Good morning, everybody. It’s your Daily Crypto News for Tuesday, September 23rd, 2025. Sorry we missed yesterday—family comes first, and I had to take my mom to the doctor. Kyle was tied up too, so you got a rare Monday without us. But we’re back today with a mix of Bitcoin treasury news, Nvidia throwing $100 billion at OpenAI, Bakkt’s surprise pump, some stablecoin experiments that might raise eyebrows, Trader Cobb’s market analysis, and a batch of listener questions. Slow news day or not, we’ve got plenty to dig into—plus, the Guardians are in the playoff hunt against the Tigers tonight, so wish the Guards some luck.
🏦 Strive to Acquire Semler Scientific in $567M All-Cash Bitcoin Deal
💻 Nvidia Strikes $100B OpenAI Deal for Historic AI Infrastructure
📈 Bakkt Stock Jumps Past Analyst Targets, Adds Crypto Veteran
🔗 Enosys Launches XRP-Backed Stablecoin via Liquity V2 Fork on Flare
Self Custody Crypto Roth IRA: http://athenic.xyz
Use Code “DCN” for $30 off: DCN
📉 Trader Cobb & Market Training via The Grow Me Co
Strive Asset Management Goes All-In on Bitcoin
Strive Asset Management, co-founded by Republican Vivek Ramaswamy, announced it will acquire Semler Scientific in an all-stock deal valued at $1.3 billion ($90.52 per share). This acquisition gives Strive control of Semler’s 5,000 BTC holdings, bringing its total to 10,900 BTC—about $1.2 billion at current prices—after its recent purchase of 5,816 BTC.
Semler, once a healthcare tech firm, pivoted into a Bitcoin treasury company but faced a 35% stock decline since its first Bitcoin buy. Analysts have warned that many of these treasury-style firms could face similar pressures, setting the stage for consolidation. Strive is paying a massive 210% premium over Semler’s market value, signaling an aggressive expansion into the treasury game.
My Take: This is bold. Paying a 210% premium is a huge bet that Bitcoin’s long-term upside will more than offset short-term pain. It also shows that consolidation in the Bitcoin-as-treasury space is real. But when you pay that high above market, you’re not buying value—you’re buying narrative. If Bitcoin retraces hard, Strive will look reckless. If Bitcoin rips to $200K+, they’ll look like visionaries.
Nvidia’s $100 Billion OpenAI Bet
Nvidia is committing up to $100 billion to OpenAI in what could be the largest AI infrastructure deal in history. This move shifts Nvidia from being just a chip supplier to becoming a major investor.
The agreement includes at least 10 gigawatts of Nvidia-powered data centers, with the first $10 billion deployed upfront. Nvidia will also receive equity in OpenAI. Their new Vera Rubin GPU platform will anchor the rollout, with the first gigawatt online in 2026.
Nvidia’s stock jumped 4% on the announcement, with CEO Jensen Huang calling it “an AI industrial revolution.” Sam Altman of OpenAI said it fuels expansion alongside Stargate, Microsoft, and Oracle.
But here’s the issue: AI already eats enormous power. Data centers dedicate about 40% of their electricity just to cooling, and demand is expected to double global electricity consumption by 2030.
My Take: Nvidia is betting that AI will be the new industrial backbone, the same way oil once was. But the environmental cost here is staggering. If AI data centers double global electricity use in four years, Bitcoin miners are going to look like a rounding error in the energy debate. Watch for this to spark new waves of ESG fights—and maybe even regulation that hits both crypto and AI simultaneously.
Bakkt: A Crypto Veteran’s Return?
Bakkt, once a struggling digital asset infrastructure company, is back in the headlines. Its stock surged over 40% to $14.70—smashing past analyst targets—after crypto veteran Michael Alfred joined the board.
Alfred, co-founder of Digital Assets Data (later acquired by NYDIG), brings deep fintech and crypto credibility. Bakkt has been restructuring, shedding its loyalty rewards unit and pivoting to custody, stablecoin payments, and tokenized assets. In Q2, its crypto business pulled in $568 million in revenue versus just $10 million from loyalty.
The company also filed plans to raise $1 billion in securities to bulk up its Bitcoin treasury.
