Strategy grows Bitcoin war chest, Nexo returns to US, former Celsius CEO faces 20 years | Weekly Recap

Today’s edition of the weekly recap covers Strategy’s continued Bitcoin purchases, Nexo’s return to the U.S. after a hiatus, and the latest on Celsius founder Alex Mashinsky’s trial. Strategy buys more Bitcoin The company, previously known as MicroStrategy, spent over $1.42 billion on 15,355 BTC, with an average price of $92,737 per Bitcoin (BTC). Strategy’s total Bitcoin holdings are 553,555 BTC, about 2.5% of the total supply. In an earnings call on May 1, Strategy executive chair Michael Saylor dismissed Bitcoin’s volatility concerns and celebrated the fact that over 70 public companies are taking part in the so-called “digital gold rush.” Strategy is expected to end 2025 with 691,249 BTC, up from a prior estimate of 601,029. It’s a risky play, but analysts remain bullish. Nexo returns to the US After expanding to Europe, crypto lending platform Nexo officially reentered the U.S. after a two-year hiatus. It is expected to provide its full suite of services, including high-yield savings products and asset-backed credit lines. Nexo paused U.S. operations after settling a $45 million fine with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over its unregistered lending product. Regulations and prosecutions Federal prosecutors have requested that former Celsius Network founder Alex Mashinsky receive a 20-year prison sentence. Some investors who lost savings when the crypto lender collapsed are demanding life imprisonment. The SEC announced earlier this week that it will delay decisions on XRP (XRP) and Dogecoin (DOGE) ETFs. The agency set June 15 as the new decision date for the Bitwise Dogecoin ETF and June 17 for the Franklin XRP Fund. The SEC also ended its investigation into PayPal’s PYUSD stablecoin, representing yet another instance of the agency — now led by Trump appointee Paul Atkins — withdrawing from cryptocurrency-related investigations (see Dragonchain, Coinbase, Gemini, Uniswa and Ripple). Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase filed an amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court in the Harper vs IRS case, advocating for more privacy protections when it comes to crypto transactions. Trump World President Donald Trump and his family are generating billions from cryptocurrency, according to a new report from State Democracy Defenders Action. The nonprofit organization, which claims to be “fighting autocracy,” estimates that nearly 40% of Trump’s net worth now comes from digital assets, totaling around $2.9 billion. Publicly-traded logistics firm Freight Technologies struck a $20 million deal with an institutional investor to purchase Official Trump (TRUMP), becoming one of the first companies to anchor its digital asset strategy around the U.S. president’s memecoins. Eric Trump, executive vice president of the Trump Organization, told CNBC on Wednesday that banks must adopt blockchain technology to survive and that the current financial system is “broken, slow, and expensive.” He specifically called SWIFT, the global international messaging network for financial transactions, “an absolute disaster.” Ripple explored Circle acquisition Ripple made an unsuccessful attempt to acquire Circle, the company behind USDC stablecoin, according to reports. Sources indicate Ripple remains interested in Circle but hasn’t decided whether to pursue another offer. World expands biometric crypto program to US The eyeball-scanning project co-founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced Wednesday its official U.S. launch in six major cities: Atlanta, Austin, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, and San Francisco. World (WLD) offers free cryptocurrency in exchange for biometric data. Tether reports $1 billion Q1 profit despite decline The stablecoin issuer announced a profit exceeding $1 billion for the first quarter of 2025. However, this figure is a decrease from Q1 2024 profits. Kraken uncovers North Korean job applicant scheme Kraken discovered a job candidate suspected of being a North Korean operative during a routine remote engineering position interview. Rather than terminate the process, Kraken continued interviews to gather intelligence on the tactics used. Movement Labs suspends co-founder amid token controversy The Ethereum layer-2 startup suspended co-founder Rushi Manche following the unauthorized dumping of 66 million MOVE (MOVE) tokens on the open market. Tether plans US-focused stablecoin launch CEO Paolo Ardoino told CNBC the company intends to launch its U.S.-specific stablecoin by late 2025 or early 2026, depending on stablecoin legislation timeline. The planned product would complement Tether’s $148 billion USDT stablecoin while addressing U.S. regulatory requirements. $7 million of stolen Bitcoin recovered On-chain sleuth ZachXBT reported that $7 million of the $330 million stolen from an “OG Bitcoiner” earlier this week has been seized. The recovery involved collaboration between multiple investigators and Binance’s security team after the stolen funds were traced through six exchanges. The thieves had attempted to launder the Bitcoin by converting portions to privacy coin Monero (XMR).