🔥Bitcoin’s Battlefront: Rising Costs, Mining Moves & The Strategic Reserve Shake-Up

👀 TLDR 🪟

Bitcoin in the 80s era again while Network difficulty up to 112.15 T pushing our profitability down under again. But on the bright side Bitcoin crypto market dominance hits 61.2%; ETF inflows pause at $13.3M; Bitfinex margin longs rise.
Solo miner with 480 GH/s Bitaxe hits 1-in-a-million odds, winning $263K; Braiins hits 1K payouts
CleanSpark joins S&P 600; Bitdeer, Canaan expand; Iran seizes rigs; Mawson sued; Mining costs rise; British Columbia upholds BTC mining power limits; Miners adapt to tariffs.
US lawmakers push for a Bitcoin reserve; Texas, Florida, and Australia propose BTC holdings; UK rejects over volatility; Saylor urges the US to acquire 25% of Bitcoin supply; Deutsche Bank backs BTC as a hedge; DOJ may be liquidating Silk Road BTC; Binance secures $2B from Abu Dhabi’s MGX; BBVA and Coinbase expand trading; Singapore plans BTC futures launch in 2025; Russia uses Bitcoin for oil trade.
SEC may drop Ripple case; Vermont dismisses Coinbase staking case; Robinhood settles for $30M; Turkey tightens crypto rules; Russia plans a limited crypto trading trial; South Korea to lift institutional ban; California backs Bitcoiner for CalPERS seat; US Housing Department explores blockchain; David Sacks rejects crypto tax; Brazil pushes crypto for BRICS trade; Crypto.com gets VARA nod in Dubai.
Whales and institutions boost BTC holdings; SBI VC, Metaplanet, and Cantor Fitzgerald increase exposure; StarkWare builds a BTC reserve; Metaplanet issues ¥2B bonds for BTC; Rumble discloses $17M in BTC holdings; Taproot Wizards to auction Ordinals NFTs; El Salvador shuts its Bitcoin-funded pet hospital; Binance’s CZ seeks a Trump pardon; Mt. Gox moves $930M BTC; BlackRock buys $25M BTC, eyes 1-2% allocation.
Trump unveils Strategic Bitcoin Reserve at Crypto Summit, shifting from skeptic to supporter.
Can Bitcoin drive America’s prosperity and global leadership, as Saylor suggests?

For this week’s Hash & Cash Index, BTC price dips to 83,473, a 5.83% decrease from last week, contradicting market growth. Market cap stays as above the $1T, settling at $ 1.547 (-6.07% WoW). Hashprice sit at $47.32 USD/PH/day, a 7.70% decrease. The global hashrate rose 4.12%, reaching 833.36 EH/s. The current epoch’s difficulty rises to 112.15 T this week. We’re at block 735 of 2016 for this epoch. Rewards remain at 3.16 BTC per block. Fees in blocks settles to 1.26% showing a increase of 10.53%. The average block time has decreased to 9 minutes and 35 seconds. Source: Hashrate Index, Mempool, ONMINE.

🪄 Pool Power Tools 🎱

This week’s Pool reward index settles to 104.70%, an increase from last week 4.28% with 19 active pools chipping away 1049 blocks. The total miner reward over the last 144 blocks contracted to 455.62 BTC rises 0.12% from last week, the dollar valuation of this rewards rises to $37M (-6.45% WoW). Average block fees are equal to 0.0390BTC/block up 10.17% Wow and estimated to be $3,1250 per block. Transaction fee per Network transaction equate to 1.3k sats per transaction, costing around $1.08 per transaction on the Bitcoin network over the last 144 block. Source: Mempool, ONMINE

In this week’s 1008 block mining pool race, Foundry USA remains at the forefront, with a total reported hashrate of 289.68 EH/S, clinching 364 blocks. ANTPOOL continues to challenge, harvesting 193 blocks with 153.60 EH/S. F2Pool and ViaBTC are neck and neck in the hashrate hustle, grabbing 98 and 146 blocks, respectively. Luxor staying in the top ranks, with a hashrate of 30.24 EH/S and manages to secure 38 blocks over the last week. Source: Mempool, ONMINE.

⛏️ Solo miner using a tiny 480 GH/s Bitaxe rig wins Bitcoin block, earning $263K against 1-in-a-million odds.

⚡ Braiins mining pool surpasses 1,000 daily Lightning payouts, enabling instant miner transactions.

🧰 Hard-Ware & Hosting Index ⚙

⚖️ Stone Ridge sues Mawson for allegedly stealing $30M in Bitcoin miners and mining for itself.

📊 CleanSpark added to S&P SmallCap 600, reflecting its strong profits and Bitcoin reserves.

⛏️ Bitdeer’s A3 chip achieves 9.7 J/TH efficiency, with mass production set for Q2; BTC holdings soar 75% to 1,039 BTC.

