Every week, the Bitcoin Weekly Dispatch follows Bitcoin’s story in motion: tracking the markets, corporate moves, regulatory environment, mining progress, protocol upgrades, Lightning Network growth, and the new tools and products driving adoption.
In a week defined by institutional fervor and market fluctuations, Bitcoin continued its ascent toward mainstream financial integration. Corporate treasuries swelled, U.S. regulators offered fresh policy clarifications, while breakthroughs in Bitcoin mining underscored the asset’s evolving infrastructure. Amidst this, Bitcoin’s price tested new heights before a retreat on macroeconomic pressures, yet the community exhibited resilient optimism, viewing the pullback as healthy consolidation and a prime buying opportunity amid strong institutional inflows and long-term bullish signals.
Bitcoin Price Action
Bitcoin’s price experienced dramatic volatility this week, surging to a new all-time high above $124,000 on Wednesday. The rally was fueled by strong institutional inflows into spot ETFs and heightened expectations for Federal Reserve rate cuts in September.
The peak marked a roughly 5% gain from the week’s open near $118,500. However, momentum reversed sharply after the release of a hotter-than-expected U.S. Producer Price Index (PPI) report for July — up 0.9% month-over-month and 3.3% year-over-year, well above forecasts. The data raised fears of sticky inflation and trimmed rate-cut odds from 100% to about 96%. In response, Bitcoin tumbled below $118,000 by midday Thursday, triggering over $1 billion in leveraged liquidations across the broader crypto market.
Bitcoin is closing the week trading at around $117,900, down 0.7% over the past seven days. Despite the dip, accumulation by large holders continues, with the number of Bitcoin addresses holding 100+ BTC reaching a record high above 19,000.
In a separate development, Bitcoin’s 200-day moving average has crossed above $100,000 for the first time — a milestone that has historically signaled the start of new eras.
Remarkably, this week also marked Bitcoin’s 100th consecutive day closing above $100,000.
💥100 DAYS OVER $100,000
Bitcoin has officially closed above $100,000 for 100 consecutive days! pic.twitter.com/oKvA2fqgBs— Bitcoin Archive (@BTC_Archive) August 16, 2025
Corporate Treasury Expansions and Acquisitions
Corporate adoption of Bitcoin as a treasury asset reached new heights this week, with several companies announcing significant purchases, raises, and holdings disclosures.
- MicroStrategy marked the fifth anniversary of its Bitcoin treasury strategy by acquiring an additional 155 BTC for $18 million, at an average price of $116,401 per BTC. The company now holds 628,946 BTC, amassed at an average cost of $73,288 per BTC, reinforcing its status as the top corporate holder.
- Japan’s Metaplanet disclosed holdings of 18,113 BTC, ranking it as the fourth-largest corporate Bitcoin holder globally and the largest in Asia.
- Public company Nakamoto, led by David Bailey, closed a $200 million funding round explicitly to purchase more Bitcoin. Following a merger with healthcare company KindlyMD, the firm is now positioned to acquire over $740 million in BTC.
- Taiwan’s luxury watchmaker Top Win International became the country’s first publicly listed Bitcoin treasury by raising $10 million through three-year convertible notes, led by WiseLink and backed by investors like Chad Koehn, to kickstart Bitcoin acquisitions.
- Harvard University’s endowment revealed a $116.7 million stake in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), surpassing its positions in Nvidia and Alphabet.
- American Bitcoin, backed by Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., is reportedly negotiating acquisitions of listed companies in Japan and potentially Hong Kong to convert them into regional Bitcoin treasury vehicles.
- Rumble, the video and cloud services firm, is weighing an all-stock bid of approximately $1.17 billion to acquire German AI cloud company Northern Data (in which Tether currently holds a 54% majority stake), underscoring a crossover between Bitcoin treasury ambitions and AI infrastructure expansion.
Institutional Launches
New financial products boosted Bitcoin accessibility, with noteworthy entries in both European and Central Asian markets.
