Latest news with #Bitcoin-backed
Business Insider
a day ago
- Business
- Business Insider
Nectra Launches Bitcoin-Backed Stablecoin Protocol, Redefining Bitcoin Loans
George Town, Cayman Islands, June 19th, 2025, Chainwire Today marks the introduction of Nectra, a permissionless lending protocol that allows Bitcoin holders to borrow against their BTC using nUSD, a decentralized, Bitcoin-backed stablecoin. Built on Citrea, Bitcoin's first ZK rollup, Nectra is pioneering a new era of non-custodial Bitcoin finance. In a landscape dominated by custodial lenders and opaque terms, Nectra brings a trust-minimized alternative—where there are no intermediaries, interest rates are user-set, and transparency is enforced on-chain. The result is a radically simplified and secure way to unlock liquidity without selling or rehypothecating Bitcoin. 'Bitcoin deserves financial applications that respect its ethos: decentralization, transparency, and self-sovereignty,' said Jo Carmack, co-founder of Nectra. 'With Nectra, Bitcoin becomes more than a store of value—it becomes an active financial asset.' Key Features of Nectra: Non-custodial loans: Users retain control of their Bitcoin throughout the lending process. Custom interest rates: Borrowers select their own APR. High LTVs: Borrow up to 83.3% of the value of traders' Bitcoin. Instant access to nUSD: A Bitcoin-backed stablecoin redeemable for BTC at any time. Real on-chain yield: Traders can earn yield by depositing nUSD into the protocol's Savings Account. Unlike centralized platforms, Nectra introduces no middlemen, no exorbitant fees, and no rehypothecation or pledging of funds. All logic is encoded in immutable smart contracts—ensuring permissionless access. Nectra is now live on Citrea testnet, with its mainnet launch and points program coming soon. Bitcoiners can already begin testing loans, redeeming nUSD, and earning yield—all while staying true to Bitcoin's principles. To Explore Nectra: About Nectra Nectra is a decentralized lending protocol that enables Bitcoin holders to borrow nUSD— a Bitcoin-backed stablecoin—without intermediaries or custodians. Built on Citrea, Bitcoin's first ZK rollup, Nectra offers permissionless, transparent, and immutable Bitcoin loans. By staying true to Bitcoin's principles, Nectra allows users to unlock Bitcoin liquidity in a Bitcoin-aligned way. Contact
Business Insider
7 days ago
- Business
- Business Insider
Short-Seller Chanos and Michael Saylor Argue Over Strategy Stock's (MSTR) Valuation
The war of words between famous short-seller Jim Chanos and Strategy's (MSTR) executive chairman, Michael Saylor, over the Bitcoin treasury company's premium valuation continues. In an interview with Bloomberg TV, Chanos called Saylor a 'wonderful salesman' and believes that Strategy, previously known as MicroStrategy, should not be valued only on the basis of its Bitcoin Holdings. Confident Investing Starts Here: Notably, Strategy has been accumulating Bitcoin by raising funds through equity or debt offerings to purchase the cryptocurrency. Interestingly, the company has shifted to selling preferred stock to fund its Bitcoin purchases, instead of convertible bonds or at-the-money common stock sales. Chanos Suggests that Traders Short Strategy Stock The debate between Chanos and Saylor was triggered when the former suggested that traders should short Strategy stock and purchase Bitcoin directly. Chanos explained that the premium enjoyed by MSTR stock over the value of Bitcoin holdings could narrow, presenting an opportunity for the arbitrage trade. Chanos thinks that Strategy's market value should not be more than the value of its Bitcoin holdings. For context, as of June 9, the company held 582,000 Bitcoins, worth around $62.3 billion, while MSTR stock's market value of $108 billion was over 1.7 times its crypto holdings. Chanos believes that this disconnect creates an arbitrage opportunity to buy the largest cryptocurrency and short MSTR stock. However, Saylor disagrees with the short seller's trading recommendation, saying, 'I don't think he understands what our business model is.' He highlighted that Strategy is the largest issuer of Bitcoin-backed credit instruments in the world. He added that Chanos still doesn't understand that MSTR is an operating company and not a closed-end trust or a holding company. While trusts can't leverage Bitcoin, issue preferred shares, and/or issue permanent shares, Strategy can do these. Chanos has previously called Saylor's tactics 'financial gibberish.' Saylor cautioned that if MSTR stock trades at a weak premium, the company is going to sell the preferred stock and buyback common shares, and if the stock rallies, Chanos is 'going to get liquidated and wiped out.' Is MSTR Stock a Buy, Sell, or Hold? Unlike Chanos, most Wall Street analysts are bullish on Strategy stock, with a Strong Buy consensus rating based on 12 Buys and one Sell recommendation. In addition, the average MSTR stock price target of $524.92 per share implies 37.1% upside potential.