🚀 Canaan raised up to $200M to expand Bitcoin mining in North America, aiming for 10 EH/s by mid-2025.

🍁 British Columbia’s court upholds power limits on Bitcoin mining, rejecting Conifex’s bid for unrestricted electricity.

🇮🇷 Iran seized 240K mining rigs in 3 years, citing illegal electricity use amid a worsening energy crisis.

⚖️ Consensus Colocation secured a temporary restraining order against Mawson, stopping the hosting provider from blocking access to its Bitcoin mining rigs amid a payment dispute.

⚙️ Iceriver has shifted from mining to hardware sales, specializing in ASIC machines for alternative cryptocurrencies while facing regulatory challenges, including 2,412 machines detained by US Customs.

⚒️ JPMorgan slashes miner price targets by up to 29% but sees a buying opportunity, expecting public miners to grow their hashrate share in 2025 by cutting costs and securing energy.

Public Bitcoin miners raised record equity funding in 2024 but are now relying more on debt financing as BTC prices decline.

📉 Miners’ BTC holdings surpassed 101K for the first time in February, backed by $6.37B in funding, as hashprice drops to $45/PH/s.

Major miners like MARA, Riot, and Hut 8 drove BTC holdings past 101K, raising $6.37B in Q4—$1.6B from stocks and $4.6B from debt, mainly zero-coupon bonds.

🚧 With Trump’s tariff threats and Ontario’s energy shifts, Bitcoin miners like Bitfarms are adapting, with CEO Ben Ganon noting their Quebec and British Columbia hydro-powered sites remain stable.

🌟 If you are interested in hosting or purchasing ASICs please use this link to see how much more BTC you can mine and less USD to spend. Fill out this survey so we can beat the halving together or email [email protected].

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🏦 Bitcoin Products 🔍

🏛️ US lawmakers reintroduce the BITCOIN Act to acquire 1M BTC as a federal reserve asset.

🇺🇸 Saylor says the US must embrace Bitcoin for national security, calling it a digital defense system.

🚀 Michael Saylor urges US to acquire up to 25% of Bitcoin supply for a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve by 2035.

🇺🇸 Bo Hines reveals plans for a U.S. Bitcoin reserve, aiming to boost economic resilience without taxpayer cost.

🇺🇸 Utah Senate passes Bitcoin bill but removes reserve clause, limiting it to custody and mining rights.

🇺🇸 Florida gubernatorial candidate Byron Donalds proposes a state Bitcoin reserve as a hedge against inflation and federal monetary policy.

🇺🇸 Texas introduces a second Bitcoin reserve bill to invest up to $250M in BTC.

🇺🇸 Nebraska passes a law to regulate Bitcoin ATMs and prevent fraud.

🏛️ House debates overturning IRS crypto exchange rule alongside a key spending bill vote.

📜 SEC considers scrapping crypto exchange registration rule.

⚖️ Robinhood to pay $30M to settle US regulatory probes over compliance failures.

🇺🇸 Bitcoin Magazine’s CEO speculates that the DOJ is liquidating Silk Road BTC, possibly contributing to Bitcoin’s drop to $80K.

🇦🇺 Australia’s Libertarian Party proposes a national Bitcoin reserve, aiming to hedge against inflation and influence crypto policy.

🇬🇧 UK Treasury rejects a Bitcoin reserve over volatility concerns.

🇩🇪 Deutsche Bank backs the US Bitcoin reserve for financial strategy and inflation hedging.

🇪🇺 EU silent on US Bitcoin reserve as it pushes for digital euro launch in October 2025.

🇹🇷 Turkey tightens crypto rules with stricter licensing, capital requirements, and a ban on derivatives.

🇷🇺 Russia’s central bank plans a three-year crypto trading trial for select investors but maintains

its ban on crypto as payment.

🇷🇺 Russia uses Bitcoin, Ethereum, and stablecoins to bypass sanctions in its $192B oil trade with China and India.

🇰🇷 South Korea to lift institutional crypto ban in Q3, with stablecoin rules in development.

🇯🇵 Metaplanet issues ¥2B in zero-interest bonds to expand its Bitcoin holdings.

🇯🇵 Metaplanet buys 162 more BTC, raising total holdings to 3,050 BTC.

🇭🇰 Ming Shing Group bought 333 BTC for $27M, embracing Bitcoin as a reserve asset.

🇯🇵 SBI VC buys 4,000 BTC for $328M amid Bitcoin dip.

The Bitcoin Treasury Index for this week steady reflecting a stable grip on holdings, with 75 companies increasing their trove to precisely 2,927,283.69 BTC. Government also join the bitcoin standard with 7 countries holding 527,259.0 BTC. The value locked in these treasuries for Companies and Government tells a different story swelling to a robust $237.22B and $42.73B, respectively. A total of 13.939% all Bitcoins are held in corporate treasuries, while government holds 2.511 % of all Bitcoins, reinforcing the sentiment of a consolidating market among institutional & Government participants. Source: NewHedge, ONMINE.

