A Houston-based land acquirer in one of the country's highest-producing oil basins launched an initial public offering yesterday, in what looks like an indirect play on the crypto-mining sector.

Why it matters: LandBridge's IPO will test the market — and regulatory appetite — for crypto-adjacent deals, with other more crypto-y public debuts waiting in the wings since the last bull market.

Catch up quick: Landbridge said it plans to sell 14.5 million shares through the IPO priced between $19 and $22.

• The midpoint of the proposed range would give the company a $1.5 billion market cap, according to IPO filings.
• It filed for an IPO confidentially in October, when crypto positivity was bubbling over.

Zoom in: LandBridge owns 220,000 surface acres and 4,180 gross mineral acres around the Delaware sub-basin in the Permian Basin region in New Mexico and Texas — land, the company said, that would support operations, like crypto miners, with access to water cooling and fiber optic infrastructure.

• It has entered into, or is pursuing, long-term commercial contracts with solar power, power storage, data management and crypto mining businesses, but also doesn't "expect to own or operate such projects."
• It has one crypto mining facility deal so far.

The company was formed by private equity firm Five Point Energy and one of its portfolio companies, WaterBridge, a midstream water business that primarily operates under long-term contracts with E&P companies.

• LandBridge generated roughly $102 million in total revenue for the 12 months ended in March, from the use of its surface acreage, the sale of resources from its land as well as oil and gas royalties.
• Crypto mining revenue would contribute to its "non-oil and gas" royalty segment. Revenue from there increased 56% last year to $52 million, according to filings.

What we're watching: While Texas has been a mecca for bitcoin miners (the largest ones operate there), LandBridge is tapping into the segment at a tricky time.

• The chief of ERCOT, which manages the state's power grid, recently said that outsize demand from AI and crypto was testing its capacity — comments that jolted lawmakers in the state.

What's next: Shares are expected to price next week.

• Goldman Sachs is the lead book-runner for the offering, with assistance from other Wall Street and energy-focused firms.
• The company plans to list on the NYSE under the symbol LB.

BlackRock's bitcoin holdings surpassed Grayscale's own in June, and, are rising.

• It's holding onto that No. 1 rank, though flows into those ETFs have been swinging with bitcoin prices lately.
• 👆 Kaiko Research's data shows it.

Zoom in: Digital-asset investment products saw $600 million in outflows for the week ended June 17, the largest since March 22, 2024, according to a CoinShares report yesterday.

• Nearly all issuers took a hit, but not BlackRock's iShares.

The intrigue: 👇 Lately, FinTwit (not to be confused with Crypto Twitter) has been fixated on a JPMorgan flows report that suggests demand for spot bitcoin ETF was mostly degen, less institutions.

Billions of dollars have rushed into spot bitcoin ETFs since January, and a few smart folks in traditional finance (TradFi) have been somewhat skeptical of the narrative that all of that money represented pent-up demand from institutions.

• Recent comments from a BlackRock executive and a JPMorgan Flows & Liquidity report validated that doubt.

Why it matters: Those ringing the alarm on what set of investors — retail or institutions — own bitcoin ETFs worry that the former will spark a selloff when breakeven is reached.

Behind the scenes: "Retail Degens are paper-hands and will sell when they start losing money, more so than TradFi, which historically is a much stronger-handed ETF buyer," Jim Bianco of the eponymous financial services firm said on social media.

• The average purchase price for spot bitcoin ETFs is around $61,000, he added.

Zoom in: Meanwhile, a JPMorgan report by global markets strategist Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou suggested that of the $25 billion seen going into spot bitcoin ETFs and implied flows by CME futures, only about half, or $12 billion, was new money.

• This was assumed based on CryptoQuant's estimated $13 billion decline in digital wallets since the launch of spot bitcoin ETFs.
• "This implies that the majority of the $16bn inflow into spot bitcoin ETFs since launch likely reflects a rotation from existing digital wallets on exchanges," Panigirtzoglou said.

Flashback: BlackRock executive Samara Cohen, at the Coinbase summit in New York last week, said about 80% of bitcoin ETF purchases have likely been coming from self-directed investors who made their own allocations.

Yes, but: Spot bitcoin ETFs account for a small slice of outstanding bitcoin supply, or under 5%, according to a Dune dashboard by Dragonfly's Hildebert Moulié.

• Crypto natives on social media also pointed out that there is not an absolute 1:1 relationship between exchange and ETF flows.

The bottom line: Bianco isn't a hater, he just doesn't think an ETF is the answer: "The movement from on-chain to regulated brokerage accounts is a big problem in the long run," he said. "What BTC needs is on-chain adoption."

🗳️ How crypto money will influence the election. (New York Times)

🎩 Crypto scammers are targeting Trump supporters — but so far they aren't biting. (Wired)

🔋 T-Mobile parent and telecom giant Deutsche Telekom wants to mine bitcoin. (CoinDesk)

A month-old Solana meme coin called DJT, or "Save America," popped on rumors of former President Trump launching an endorsed coin by the same name, with his son Barron Trump spearheading.

Behind the scenes: Crypto Twitter was lit, though the link, unsubstantiated.

• Infamous pharma investor Martin Shkreli said it was real.
• 👆 Because the ticker of the meme coin is also the ticker of Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. and the former president's initials — references to coin are muddied.

Of note: "DJT" existed before the rumor, but it's unlikely that the Trump team launched it. So they could be planning to make a new one.

What we're watching: In less than 24 hours of the meme coin hubbub, it's already being panned as a scam.

• Some person supposedly spent 2,500 SOL to buy DJT and sold it at a sizable loss — some $341K in under a minute.

Our thought bubble: 🤷‍♀️