Bessent’s Bond Buyback Gamble, Druckenmiller’s Response, and More

WEEK IN REVIEW

$13T Asset Manager Charles Schwab Adds 3 Altcoins to Its Crypto Push

There’s been a great deal of institutional interest in crypto assets over the last two years, and on Thursday, the $13 trillion asset manager Charles Schwab announced that it is expanding its digital asset listings beyond bitcoin…

Editor’s comment:

Just in time for a bull market, or at least the bottom of the bear market, the institutions are providing more access to crypto for clients. With ETPs increasingly becoming one of the main sources of buy pressure, this is exactly the thing bagholders want to see.

Circle Mints 5 Billion USDC in a Week as Supply Race With Tether Heats up

Circle minted roughly 5 billion USDC over the past week, according to onchain trackers, in one of its largest weekly issuance pushes yet…

Editor’s comment:

With a slight lag, the market cap of all stablecoins typically lines up with bull and bear cycles, and with that number breaking its downtrend over the last couple weeks, it bodes well for crypto. More digital dollars in the internet of money equals more potential buy pressure and liquidity.

Bessent’s Bond Buyback Gamble Could Pour Fuel on Bitcoin’s Price

Bitcoin’s price reclaimed $80,000 per unit on Thursday after breaking past a key $79,000 resistance level, driving its market capitalization back to $1.61 trillion…

Editor’s comment:

The reaction to Bessent’s new strategy may be overblown and narrative-driven for now, but Ray Dalio notes that lowering yields may force those with fixed income-style investments to go more into safe havens like gold and Bitcoin, which have both trended higher since the Treasury’s announcement

Druckenmiller Blasts Treasury’s $4B Gambit as Bitcoin Bulls Circle

The U.S. Treasury is pushing back against punishing long-term government borrowing costs, dragging a decades-old yield control debate back onto Wall Street just as bitcoin’s price…

Editor’s comment:

As Jamie Redman notes, this is, in fact, a decades old debate, and the Treasury’s buybacks don’t amount to formal yield curve control or “QE.” However, in a narrative-driven market environment, prices tend to look for any excuse they can to move in the direction they want.

Coinbase, Better Open Bitcoin Mortgages After $260M Waitlist Demand

Qualified homebuyers can cover their cash down payment by borrowing against bitcoin instead of selling it, keeping the main mortgage a standard Fannie Mae loan.

Editor’s comment:

Coinbase is making serious strides to becoming the winning “super app” when it comes to crypto. While not a particularly sexy product and not without its disadvantages to a traditional mortgage, crypto-backed mortgages are a real use case that is actually already up and running and apparently has real demand.