Here’s what happened in crypto today

Today in crypto, Strategy skipped its weekly Bitcoin purchase and repurchased $176 million of STRC preferred shares, ”white hats“ returned 3,400 BTC to Liquid’s federation wallet and Hunter Biden unveiled plans for a LAPTOP memecoin with an airdrop for TRUMP holders.

Strategy skips Bitcoin buy to repurchase $176M of STRC preferred shares

Michael Saylor’s Strategy, the largest corporate Bitcoin treasury, skipped its weekly Bitcoin acquisition to repurchase $176 million of its preferred STRC stock.

Strategy repurchased 1.8 million STRC shares for an aggregate $176.3 million between Aug. 31 and Sept. 7, according to a Tuesday filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

The company also doubled the size of its Digital Credit Securities Repurchase Program to $2 billion. With no new purchases, Strategy’s holdings sit at 845,050 Bitcoin (BTC), acquired for a total of $63.6 billion, at an average purchase price of $75,412 apiece.

Last week, Strategy made its first BTC buy since mid June, with a $370 million purchase. 

While STRC’s share price was largely flat in premarket activity on Tuesday, trading at $97.70, or a 2.3% discount from its intended $100 par value, the company’s Nasdaq-traded MSTR common stock was down more than 3% at last look, according to Yahoo Finance.

STRC is one of Strategy’s main vehicles to fund its Bitcoin accumulation. Trading below par limits Strategy’s ability to raise funds through STRC sales and may force the company to further increase its dividend rate.

Strategy unveiled a capital framework on June 29 to allow Bitcoin sales to fund dividends and increased the annual dividend rate on its STRC preferred stock to 12%. 

Liquid ‘white hats’ return $270M in Bitcoin as network prepares restart

White-hat hackers returned 3,400 Bitcoin worth about $270 million to the Liquid Federation wallet after withdrawing roughly $320 million from the Bitcoin sidechain’s reserves. 

On Monday, JAN3 CEO and former Blockstream executive Samson Mow said the return followed confirmation from Blockstream that the affected bridge nodes had been patched. He said about 598 BTC remains outstanding and that Blockstream continues to engage with the actors.

The return follows a Sunday security incident in which hackers withdrew about 4,000 BTC from the wallet’s roughly 4,200 BTC. Onchain records show that exactly 3,400 BTC was transferred back to the federation’s wallet address. 

Blockstream said updated software had been deployed and federation members were preparing for a coordinated restart. Liquid issues L-BTC against Bitcoin held by its federation, so the return of about 85% of the withdrawn Bitcoin restores much of the backing removed in the incident as the paused network prepares to resume operations. 

Hunter Biden to launch LAPTOP memecoin, airdrop tokens to TRUMP holders

Former President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, plans to launch a memecoin called LAPTOP on Wednesday, with 20% of its one-billion-token supply earmarked for holders of President Donald Trump’s memecoin and others, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The token takes its name from Biden’s laptop, which became a major political controversy ahead of the 2020 presidential election. Biden and the project’s co-founders will initially control 30% of the supply, with those tokens locked for six months and fully vested over two years. Another 20% is designated for charity and operating expenses.

The project also includes an unusual token-burning mechanism tied to political and market events. Up to 30% of LAPTOP’s supply could be destroyed if certain conditions are met, including a Democrat winning the 2028 presidential election, Bitcoin reaching a record high or LAPTOP’s fully diluted valuation surpassing TRUMP’s.

The launch follows Biden’s recent embrace of blockchain alongside criticism of the Trump family’s crypto ventures. It also puts another political name behind a memecoin as Washington continues debating rules governing the broader digital asset market.