- BlackRock iShares debuts on SIX Swiss Exchange: BlackRock’s iShares launched its Bitcoin ETP on Switzerland’s SIX Swiss Exchange, trading under the ticker IB1T. Each ETP unit is fully backed by Bitcoin held in cold storage by Coinbase Custody International.
- Kazakhstan launches Central Asia’s first spot Bitcoin ETF: Kazakhstan introduced the region’s first spot Bitcoin ETF, the Fonte Bitcoin Exchange Traded Fund (BETF), on the Astana International Exchange (AIX), custodied by BitGo Trust.
Policy and Regulations
Regulatory shifts delivered mixed signals this week: U.S. clarifications helped temper expectations, while international policies pushed Bitcoin’s integration deeper into mainstream financial systems.
- The Federal Reserve announced it would discontinue its “novel activities” supervision program, first established in 2023 to oversee banks’ involvement with crypto and fintech. Its functions will be integrated into the Fed’s standard bank oversight framework.
- Speaking on Fox News, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent initially stated that the government was not planning additional Bitcoin purchases for its Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. He later clarified that the Treasury remains open to “budget-neutral pathways to acquire more Bitcoin,” signaling willingness to pursue the President’s goal of making the United States a “Bitcoin superpower.”
- From the prior week but still relevant, El Salvador’s National Assembly passed legislation enabling licenses for Bitcoin services, requiring $50 million minimum capital for credit institutions to offer digital-asset-linked instruments as investment banks.
Bitcoin Mining
This week marked notable progress in Bitcoin mining, as new hardware innovations and strategic partnerships pointed to greater efficiency, stronger energy integration, and expanding links with the broader tech ecosystem.
- Block’s Proto Rig: Jack Dorsey’s Block (formerly Square) introduced the first U.S.-made Bitcoin ASIC miner, named Proto Rig, with an impressive 14.1 J/TH efficiency. The modular design allows for swappable hashboards and a projected lifespan of 10 years.
Today marks the end of rip and replace Bitcoin mining. Proto Rig—the first miner built to be infrastructure.
• Replaceable hashboards
• Save 15–20% with each cycle
• Works with legacy facilities setupsBuilt by the team at Block to improve uptime for miners and decentralize… pic.twitter.com/8qAgntl3DF
— Proto (@protomining) August 14, 2025
- MARA’s Exaion Stake: MARA Holdings (MARA) entered into an agreement with EDF Pulse Ventures to acquire a 64% stake in Exaion, EDF’s AI and HPC-focused subsidiary, for approximately $168 million in cash, with an option to increase ownership up to 75% by 2027.
- TeraWulf–Google AI Partnership: TeraWulf saw its stock soar nearly 78% after announcing a $3.7 billion, 10-year AI hosting agreement with Google-backed Fluidstack. Google will backstop $1.8 billion in lease obligations and receive an 8% equity stake via warrants, covering more than 200 MW of AI compute capacity at TeraWulf’s Lake Mariner facility.
Security and Legal Incidents
The week wasn’t without challenges, as criminal activities and legal resolutions underscored Bitcoin’s ongoing risks.
- In Brazil, four suspects were arrested for kidnapping the mother of a cryptocurrency trader and holding her captive until the son paid a ransom of 5 BTC (approximately $600,000). Authorities emphasized the rising threat of “wrench attacks.”
- In the Czech Republic, police detained convicted darknet marketplace founder Tomáš Jiřikovský amid a $45 million Bitcoin bribery scandal involving a donation to the Ministry of Justice to avoid a new prison sentence.
- In Estonia, the co-founders of the now-defunct HashFlare mining operation, Sergei Potapenko and Ivan Turõgin, have escaped additional jail time served for their involvement in a $577 million Bitcoin Ponzi scheme, having already spent 16 months in custody. They were also ordered to pay fines and complete community service, while U.S. prosecutors have requested a 10-year sentence.
This week’s Dispatch shows Bitcoin at the intersection of volatility and validation. From price whipsaws and mining breakthroughs to institutional adoption and shifting policies, the story remains one of steady integration. While macroeconomic pressures spark turbulence, Bitcoin’s deepening role in corporate treasuries, financial markets, and infrastructure signals a long-term trajectory that continues to bend upward.
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