# Leverage Related Articles

HTX News Center provides the latest articles and in-depth analysis on "Leverage", covering market trends, project updates, tech developments, and regulatory policies in the crypto industry.

Strategy’s STRC Drop Shows The Risk Behind Bitcoin-Linked Credit Products

Strategy Inc.'s (formerly MicroStrategy) preferred stock, STRC, traded sharply below its $100 reference value during recent market stress, hitting an intraday low of $82.53. The company's CEO framed the drop as a "leverage flush"—forced selling by investors using borrowed money—rather than a fundamental default event. This distinction highlights that the selloff resulted from market mechanics and liquidity pressures, not missed payments by the issuer. The episode underscores the specific risks embedded in Bitcoin-linked credit products, which can behave differently from holding Bitcoin or common stock. As Bitcoin treasury strategies become more complex and financialized, instruments like preferred shares introduce additional layers of risk, including leverage, liquidity constraints, and sensitivity to Bitcoin's volatility. The STRC movement serves as a warning about the fragility of these structures in stressed markets, even when the underlying company remains solvent.

bitcoinist9h ago

Strategy’s STRC Drop Shows The Risk Behind Bitcoin-Linked Credit Products

bitcoinist9h ago

STRC Hits Historic Low, Saylor's Perpetual Motion Machine Grinds to a Halt

STRC, the perpetual preferred stock issued by MicroStrategy to fund its Bitcoin purchases, hit a historic low of $85.32, a 17% discount to its $100 par value. Designed as a "digital credit engine" to trade stably near par and enable continuous share issuance for buying Bitcoin, its plunge signals a breakdown in this model. Three key factors drove the decline: 1. Bitcoin's price fell over 50% from its peak, trading around $63,000 amid hawkish Fed signals. 2. MicroStrategy's cash reserves were depleted after a $1.5 billion convertible note repayment, slashing the dividend coverage for STRC's 11.5% yield to ~7 months. The company then sold 32 BTC to cover dividends—Michael Saylor's first Bitcoin sale since 2022—damaging the "never sell" narrative. 3. A competing Bitcoin-backed preferred stock, Strive's SATA, offers a higher yield (~13%) and daily dividends, drawing investors away from STRC. The drop triggers a negative cycle: STRC below par halts ATM share issuances, cutting off a key funding source for Bitcoin buys and potentially forcing more BTC sales for dividends, further eroding confidence. While Saylor argues the model is mathematically sound—needing only 2.3% annual Bitcoin growth to sustain itself—the market is testing the resilience of the leveraged Bitcoin treasury strategy in a bear market. The STRC price now reflects rising skepticism about this financial machinery's durability during downturns.

marsbit22h ago

STRC Hits Historic Low, Saylor's Perpetual Motion Machine Grinds to a Halt

marsbit22h ago

STRC Severely Unpegged, What Risks Is the Market Pricing In?

The article analyzes the recent significant de-pegging of Strategy's perpetual preferred stock, STRC, whose price fell to approximately $89, far below its $100 face value. This discount has pushed its simple yield to around 12.9%, creating a paradox. The stock was designed as a high-yield instrument trading near par, and Strategy maintains an 11.5% annual dividend, even recently switching to semi-monthly payments to support the price. The author explores several reasons why the high yield hasn't attracted enough buying pressure to restore the par value. A key factor is potential reverse deleveraging from carry trades, where leveraged investors may be forced to sell due to margin calls as the price falls, creating a self-reinforcing downward spiral. Additionally, the tokenization and integration of STRC into DeFi protocols (like Apyx, Saturn, Pendle) have introduced faster, more transparent, and potentially more volatile price adjustment mechanisms through leverage and yield-splitting products. The emergence of a competing product, Strive's SATA, offering a 13% yield with daily dividends, has also changed the yield benchmark, challenging STRC's unique high-yield narrative. Furthermore, the market is questioning the distinction between Strategy's substantial Bitcoin reserves, which provide long-term balance sheet coverage, and the certainty of stable near-term cash flow for dividends. Ultimately, the price dip represents a stress test for this type of BTC-backed, high-yield financing tool. The future path of STRC depends on whether Strategy acts to reinforce the $100 peg (e.g., by adjusting dividends), whether DeFi-related leverage unwinds further, and how investors ultimately price the risks of leverage, competition, and cash flow uncertainty against the offered yield.

marsbitYesterday 06:51

STRC Severely Unpegged, What Risks Is the Market Pricing In?

