Paris-based digital asset treasury firm Sequans said Tuesday it sold 970 BTC to repay $94.5 million in convertible debt, reducing its holdings to 2,264 BTC.
The following article is adapted from The Block’s newsletter, The Daily, which comes out on weekday afternoons.
Happy Tuesday! Over $1.3 billion in crypto positions were liquidated in 24 hours as bitcoin’s drop back toward $100,000 hit a “fragile” market, according to analysts.
In today’s newsletter, Stream Finance halts withdrawals and deposits after a $93 million loss, Sequans dumps nearly a third of its bitcoin holdings to pay down debt, Strategy proposes a euro-denominated STRE share offering for future BTC acquisitions, and more.
Meanwhile, former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried returns to court seeking a new trial after his fraud conviction.
Let’s get started!
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Stream Finance’s external fund manager discloses $93 million loss
DeFi protocol Stream Finance temporarily suspended all withdrawals and deposits after an external fund manager disclosed a $93 million loss in its fund assets.
* The project is working to retrieve all remaining liquid assets and said it expects to complete the process soon.
* Stream also hired Perkins Coie LLP lawyers Keith Miller and Joseph Cutler to lead the investigation into the scope and cause of the loss.
* Pending deposits will not be processed while the suspension remains in effect, Stream confirmed.
* Earlier on Monday, blockchain security firm PeckShield flagged that the project’s Staked Stream USD (xUSD) stablecoin had depegged, subsequently dropping as low as $0.25 on Tuesday, per CoinGecko data.
* Meanwhile, independent DeFi analysts highlighted possible indirect exposure of more than $285 million in loan and collateral positions tied to Stream Finance’s loss across a network of lending markets, stablecoins, and liquidity vaults.
Sequans dumps nearly a third of its bitcoin holdings to pay down debt
Paris-based digital asset treasury firm Sequans said Tuesday it sold 970 BTC to repay $94.5 million in convertible debt, reducing its bitcoin holdings to 2,264 BTC.
* The sale marks the first major divestment by a public bitcoin treasury firm, dropping Sequans from rank 29 to 33 on the Bitcoin Treasuries leaderboard.
* The company framed the move as a “strategic asset reallocation” aimed at strengthening its balance sheet. Sequans CEO Georges Karam said it was a tactical decision to unlock shareholder value given current market conditions.
* Sequans also said the debt reduction frees capacity for share buybacks and potential preferred share issuance as its common stock trades near $6.20 — down 56% since the firm embarked on its bitcoin treasury strategy.
Strategy proposes euro STRE share offering to fund future bitcoin buys
Leading bitcoin treasury firm Strategy filed to offer 3.5 million shares of its new euro-denominated perpetual preferred stock, STRE, to fund future bitcoin purchases and general corporate purposes.
* STRE carries a 10% annual cumulative dividend. Unpaid dividends compound quarterly, initially at 11% and rising by 100 basis points per period to a maximum of 18%, with payments starting Dec. 31.
* Last week, the company bought another 397 BTC for about $45.6 million at an average price of $114,771, bringing total holdings to 641,205 BTC.
* Analysts from Mizuho, TD Cowen, and Benchmark said Strategy’s slower bitcoin accumulation this quarter appears cyclical rather than structural, with its acquisition model remaining sustainable into 2026.
FTX withdraws motion seeking to limit repayments in China, Russia and other restricted jurisdictions
The FTX estate withdrew its controversial motion to create a “restricted jurisdiction” procedure that could have led to forfeiting customer claims in countries like China, Russia, and Ukraine.
* The proposal covered 49 jurisdictions with around $800 million in claims, 82% of which were linked to China, representing roughly 5% of FTX’s estimated $16 billion in potential distributions.
* Creditors, including a group of over 300 Chinese claimants, opposed the motion, arguing it lacked legal and factual grounds to classify China as restricted.
* The withdrawal was made without prejudice, meaning the FTX trust may refile the motion at a later date with notice under applicable rules.
‘Own power, get a $9.7 billion Microsoft deal’
Analysts at Bernstein raised their price target for IREN to $125 from $75 after the bitcoin miner secured a $9.7 billion, five-year AI cloud contract with Microsoft.
* The deal will see IREN provide 200 MW of GPU-based capacity in Texas, which translates to an additional $2 billion in annual revenue by the end of 2027, Bernstein said.
* IREN’s ownership of its 2.9 GW of power portfolio gives it a structural margin and scalability edge over hosted rivals like CoreWeave, cementing its shift into a vertically integrated AI cloud operator, the analysts added.
In the next 24 hours
* Eurozone PPI figures are due at 5 a.m. ET on Wednesday. U.S. mortgage data follows at 7 a.m.
* Ethena and Access Protocol are set for token unlocks.
* SmartCon 2025 concludes in NYC. Blockchain Futurist Conference 2025 kicks off in Miami.
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