JPMorgan Flags AI Leverage, Strive Adds Bitcoin

JPMorgan warns of rising default risk in AI infrastructure debt, while Strive expands its Bitcoin treasury past 40,000 BTC.

1. JPMorgan Warns Lenders Pulling Back From AI Debt Lenders are shifting focus to proven cash flow over narrative for AI infrastructure firms, according to JPMorgan, as average weekly CDS trading across AI-linked firms jumped from under $2 billion in July to over $9 billion in September.

2. Strive Expands Treasury to 43,000 BTC, Files $1 Billion ATM Strive bought 6,182 $BTC for $511.4 million and filed a prospectus to issue up to $1 billion in 15% preferred stock to fund further acquisitions.

3. South Korea Weighs Pushing Crypto Tax to 2029 South Korea is considering delaying its 22% crypto gains tax for a fourth time to 2029, citing a lack of tax data sharing from US exchanges.

4. Keystone to Scrap 19,000 Hardware Wallets After Key Leak An attacker accessed customer shipping data and WebAuth verification keys, leading Keystone to destroy unshipped stock, as Foundation Passport confirmed a separate API breach.

5. Binance Applies for Brazilian License Under Deadline Binance applied for a virtual asset service provider license through its local BBrasil unit on Oct. 23, conforming to regulations by restricting margin trading and delisting 22 tokens.

Numbers: Bitcoin is trading at $79,821, down 0.6% over the last 24 hours, with total market cap dropping to $2.63 trillion and Ethereum gas at 0 gwei.

Watch:

• Market participants tracking five-year CDS spreads across leveraged infrastructure providers and Nasdaq price performance
• Central Bank of Brazil's processing of BBrasil's authorization dossier following the Oct. 30 application window
• South Korea's parliament debating the statutory amendment in early December