Coinbase reportedly considered adopting a Bitcoin investment playbook like Michael Saylor’s Strategy on multiple occasions, but decided against it each time out of fear that it would kill the firm’s crypto exchange, Bloomberg reported.

“There were definitely moments over the last 12 years where we thought, man, should we put 80% of our balance sheet into crypto — into Bitcoin specifically,” Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong told Bloomberg in a May 9 video call.

Armstrong said the Bitcoin (BTC) strategy could have risked the company’s cash position and potentially killed the crypto exchange. “We made a conscious choice about risk,” he added.

Coinbase Chief Financial Officer Alesia Haas, who also attended the video call, added that the firm didn’t want to be seen as directly competing against its customers over which cryptocurrencies would outperform. 

“Rest assured, we are not stopping there,” Haas said, as Coinbase reported purchasing another $153 million worth of crypto assets in its first quarter results statement on May 8, which was primarily concentrated in Bitcoin.

According to BitcoinTreasuries.net, Coinbase holds 9,480 Bitcoin — worth $988 million at current market prices — which makes up the majority of its $1.3 billion crypto asset holdings.

Armstrong’s crypto exchange is the ninth-largest corporate Bitcoin holder, trailing the likes of Strategy, Bitcoin miner MARA Holdings and Tesla.

Related: $45 million stolen from Coinbase users in the last week — ZachXBT

Several companies have begun copying Saylor’s Bitcoin playbook, funding purchases through stock and debt sales on the bet that Bitcoin’s price appreciation will boost their share prices.

Over 100 public companies have now reported holding Bitcoin around the world, while another 40 exchange-traded fund issuers, 26 private firms and 12 nation states have also reported holding the cryptocurrency.

Source: Mitchell Askew

Coinbase deepens derivative offerings through Deribit acquisition

On May 8, Coinbase agreed to acquire crypto derivatives platform Deribit for $2.9 billion, marking the industry’s largest corporate acquisition to date. 

The acquisition will expand Coinbase’s footprint in the crypto derivatives market immensely, which previously had been limited to its Bermuda-based platform.

Coinbase noted that Deribit facilitated over $1 trillion in trading volume in 2024 and has around $30 billion of current open interest.

The deal now makes Coinbase the “global leader” in crypto derivatives trading, the firm said.

Magazine: Crypto wanted to overthrow banks, now it’s becoming them in stablecoin fight

UFC fighter turned Irish political candidate Conor McGregor has endorsed the idea of building a Bitcoin reserve in his country to give more “power back to the people.”

“Crypto in it’s origin was founded to give power back to the people. An Irish Bitcoin strategic reserve will give power to the people’s money,” McGregor wrote to X on May 9.

The former UFC champion said he would discuss his plans in more detail in an upcoming X spaces, prompting responses from some of the Bitcoin industry’s most prominent leaders.

Source: Conor McGregor

“We need the greatest minds for this BTC Reserve. Message me and lets chat on my space,” McGregor said in response to Bitcoiner and host of The Pomp Podcast, Anthony Pompliano.

One of US President Donald Trump’s crypto advisors, David Bailey, also reached out, to which McGregor responded: “David message me, let’s discuss your ideas!” 

McGregor announced his independent candidacy for the Irish presidency in late March 2025, centering his campaign on anti-immigration policies and combating crime.

Ireland’s next presidential election must take place by Nov. 11, 2025, as the term of the current President, Michael D. Higgins, is set to end the day after.

Establishing a Bitcoin reserve — let alone one coming from a minor, independent party — would be no easy feat.

Despite recent regulatory progress, the US, El Salvador and Bhutan are among the few countries that have established a Bitcoin reserve to date.

Related: US has ‘countless’ ways to bolster Bitcoin reserve: Bo Hines

McGregor’s political visibility was recently boosted by a trip to the White House, where he met Trump and received his support.

However, McGregor is facing intense scrutiny in Ireland, having recently been found guilty of sexual assault in a civil case — a conviction which he has since appealed — while also previously being investigated for hate speech crimes.

McGregor’s last crypto endeavor failed

McGregor’s push for a Bitcoin reserve comes a little over a month after the McGregor-backed REAL project failed to attract sufficient funding in its token launch pre-sale, prompting a full refund to all token bidders.

The team behind the project, Real World Gaming, only raised $392,315 over a 28-hour presale on April 5 and 6, less than half of the $1 million minimum requirement that it initially set.

Source: Conor McGregor

Magazine: Adam Back says Bitcoin price cycle ’10x bigger’ but will still decisively break above $100K

The government of El Salvador continues stacking Bitcoin (BTC) for its national crypto reserve, despite an ongoing deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) stipulating that the Central American country stop using public funds to purchase Bitcoin as one of the conditions for a loan agreement.

According to data from the El Salvador Bitcoin Office, the country acquired an additional seven BTC in the last seven days, bringing its total holdings to 6,173 BTC, valued at over $637 million.

El Salvador’s Bitcoin Office has continued its steady pace of Bitcoin acquisitions months after the IMF agreement was signed and shows no sign of halting its Bitcoin purchases.

The Central American country is one of the only nations actively purchasing Bitcoin in open market operations, and its national Bitcoin treasury strategy will serve as a blueprint for other countries also considering Bitcoin strategic reserves, according to crypto industry executives.

El Salvador’s Bitcoin holdings and acquisitions since March 13. Source: El Salvador Bitcoin Office

Related: El Salvador works with Nvidia to develop sovereign AI infrastructure

El Salvador remains defiant against IMF pressure

El Salvador signed a $1.4 billion loan agreement with the IMF in December 2024. As part of that agreement, the government of the country agreed to rescind its Bitcoin legal tender law and make Bitcoin payments voluntary.

The agreement also stipulated that El Salvador must scale back its Bitcoin accumulation, refraining from using public funds to finance Bitcoin purchases. 

Additionally, the deal required the government privatize the Chivo Wallet, which was publicly funded but saw little use among residents.

In January 2025, lawmakers in the Central American country repealed the Bitcoin legal tender law in a 55-2 Congressional vote, although this did nothing to pause or slow Bitcoin acquisitions.

The IMF issued another request to the country to halt Bitcoin buys in March 2025, reiterating the original terms of the agreement. However, El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele pushed back against the requests.

Bukele emphasized that the country would not stop its Bitcoin purchases or slow down its accumulation of BTC in the face of mounting pressure from the supranational financial institution.

“No, it’s not stopping. If it didn’t stop when the world ostracized us and most ‘Bitcoiners’ abandoned us, it won’t stop now, and it won’t stop in the future,” Bukele wrote in a March 4 X post.

Magazine: El Salvador’s national Bitcoin chief has been orange-pilling Argentina