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Short seller Jim Chanos calls out Michael Saylor's MicroStrategy
Short seller Jim Chanos calls out Michael Saylor's MicroStrategy originally appeared on TheStreet. A new fiasco is emerging on Wall Street between famous short-seller Jim Chanos and Bitcoin maximalist Michael Saylor, executive chairman of Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy). Chanos has focused on the company's high market premium relative to its Bitcoin holdings, suggesting that traders should consider shorting the stock and buying Bitcoin directly. But Saylor is not taking it lying down. In a Bloomberg TV interview on Tuesday, he crudely dismissed Chanos's thesis, saying, "I don't think he understands what our business model is," referring to Chanos. "We're not a passive holding company or trust. We're an operator; we're not a passive financial innovator." Chanos' call-out focused on the company's high premium to net and its historic premium, at times exceeding 200%, to its Bitcoin reserves, which he saw as an arbitrage opportunity. In contrast, Saylor defended the use of the Strategy's structure, arguing that it provided tremendous financial leverage. "We're actually the largest issuer of Bitcoin-backed credit instruments in the world," he said. The company has raised nearly $1 billion through high-yield preferred stock backed by Bitcoin — STRK, STRF, and STRD — with STRD commencing trading on Nasdaq today. Saylor stated that these instruments enable Strategy to capitalize on the delta between low-cost capital (a 10% yield) and Bitcoin's long-term growth rate (since mid-2020 at a 57% compound annual growth rate), thereby creating an effective 47% return spread for its shareholders. "If the stock trades at a weak premium, we're just going to sell the preferred and buy back common shares," Saylor warned. "If the stock rallies, [Chanos] is going to get liquidated and wiped out." Chanos didn't immediately reply to Saylor's comments. However, on June 10, Chanos took to X and said: "This is, of course, complete financial gibberish. Mr. Saylor wants you to value his business based not only on the net value of his Bitcoin holdings (NAV) at market, but additionally with a multiple on the change in that NAV! Because now he can leverage his balance sheet, lol." He likened it to saying a house worth $500,000 is worth $1.5 million, because its value had increased by $50,000, and applied a multiple of 20 times that gain. Chanos also stated that Saylor's so-called "infinite money glitch" had a minimal impact on Strategy's market-to-net-asset-value (mNAV), which had remained flat at approximately 1.8x (i.e., unchanged since the company began aggressively accumulating Bitcoin in 2020). As of June 11, Strategy's mNAV stands at 1.86, unchanged from the previous month. Short seller Jim Chanos calls out Michael Saylor's MicroStrategy first appeared on TheStreet on Jun 11, 2025 This story was originally reported by TheStreet on Jun 11, 2025, where it first appeared. 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
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Bitcoin loans fund homes and bills, says Ledn co-founder
Bitcoin loans fund homes and bills, says Ledn co-founder originally appeared on TheStreet. In an interview with TheStreet Roundtable, Ledn co-founder Mauricio Di Bartolomeo laid out the everyday reasons people mortgage their Bitcoin rather than sell it. Many borrowers turn to Ledn when they have built significant wealth in Bitcoin. 