Standard Chartered Bank Signs Partnership With Digital Asset Broker FalconX

Digital asset broker FalconX has announced a strategic partnership with British multinational bank Standard Chartered to enhance services for institutional clients. 

In the first phase of the partnership, Standard Chartered will offer a range of banking and foreign exchange (FX) services to FalconX, helping to improve the platform’s ability to handle cross-border payments. Over time, this partnership will expand into other offerings and mutual opportunities, the company stated.

By integrating Standard Chartered’s banking infrastructure, FalconX will now have access to more currency pairs, making cross-border transactions faster and more reliable for clients. 

“We are pleased…

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A new look, and the crypto-ization of finance

This is a segment from The Breakdown newsletter. To read full editions, subscribe.

“Sometimes the best investments are precisely the ones you cannot explain and probably make no sense.” 

— Richard Toh

When I started writing this newsletter nearly four years ago, I kept the subject matter high-level — mostly because I didn’t understand the low level.

That’s not what I expected it to be.

Instead, I expected it to be like the morning notes I sometimes wrote for clients in my previous job as an equities trader — notes that were mostly just a rundown of news taken from a Bloomberg terminal that the clients also had but were too lazy to look at (people used to…

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SOL is up and memes are back

This is a segment from the Lightspeed newsletter. To read full editions, subscribe.

What a beautiful Wednesday. The sun is shining, the flowers are in bloom, and SOL (for a moment at least) was back above $180. How sweet it is.

After lagging behind its own fundamentals for months, Solana’s markets are finally playing catch-up. We’ve had a roughly 21% rally so far this week, with the asset reclaiming territory not seen since Q1, following a sudden spike in retail risk appetite.

Solana’s total value locked (TVL) is up 52% month over month, now at $9.5 billion — about 23% short of its all-time high.

Data from deBridge shows that about $27.9 million has moved from…

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Japan’s ‘MicroStrategy’ Metaplanet Posts Record Quarter Numbers, Now Owns Over $700 Million Bitcoin

Metaplanet Inc. widely recognized as Japan’s leading Bitcoin treasury company, has reported its strongest quarter to date for Q1 FY2025, marked by record operating profit and a significant expansion of its balance sheet.

Metaplanet Q1 Financials released:

– Revenue: ¥877M (+8% QoQ) (88% from BTC Income Generation business)– Operating Profit: ¥593M (a new company record)– Net Assets: ¥50.4B (+197% QoQ)

Full 48 Page Presentation with outlook on mNAV & much more: pic.twitter.com/a8SMEKNODh

— Dylan LeClair (@DylanLeClair_) May 14, 2025

Revenue reached ¥877 million, an 8% increase quarter-over-quarter (QoQ), while operating profit hit a record…

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Big Tech stocks extend rally on Chinese tariff pause

This is a segment from the Forward Guidance newsletter. To read full editions, subscribe.

Thanks to the early signs of a trade deal with China and a better-than-expected April CPI print, Big Tech (and just about everything else) is up this week. 

The S&P 500 North American tech sector index is up 8.4% over the past five trading days. The Nasdaq Composite has gained 6.3% in that time. 

Even Microsoft and Nvidia — despite their respective headwinds (which we’ll get into later) — are in the green. They’re up 3% and 13%, respectively, in the past five days. 

The way I see it, there are two main forces poised to significantly impact Big Tech: tariffs and AI. These…

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Bitcoin & Crypto Will Be in Everyone’s 401(k), Says Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong isn’t just celebrating his company’s inclusion in the S&P 500—he’s forecasting a major shift in the way Americans invest for retirement. In an interview with CNBC following the May 12 announcement, Armstrong stated that cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are “going to be a part of everyone’s 401(k).”

JUST IN – Coinbase CEO on joining the S&P 500: “Crypto is here to stay. It’s going to be a part of everyone’s 401(k).” pic.twitter.com/9vWaWDTuHd

— Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) May 14, 2025

The comment follows news that Coinbase will officially be added to the S&P 500 on May 19, replacing Discover Financial Services after its merger…

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WE CAN’T LET ATLANTA WIN THE HASH LEAGUE!

After inventing the Hash League competition at Bitcoin Plus Plus Austin, ATLBitlab is dominating the leaderboards. Bitcoiners worldwide need to step up and stop them!

Last week at Bitcoin Plus Plus Austin, Stephen and Maru Sabando from the Atlanta Bitcoin Community dominated the conference’s hackathon.  He who plugs the most hash rate wins and Atlanta is dominating! 

I for one think Austin should be giving them serious competition given the concentration of Bitaxes in offices all over the city. Who will step up and start the Austin Hash Force? Will Nashville answer the call? Someone needs to challenge the Atlanta Bitaxe army.

Their project called Hash League pits Bitcoin…

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Metaplanet Delivers Record-Breaking Q1 With Massive Bitcoin Treasury Growth

In Q1 FY2025, Metaplanet posted the strongest financial results in its 20-year corporate history—driven by a Bitcoin treasury strategy that is now operating at scale.

Metaplanet isn’t just aligning with Bitcoin. It’s compounding shareholder value through it—by using capital markets infrastructure, BTC-native KPIs, and recurring income strategies to systematically increase Bitcoin per share.

With 6,976 BTC on its balance sheet, a 170% BTC Yield year-to-date, and a growing global footprint, Metaplanet is no longer a signal — It’s a system.

A Breakout Quarter for Japan’s Bitcoin Treasury Leader

Metaplanet’s Q1 FY2025 results marked a turning point—not…

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You Aren’t Mad At Bitcoin Core, You’re Mad At Me

The current “debate”, and even calling it that is me being wildly over-charitable, over OP_RETURN is one of the most absurd situations I have ever seen in this space. I say that as someone who has been in Bitcoin for over a decade. Even the blocksize wars don’t hold a candle to this, at least in terms of utter absurdity. At least back then it was focused around an actual engineering disagreement. 

I want to comment on one thing today though. Stop directing your irrational rage and nonsense at the wrong targets. You aren’t mad at Bitcoin Core, you are mad at me. 

NO ONE can alter your node except you. NO ONE can make you download a version of Bitcoin Core that changes…

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Defense In Samourai Case Argues That Hearing Over Delayed Brady Disclosure Is Warranted

On Monday, May 12, the defense in the Samourai Wallet case submitted a letter to the SDNY in which it made the case for the court to schedule a hearing regarding the information that came to light on April 1, 2025 about an August 23, 2023 call between the prosecution (“Government”) and FinCEN in which members of FinCEN stated that they didn’t believe that Samourai Wallet was a money transmitting business due to the noncustodial nature of the product.

The submission of this letter comes on the heels of a letter that the prosecution submitted to the court on Friday, May 9 in which it claimed that it didn’t violate the Brady rule (withhold exculpatory evidence).

Defense Claims… Read more on BitcoinMagazine