Latest news with #MikeNovogratz
The Verge
21-05-2025
- Business
- The Verge
Eric Adams and crypto whales demand that New York stop regulating crypto licenses
At a 'crypto summit' on Tuesday held by Eric Adams — the controversial mayor of New York City who recently escaped several federal corruption charges — crypto CEOs and investors made an open plea: please get rid of state crypto regulations so we can write our own and turn the Big Apple into a 'crypto sanctuary city.' This was, in fact, Adams's goal for the summit. 'I smell money, crypto, crypto, blockchain, and all the good things,' he told reporters at a press conference right before the private event began. As of now, crypto companies can only do business in New York state if they acquire a BitLicense from state financial regulators, which is notoriously difficult to obtain. According to Bitcoin Magazine, attendees, which included Galaxy CEO Mike Novogratz and Nick Spanos, the founder of the New York City Bitcoin Center, frequently attacked the program, both in front of reporters and behind closed doors during the private event, arguing that it was preventing billions of dollars from entering the city. 'We're giving sanctuary to immigrants,' said Spanos. 'We can give sanctuary to crypto companies.' Though Adams can't directly change state law as mayor, he's previously called for the end of the Bitlicense program as well, and repeated his ask during the press conference. 'We need your help to lobby Albany to tell them there are serious and important things that could be done on our state level so we don't prevent the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry to grow in this city,' he told reporters. It's no surprise that Adams, who famously converted his first paychecks as mayor into bitcoin, is in agreement. Last September, federal prosecutors filed several corruption charges against Adams, accusing him of accepting illegal campaign contributions via bribery, wire fraud, and soliciting funds from a foreign national. After Donald Trump took office, however, the Department of Justice was ordered to drop its case, a move that compelled federal prosecutors to resign en masse. That background knowledge could not be overlooked during Adams's remarks, especially as he told the attendees that they, too, were victims of societal and government persecution. 'Look how they treated you. If we're honest in the conversation, you were audited,' he said. 'Many of you lost some of your profits. You were harassed. You were demonized. You were treated as though you were the enemy instead of the believers.' During the presser, Adams also announced that he was creating the city's first digital asset advisory council and would soon start appointing its chair and other members. It's safe to say that they would be drawn from the summit's attendees: the private, round-table event was deliberately modeled after the Trump White House's Digital Assets Summit in March. The Mayor's office claims that the attendees managed a combined $1 trillion in assets around the globe. Though the participants were not identified, Coinbase reported that they were primarily from unicorn startups and family offices, citing a spokesperson from a logistics firm involved in the summit.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
The GENIUS Act: Stablecoin is in 'different basket' than crypto
US lawmakers are currently voting on the GENIUS Act, the latest piece of legislation outlining regulatory oversights and consumer protections for stablecoin adoption, with many expecting the bill to pass through the Senate. Delta Blockchain Fund CEO Kavita Gupta discusses her positive outlook on the bill and what sets stablecoins apart from the broader crypto landscape. Catch Yahoo Finance's full interview with Galaxy Digital (GLXY) founder and CEO Mike Novogratz. To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Catalysts here. They're embracing us as opposed to chasing after us uh, and prosecuting us uh and now we're getting legislation and so you know, it's a huge tailwind for the industry, not just for Galaxy but the whole industry, but and we plan on taking advantage of it. That was Mike Novogratz of Galaxy cheering the changing regulatory regime for the crypto industry which could see even more changes as soon as today. Stablecoin legislation is expected to clear the Senate this week. Stable coins underpinned most of the 3.3 trillion dollar market for Bitcoin. The so-called genius act would require stable coins to hold reserves of liquid safe assets like treasury bills. Issuers would also have to follow anti-money laundering and terrorism finance rules and to give holders of coins priority to recoup their money in the event of a bankruptcy. Joining us to break down what this means for the broader crypto space, we have Kavita Gupta, Delta block Jane Fund, founder and general partner and still with me is Amy Wu Silverman of RBC. Kavita, great to have you on this morning. Talk to me about the stable coin legislation and what it signals specifically for crypto investors. Thank you, guys. Um, I think it's a very first good start move with this administration, especially because it's a bipartisan deal where we are saying, hey, let's legalize having stable coins, but let's put very strong and very good uh, positive and very structured uh rules around it that, hey, if you want to issue stable coins, you have to hold treasury bills, you have to have some sort of a collateral to support that you're not going to disappear. Also, at the same time, there is certain sort of transparency and accountability around it, which people can check what sort of a percentage of percentage of treasury bonds do you have? We have seen that trend, which has been questioned by SCC, two years, three years back uh, by Tether and Circle and different