The latest executive order has sparked a price rebound and margins for miners have recovered in parallel. Five years after its first Bitcoin purchase, Strategy now holds almost 3% of the total supply. Network hashrate continues to experience significant fluctuations, accompanied by mild difficulty adjustments. Block is set to unveil new mining chips that could shift the industry. For our premium readers we dive into the rarity of hitting 144 blocks in a single day. Lastly, we explore Ethiopia’s decision to phase out crypto mining amid mounting energy pressures. Let’s dive in.
Executive Order Sparks Price Rebound
Strategy’s Five-Year Bitcoin Treasury Journey
Network Hashrate Ripping and Dipping
Mild Difficulty Adjustments
Block to Unveil New Bitcoin Mining Chips
Premium Members Only:
The Rarity of Hitting 144 Blocks a Day
Ethiopia to Phase Out Crypto Mining Amid Energy Strain
Executive Order Sparks Price Rebound
Bitcoin’s Spot ETF began the month with the second-largest daily outflow ever recorded, as $812.3 million was sold on August 1, pushing the BTC price just below $112K. However, the price has since rebounded following President Trump’s executive order, which allows Americans to allocate 401(k) retirement funds into Bitcoin and other digital assets. This move designates Bitcoin as a “qualified asset” under 401(k) rules, sparking a price surge that brought BTC within $1,000 of its all-time high. Over the past four trading days, ETF buying has picked up again, flipping from net outflow to net inflow.
Strategy’s Five-Year Bitcoin Treasury Journey
Five years after its first Bitcoin purchase, Strategy’s latest acquisition of 155 BTC for $18 million brings its total holdings to 628,946 BTC, almost 3% of the total supply. Strategy is by far the most dominant player among the 152 public companies with Bitcoin treasuries. Public companies hold a total of 951,062 BTC of which 66% sits on Strategy’s balance sheet.
The recent purchases were funded through the sale of its perpetual Strife preferred stock (STRF) and perpetual Stretch preferred stock (STRC). STRF offers a 10% cumulative dividend, while STRC is a new variable-rate stock starting at 9%. To date, Strategy has spent around $46.1 billion on Bitcoin, with unrealized profits of approximately $30 billion. Recently, the pace of purchases slowed as Strategy shifted from common stock to its preferred stocks for funding. In its Q2 results, the company committed to avoiding common equity issuance unless its market cap-to-net asset value ratio exceeds 2.5x, though it currently sits at 1.5x.
Network Hashrate Ripping and Dipping
After a period of consolidation, the network hashrate surged higher, surpassing the previous all-time high of 950 EH/s and reaching a new peak of 969 EH/s. This brought it within striking distance of the 1 ZetaHash milestone, just 3.2% away. However, the surge was short-lived, lasting only about a week before a sharp correction pushed the 7-day moving average back below the 900 EH/s level.
Mild Difficulty Adjustments
Despite the surge in hashrate, block times were only slightly affected. Last Friday, we saw a modest difficulty increase of 1.42%. While the adjustment was modest, it set a new record high at 129.44T. Year-to-date, difficulty has risen by 17.9%, compared to a 25.9% increase at the same point last year.
Hashprice Rebounds as Bitcoin Recovers
In line with Bitcoin’s price dip at the start of the month, hashprice dropped to $56/PH/day, the lowest since late June. However, as Bitcoin recovered, hashprice followed suit. Despite a modest difficulty adjustment attempting to push hashprice down, miners’ revenues have remained steady, approaching the $60/PH/day mark, benefiting from Bitcoin’s recent price appreciation.
Block to Unveil New Bitcoin Mining Chips
Jack Dorsey’s Block is set to release new Bitcoin mining chips on August 14th under its Proto Mining initiative. The aim is to level the playing field in the mining ecosystem by providing efficient and accessible mining hardware. This announcement follows Block’s completion of a ground-breaking three-nanometer Bitcoin mining chip, developed to significantly improve both efficiency and decentralization within the Bitcoin network.
Block has he ambition to positioning itself as a key player in the mining industry, planning to provide large-scale, well-capitalized mining hardware. With the upcoming launch, Block intends to offer a standalone mining chip. This move is poised to drive innovation in the space and offer miners more competitive options to enhance their operations.
The following content is exclusively for our Premium Members:
The Rarity of Hitting 144 Blocks a Day and its Impact on FPPS Payments
Ethiopia to Phase Out Crypto Mining Amid Energy Strain
