Morning Minute: Saylor Buys $2.13B in Bitcoin, 9-Month High

Morning Minute is a daily newsletter written by Tyler Warner. The analysis and opinions expressed are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Decrypt. Subscribe to the Morning Minute on Substack.

GM!

Today’s top news:

• Crypto majors very red and down 3-6% on day; BTC at $88,200
• Saylor’s Strategy bought 9-month high $2.13B in BTC last week
• Delaware Life added BTC to its insurane product via IBIT
• Solana Mobile’s SKR token debuted at $120M FDV
• Infinex announced its TGE plans aiming for Jan 30

🟠 Saylor Reloads With His Biggest Bitcoin Buy in 9 Months

Strategy is leaning on their newest instrument to keep stacking BTC.

📌 What Happened

Michael Saylor’s firm Strategy executed its largest Bitcoin purchase in nine months last week, spending roughly $2.1B to add to its already record BTC treasury.

They added 22,035 Bitcoin at a $95,280 average (unfortunately, nearly 7% above the price today).

Notably, Strategy financed a portion of the buy using STRC, a newly introduced structured credit instrument, rather than issuing common equity.

• STRC is Strategy’s Series A Perpetual “Stretch” Preferred Stock, a variable-rate preferred equity instrument designed to trade near its $100 par value while paying monthly cash dividends
• The dividend currently equates to roughly an 11% annualized yield, with the rate adjusting regularly to limit price volatility and keep the instrument functioning like a cash-style income product
• Strategy uses STRC to raise capital for Bitcoin accumulation without issuing common equity or relying on traditional high-risk debt
• STRC is not directly collateralized by Bitcoin, but is supported by a balance sheet dominated by BTC, linking investor returns to Strategy’s long-term Bitcoin strategy

Saylor’s newest financial instrument is starting to pay off.

🗣️ What They’re Saying

“3% of all btc owned by microstrategy was acquired last week” – Udi Wertheimer on X

🧠 Why It Matters

This purchase offers a clearer look at how Strategy’s ecosystem is evolving.

Bitcoin is now becoming the anchor for a growing credit framework that allows Strategy to raise capital without selling BTC or repeatedly diluting equity holders.

This is conceptually bullish MSTR, as he won’t have to continue to dilute shareholders to raise capital for Bitcoin. And bullish Bitcoin as Saylor now has a new income stream from which to fund purchases.

All without touching his Bitcoin stack.

Over time, this approach pushes Strategy closer to a Bitcoin-backed financial platform than a single corporate treasury strategy.

The fact that over $100M was raised in a single week through STRC shows that the concept is turning into reality.

And STRC holding its $100 peg despite the Bitcoin selloff yesterday shows that it may very well have staying power…

🌎 Macro Crypto and Markets

A few headlines that stood out:

• Crypto majors are very red following a red Tuesday across markets; BTC -3% at $88,200; ETH -6% at $2,905, SOL -2% at $127; XRP -2% to $1.88
• MYX (+11%) and ZRO (+10%) led top movers
• Bitcoin and Solana both fell below key technical support levels as selling pressure accelerated
• Over $1B in longs were liquidated during Bitcoin’s slide below $88k
• Delaware Life added Bitcoin exposure to a fixed indexed annuity by linking performance to BlackRock’s spot BTC ETF, one of the first big moves to expand crypto access inside traditional insurance products
• Trump Media announced plans to airdrop crypto tokens to shareholders in February, marking its first onchain incentive tied directly to equity ownership
• Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong traveled to Davos to push for a “win-win” U.S. crypto market structure bill amid renewed regulatory momentum
• Portugal’s gambling regulator blocked access to Polymarket, citing unlicensed gambling concerns as prediction markets face mounting global scrutiny
• The CFTC warned it is underprepared to take on a broader crypto oversight role, as the agency faces staffing shortages after a roughly 21.5% workforce reduction
• Galaxy Digital announced plans for a $100M hedge fund targeting crypto and fintech
• World Liberty Fi announced its first annual form at Mar-A-Lago on Feb 18

In Corporate Treasuries / ETFs

• The BTC ETFs saw $480M in net outflows on Monday; ETH ETFs saw $230M in outflows
• Strategy executed its largest Bitcoin purchase in nine months, spending $2.13B on 22,305 BTC at a $95,280 average
• BitMine purchased $108M worth of ETH, now 74% of the way to their 5% goal
• Strategy, SharpLink, BitMine, and MARA all slid in equity trading as Bitcoin dropped below $90,000

In Memes / Onchain Movers

• Meme majors were red down 2-3%; Doge -3%, Shiba -1%, PEPE -4%, TRUMP -1%, Bonk -2%, Pengu -2%, SPX -3%, WIF -2% and Fartcoin -3%
• Pippin +20% to $320M led notable onchain movers

💰 Token, Airdrop & Protocol Tracker

• Solana Mobile launched its SKR token and TGE last night, opening above $100M fdv
• Infinex announced its TGE for Jan 30 along with details about its patrons and how they’ll be handled at TGE

🚚 What is happening in NFTs?

• NFT leaders were very red; Punks -6% at 27.24 ETH, Pudgy -3% at 4.79 ETH, and BAYC -3% at 5.83 ETH; Hypurr even at 475 HYPE
• Deafbeef (+20%) and mfers (+8%) led notable top movers