MARA Sells 13,597 BTC for $1.1B, Clears All BTC-Backed Loans

Red day across the board. Bitcoin slipped 0.98% to $73,846.01, ether fell harder at 2.34%, and the broader market followed with 74 of the top 100 coins tracked closing lower against just 24 gainers. Zcash led the losers, down 12.4%, while Internet Computer bucked the trend with a 5.6% gain.

The bigger story came from MARA, which sold 13,597 BTC, about 40% of its holdings, for $1.1 billion and used the proceeds to pay off every BTC-backed loan on its books. The miner said more sales are coming as it redirects capital toward AI infrastructure, a notable shift for a company that built its identity on holding bitcoin.

Elsewhere, the lines between crypto and traditional finance kept blurring. Coinbase and Kalshi filed a joint brief backing the CFTC's authority over stock perpetual futures, and a group of 21 banks led by Goldman Sachs and Citigroup committed $270 million to a new dollar stablecoin aimed at challenging Tether and Circle.

Named today: Internet Computer (ICP) predictions · Zcash (ZEC) predictions

Crypto is genuinely down today: bitcoin fell 0.98% to $73,846.01, ether dropped 2.34%, and 74 of the top 100 coins tracked closed in the red, with Zcash down 12.4%.

Days like this tend to cluster around news that makes the market question who's selling and why. MARA's decision to sell 40% of its bitcoin stack and pay off $750 million in loans is exactly that kind of signal: a major holder converting bitcoin to cash raises questions about supply, even if the stated reason is funding AI infrastructure rather than a loss of conviction.

Regulatory headlines add to the caution too. The CFTC fight over stock perpetual futures and the entry of major banks into stablecoins both point to a market where traditional finance is asserting more control over crypto's rules, which can weigh on sentiment even without a direct price mechanism.

None of this points to panic. It looks like a session where a large, visible seller and a wave of institutional and regulatory news gave traders reasons to trim rather than add.

Crypto is not up today: bitcoin fell 0.98% to $73,846.01 and ether dropped 2.34%, with 74 of the top 100 coins tracked losing ground, so this isn't a green session.

On days when the market does turn up, it's usually because a specific worry fades or new money shows up looking for exposure. A pause in heavy selling, a reassuring regulatory outcome, or fresh institutional commitments can all do it.

Today's news actually leans the other way: a major miner liquidating a large chunk of its bitcoin holdings is the kind of event that tends to pressure prices rather than lift them, even if the underlying reason is a business pivot rather than panic.

Stablecoin expansion and clearer derivatives regulation are longer-term positives for the market's infrastructure, but they don't typically produce an immediate price pop, which is consistent with today's red numbers.

Of the 88 calls settled yesterday, 48.9% came in correct, and the best call was JUP up 9.28%.

Today's Daily Call asset is MSFTB (MSFTB), one shared question, up or down by midnight UTC. Think you can read this market? Put a timestamped call on record. It's free, and your accuracy is scored publicly.