My Take: Full transparency—I bought Bakkt at IPO. Bags. Heavy ones. They did a reverse stock split to stay listed, and my breakeven price is astronomical compared to where it trades now. So even though this 40% pump looks nice, it doesn’t do much for me personally. Still, Alfred’s appointment and Bakkt’s pivot are exactly the kind of moves that could give it a second life. Call me cautiously optimistic, but I’m still not buying more.
Ethena Keeps Building Through the Storm
Ethena closed 2024 as the fastest-growing stablecoin protocol outside of USDT and USDC, hitting $6B in USDe supply in just 10 months. With $1.2B in run-rate revenue, it’s now positioning itself as a bridge between crypto and traditional finance.
Their 2025 roadmap includes IUSDe, a wrapped version of USDe tailored for TradFi institutions like asset managers and brokers. The pitch? Access to 20% yields uncorrelated to traditional markets. Ethena is also rolling out a Telegram-based payments app to target 1 billion users.
My Take: Ethena is threading the needle between DeFi and TradFi better than almost anyone. But here’s my red flag—20% yield is the exact number that wrecked Terra/Luna. I don’t care what the structure is, if you dangle those numbers, you attract the wrong crowd and risk the wrong kind of collapse. That said, if Ethena can truly balance collateral and demand, it could become a core layer of finance. Big if.
Enosys: An XRP-Backed Stablecoin
Enosys is launching an XRP-backed stablecoin on the Flare blockchain using a fork of Liquity V2. The setup works a lot like MakerDAO: users deposit XRP as collateral, borrow against it, and mint a stablecoin.
This means if you want $100, you may need to put up $200 worth of XRP. If your collateral drops below the liquidation threshold, your position gets liquidated to protect the peg.
My Take: This can work if liquidation rules are enforced ruthlessly. Maker has proven that. But XRP isn’t the dollar, and collateral volatility is real. If they stick to strict over-collateralization, it’s viable. If they get loose with it? That’s when stablecoins blow up. We’ve all seen this movie before.
Trader Cobb’s Market Watch
Craig Cobb checked in with his usual sharp analysis. Here are the highlights:
Bitcoin: down 2.27%, possibly forming a lower high on the weekly chart.
Ethereum: down 3.5% after a huge run, showing weakness.
Binance Coin: tested $1000, bounced back, showing strong resilience.
AVAX: still trending strong, one of the better trades in the market.
Market dominance: Bitcoin dominance forming a bullish monthly candle, suggesting BTC could start outperforming alts.
My Take: Craig’s right—this feels like one of those quick dips before continuation. I’d love to see Bitcoin rip here, especially with prediction markets stabilizing. But if we do get a lower high and breakdown, altcoins are going to bleed harder than they already have.
Listener Questions
Liam asks: Why would Trump’s Liberty partners with Crypto.com if I say it has shady practices?
My answer: This was a timeline issue in my wording. Back in the early days, Crypto.com had red flags similar to FTX. I avoided them for that reason. Today, they’ve cleaned up their structure, and they’re not the same company they were in 2017. I still tread carefully, but they’re more buttoned up now.
Skyler writes: PSA—The Steam-hosted game Black Block Blasters has been removed. It was a wallet drainer. Don’t download it.
My response: Thank you, Skyler. Everyone—be vigilant.
Roth IRA comment: One listener said we got it wrong—Roth IRA contributions are made with post-tax money, not pre-tax.
My response: You’re right. That’s on me for not clarifying enough. Roth IRAs are funded with post-tax income, and gains are tax-free at retirement. That’s not misinformation, that’s me misspeaking. And I’ll push back—don’t use “misinformation” casually. Orwell warned against lazy buzzwords that replace real thought. Let’s stay precise.
Crypto Prices (as of 10:10 a.m. EST)
Bitcoin: $113,250 — flat
Ethereum: $4,206 — flat
XRP: $2.87 — up 0.5%
BNB: $1,020.52 — even on the day
Solana: $219 — down 1.8%
Dogecoin: $0.24 — down 0.3%
Tron: $0.335 — down 1.5%
Cardano: $0.824 — down 0.7%
Total market cap: $3.9 trillion
Bitcoin dominance: $2.25 trillion
Ethereum dominance: $507.9 billion
Final Thoughts
A slow news day still gave us some big themes: Bitcoin treasuries consolidating, Nvidia turning into an AI mega-backer, and the constant churn of stablecoin experiments. Add in a little listener pushback and some Trader Cobb clarity, and it rounds out a pretty solid Tuesday.
Happy HODLing, Everyone.