uh, different treasury bills uh circulations. And I think the accounting has always been a question what is acceptable or not acceptable? So finally having a very positive structured uh, rules and regulations around the around stable coin is I think is a very big part forward and is a big crypto vent. Yeah, and I wonder from your perspective too about the dissolution of some of the headwinds to the bill. The two main ones that I've heard come up are big tech companies issuing their own stable coins which seems to have been a headwind that has resolved itself, but then the other concern is the president profiting from crypto specifically. How are you thinking about that as a risk to the legitimacy of crypto going forward? I think when we think of stable coin, it is not a crypto which anybody or any token like Solana or like any of the 2,000, 10,000 tokens which we have any private company can just go issue and create a value associated with it. We have to put stable coin in a different basket. Stable coin are US or European or Indian, like whatever currency you take, it is a government issues currency backed and it is backed to it one is to one. So, uh, I think it is very different than the two issues which you highlighted. The first issue which you highlighted is very clear that can private companies like Meta or Square or any other uh, tech finance company can issue their own coins. Yes, they can. They can do the stable coins with the right regulations, but that is also very similar to digital payment system, which we are already using. When I do Venmo, I'm using digital payment system. Uh, can they do their own crypto? That is not in the stable coin basket. The other question which you asked about President Trump's benefiting from it, I think if it's a stable coin payment system, it's a, it's a, it's a fair game. Anybody and everybody can do that. But if it is about launching your own crypto, again, that's a different basket and if it's a conflict of interest where the president knowing everything, what regulations are coming, is participating in a financial deal, then yes, it is a very clear conflict of interest. Yeah, and just zooming out beyond stable coins, just a crypto in general, Kavita, can you talk to me about how that potential conflict of interest reads into consumer sentiment, investor sentiment around crypto and I guess, is that a potential headwind in your view to a wider adoption of cryptocurrencies? It is, it is a big uh, it is a big question. Uh, I mean, on one side, I want to look at it positively saying that we are seeing the biggest, like the president, the first president of United States, who is very positive about blockchain and crypto is actually having his extended family participating uh, in creating a lot of products around it and having commercial financial uh interest into it. So is that a positive long term uh vision around it? Yes, but at the same time, if it stays within the extended family without having any conflict of interest from the government position, that is much better because when we start seeing this as a tool of short-term benefiting by people in power, which could be anybody around the world, then of course, the investors start thinking that this is also going to come down heavily by the opposition who may be in power in the future and that is not a sentiment that does create volatility in the market, which we are seeing even though that the government is so pro crypto, but the market is not showing that strength in trust for the investable dollar amount. Kavita, really appreciate you joining us. I hope you'll come back when we've got a little bit more time. Thank you so much for your insights. Thank you.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Bitcoin Adoption News: Top Win Rebrands, Steak N Shake Accepts BTC, Galaxy's Nasdaq Debut
Galaxy Digital (GLXY) just debuted on the Nasdaq, but it appears the financial services company's listing will be jostling for the attention of the crypto sphere's hive mind. Crypto X — still widely known as Crypto Twitter (CT) despite the platform's name change — was abuzz with users sharing news of fast food company Steak n' Shake starting to accept bitcoin BTC payments over the Lightning network, having announced its plans to do so a week ago. A video posted on the social-media platform shows a customer completing an order at a self-service machine, choosing the "Pay With Bitcoin" option and scanning the QR code with their Lightning wallet in the Zeus app. Another company raising the bitcoin flag is Top Win International (TOPW), a luxury watch wholesaler, which said it will change its name to AsiaStrategy and manage its treasury in digital assets. It is, in effect, following the model of Michael Saylor's software company Strategy (MSTR), which now owns 568,840 BTC, more than 2.5% of all the bitcoin that will ever exist. Hong Kong-based Top Win is partnering with crypto-backed venture capital firm Sora for its new pivot. Shares of the company rose as much as 45% before losing the gains to trade down 31% at $5.14. Sora previously worked with Tokyo-based Metaplanet (3350), another company copying the Strategy model. Galaxy, the Toronto-based crypto-focused financial services firm led by Mike Novogratz, has commenced trading on Nasdaq Global Select Market. Novogratz, who described the listing as a "pivotal moment" for Galaxy in a letter shared via email, rang the opening bell on the Nasdaq floor on Friday. Galaxy announced its plans at the end of last month, in which it also said GLXY would remain listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) "for a period of time following [its] intended listing on Nasdaq." GLXY shares traded at around $22.61 in early trading, 3.2% higher on the day. The Toronto-traded shares rose 2.98% to C$31.48 ($22.53).
