Bitcoin Rally Fades as Saylor’s Strategy Moves Closer to Daily Dividends

Treasury yields eased from multi-decade highs, while oil prices fell following reports that the U.S. and Iran were considering a phased agreement. Bitcoin, meanwhile, is approaching a major Deribit expiry, with about $14 billion in options set to expire Friday.

Sequans Completes Bitcoin Treasury Exit

Sequans has sold its last bitcoin holdings, ending a corporate treasury strategy launched during the surge in institutional bitcoin accumulation in 2025.

The Paris-based semiconductor company Sequans (SQNS) reported that it had sold its remaining 314 BTC as of June 30.

Sequans entered the digital-asset treasury market during the summer of 2025 and had accumulated more than 3,200 bitcoin by the October 2025 market peak.

The strategy later ran into pressure from convertible debt obligations. In May, the company sold most of its bitcoin holdings to help redeem that debt.

Sequans is now among companies such as Satsuma and Empery Digital that joined the 2025 corporate bitcoin treasury boom before subsequently reversing their positions about a year later.

Saylor Pushes Daily Dividend Proposal

Strategy founder Michael Saylor is seeking shareholder approval to introduce daily dividend accruals for four preferred securities.

Under the proposal, STRF, STRC, STRK and STRD would accrue dividends every calendar day, including weekends and holidays, with payments made on the following business day. The economic terms would remain unchanged.

Saylor said the proposed structure is intended to improve price stability, liquidity and demand.

The shareholder vote is scheduled to conclude Oct. 28. STRC would begin paying daily dividends on Nov. 1, while the other preferred securities would adopt the schedule in January.

Strive’s ASST $29.43 high-yielding preferred stock SATA shifted to daily dividends several weeks ago.

Cipher Mining Raises Contracted Revenue to $9B

Cipher Mining (CIFR) gained in premarket trading after announcing expanded agreements with Google-backed Fluidstack for its Barber Lake data center in Texas.

The revised contracts extend the lease period to 20 years from 10 years and raise total contracted revenue to $9 billion from $3.8 billion.

CIFR was 4.3% higher in premarket trading.

Bitcoin Briefly Reaches $85K

Risk assets moved higher ahead of Friday’s U.S. trading session. Bitcoin briefly touched $85,000, gaining more than 0.5% over the previous 24 hours before retreating below the threshold.

Gold climbed nearly 1% to above $4,300 an ounce, while Invesco QQQ was up almost 1% in premarket trading.

The dollar index slipped below 101. WTI crude traded around $92.50 a barrel, while the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield declined 0.7% to 5.171%.

QNT Leads Gains Across Major Altcoins

Bitcoin remained largely range-bound between $84,000 and $85,000 as alternative cryptocurrencies recorded stronger gains.

QNT led the top 100 assets by market capitalization with a 38.2% 24-hour increase. ONDO gained 28% and LINK rose 11%, while ALGO, AERO and CC advanced between 8% and 9%.

Memecoins were absent from the 10 biggest gainers, with the strongest performances concentrated among projects with established use cases.

Yen Gains as Markets Watch for Intervention

The Japanese yen rose as much as 0.6% to 158 per dollar, putting it on track for its strongest daily gain in more than two weeks, Bloomberg reported.

Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said President Trump had acknowledged Japan’s concerns about the yen’s weakness and agreed to coordinate with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

The yen has declined about 3.5% against the dollar since Sept. 8. Japan and the U.S. purchased yen during the summer to support the currency.

Bessent’s comment, “I have asymmetric information. I am the house now,” added to renewed speculation about possible intervention.

Goldman Sachs Collected About $200M From Situational Awareness

Goldman Sachs earned approximately $200 million in fees this year from Situational Awareness, the hedge fund founded by Leopold Aschenbrenner, according to the Financial Times.

The fund expanded rapidly through leveraged investments in AI stocks and reached roughly $30 billion in assets at its peak.

A mid-July decline in AI shares triggered a major unwinding of positions, including a large sale to Citadel. The fund subsequently reduced its leverage and assets.

FxPro Sees Bitcoin Pullback as a Pause

Bitcoin traded just above $84,000 on Friday, little changed over 24 hours after falling below that level Wednesday, according to CoinDesk data. Most major tokens moved less than 2%, while smaller assets posted larger gains. ONDO rose 27% to about 54 cents, while Quant climbed 39% to nearly $100.

The 10-year Treasury yield fell two basis points to 5.17% in Asian trading after rising more than 20 basis points during the previous two sessions. Brent crude dropped 1% to roughly $105 a barrel following reports that Washington and Tehran were exploring a phased deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

FxPro chief market analyst Alex Kuptsikevich said bitcoin’s recent decline could represent a pause within the uptrend that started in mid-August.

He said BTC encountered resistance around a previously important support area and failed to complete the 161.8% Fibonacci extension of the August rally in a single move.

Kuptsikevich pointed to the unfinished structure of the broader trend as a reason the pullback could remain temporary.

He also cited bitcoin’s 2021 cycle, when the cryptocurrency fell more than 50% from its peak before later reaching new highs. A potential move toward $70,000 could be painful for short-term speculators but would not necessarily alter the broader bullish outlook, he said.

Bitcoin is entering Friday’s Deribit options expiry below $85,000, where one of the largest blocks of call options is concentrated.