Bitcoin Magazine

AI Could Be Bitcoin’s Next Onboarding Engine, Nakamoto CEO Says

Artificial intelligence may turn out to be an unexpected driver of Bitcoin adoption, according to Nakamoto Holdings CEO and Chairman David Bailey.

In a discussion hosted by investment bank TD Cowen, Bailey’s argument was that the friction getting people on board with Bitcoin has always been the interface — and not the asset. 

Wallets, addresses, private keys, and the general onboarding process have kept mainstream users at arm’s length for well over a decade, he argued. AI-powered tools could abstract that complexity away and make the asset far easier for ordinary individuals and institutions to actually use.

TD Cowen analyst Lance Vitanza, who published a note on the conversation, described the idea as speculative but worth attention, noting that it moves the adoption conversation beyond the familiar territory of monetary policy, regulation, and institutional flows.

Bailey added that institutional adoption of Bitcoin has barely begun: spot ETFs, corporate treasury programs, and sovereign-level interest have transformed access over the past year — more, in Bailey’s estimation, than the previous decade-plus combined. He argued the addressable opportunity ahead remains considerably larger than what has been captured.

Asked whether Bitcoin is reshaping traditional finance or the reverse, Bailey came down firmly on the former. Institutions, governments, and public companies are participating at scale, but the asset’s underlying properties have not bent to accommodate them. The adaptation, he argued, is running one direction — toward an asset whose rules none of those players control.

With direct exposure now widely available through ETFs, Bailey downplayed the usual distinction between “treasury company” and “operating company.” The question that matters, he said, is whether a business can grow the amount of Bitcoin it holds per share over time — a test of capital allocation and execution rather than balance-sheet size.

Nakamoto itself has moved in that direction, positioning as an integrated Bitcoin platform spanning media, conferences, education, asset management, advisory work, and treasury operations. Vitanza called it one of the more differentiated strategies among Bitcoin-native public companies, while noting the approach has yet to prove itself.

TD Cowen rates Nakamoto Holdings (NASDAQ: NAKA) Buy. TD Securities discloses that it makes a market in the stock.

Bitcoin Magazine is published by BTC Inc, a subsidiary of Nakamoto Inc. (NASDAQ: NAKA)

This post AI Could Be Bitcoin’s Next Onboarding Engine, Nakamoto CEO Says first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Mathew Di Salvo.

Bitcoin Magazine

Nakamoto Posts First Positive Adjusted Operating Income, Despite $133M GAAP Net Loss

Bitcoin operating company Nakamoto Inc. dropped its first quarterly results on Thursday, marked by a wide GAAP net loss in what the company is calling a turning point in its underlying operations.

The Nashville-based company posted total operating revenue of $35.9 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2026, split between $25.6 million from its media and asset management units and $10.4 million from its Bitcoin treasury and derivatives strategy, according to a Thursday statement. 

Nakamoto shares (NASDAQ: NAKA) rose more than 2% Thursday morning in New York. 

On a GAAP basis, Nakamoto reported an operating loss of $149.1 million and a net loss of $133.0 million, or $6.65 per diluted share — driven largely by a $105.2 million non-cash goodwill impairment and $48.7 million in mark-to-market losses on its Bitcoin holdings.

Stripping out those non-cash items, the picture looks different: adjusted operating income came in at $7.3 million, which the company says is its first positive adjusted operating income since it became a Bitcoin operating company.

“This quarter we delivered the first positive adjusted operating income since Nakamoto became a Bitcoin operating company,” David Bailey, the company’s Chairman and CEO, said, pointing also to a roughly $45 million reduction in outstanding debt and the extension of about $105 million in loan principal to June 2027.

The quarter also brought a major structural shift: Nakamoto completed the closure of its legacy healthcare clinics on June 19, 2026, finishing its transition into a pure-play Bitcoin operating company. The board authorized a $25 million share buyback and added Chief Investment Officer Tyler Evans as a director.

Nakamoto’s asset management arm, UTXO Management, launched a new structured credit fund and said it guided a client vehicle, the 210k Capital Fund, through what it described as the first cleared Bitcoin Depositary Receipt trade settled via traditional prime brokerage and DTCC infrastructure — a milestone the firm frames as a step toward integrating Bitcoin products into mainstream financial markets. Separately, the 210k Capital fund itself fell 5% for the quarter, outperforming a 14% decline in Bitcoin over the same period.

The company’s media unit, BTC Inc., generated $22.6 million from its flagship Bitcoin 2026 conference and announced a new daily video network, BM TV, along with new institutional-focused events aimed at connecting corporate executives and capital allocators with the Bitcoin industry.

Nakamoto ended the quarter holding 4,467 Bitcoin, valued at approximately $261.5 million.

Bitcoin Magazine is published by BTC Inc, a subsidiary of Nakamoto Inc. (NASDAQ: NAKA)

This post Nakamoto Posts First Positive Adjusted Operating Income, Despite $133M GAAP Net Loss first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Mathew Di Salvo.