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
The Bull Case for Galaxy Digital Is AI Data Centers Not Bitcoin Mining, Research Firm Says
When Galaxy Digital (GLXY) CEO Mike Novogratz bought Argos' Helios data center in late 2022, at the depths of the post-FTX crypto winter, the company thought they were bailing out a desperate bitcoin (BTC) miner on the brink of bankruptcy. This, however, was before ChatGPT had become mainstream. Novogratz and co. had no idea that this data center would be a strategic asset as the growing Artificial Intelligence (AI) industry clamours for more data center space, thanks to the explosive growth of Large Language Models (LLMs). As analysts from Rittenhouse Research outlined in a new note, Galaxy's lucky find, which instigated the company's move out of BTC mining altogether, might now be crypto's most lucrative pivot, as they make the case that the infrastructure used to mine digital gold is better used to process AI algorithms, and firms that shift away from BTC mining towards AI infrastructure are set to be the next growth stocks. Analysts from Rittenhouse argue that AI data centers represent a significantly more lucrative business model than BTC mining because they generate stable, long-term cash flows with minimal ongoing capital expenditures, contrasting sharply with the volatility and capital intensity of bitcoin mining. BTC mining revenues inherently decline by approximately 50% every four years due to the scheduled halvinings. Effectively, the play for a miner is being a long-term bull on BTC's price and the ability for semiconductor fabs and designers to develop chips that are perpetually more efficient, and, for an investor, that's a lot of variables. In contrast, AI data centers like Galaxy's Helios facility earn consistent, high-margin revenue through long-term, triple net leases to hyperscaler tenants (a large-scale cloud computing provider), without needing continuous investment in mining equipment. 'Galaxy stumbled upon Helios by virtue of good luck,' Rittenhouse wrote in their note. While competitors such as Riot Platforms and Cipher Mining have publicly tried to "rewrite history," retroactively suggesting their business was always broader than BTC mining, analysts say, 'in reality, these miners had zero intentions to do anything besides mine BTC until ChatGPT was launched.' Galaxy's transition reflects a broader trend as BTC miners attempt to pivot toward AI and cloud computing. Yet, analysts underscore Galaxy's significant advantage, stemming from its superior balance sheet ($1.8 billion of net cash and investments), successful execution record, and credibility established through the CoreWeave lease. While some have raised concerns over CoreWeave's creditworthiness, causing Galaxy's shares to trade at a significant discount, Rittenhouse analysts say these fears are significantly overblown, highlighting CoreWeave's exceptional revenue stability from long-term contracts accounting for 96% of its revenues and its strong institutional backing. The analysts emphasize that CoreWeave's debt is carefully structured through delayed draw term loans, utilized specifically to finance infrastructure directly linked to secured customer agreements, dramatically reducing default risk. Rittenhouse also notes that Galaxy has gone fully in on AI, and now doesn't have any exposure to mining. "Galaxy has completely exited all bitcoin mining activities to focus solely on its AI data center ambitions, which sends a positive signal to potential hyperscaler tenants," analysts wrote. As Rittenhouse writes, Cipher Mining's CEO Tyler Page recently acknowledged the uphill battle miners face when approaching major AI customers. "It's not lost on us that if we're talking to a counterparty with a $1 trillion market cap... One drawback for bitcoin miners is that major counterparties say, 'wow, that's a big obligation for you guys to backstop for such an important investment for us,'" Page said on the company's Q1 2025 earnings call. Galaxy doesn't have that problem. With this Helios deal in place and Novogratz's company totally out of mining, Galaxy's accidental pivot might just turn out to be crypto's best strategic move in years – if Rittenhouse's thesis is correct.
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
The GENIUS Act: Stablecoin is in 'different basket' than crypto
US lawmakers are currently voting on the GENIUS Act, the latest piece of legislation outlining regulatory oversights and consumer protections for stablecoin adoption, with many expecting the bill to pass through the Senate. Delta Blockchain Fund CEO Kavita Gupta discusses her positive outlook on the bill and what sets stablecoins apart from the broader crypto landscape. Catch Yahoo Finance's full interview with Galaxy Digital (GLXY) founder and CEO Mike Novogratz. To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Catalysts here. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
