Here’s what happened in crypto today

Today in crypto, the Bitcoin white paper published by Satoshi Nakamoto turned 17 years old, but a struggling BTC price has marred the occasion as it faces its first red October in seven years. Elsewhere, Michael Saylor said Strategy is unlikely to look at acquiring other Bitcoin treasury firms as there’s too much uncertainty, and US lawmakers are pushing to advance the crypto market structure bill despite the ongoing government shutdown.

Bitcoin white paper turns 17 as first red October in 7 years looms for BTC

Bitcoin’s foundational document turned 17, marking the journey of the world’s first decentralized digital currency from a niche financial experiment to a $2 trillion global asset held by governments and institutions.

Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto first shared the Bitcoin white paper 17 years ago today, on Oct. 31, 2008, in response to the global financial crisis.

The document, titled “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System,” described a decentralized, peer-to-peer network capable of preventing double-spending through proof-of-work (PoW) consensus. 

Three months after the white paper was published, Nakamoto launched the world’s largest decentralized network by minting the first Bitcoin block, the genesis block, for a reward of 50 Bitcoin (BTC).

Saylor says Strategy unlikely to scoop up rivals, “just a lot of uncertainty”

Strategy chairman Michael Saylor says his company isn’t interested in acquiring other Bitcoin treasury companies, as doing so is fraught with uncertainty, although he didn’t entirely rule it out.

“Generally, we don’t have any plans to pursue M&A [merger and acquisition] activity, even if it would look to be potentially accretive,” Saylor told investors on Thursday during Strategy’s third-quarter earnings call.

“There’s just a lot of uncertainty, and these things tend to stretch out six to nine months or a year,” he added. “An idea that looks good when you start might not still be a good idea six months later.”

Saylor didn’t totally rule out an acquisition, however, giving Strategy some wiggle room to change its mind on the topic.

“I don’t think we would ever say ‘we would never, never, never, ever,’ but what we would say is the plan, the strategy, the focus is to sell digital credit, improve the balance sheet, buy Bitcoin and communicate that to the credit and the equity investors,” Saylor said.

Strategy CEO Phong Le added that mergers and acquisitions for software companies, Strategy’s main business, are “very difficult.”

Amid US gov’t shutdown, lawmakers work to pass market structure: Report

Many US senators are reportedly moving to advance a bill for crypto market structure rules amid a government shutdown with no end in sight.

According to a Bloomberg report published on Thursday, several Republicans in the Senate, including those with leadership positions on key committees, plan to pass legislation on digital asset market structure by the end of the year, in line with their initially announced timeline.

Despite thousands of government employees being furloughed across several agencies amid the shutdown, members of Congress continue to receive their paychecks and are permitted to conduct business in the House of Representatives and the Senate.

John Boozman, chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee, reportedly said he was negotiating with Democrats to release a bipartisan bill on market structure “very, very soon,” with a plan to pass the legislation before 2026. Others on the Senate Banking Committee — the other body that needs to approve the bill once it’s ready for consideration — picked up bipartisan talks, with a possible deal being announced in a matter of weeks.

The legislative fight began with the passage of the CLARITY Act in the House of Representatives. After being passed in July as part of Republicans’ “crypto week” plans, party leaders in the Senate said they would “build on” the bill to create their version of crypto market structure under the title the Responsible Financial Innovation Act. 

Wyoming Senator Cynthia Lummis, one of the bill’s most outspoken backers, said in August that she hoped the legislation would be considered by the Agriculture Committee by the end of September and the Banking Committee by the end of October, with US President Donald Trump expected to sign it into law by 2026. One committee deadline has since passed, and the other benchmark is unlikely to occur during the shutdown.