A 30% rally from an April low has sent bitcoin to its highest level since late February. Meanwhile, Binance and MGX reportedly settled on the Trump-backed World Liberty Financial to power a $2 billion investment deal. Also, Strategy and Metaplanet announced plans to raise serious funds to buy more bitcoin.
Trump Firm Nabs Stablecoin Win
Eric Trump announced at the Token2049 event in Dubai on Thursday that World Liberty Financial's USD1 stablecoin would be the official stablecoin backing MGX's $2 billion investment in crypto exchange Binance, according to reports.
Binance first announced the deal with the Abu Dhabi-based tech investment firm in March. The agreement makes MGX a minority shareholder in Binance. At the time, the deal marked the single largest investment into a crypto company, the largest investment paid in crypto, and the first institutional investment in Binance, according to the announcement.
The deal is to be completely paid in stablecoins, which is where World Liberty Financial comes in. Stablecoins are crypto tokens that are intended to hold their value at a certain price point, usually $1, and are backed by another asset.
The Trump-backed World Liberty Financial on March 25 announced plans to launch a dollar-denominated stablecoin with BitGo. The World Liberty coin, called USD1 is intended to maintain a value of $1 and is fully-backed by a reserve portfolio, according to the initial release.
The Binance and MGX deal marks a major win for World Liberty, whose USD1 is an underdog in the stablecoin market. The two leading stablecoins, USDT and USDC, together account for 91% of the total $231 billion stablecoin market, data from The Block shows.
World Liberty cofounder Zach Witkoff at the Dubai event hinted at future projects and integrations for the DeFi firm. Witkoff is the son Middle East envoy of Steve Witkoff.
However, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said the deal raises red flags.
"A shady fund backed by a foreign government just announced it will make a $2 billion deal using Donald Trump's stablecoins," she wrote in a statement. "Meanwhile, the Senate is gearing up to pass the 'GENIUS' Act — stablecoin legislation that will make it easier for the President and his family to line their own pockets. This is corruption and no senator should support it."
Bitcoin Fundraising
Elsewhere, Japan-based Metaplanet and Strategy are looking to buy more bitcoin.
Metaplanet on Friday revealed in a filing that it issued 3.6 billion yen ($24.8 million) in bonds to buy more bitcoin. The filing comes after CEO Simon Gerovich on Wednesday announced plans to open a U.S. branch in Florida. The new subsidiary, called Metaplanet Treasury Corp. expects to raise up to $250 million in capital to accelerate its bitcoin treasury strategy.
Gerovich in the post said that Florida is "rapidly emerging as a global hub for bitcoin innovation, corporate adoption and financial liberalization."
Metaplanet holds 5,000 bitcoin on their balance sheet, according to BitcoinTreasuries.com data.
Strategy, another bitcoin treasury company, is also looking to acquire more of the cryptocurrency. Strategy in its Q1 earnings miss late Thursday announced plans to raise $21 billion in an at-the-market stock offering to fund bitcoin purchases. That doubles Strategy's capital plan to raise $42 billion in equity to buy more bitcoin. The firm also increased its fixed income target to $42 billion, Chairman Michael Saylor announced late Thursday.
Strategy already raised $21 billion from its follow-on stock offerings.
As of April 28, Strategy holds 553,555 bitcoin with an average purchase price of $68,459 per bitcoin.
Bitcoin Price, Crypto Stock Action
Bitcoin traded around $97,200 early Friday. The cryptocurrency is climbing back toward its Thursday peak of $97,437. The price of bitcoin has ranged between $93,000 and $95,000 over the past week, and is up about 30% from its early April low of $75,000.
Bitcoin is now up more than 4% for 2025.
MSTR stock swung 2.8% higher in premarket trade Friday. Strategy shares have rallied almost 32% so far this year.
Coinbase stock advanced 2% early Friday. COIN is down almost 19% this year through Thursday.
The iShares Bitcoin Trust and other spot bitcoin ETFs gained less than 1% early Friday. Shares of the group are consolidating with buy points around their Dec. 17 highs.
You can follow Harrison Miller for more stock news and updates on X/Twitter @IBD_Harrison
