX:MTPLF) and Twenty One Capital.

CEO Matt Cole announced the purchase on X after Strive surpassed MARA Holdings (NASDAQ:MARA) to secure its top four ranking. The company financed the acquisition primarily through US$208 million raised when investors exercised Strive warrants before a US$15.3 million batch expired on October 13.

Strive's share price dropped over 2 percent to trade around US$27 following the announcement, though the stock remains up over 81 percent year-to-date. Its aggressive buying contrasts with competitor Strategy, which purchased 250 BTC for US$21.5 million that same week while deploying US$192.4 million to repurchase its preferred shares.

Perpetuals.com files to offer tokenized US stocks under new SEC exemption

Nasdaq-listed Perpetuals.com (NASDAQ:PDC) said on Wednesday that it plans to offer tokenized US stocks using the temporary exemption the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) introduced last month.

In a press release, the company says its platform would offer around-the-clock trading, near-instant settlement and the option to buy fractions of a share. Token holders would keep full dividend and voting rights.

Perpetuals.com has published a notice of its intent to rely on the exemption, which covers platforms the SEC calls tokenized securities venues. The SEC issued the exemption on September 17 as a stopgap until it writes permanent rules. It runs for five years and covers tokenized versions of US-listed stocks only.

According to law firm summaries of the order, a venue must notify each company before listing tokens of its shares, then wait 30 days. The listing cannot go ahead if the company objects. The order also caps how much of each stock can trade on these venues and bars buying with borrowed money.

The move builds on Perpetuals’ existing tokenization platform in Europe.

The company says its founding team created the first regulator-approved tokenized stocks in 2021. Those were offered on exchanges including Binance, FTX and Bittrex. Perpetuals began trading on the Nasdaq in January after Japan’s Earlyworks acquired Perpetual Markets and took the Perpetuals.com name.

“The Perpetuals team has long been trailblazers in tokenization, and this expansion into the US allows us to further utilize our platform and deep expertise,” said CEO Patrick Gruhn.

Payward to acquire Lithuania's Saldo Bank

Payward, the parent company of cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, announced it has agreed to buy Lithuania-based Saldo Bank to expand its European lending and card issuing capabilities.

The acquisition makes Payward the first digital asset firm to purchase a bank in Europe, according to a report from the Financial Times. Saldo received its European Union banking license in 2021 and currently provides consumer loans, business loans and term deposit products across the region.

Payward co-CEO Arjun Sethi said the acquisition allows the firm to unify cash, crypto, tokenized stocks and credit into a single system where clients can borrow against assets without selling them.

The San Francisco-based firm previously applied in May for a national trust company charter from the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). The Independent Community Bankers of America sued the OCC this month over those charters, arguing that granting federal bank status to crypto firms exceeds the agency's legal authority.

Payward expects the acquisition to close in 2027 following formal regulatory approvals, while Kraken's planned initial public offering remains delayed until at least the second quarter of 2027.

Coinbase warns of quantum computing threats to Bitcoin security

Coinbase Global (NASDAQ:COIN) published a blog post urging Bitcoin developers to prepare early for quantum computing threats that could compromise the cryptography securing user wallets.

The exchange is warning that developing and deploying quantum-resistant cryptography will require a complex, multi-year upgrade process across the entire network.

Coinbase notes that a sufficiently powerful quantum computer could derive private keys from public keys exposed on the blockchain, noting that Glassnode data shows 30 percent of Bitcoin's supply sits in addresses with visible public keys. The custodian holds approximately 5 percent of all existing Bitcoin for institutional clients and confirmed its participation in the Bitcoin Security Consortium to support phased upgrades like BIP-360 and P2TRv2.

Coinbase emphasized that upgrading the network creates a separate governance and engineering challenge regarding dormant or lost coins that owners cannot or will not move to quantum-safe addresses.