marsbitYesterday 06:51

Kraken Launches CFTC-Regulated Perpetual Futures For US Pro Traders

Kraken has launched U.S. CFTC-regulated perpetual futures contracts for eligible institutional and professional clients, making a core crypto derivatives product available on a compliant domestic platform. The contracts, for assets including BTC, ETH, and SOL, are offered via Kraken Pro with clearing through a registered Futures Commission Merchant. This move brings the popular perpetual futures format, which allows leveraged trading without an expiry date, into the stricter U.S. regulatory framework. It provides professional traders a potential alternative to offshore platforms, balancing regulatory comfort with access to key products. However, the launch is explicitly not for retail investors. Its success depends on whether Kraken can build sufficient liquidity to compete with dominant offshore venues on metrics like spreads and execution quality. While symbolically significant for U.S. market maturity, its practical impact hinges on attracting meaningful trading activity onshore.

bitcoinist2 days ago 10:47

Kraken Launches CFTC-Regulated Perpetual Futures For US Pro Traders

bitcoinist2 days ago 10:47

Kraken Launches Pre-IPO Perps For OpenAI And Anthropic With Up To 5x Leverage

Kraken has launched pre-IPO perpetual futures contracts for private AI giants OpenAI and Anthropic, offering eligible traders up to 5x leverage. These derivatives provide synthetic exposure to the companies' valuations ahead of any public listing, tapping into high investor demand for AI themes. However, the product carries unique risks compared to standard crypto perpetuals, as private company valuations lack transparent, continuous pricing and depend on funding rounds, secondary transactions, and IPO timelines. This move signals crypto exchanges' expansion into alternative speculative markets beyond digital assets, though it raises questions about risk management, liquidity, and investor understanding, especially when using leverage.

bitcoinist06/16 11:57

Kraken Launches Pre-IPO Perps For OpenAI And Anthropic With Up To 5x Leverage

bitcoinist06/16 11:57

An AI Version of the 'Subprime Crisis'? A Hidden Debt of $1.8 Trillion is Accumulating in the Shadows Amid the Frenzy

Amidst the AI infrastructure construction boom, a massive debt expansion is forming, with the most dangerous portion remaining off-balance sheets. Morgan Stanley research reveals approximately $1.8 trillion in off-balance-sheet exposures, including nearly $1 trillion in purchase commitments and over $800 billion in non-active lease contracts. These future cash outflows are not recorded as liabilities. The leverage of hyperscale cloud companies has surged from 0.9x to 1.8x in just two quarters. Private credit firms like Apollo and Blackstone are shifting leverage into the supply chain through complex, opaque SPV (Special Purpose Vehicle) financing structures. Global AI-related bond issuance has skyrocketed, with annual volume projected to exceed $570 billion. However, capital expenditure growth is outpacing revenue and free cash flow. Major cloud providers may see free cash flow approach zero or turn negative in 2026. A significant 'depreciation cliff' looms as vast amounts of current capital spending, recorded as 'construction in progress,' have yet to begin depreciating, artificially inflating current profit margins. Future depreciation could severely pressure earnings. The core risk is identified as a series of timing mismatches, not an immediate solvency crisis. Investment is racing ahead of monetization, leverage is being obscured, and accounting classifications hinder comparability. The entire financing structure faces a fundamental stress test if AI commercialization lags or enterprise clients shift to cheaper alternatives, potentially triggering chain reactions within the highly interconnected funding ecosystem.

marsbit06/15 07:38

An AI Version of the 'Subprime Crisis'? A Hidden Debt of $1.8 Trillion is Accumulating in the Shadows Amid the Frenzy

marsbit06/15 07:38

Bitcoin Liquidation Shakeout Leaves Traders Watching $66K Resistance And $61K Support

Bitcoin's recent volatility triggered a major liquidation event, wiping out roughly $980 million in leveraged positions within 24 hours as price swung from ~$64,100 down to $60,700 and back above $63,000. Traders are now watching key technical levels. Major pivot resistance is identified at $66,247, with reclaimed highs near $64,234 and next resistance at $65,890. Critical support zones lie between $63,127-$63,354, then $62,459, with broader downside targets around $59,150-$60,171. Liquidation heatmaps show significant liquidity clusters above ($63.5K-$66K) and below ($58.5K-$61K) spot price, creating a volatile corridor. The market is in a corrective phase; a clean break above resistance is needed for a bullish shift, while failure to hold low-$63K support risks a move toward lower liquidity zones.

bitcoinist06/13 08:06

Bitcoin Liquidation Shakeout Leaves Traders Watching $66K Resistance And $61K Support

