Tuesday May 19, 2026
Bitcoin and Blockchain Graduate, But Only One Has a Real Job
It’s graduation season, the time when every student is told the fun is over and the real world is waiting. I keep thinking about bitcoin and blockchain as two friends who grew up in the same neighborhood and are now walking across the same stage. Only one of them is ready for what comes next.
Bitcoin was recognized early. He was the star athlete, the kid everyone wanted to be around, and he ran with a lot of wild friends. He breezed through college and completed every assignment without ever giving it his all. There were still moments he genuinely shined. He built a reputation that helped him in school, though it was not always a positive one. He spent his summers traveling, partying, and enjoying the break. He figured out how to get by, and getting by was always enough.
Blockchain worked harder. He spent his time in the library and joined every school club he could to build a network. He showed up to office hours, met with every teacher, and made a real effort to fit in. He earned the competitive summer internships on his own, and now the top financial firms are all looking to hiring him. Blockchain stuck to the basics, and the doors are opening because he did the work to walk through them.
Two weeks ago I wrote about bitcoin ATMs, noting that they serve a real need for the unbanked while also creating an easy on-ramp for criminals and illicit actors. I was surprised by Bitcoin Depot’s recent earnings. They reported strong revenue and a healthy balance sheet, yet it was clear the company was walking a fine line around compliance. That raised flags, but I was still stunned to read that Bitcoin Depot $BTM suddenly filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy yesterday. This may be the first and largest domino in the collapse of the bitcoin ATM business.
Bitcoin still has a reputation problem. Today, for everyone who knows about bitcoin, there is another person who knows someone who has been scammed or hurt by criminal activity in the world of crypto. That is the company bitcoin keeps, and it is the cost of all those years of coasting on charm and endless nights of partying.
Blockchain is walking the stage with a job in hand. Bitcoin spent those years traveling and getting by, and the Bitcoin Depot bankruptcy is the warning every coasting student eventually gets. The easy money was never going to last. It is time for bitcoin to grow up, sell the Lambo, and stop walking the gray line. The reckoning every graduate faces has arrived, and bitcoin is finally out looking for a job in the real world.
◾ Jury rejects Elon Musk suit against Sam Altman and OpenAI; filed after statute of limitations expired (WSJ)
◾ SEC readying exemption letting firms trade tokenized versions of public stocks (Bloomberg)
◾ Pope Leo XIV to issue encyclical on AI ethics, presented alongside Anthropic co-founder (NCR)
BitDigest will not be published tomorrow and will be back on Wednesday.
Government & NGO Actions
◾ White House set to issue Strategic Bitcoin Reserve announcement (Bitcoin Magazine)
◾ Iran launches bitcoin-backed insurance for shippers crossing Strait of Hormuz (Bloomberg)
◾ Bank of England seeks feedback on extending settlement hours toward 24/7 (Bank of England)
◾ Minnesota clears banks and credit unions to offer crypto custody (The Block)
◾ Arizona launching AI tool to combat Medicaid fraud (KVOA)
◾ Rep Flood (R-NE) warns Sen Warren (D-MA) housing bill leaves CBDC loophole (Flood House Office)
◾ DOJ sentences Ohio man to 9 years for $10M crypto Ponzi scheme (DOJ)
Financial Notices & Public Company Releases
◾ Financial updates:
Greenidge Generation $GREE Q1’26: Revenue $20.8M | Net loss $4.6M | aEBITDA loss $1.0M (Greenidge)
Soluna Holdings $SLNH Q1’26: Revenue $9.4M +58% y/y | Op loss $16.6M | Net loss $17.9M | aEBITDA loss $2.1M (Soluna)
AI Financial Corporation $AIFC Q1’26: Revenue $4.7M | Op loss $2.7M | Net loss $271.5M (SEC Filing)
◾ Operation updates:
Strategy $MSTR: BTC added 24,869 | BTC Holdings 843,738 (Sec)
Bitmine Immersion $BMNR: ETH added 71,672 | ETH Holdings 5.28M (PR Newswire)
Hyperscale Data $GPUS: BTC holdings 692 (PR Newswire)
Capital B: BTC added 192 | BTC holdings 3,135 (X)
Luxxfolio Holdings $LUXX mines 500th LTC, expands fleet to 60 Antminers (Newsfilecorp)
◾ SpaceX plans 5-for-1 stock split ahead of IPO (Bloomberg)
◾ $KULR selected by Argo to supply battery for orbital transfer mission (GlobeNewswire)
◾ Hut 8 $HUT to invest $16M expanding water capacity at River Bend AI data center (PR Newswire)
Restructuring, Hacks, Losses & Legal Updates
◾ Musk says judge and jury ignored case merits, ruled on calendar technicality (X)
◾ Swan Bitcoin sued for ~$1B over Prime Trust collapse (Decrypt)
◾ $META to unveil cuts and role transfers hitting 20% of staff tomorrow morning (Reuters)
◾ OpenAI asks judge to toss insurer suit, argues ChatGPT is not a lawyer (Reuters)
◾ Standard Chartered cutting 15% of corporate functions in AI push by 2030 (CNBC)
Crypto Protocols, Applications & Business News
◾ Standard Chartered offers to buy Zodia Custody (Standard Chartered)
◾ Galaxy $GLXY secures NY BitLicense (PR Newswire)
◾ Trafigura piloting USDT payments at gas stations (Bloomberg)
◾ Revolut launches UK-approved crypto credit card (CoinCentral)
◾ KB Financial Group pilots Korean won stablecoin (Yonhap)
◾ Canaan $CAN to supply hash-to-heat equipment to Nordic region (Canaan)
AI Models, Applications & Developments
◾ Anthropic CEO warns AI could make software nearly free to build, threatening SaaS models and coding careers (Times of India)
◾ $DELL adds 1,000 customers for AI offerings (Bloomberg)
◾ Blackstone $BX to invest $5B in $GOOGL TPU cloud venture (Blackstone)
◾ Mistral acquires physical-science model maker Emmi AI (Reuters)
◾ Anthropic acquires SDK and MCP server tooling firm Stainless (Anthropic)
◾ Anthropic to let Mythos users share cyber threat intel with other firms (Reuters)
◾ $GOOGL rolling out “thinking level” control in Gemini app (9to5Google)
◾ OpenAI partners with $DELL on Codex enterprise deployment (OpenAI)
◾ South Korea reviewing Hana Bank plan to buy 6.5% of Upbit parent (iNews24)
◾ Apple $AAPL plans new AI writing tools in Siri (MacRumors)
The Attention Economy, Gaming & Interactive Shifts
◾ Polymarket bets showing signs of insider trading (NYT)
◾ $SONY to keep single-player games exclusive to PlayStation (GamesIndustry.biz)
◾ Apple $AAPL foldable phone production stalls over hinge failures (MacRumors)
Space Systems, Satellites & Cosmic Activity
◾ German space firm OHB partners with Helsing on space-based tactical surveillance and targeting system (Reuters)