'Many of our clients have accumulated a significant amount of wealth in Bitcoin,' Di Bartolomeo said, noting that people with millions in Bitcoin often want to 'buy a bigger home for their growing family.' But banks 'will say, what's that? That's not an asset.' Bitcoin lending and borrowing lets owners use their coins as collateral to get fiat loans without selling. By locking Bitcoin with a lender like Ledn, borrowers can get cash while retaining upside if prices rise. Lenders hold the collateral and charge interest — managing risk through loan-to-value limits and automatic liquidations. Borrowing against Bitcoin lets customers skirt a taxable sale, place the coins as collateral and 'buy the property or the house that you're looking to move into.' Private and publicly listed firms that keep reserves in Bitcoin 'use our products to effectively manage their cash flows,' he explained. The loans cover salaries and other fiat costs 'without having to sell the Bitcoin position that they've worked so hard to build.' Some investors borrow dollars from digital assets to 'make other investments' such as buying more crypto, he added. Industry workers paid in Bitcoin rely on monthly advances of '10, 20 grand' to cover rent, car payments and other day-to-day expenses — using Ledn as 'a bridge between their Bitcoin income and their fiat life.' Di Bartolomeo said that Ledn's Bitcoin loans start at a 50% loan-to-value ratio (LTV). 'If you come to Ledn with $10,000 worth of Bitcoin, you get $5,000 worth of dollars,' he said. Should the collateral's value fall, clients must top it up. If a loan hits 80% LTV, 'our system automatically and algorithmically liquidates as much Bitcoin as needed to close the loan and returns whatever is left over to you.' That strict model has delivered zero non-performing loans or a cent loss in Ledn's seven-year operations with billions of dollars processed. For Di Bartolomeo, the track record shows Bitcoin-backed lending 'can bring you a very attractive return' while still being 'very sound.' Borrowers get to keep their Bitcoin — and their lifestyles — intact. Bitcoin loans fund homes and bills, says Ledn co-founder first appeared on TheStreet on Jun 11, 2025 This story was originally reported by TheStreet on Jun 11, 2025, where it first appeared. 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
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Michael Saylor dares JP Morgan and Berkshire Hathway to compete
Michael Saylor dares JP Morgan and Berkshire Hathway to compete originally appeared on TheStreet. Strategy (Nasdaq: MSTR) co-founder and executive chairman Michael Saylor has dared Wall Street giants such as JP Morgan Chase and Berkshire Hathaway to compete in the Bitcoin economy. He said: "I welcome the competition from JP Morgan." The preferred stocks that Strategy offers — STRK, STRF, and STRD are tied to Bitcoin's measured performance and a fraction of its volatility, allowing the company to issue what Saylor called "the most liquid preferred stocks in the world with the highest performance." The advantage Strategy holds is that it is a 100% Bitcoin company, he underlined. Saylor added that he deemed it impossible for a company to issue Bitcoin-backed convertible or fixed preferred stocks unless it was willing to turn its entire balance sheet Bitcoin-based. He added: "So I'm not really worried about competition from JP Morgan or Berkshire Hathaway." The Bitcoin bill said he would love to see these established institutions purchase the cryptocurrency. But when they will purchase it, they'll be paying $1 million per Bitcoin for the acquisition, he warned: "The price will go to the moon." Saylor made these remarks in an interview with Bloomberg Crypto on 10 June. He added that Bitcoin's epic rally will be good for the entire crypto economy, including everyone holding any Bitcoin-backed equity or credit based instruments. The Strategy chairman also addressed JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon and Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett characterizing Bitcoin as "worthless" and 'rat poison squared' respectively. The Bitcoin advocate argued that people even called electricity and airplanes worthless in the beginning because they didn't understand the new technologies. Saylor's Strategy began acquiring Bitcoin in 2020 and is the world's largest corporate Bitcoin holder today. As per Kraken, Bitcoin was trading at $109,698.76 at press time. Michael Saylor dares JP Morgan and Berkshire Hathway to compete first appeared on TheStreet on Jun 11, 2025 This story was originally reported by TheStreet on Jun 11, 2025, where it first appeared. 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