bitcoinist06/13 08:06

The United States Finally Gets Perpetual Futures Contracts

The U.S. has finally entered the era of regulated perpetual futures contracts, a transformative development for the crypto derivatives market. On May 29, the CFTC approved Kalshi to list the first-ever regulated Bitcoin perpetual futures contract in the U.S. and allowed Coinbase to route its customers to global perpetual and options trading via Deribit. This approval acknowledges the critical role of perpetuals, which have grown to a staggering $90 trillion in annual trading volume, surpassing the combined GDP of the world's ten largest economies. Perpetual contracts, pioneered by BitMEX in 2016, eliminate expiration dates and use a funding rate mechanism to track the underlying asset's price, offering traders efficient, high-leverage exposure without the need for periodic rollovers. While this legitimizes the product category dominated by offshore and decentralized exchanges like Hyperliquid, U.S.-regulated offerings remain distinct. They are limited to Bitcoin, offer lower leverage caps (around 10x vs. 50-100x offshore), and provide CFTC-mandated protections. This creates separate markets for regulated U.S. institutions and the global, high-leverage retail traders. The significance extends far beyond crypto. Perpetuals are rapidly expanding to trade a wide array of assets like commodities (silver, oil), equities (Nvidia, Tesla), and even prediction markets. Their 24/7, digital-native structure challenges traditional time-bound derivatives. Hyperliquid, a leading decentralized exchange, exemplifies this shift, with daily volumes sometimes exceeding Bitcoin for assets like silver and attracting attention from traditional financial giants like ICE. This regulatory shift intensifies competition, potentially compressing fees and profits for established players like Coinbase as traders seek lower-cost venues. While perpetuals won't fully replace options or traditional futures—which offer unique risk profiles—they represent a superior, more economical vehicle for the vast majority of purely directional, leveraged trading activity. The $90 trillion annual volume is a testament to their overwhelming success and enduring appeal.

marsbit06/10 08:45

The United States Finally Gets Perpetual Futures Contracts

marsbit06/10 08:45

Bitcoin Market Moves Into A Lower-Leverage Environment – What This Means

Bitcoin's price remains below $65,000 amid high volatility, but a significant shift is occurring: the market is moving into a lower-leverage environment. Analysis indicates Bitcoin has exited an extreme leverage phase, entering moderate and slight leverage zones. This reduces the immediate risk of large-scale liquidations seen in highly leveraged conditions, suggesting a potential move toward a healthier market structure based more on spot demand than speculation. However, analysts caution the market has not yet reached an extreme deleveraging phase, which would offer greater safety for entry. Simultaneously, small whales (addresses holding 100-1,000 BTC) have fallen into a loss position due to recent price declines. For this group to return to profitability, Bitcoin's price needs to recover to approximately $64,000. Currently trading around $63,370, Bitcoin shows slight daily gains, but trading volume has decreased. The overall picture points to increased trader caution, with leverage drying up and key investor cohorts feeling pressure, setting the stage for Bitcoin's next directional move.

bitcoinist06/10 01:02

Bitcoin Market Moves Into A Lower-Leverage Environment – What This Means

bitcoinist06/10 01:02

Monera Digital｜Crypto Market May Report: Four Major Reasons Behind the Accelerated Decline

Monera Digital Crypto Market May Report: Four Key Reasons Behind the Accelerated Decline The crypto market experienced a significant downturn in May, driven by an internal liquidity crisis rather than external macro factors. Bitcoin fell from around $82,850 to $73,674, even as traditional markets rallied in the final week, highlighting a clear "liquidity transmission failure" specific to crypto. Four primary internal factors caused the accelerated sell-off: 1. **Major ETF Outflows:** U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs saw a net outflow of $2.425 billion for the month, the third-largest monthly withdrawal since their launch. Ethereum ETFs also reversed to net outflows. This turned a key pillar of the bull run into a source of selling pressure. 2. **Holder Capitulation:** On-chain data showed textbook "surrender" patterns. The Short-Term Holder MVRV ratio fell below 1.0, indicating this cohort is now in aggregate loss. The Net Unrealized Profit/Loss (NUPL) metric also deteriorated significantly. 3. **Contagious Negative Sentiment:** The Coinbase Premium Index, which shows U.S. institutional buying/selling pressure, turned deeply negative for most of the month. This confirmed the ETF outflows and reflected a strategic shift away from crypto toward assets like U.S. Treasuries. 4. **Leverage Unwinding and Psychological Breaks:** Despite the downturn, futures open interest initially grew, signaling leveraged positioning. This culminated in a sharp deleveraging event with $307 million in long liquidations. Furthermore, the price broke below the critical $75K-$76K support zone, which is both a key gamma option level and the approximate average cost basis for major public companies holding Bitcoin, turning them from potential buyers into potential sellers. The report concludes that the market's pricing power has shifted from macro narratives to internal liquidation. While Bitcoin's 200-week moving average quantile has entered a historical "value zone" at 10.2%, this indicates a deep bear market reset is underway, not an immediate reversal. A sustainable recovery will require both a genuine improvement in the macro liquidity environment and clear signs of renewed on-chain demand, such as ETF inflows resuming and the Coinbase Premium turning positive. Until then, discipline and capital preservation are paramount.

marsbit06/09 07:46

Monera Digital｜Crypto Market May Report: Four Major Reasons Behind the Accelerated Decline

marsbit06/09 07:46

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