Iran threatens retaliation against US forces and the Strait of Hormuz as 
Washington deploys its largest regional buildup since 2003.
The post Iran warns of ferocious response to any US military action appeared 
first on Crypto Briefing.

Iran warns of ferocious response to any US military action

Bitcoin rallied above $68,500 after US stocks turned green on US policy 
clarity and strong earnings results. Will bulls target $70,000 next?

Bitcoin tops $68K after stock market rebound, strong earnings data boost risk appetite

A governance dispute within the Aave ecosystem intensified this week after 
Aave Chan Initiative (ACI) founder Marc Zeller published what he called an 
“audit” of Aave Labs’ track record, seven hours after Aave Labs released its 
own contributions report ahead of a major funding vote. Marc Zeller Challenges 
Aave Labs’ Record in Detailed Transparency Report […]

Drama and Competing Reports Set Stage for High-Stakes Aave DAO Decision

Strategy (MSTR) has moved to the very top of Wall Street’s crowded-short 
leaderboard, according to a Goldman Sachs screen of the 50 stocks above $25 
billion with the largest short interest as a percentage of market cap, a 
positioning shift that matters for the market because MSTR has effectively 
become a listed, levered proxy for Bitcoin exposure. Wall Street Crowds Into 
Shorts On Strategy In Goldman’s table, Strategy ranks No. 1 with short 
interest equal to 14% of market cap, ahead of Charter Communications at 12%. 
CoreWeave and Coinbase follow at 11% each, with Kimberly-Clark next at 10%. 
After that, the list compresses quickly: Western Digital, Bloom Energy, Dell, 
Palo Alto Networks, and International Paper all sit at 8%. Related Reading: 
The Saylor Discount: Why Bitcoin Trading Below Strategy’s Realized Price is a 
Gift for Late-Cycle Allocators The screen adds context on size and hedge-fund 
footprint. Strategy shows an equity cap of roughly $34 billion, with 53 hedge 
funds owning the stock as of 31-Dec-2025. Hedge funds owned about 3% of 
Strategy’s equity cap at both 30-Sep-2025 and 31-Dec-2025, and the table shows 
a (18)% total return year-to-date for the period captured, alongside 0 average 
days of volume to liquidate the hedge-fund position. By comparison, Charter 
sits around $30 billion in equity value with 62 hedge funds owning it, also at 
roughly 3% hedge-fund ownership on both dates, and a 15% YTD return, with 2 
days to liquidate. CoreWeave shows a different profile: about $39 billion in 
equity cap, 62 hedge funds owning it, and high hedge-fund ownership—27% at 
30-Sep-2025 dropping to 23% by 31-Dec-2025—with 33% YTD return and 4 days to 
liquidate. Coinbase appears at roughly $37 billion equity cap with 72 hedge 
funds owning it, about 2% hedge-fund ownership on both dates, a (27)% YTD 
return, and 0 days to liquidate. That dynamic is exactly what Fundstrat’s Tom 
Lee pointed to in a post on X, framing heavy shorting as a positioning signal 
rather than a fundamental verdict. “More signs of a meaningful low in place,” 
Lee wrote. “When a stock becomes a ‘consensus’ short, it is also a crowded 
trade… Hence, a stock can rise on ‘bad news’ because the bad news is priced 
in.” Related Reading: Strategy Unfazed By Bitcoin Crash, Michael Saylor Vows 
Quarterly Purchases Brian Brookshire, advisor to Moirai Capital and former 
Head of Bitcoin Strategy at Swedish firm H100, added: “I suspect a lot of this 
short interest is still MSTR / BTC basis trade. Jane Street, in particular, 
has recently acquired a conspicuously large IBIT position. All bets are off 
when, not if, the BTC bull market returns. mNAV expansion during BTC&#8217;s ascent 
is a spectacular thing.” Saylor’s Message To Bears: “Short us” Strategy 
executive chairman Michael Saylor has been unusually direct about what the 
company is and what it is not, trying to be for the market. In a prior 
interview, he argued that heavy short interest is a natural consequence of a 
company choosing to be a pure expression of a Bitcoin-heavy balance sheet. 
“You know, my real aspiration now is, if you really hate Bitcoin, I want you 
to love us,” Saylor said. “Like, we’re the perfect instrument to short, right? 
Because I promise you I won’t sell it, right? We’re going to be levered long 
Bitcoin. And if you don’t like it, or if you just want to hedge it, you get to 
sell our stock or sell puts or buy puts, right?” Saylor’s point wasn’t simply 
that shorts are welcome, it was that Strategy’s posture is designed to be 
legible. “We have been laser-like focused. We’re very consistent. We’re very 
transparent,” he said, before reiterating the operating promise: “We’re going 
to buy Bitcoin, never sell Bitcoin. We’re going to borrow money 
intelligently.” For Bitcoin-native investors, the practical takeaway is that 
MSTR’s equity has become a high-conviction battleground for BTC exposure: 
longs treat it as an amplified bet on BTC and capital markets access, while 
shorts treat it as the cleanest way to fade that package. At press time, MSTR 
traded at $127.80. Featured image created with DALL.E, chart from 
TradingView.com

Strategy (MSTR) Is Now Wall Street’s Most-Shorted Stock: What It Means

Perplexity AI introduces a unified AI platform, Perplexity Computer, 
integrating research, design, coding, and app management.
The post Perplexity launches Computer to streamline end-to-end AI projects 
appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

Cryptocurrency price in BTC