If you’re looking for a broad stock market investment that will also deliver dividend income to you, you might want to consider the Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI -0.09%). It’s an exchange-traded fund (ETF), which means it’s a fund that trades like a stock. It’s also an index fund, encompassing not just the 500 big American companies in the S&P 500 index but just about all of the U.S. stock market — more than 3,600 stocks.

The Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF pays dividends, too, and recently sported a dividend yield of 1.2% — but whereas most healthy and growing companies pay a fixed dividend amount until they increase it, this ETF’s payout fluctuates a fair amount, as the companies in it change what they pay.

But let’s assume a 1.2% yield. If you invest, say, $1,000, you’ll receive around $12. So to collect $500 in dividend income, you’d need about 42 times that — meaning a stake worth roughly $42,000. That would mean some 130 shares.

To be clear, you can collect much more in dividend income from various high-yield stocks and even some good dividend-focused ETFs. But the Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF can still serve a useful role in your long-term portfolio, having you invested in pretty much the entire U.S. market — and, therefore, most of the U.S. economy — including stocks from Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) to ZIM Integrated Shipping Services (NYSE: ZIM). So if you’re bullish on the future of e-commerce and international trade, not to mention scores of other businesses, this ETF has you covered. (Note that there are reports that ZIM may be taken private. And Amazon investors are expecting its investments in artificial intelligence to make it even more efficient.)

It has more to recommend it, too, such as a low expense ratio (annual fee) of just 0.03%, costing you $3 per $10,000 invested per year.

Selena Maranjian has positions in Amazon. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon and Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF. The Motley Fool recommends Zim Integrated Shipping Services. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

HYPE Approaches Resistance With Momentum As Bulls Eye Breakout

The 4-hour chart for HYPE shows strong bullish momentum, with price currently trading at $25.29 after tapping a local high near $25.57. The rally has been steady and clean, bouncing consistently off the 200 EMA and SMA, now well below the current price, confirming a clear uptrend structure.

HYPE is now pressing into a key resistance zone between $26 and $28, a level that previously acted as supply back in January. This area represents a major test for bulls, as it aligns with the upper boundary of a multi-month range. Volume is healthy, and the trend remains intact with higher highs and higher lows across multiple timeframes.

If HYPE can break and hold above $28, it opens the door for a challenge of the all-time highs. For now, the price may consolidate slightly below resistance as sellers defend this zone, but the overall structure favors a breakout continuation.

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A throwback to the $23–$24 region could act as a healthy retest, but holding above $22 is key to preserving bullish momentum. As long as the trend and volume remain intact, HYPE appears poised for further upside in the coming days.

Featured image from Dall-E, chart from TradingView

Strategy’s Bitcoin-focused investment operation achieved a year-to-date BTC Yield of 13.7% and a BTC $ gain of $5.8 billion as of April 28, according to its first quarter earnings report.

The firm also raised its full-year BTC Yield target from 15% to 25% and increased its BTC gain projection from $10 billion to $15 billion.

The firm’s total Bitcoin (BTC) holdings stood at 553,555 BTC as of April 28, acquired at a cumulative cost of $37.9 billion, or approximately $68,459 per coin. The updated figures incorporate the company’s record $21 billion at-the-market (ATM) equity offering, through which it added 301,335 BTC to its balance sheet during the first quarter.

BTC Yield, BTC Gain, and BTC $ Gain

Strategy tracks three internal performance indicators related to its Bitcoin strategy: BTC Yield, BTC Gain, and BTC $ Gain.

These are not accounting metrics but rather internal key performance indicators intended to illustrate the effects of the company’s capital deployment on its per-share Bitcoin exposure.

BTC Yield represents the percentage change in the ratio between Bitcoin holdings and Assumed Diluted Shares Outstanding. As of April 28, the year-to-date BTC Yield was 13.7%, with a Q1 figure of 11%. 

The company defines Assumed Diluted Shares Outstanding as the sum of basic shares and all convertible instruments treated as shares, regardless of vesting or exercise conditions.

BTC Gain expresses the outcome of BTC Yield in Bitcoin terms. Strategy achieved a BTC Gain of 49,131 BTC in the first quarter, growing to 61,497 BTC year-to-date. 

BTC $ Gain, in turn, translates that gain into dollar terms using spot Bitcoin prices. Based on a BTC price of approximately $95,000 on April 28, the company calculated the BTC $ Gain at $5.8 billion year-to-date.

Accounting changes and unrealized fair value losses

On Jan. 1, Strategy adopted ASU 2023-08, a fair value accounting standard for digital assets. This change led to a $12.7 billion increase in retained earnings at the beginning of the year, aligning reported net income more closely with market fluctuations in Bitcoin pricing.

Despite the accounting shift, the firm reported an unrealized fair value loss of $5.9 billion for the first quarter, driven by the quarter-end BTC price of $82,445. 

