Was the SpaceX IPO Really to Blame for Bitcoin's Worst Week Since FTX?

Strategy owes $3.4 billion over two years on its preferreds. Austin maps the three exits: issue more stock, sell Bitcoin, or suspend dividends. None are good. --- Thank you to our sponsors: Fidelity: Fidelity has been building in crypto and DeFi since 2014 — now they're hiring. Explore career opportunities at one of the most forward-thinking names in finance here: crypto.fidelitycareers.com. Cape: Your biggest crypto vulnerability isn't your wallet, it's your phone number. Cape is America's privacy-first mobile carrier that rotates your SIM identity daily and blocks SIM swaps before they happen. Get 33% off your first six months at cape.co/unchained (use code: UNCHAINED). ---- Bitcoin logged its worst week since the FTX collapse, falling 17%, while Ethereum dropped 22% and the total crypto market cap shed roughly a third of a trillion dollars. The looming SpaceX IPO seems like an easy explanation. But Ram Ahluwalia argues that's not the real culprit:  STRF and STRC, Strategy's preferred securities, have slipped below par, stalling the capital engine that funds Bitcoin buys. Austin Campbell, Ram, and Chris Perkins cover three distinct crises in this episode. A Claude Opus 4.8 agent found a live counterfeiting bug in Zcash's Orchard Shielded Pool, undetected since 2022, prompting the group to map how AI is rewiring the threat landscape for financial services. Back on Strategy, Ram applies Hyman Minsky's three market phases and argues the company was built for the final phase — where price appreciation is the only bailout. Austin closes by framing Strategy's $3.4 billion in preferred obligations as an SVB-style depositor flight problem with no clear resolution in sight. Hosts: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Austin Campbell⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, Host of Bits + Bips, Zero Knowledge Consulting ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Ram Ahluwalia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, Co-Host, CEO of Lumida ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Chris Perkins⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, Co-Host, President of CoinFund Timestamps 💣 03:02 What caused crypto's worst week since the FTX collapse 🌍 09:46 Why retail still drives crypto volatility and why Chris thinks the market misread incoming Fed chair Warsh 🤖 18:33 AI tools discovering critical crypto vulnerabilities faster than devs can patch them 🐛 24:25 How Claude Opus 4.8 found a live counterfeiting bug in Zcash's Orchard pool ₿ 31:02 Austin on whether Bitcoin's Lindy effect survives the quantum-refactoring problem 💼 32:42 Fidelity: Explore crypto careers that could change your future at https://crypto.fidelitycareers.com 📱 33:24 Cape: Get 33% off your first six months at https://cape.co/unchained 🏦 34:23 Strategy's preferred problem and the math on 32 BTC sold and 1,550 bought 📊 38:03 Ram on Minsky's three market phases, and why Strategy was built for the riskiest one ⏰ 44:00 Why Austin says introducing preferreds turned Strategy from a Bitcoin play to a clock 🇺🇸 52:56 Is Hunter Biden's crypto interest genuine conviction or attention play