New York morning trade.
We are looking at Bitcoin hovering around the 59,000 level.
Well another liquidation event yesterday brought the crypto major to its lowest level in 21 months and firmly below its 200 week moving average.
While the market has brought that conviction in the four year cycle with some analysts expecting the market to bottom in the fall at the same time, most Bitcoin believers haven't been scared away. for corporations conference taking place in New York City today, and this is the first dedicated institutional Bitcoin gathering.
Meanwhile Nakamoto is completing its transition from a Bitcoin treasury vehicle into a Bitcoin operating company and the company recently reduced its cracking loan facility by $45 million.
Well joining me live here at the New York Stock Exchange is David Bailey, CEO and chairman.
The board for Nakamoto.
Great to have you here, David.
Thank you so much for joining me.
Thank you for having me.
It's always great to be in New York and remember where the capital markets came from.
Yes, absolutely, and we're here about to head into the second half of 2026, and it has been quite a volatile year so far this year, not just in crypto, but across all asset classes.
So I think that's so important to keep in mind.
But since the Time that I have spoken with you, Nakamoto has evolved.
So tell us what the company looks like now.
Well, I think the biggest change that happened was last quarter we completed our merger and acquisition of BTC Inc. and UTXO, which is the largest Bitcoin media company in the world and one of the best performing asset managers in the Bitcoin industry.
And so now we're a company that has revenue and cash flow, not just a Bitcoin balance sheet.
You mentioned our wind down of the healthcare business that's kind of the final step in the process of converting the business into a pure play focused Bitcoin operating company.
And David, of course, while I have you here, I do want to ask you about your take on what's going on in the crypto market.
Well, you know this is my 5th bear market that I've been through.
You know, all things considered, I actually think it hasn't been as bad as some of the other bear markets we have been through.
If I had to guess, we are probably halfway through, so we probably have another 6 months of bear market ahead of us.
But you know, like I said, this is the 5th 1.
Through and I've always found that the best opportunities come during the bear market.
It's not during the height of the mania where you get the best deals.
It's really when investors are at max fear.
So I always get a little bit of sick joy out of watching people go through bear markets for the first time.
It's pretty brutal, but it's also how you build conviction in.
Yes, and you and I were talking about the most recent bull market and what we saw at the Bitcoin Vegas conference with the dancing cows, so that does really speak to some of the euphoria that we saw last year.
But given the fact that you have been in the space for over a decade, give us an idea of how low Bitcoin was when you got started.
I bought my first bitcoins at $10 roughly.
My first bull and bear market went from $10 to $260 and then we crashed to $50.
So that was like an 80% drawdown in the price of Bitcoin.
So to be down 50% right now in Bitcoin, that's improvement I guess.
So I do think we are.
A phase of Bitcoin becoming more mature, and I expect that our bull markets are going to be less intense than they have been in the past and our bear markets are going to be less intense than they have been in the past.
So but we're learning as we go and we'll see how this one unfolds.
And of course you're in New York City for BFC and this is an institutional gathering.
So what's on the agenda?
Well, primarily we're talking about Bitcoin public companies owning Bitcoin on their balance sheet.
We're talking about how corporations are using Bitcoin.
We're talking about what are the different securities and digital credit products that are being created by public companies that are listed.
I think the conference is really more a telltale sign of Bitcoin entering the capital markets in a major way.
I mean we have dozens of public companies represented there that own Bitcoin on their balance sheet.
We have over 200 investment banks represented and you know I think you know the investment banks being there is really.
A sign of there's money to be made here.
There's deals to be done.
There's activity happening, and so you know, I think Wall Street follows the money and the money is heading towards Bitcoin.
Yes, and while you're here and as you mentioned what's happening when it comes to BFC, I do want to get your take on one Bitcoin operating company model that has been in the spotlight and of course all eyes have been on Michael Saor as well as strategy.
So how are you looking at how we're seeing this down market in crypto?
And what Michael Sailor is actually doing.
Well, first I'd start by saying that Michael Saylor is much brighter than I am.
And so before I provide any serious critique of what he's done, he's done an incredible job.
He's transformed his company from a $1 billion market cap company into even with Bitcoin way down, a $50 billion market cap company.
So incredibly impressive, you know, I think all all instruments that that.
Come to a certain size, they get tested in the market and so what we're watching right now is the capital markets are testing not just Bitcoin treasury companies but they're testing digital credit products to see how resilient they are to market forces and so we're watching that play out, you know, Michael is a pioneer and so no one has built a product like this or at this scale before, so we're learning new things as we go.
But I think in general when you're the biggest, you know, when you're the big dog.
All the attention is on you and I think there's really no one better to handle that pressure and scrutiny than Michael Sailor.
He's been there before.
He's been through this, you know, going all the way back to the 90s and I think on the other side of this, STRC is going to have a much larger base of convicted shareholders that own it than it does right now.
So but we're watching and I think what you just mentioned, it really highlights when the focus or the narrative is on one specific company. one specific theme and we know in the world of crypto digital assets there are a lot of conversations that take place on social media.
So finally, David, before I let you guys, we head into the second half of 2026.
What milestones as well as catalysts are you paying attention to for Bitcoin as a whole or for Nakamoto for Bitcoin, Nakamoto, as well as the crypto market?
Yes, well, I think, you know, I think without a doubt the biggest player in the market right now is.
Micro strategy and the market needs to see how he's going to handle the pressure that he's under right now.
So I, I expect that to play out.
There's also some protocol level developments that are going on right now, whether there should be a new soft fork introduced to Bitcoin that's happening in August.
That's another big topic.
And so I think in the Bitcoin macro realm you're going to see a lot of major open items come to a conclusion over the next 4 to 6 months.
So we'll see how they play out and how the market responds to them.
You know, generally I think when the market is pricing in peak pessimism, you know, it's a good time to enter into a position.
So I mean I think that's where we're at right now in terms of for Nakamoto.
What I'm most excited about is in August we have our first full quarter of financial performance and so you know our goal at Nakamoto right now is to get to cash flow positivity as quickly as we can.
So, um, I'm excited to show our our first full quarter of results, and I, I, I hope the market likes it.
Well, David, it was great having you on the show today and hopefully once you release those results we can have you back on.
I love that.
Thank you so much.
Thank you so much for joining us and thank you so much for your perspective.