However, with the price recovering to approximately $97,300 by late April, the company estimates a fair value gain of roughly $8 billion for the second quarter thus far.

As of March 31, Strategy held 528,185 BTC with a cost basis of $35.6 billion and a market value of $43.5 billion. The firm’s average acquisition price was $67,457 per BTC.

Strategic capital deployment

In addition to the ATM common stock offering, Strategy issued $2 billion in 0% convertible senior notes due 2030 and completed two preferred stock IPOs, Strike and Strife, raising over $1.2 billion combined. 

These instruments contributed to the company’s aggregate net proceeds of $10 billion during the first four months of 2025.

Strategy used the proceeds from these issuances to acquire additional Bitcoin, supporting the company’s stated objective of increasing BTC per-share exposure. The company now has $20.9 billion in capacity remaining under its STRK ATM offering agreement.

While these KPIs reflect Strategy’s internal assessment of capital efficiency relative to Bitcoin accumulation, the firm emphasized that the metrics do not account for liabilities or dividend obligations on preferred stock. 

Management also noted that the market shouldn’t see these KPIs as traditional financial return metrics. With the adjustments to its annual BTC performance targets and the adoption of fair value accounting, Strategy aims to maintain its positioning as a capital markets vehicle for Bitcoin exposure.

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Investor portfolio allocations to crypto have reached a yearly high of 1.8% as of April 29, according to a recent report published by CoinShares. 

The report attributed the increase to recent price movements and improving sentiment in the crypto market. Its findings are based on survey data and supporting 13F filings, offering a position snapshot of how institutions, individuals, and wealth managers across asset classes.

Institutional portfolios, in particular, showed an average crypto allocation of 2.5%, reflecting a marked shift toward greater on-chain exposure. 

While individual investors maintain the highest absolute weighting in crypto, the report highlights a growing commitment among institutions and family offices.

Bitcoin dominates allocations

Bitcoin (BTC) continues to lead among crypto holdings, with 63% of survey respondents confirming exposure, up from 48% in January. Ethereum (ETH) remains in second place with nearly 20%, while Solana (SOL) follows with 17%. 

Other altcoins, including Polkadot (DOT), Cardano (ADA), and XRP, registered little to no presence in investor portfolios, suggesting a move away from broader diversification within crypto holdings.

The narrowing focus on Bitcoin coincides with investors reassessing altcoin risk and increased comfort with Bitcoin’s relative liquidity, infrastructure, and perceived regulatory clarity. 

This trend is evident despite Ethereum’s continued relevance and growing interest in alternatives outside the top two digital assets.

Respondents primarily cited diversification (30%) as the leading reason for including crypto, followed by interest in distributed ledger technology and speculative motives. 

While client demand has dropped compared to the previous quarter, speculative interest has increased, suggesting a reevaluation of crypto’s role in multi-asset portfolios.

Volatility and regulation remain top concerns

Volatility remains the primary barrier to new crypto investments, even as Bitcoin has recently exhibited lower volatility than equities. 

The persistence of this concern highlights a mismatch between investor perception and the asset’s observed performance during recent market disruptions. Volatility was also the primary ongoing concern among respondents already allocated to crypto. 

Meanwhile, regulatory uncertainty remains the second-most reported barrier to entry, consistent with previous surveys. Investors also reported concerns over reputational risk and weak fundamentals, but to a lesser degree. 

According to the report, expectations that regulatory and political risks would decline following executive orders issued earlier in the year have yet to materialize. Meanwhile, previously cited risks, such as quantum computing, have diminished in relevance.

The report also showed a broader macroeconomic backdrop informing investor sentiment. Despite potential headwinds from tariff-related economic fallout and fears of stagflation, a growing number of respondents view the Federal Reserve’s current policy direction as appropriate, though a substantial portion remains undecided.

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Solana’s (SOL) upcoming protocol changes could significantly alter its economic model by reducing selling pressure by an estimated $677 million to $1.1 billion annually, but they could introduce new decentralization challenges, according to Matthew Sigel, head of digital assets research at VanEck.

Two key Solana Improvement Documents (SIMD), SIMD 096 and SIMD 0228 are central to reshaping how the network distributes fees and how inflation adjusts to staking participation. Solana recently implemented SIMD 096 on Feb. 12, modifying its fee burn mechanism. 

Previously, 50% of priority fees were burned, while the remaining 50% was distributed between validators and stakers. The new system directs 100% of priority fees to validators, increasing their revenue while disincentivizing off-chain trading agreements between traders and validators. 

By reinforcing on-chain execution, this change aligns transaction processing incentives more directly with network security.

Another proposed change, SIMD 0123, would require validators to distribute priority fees to stakers based on a verifiable commission rate. Currently, priority fees — accounting for 40% of all Solana transaction fees — are not explicitly required to be shared with stakers. 

