Thursday July 10, 2025
Crypto’s Promises are Worth Less Than a ‘Pinkie Swear’
When I was a little boy, a pinkie swear was the ultimate form of commitment. It didn’t carry legal weight and it didn’t come with enforcement mechanisms, but it meant something. There was ceremony. There was intent. Ask any 5-year old.
Today, in crypto markets, we are entering a new phase where companies continue to make promises that feel eerily similar to that childhood gesture. But unlike a pinkie swear, these corporate declarations lack sincerity, accountability, and often, any real plan of execution. They're made with full awareness that most won’t hold up, and yet they still move markets. That’s the part that never stops surprising me.
Since crypto companies began listing publicly, we’ve witnessed multiple waves of ambitious announcements that had little substance behind them. Each new narrative has helped push stock prices higher and nearly every one of these phases ended in disappointment for anyone holding the bag.
We are now entering what I’d call the third major phase of empty crypto promises. Here’s a breakdown:
Phase 1: Promises of Hash Rates (2018–2019)
The first group of publicly traded crypto miners emerged between 2017 and 2018, and with them came the hash rate arms race. Companies issued press releases claiming they would hit some astronomical future hash rate, but conveniently left out the how. There was no mention of hardware purchases, no hosting capacity upgrades, and certainly no supporting capital, but it didn’t matter. Simply announcing a future hash rate goal, no matter how unrealistic, was often enough to spark a stock rally.
Phase 2: Transitioning to AI (2023 - 2024)
As OpenAI’s ChatGPT lit a fire under the AI sector, crypto miners pivoted again, or at least claimed to. Suddenly, mining companies were promising to repurpose their rigs for AI workloads. It made for a great headline, but anyone with a basic understanding of hardware knew a Bitmain Antminer S19 wasn’t converting into a viable Nvidia $NVIDA GPU. Transitioning from a tier 0 mining operation to tier 3 enterprise-grade AI infrastructure isn’t a pivot, it’s a rebuild that will cost millions of dollars per megawatt as all new equipment is needed. Yet again, many of these companies got the stock bump they wanted.
Phase 3: Crypto Treasuries as a Strategy (Today)
We’ve now entered Phase 3, the promise of building crypto treasuries. While many companies are successfully building digital asset holdings, others are simply issuing press releases announcing their "strategic intent" to raise capital for X token purchase. There’s no detail about how they’ll raise the money, no credible partners, no proof of any execution. One company even followed up on its original announcement with a second promise to say it now plans to raise twice as much money. That’s not a plan, its a like a ‘pinkie swear no crosses,’ the ultimate verbal commitment any young child can make.
Although I’m approaching this with some humor, the implications of these moves are serious. Quick traders who catch the early wave of hype often walk away with gains, but many others fall to the narrative, buy in too late, and are left holding stock propped up by little more than buzzwords and empty promises.
The crypto market has matured, but some of its public companies have not. Their playbook is still filled with hollow gestures dressed up as corporate strategy. If the only concrete part of the plan is the press release, then investors should take a hard pause.
At least when we were kids, the pinkie swear meant something. What we're seeing now doesn’t even offer that level of sincerity.
