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Circle reported a major Q1 earnings beat on Monday, alongside a surprise disclosure: the stablecoin issuer raised $222 million in a presale of its Arc blockchain token at a $3 billion fully diluted valuation. Led by a16z crypto with participation from BlackRock, Apollo, Intercontinental Exchange, ARK Invest, Haun Ventures, and Standard Chartered Ventures, Circle also launched its Agent Stack for autonomous AI agent payments. Arc is a public Layer-1 blockchain for institutional finance, with USDC as native gas token, sub-second finality, and quantum resistance at mainnet launch.
Circle's Q1 numbers were impressive: $694M total revenue, $77B USDC in circulation, and $21.5T in onchain transaction volume. CEO Jeremy Allaire commented, "We're entering the operating system business." Circle stock jumped 16% on the day.
Michael Saylor spent Monday clarifying Strategy's plan to sell Bitcoin, calling concerns "a big nothing burger." He explained that any sale would be a tax loss harvesting maneuver, crystalizing capital losses against unrealized losses for a tax benefit. Saylor noted that if Strategy sold enough Bitcoin to cover all dividends for a year, it would simultaneously be buying 20 Bitcoin for every one sold. Strategy also disclosed it bought 535 BTC last week at $80,340. With STRC back at $100 par value, a significantly larger buy is expected this week.
Kraken parent Payward is raising new capital at a $20 billion valuation as it accelerates acquisitions ahead of a planned IPO. Co-CEO Arjun Sethi said the exchange is "80% ready" to go public, contingent on market conditions. The company generated $2.2 billion in adjusted revenue in 2025.
Bitcoin flashed a golden cross on Monday, the first since June 2025, with BTC climbing from its February low near $60K to $81K. Historically, golden crosses in 2023 and 2024 preceded significant rallies.
In other news: MoonPay acquired Dawn Labs and launched an AI trading tool; Solana's Alpenglow upgrade went live; Grayscale filed for the first spot ETF for a privacy coin, converting its Zcash Trust; and Hyperliquid's first ETF launched today with ticker THYP.