Here’s what happened in crypto today

Today in crypto, Strategy executive chairman Michael Saylor toyed with the idea of selling some Bitcoin to “inoculate” the market. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said that the next two weeks will be crucial for the success of the digital asset market structure bill in the US Senate, while Coinbase said it will cut about 14% of its workforce.

Strategy could sell Bitcoin "just to inoculate the market" — Michael Saylor

Strategy executive chairman Michael Saylor said his firm could sell Bitcoin to “inoculate” the market against sudden panic or to reinforce confidence in the company, in contrast to its long-standing “never sell” Bitcoin strategy.

“We’ll probably sell some Bitcoin to fund a dividend, just to inoculate the market, just to send the message that we did it,” Saylor said during the Strategy’s first-quarter earnings call on Tuesday.

Market participants will realize that “the company's fine, the Bitcoin's fine, the industry's fine, the world didn't come to an end,” Saylor said after Strategy reported a $12.5 billion net loss, driven mostly by unrealized losses on its Bitcoin (BTC) holdings as Bitcoin fell 23.8% in the first quarter.

Strategy has been a consistent Bitcoin buying force since August 2020, when it began its strategy of holding Bitcoin as a primary treasury asset. 

In February, Saylor dismissed concerns that the company could be forced to sell its holdings during a crypto market downturn, telling CNBC’s Squawk Box, “I expect we’ll buy Bitcoin every quarter forever." 

Saylor also said Strategy could withstand an extreme drawdown in Bitcoin’s price to as low as $8,000 and still cover its debt obligations without needing to sell.

Ripple CEO says market structure bill not a "done deal," despite stablecoin compromise

Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple Labs, warned Tuesday that recent progress on the digital asset market structure bill in the US Senate did not guarantee success for the legislation, speculating that the next two weeks would be crucial.

Speaking at the Consensus crypto conference in Miami, Garlinghouse said that the likelihood of the market structure bill, the CLARITY Act, passing would “drop precipitously” if not addressed in the next two weeks. According to the Ripple CEO, the bill would be “too much of a loaded issue” amid campaigns for the 2026 US midterms, with primaries ongoing until the November elections.

“Do I think it's perfect? Hell no,“ said Garlinghouse, referring to CLARITY. “I challenge you to show me any piece of legislation that we would call perfect. There's tradeoffs and compromises, but I do think clarity is better than chaos.”

Source: Cointelegraph

Coinbase cuts 14% of workforce, citing market slump and AI shift

Coinbase will cut about 14% of its workforce, or roughly 700 jobs, as CEO Brian Armstrong moves to make the crypto exchange leaner and more focused on artificial intelligence.

Armstrong said in an email to employees that Coinbase is responding to two forces at once: a down market that pressured the company's quarter-to-quarter business and rapid advances in AI that are changing how teams work. 

He said the company will flatten its organizational structure to a maximum of five layers below the CEO and chief operating officer, require leaders to act as “player-coaches” rather than pure managers and concentrate around smaller AI-native teams that can use automated tools to increase output.

“To those affected, we will be providing a comprehensive package to support you through this transition,” Armstrong said, saying that it will include at least 16 weeks of base pay for US employees, additional pay based on tenure, their next equity vest and six months of “COBRA” or the “Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act,” a US program that allows former employees to temporarily continue employer-sponsored health insurance coverage.

A Tuesday filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission showed that Coinbase expects its restructuring plan to incur about $50 million to $60 million in expenses tied to severance and termination benefits. The company expects the plan to be substantially complete in the second quarter of 2026.

The cuts show Coinbase framing AI not only as a productivity tool, but as a reason to rethink staffing, management and team structure across one of the largest US crypto companies.

Source: Brian Armstrong