Some validators voluntarily allocate a portion, but others retain most of these fees. If SIMD 0123 is approved, validator earnings would shift toward a more structured distribution model, increasing rewards for stakers while potentially reducing validator profitability.

Inflation and staking

Although the SIMD 096 implementation aimed to boost validator incentives and discourage side deals, it raised Solana’s annual inflation rate by 30% one week after going live. Meanwhile, SIMD 0228 introduces a dynamic adjustment to Solana’s inflation rate based on staking participation. 

Currently, Solana’s inflation rate is 4.7%, decreasing annually by 15% until it reaches a minimum of 1.5%. Under the proposed model, inflation would decrease as staking participation increases, reducing dilution and selling pressure from stakers who treat staking rewards as income.

Sigel highlighted that if 63% of SOL is staked, inflation would adjust to 0.93%. Additionally, at 65% staking participation, inflation would drop further to 0.87%. 

Conversely, if staking participation declines to 50%, inflation would increase to approximately 1.32%. This mechanism balances token issuance with staking demand, sustaining network security while mitigating unnecessary dilution. 

The vote on SIMD 0228 is scheduled for epoch 753, beginning on March 6.

Sustainability and decentralization

Despite the decreasing selling pressure, Sigel highlighted that these proposed changes may significantly affect validator revenues. Some estimates indicate that earnings for validators could decline by as much as 95%, potentially making operations unsustainable for smaller validators. 

The cost of running a Solana validator includes fixed expenses such as voting fees, which total approximately 1.1 SOL per day and cost $58,000 per year, and hardware costs totaling around $6,000 annually. 

Solana currently has 1,323 validators, but only 458 hold more than 100,000 SOL in stake, surpassing the basic profitability threshold. These concerns about validator sustainability have raised further discussions about network decentralization. 

If smaller validators become unprofitable and shut down operations, the network may consolidate around large institutional entities such as Coinbase and Binance. Sigel said that some community members suggest reducing voting costs as a potential mitigation measure to maintain a more decentralized validator set.

Determining the optimal number of validators for a decentralized network involves trade-offs. While a lower number of validators could lead to greater efficiency, it may also introduce risks related to centralization. 

Sigel noted that ultimately market conditions will shape validator participation, with protocol-level adjustments influencing incentives over time. He added:

“While these changes may reduce staking rewards, we believe lowering inflation is a worthy goal that strengthens Solana’s long-term sustainability. Maintaining a predictable and low inflation rate can support SOL’s value by reducing dilution and sell pressure.”

He also vowed to support Solana’s willingness to experiment with different economic models and adjust the protocol’s course to balance incentives and network health.

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The Bitcoin network seems like a ghost town, with its activities falling to the lowest level in a year. A Bitcoin Network Activity Index from the market analytics platform CryptoQuant hovers around 3,760, the lowest since February 2024, indicating that activity on the leading blockchain has plunged 15% since its November 2024 record high.

According to a weekly CryptoQuant report, the index measures the growth in key Bitcoin metrics like block size, active addresses, and number of transactions. This means the decline in Bitcoin activity encompasses almost all areas of the network. Notably, the index has fallen below its 365-day moving average for the first time since July 2021, when China banned Bitcoin mining.

Bitcoin Network Activity Declines

Examining different parts of the Bitcoin network reveals a steep decline in their activities. The number of active addresses and transactions has fallen by double digits. The total daily number of transactions has tumbled 53% from an all-time high of 734,000 in September 2024 to 346,000 currently, the lowest level since March 2024.

Likewise, the number of active addresses on Bitcoin has fallen 20% from 1.14 million in November 2023 to 942,000 today, the lowest level since October 2024.

Bitcoin miners are also feeling the heat because total transaction fees have declined due to low network activity. Total daily transaction fees are $593,000, compared to late October 2024, when $4.7 million was the local top for fees. Transaction fees now represent 1.8% of total revenue for Bitcoin miners, indicating lower profitability for this cohort of market participants.

BTC Appears Overvalued

Furthermore, the low network activity is also evident in the almost empty Bitcoin mempool. The number of transactions waiting to be included in a block has fallen 99% from 287,000 in December 2024 to 3,000 currently. CryptoQuant says the mempool has not been this empty since March 2022, during the last bear market.

Besides the nearly empty mempool, the Bitcoin network has witnessed a collapse in the use of the Runes protocol. Runes was created for minting tokens on the Bitcoin network, and when the protocol was launched in April 2024, the daily number of OP RETURN codes spiked to 802,000. However, that figure has fallen to 10,000 today, indicating that much fewer OP RETURN codes are used in Bitcoin transactions.

Meanwhile, from a network activity perspective, bitcoin (BTC) appears overvalued at its current price of $97,000. The red and blue Metcalfe valuation bands show that the asset’s fair value is between $48,000 and $95,000.