◾ Bitcoin reached a new all-time high, surpassing $112,000. (X)
◾ SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce stated that “tokenized securities” are securities. (Sec.gov)
◾ OpenAI is planning to release an AI-powered web browser. (Reuters)
Government & NGO Actions
◾ Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) warned that under the Clarity Act, non-crypto firms like Meta $META and Tesla $TSLA could issue tokenized shares to avoid SEC oversight. (Senate.gov)
◾ Pakistan is launching a CBDC pilot. (Reuters)
◾ The Reserve Bank of Australia identified “24 innovative use cases,” including stablecoins and CBDCs, for the next phase of its tokenized settlement pilot. (Rba.gov.au)
◾ South Korea plans to allow crypto companies to qualify as venture businesses. (Moleg.go.kr)
◾ South Africa’s financial market regulator is allocating R$200 million ($11 million) to fight online scams. (Bloomberg)
◾ Italy’s competition authority accused Revolut of failing to inform customers that they would be unable to adjust risk settings for crypto investments. (Reuters)
◾ Greece’s AML Authority froze funds tied to February’s $1.5 billion Bybit hack. (Chainalysis)
◾ The United Nations is hosting the 2025 AI for Good Global Summit focused on aligning AI with Sustainable Development Goals. (UN.org)
◾ Blockchain Association CEO Summer Mersinger urged the Senate Banking Committee to pass bipartisan digital asset legislation supporting innovation and consumer protection. (TheBlockchainAssociation)
Financial Notices & Public Company Releases
◾ Bitdeer $BTDR June operations update:
Bitcoin production: 203
Bitcoin sold: 52
Bitcoin holdings: 1502
Self-mining hash rate 16.5
◾ Upexi $UPXI June update:
Sol holdings: 753,692 ($113 million)
Sol per share: 0.0192 ($2.93) per common share
◾ Nvidia $NVDA became the first company to surpass a $4 trillion valuation. (NBCNews)
◾ Thumzup Media $TZUP approved the accumulation of top digital currencies including ether, dogecoin, litecoin, solana, ripple, and USDC. (ThumzupMedia)
◾ Bit Mining $BTCM is shifting its strategic focus to the Solana ecosystem and aims to raise $200 to $300 million to acquire SOL tokens. (PRNewswire)
◾ Japanese energy firm Remixpoint is raising ¥31 billion ($215 million) to buy bitcoin. (CoinPost)
◾ BTCS $BTCS raised its new ether acquisition target from $100 million to $225 million. (BTCS)
◾ Bit Origin $BTOG regained compliance with Nasdaq listing requirements. (GlobeNewswire)
◾ KULR Technology $KULR achieved an operating capacity of 750 PH/s. (GlobeNewswire)
Restructuring, Hacks, Losses & Legal News
◾ Decentralized perpetual exchange GMX suffered a ~$42 million exploit. (X)
◾ Apple $AAPL is appealing a €500 million ($568 million) EU fine over its App Store payment restrictions. (TheGuardian)
◾ A Chinese creditor filed a motion opposing the FTX estate’s decision to suspend payouts in regions with restrictions on crypto transactions. (Cointelegraph)
◾ Ubisoft $UBSFY cut 19 roles at its Red Storm development studio. (IGN)
AI Announcements
◾ OpenAI completed its acquisition of Jony Ive’s io Products and appointed Ive to oversee all product design. (OpenAI)
◾ Amazon is considering another multibillion-dollar investment in Anthropic. (FT)
◾ Microsoft $MSFT, OpenAI and Anthropic committed $23 million to a US educator-focused AI training hub. (NYTimes)
◾ Perplexity launched Comet, its own AI web browser, for Perplexity Max subscribers. (CNBC)
◾ xAI removed antisemitic content from its Grok chatbot. (APNews)
Protocols, Applications & Business News
◾ PJM Interconnection, the US’s largest power grid, is struggling to meet demand from AI data centers. (Reuters)
◾ Changpeng Zhao’s family office is partnering with 10X Capital to launch a publicly traded US treasury company focused on BNB. (GlobeNewswire)
◾ Circle $CRCL entered a undefined, revenue-sharing agreement with ByBit for USDC. (CoinDesk)
◾ Circle $CRCL is integrating USDC into Ant Financial’s to payment platform. (Bloomberg)
◾ Ripple chose BNY Mellon $BK to custody its USD stablecoin reserves. (Busiensswire)
◾ Blockchain Venture Capital $BVCI signed a non-binding agreement to acquire Coin Shack, a digital asset trading platform and retail store. (Newsfilecorp)
◾ Galaxy Digital $GLXY is adopting Fireblocks' platform for digital asset transfers, storage, and issuance. (Galaxy)
◾ Crypto billionaire Justin Sun pledged to buy $100 million worth of the TRUMP token. (X)
◾ Emirates airlines signed an agreement to integrate Crypto.com as a payment platform. (Emirates)
Metaverse & Gaming Briefings & Activations
◾ Apple $AAPL plans to upgrade the Vision Pro with a faster processor for AI use and a redesigned strap for improved comfort. (Bloomberg)
◾ Hollywood video game actors approved a new labor agreement that includes consent and disclosure requirements for the use of AI-generated digital replicas.. (SAGAFTRA)