⭐ StarkWare establishes a Bitcoin reserve and advances Bitcoin scaling with Starknet.

🐋 Whales accumulated 65K BTC despite market uncertainty, signaling strong buying pressure.

🎥 Rumble discloses $17M in Bitcoin holdings, may buy more as part of strategic expansion.

💰 Strategy plans a $21B stock sale to increase its Bitcoin holdings.

🤝 Cantor Fitzgerald teams up with Anchorage Digital and Copper.co to provide Bitcoin custody for institutional investors.

💰 Binance secures $2B from Abu Dhabi’s MGX, marking its first institutional investment.

🚀 Spanish bank BBVA gets approval to offer Bitcoin and Ethereum trading.

🇦🇪 Crypto.com secures VARA approval to offer derivatives in Dubai.

🚀 Coinbase to launch 24/7 BTC & ETH futures in the US.

🇧🇷 Brazil is prioritizing crypto for BRICS trade, pushing blockchain payments to reduce reliance on the U.S. dollar.

🇸🇬 Singapore Exchange to launch Bitcoin perpetual futures in H2 2025, awaiting approval.

📉 Robinhood’s crypto trading dropped 29% in February to $14.4B.

🛒 BlackRock just bought $25 million in Bitcoin and recommends a 1-2% BTC allocation, potentially adding $3B.

⚖️ SEC may soon end its case against Ripple, with fines still possible.

✅ Ripple received DFSA approval to offer cross-border crypto payments in Dubai, expanding its Middle East presence.

🔥 David Sacks rejects proposed crypto transaction tax, calling it burdensome and unnecessary.

🇺🇸 California legislators endorse Bitcoiner Dom Bei for a seat on the $500B CalPERS pension board.

🏡 U.S. Housing Department considers crypto and blockchain for operations, per ProPublica.

🇸🇻 El Salvador shuts its Bitcoin-funded pet hospital.

🧙‍♂️ Taproot Wizards to auction its Bitcoin Ordinals NFTs publicly on March 25.

🍁 Canada’s new PM Mark Carney has criticized Bitcoin, calling it a ‘criminal act of monetary amnesia.’

🔥 Binance founder CZ pushes for a Trump pardon amid talks of his family investing in Binance US.

🇩🇪 Deutsche Bank compares Bitcoin to gold, highlighting its store-of-value potential despite market volatility.

⚖️ Vermont dropped its staking case against Coinbase after the SEC’s dismissal.

💳 Emirates NBD now allows customers to buy Bitcoin directly from their bank accounts.

🇺🇸 AML Bitcoin creator convicted of fraud in $2M pump-and-dump scheme.

🎬 End Notes 🎤

🚀 White House Crypto Summit (March 7, 2025) unveils Trump’s Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, a Digital Asset Stockpile, and a no-sell BTC policy, while industry leaders discuss regulations and scrap the planned Crypto Council.

🔥 From skeptic to supporter, Trump’s shift on Bitcoin—from calling it a “scam” to proposing a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve—marks a major policy pivot.

When Trump took office in 2017, Bitcoin was under $900 but soared past $30,000 by the end of his term, with a nearly 50% jump in his first 100 days. In his second term, BTC started at around $102,000 but has since dropped to approximately $80,000.

💡 Is the Bitcoin Strategic Reserve the same as the Digital Asset Stockpile?

No, the Digital Asset Stockpile holds various seized cryptocurrencies, while the Bitcoin Strategic Reserve is exclusively for Bitcoin. Here’s how they compare:

🛑 A Democrat lawmaker is urging the US Treasury to stop Trump’s Bitcoin reserve plans, citing conflicts of interest and taxpayer risks.

💰 Mt. Gox moves $930M BTC as October payout nears, raising selling pressure concerns.

Mt Gox wallets on March 11 (Arkham Intelligence)

📈 Bitwise launches Bitcoin Treasury ETF, tracking companies with 1,000+ BTC holdings, led by MicroStrategy and major miners!

Public Companies rank among the top institutional Bitcoin holders, with corporate treasuries growing rapidly. Source: BitcoinTreasuries.NET

OWNB’s largest holdings. Source: BItwise

🔥 Bitcoin dominance hits new highs at 61.2%, ending altcoins’ short-lived surge, says Matrixport.

📈 Bitcoin has surged from its March 11 low of $76,703, driven by aggressive dip buying with leverage as analysts highlight its correlation with global liquidity trends.

Margin longs on Bitfinex hit their highest level since November 2024, with 13,787 BTC added over 17 days, signaling strong bullish confidence despite recent price dips. Bitcoin/USD (orange, left) vs. Bitfinex BTC margin longs (right). Source: TradingView

X user Pakpakchicken highlights an 82% correlation between the global money supply (M2) and Bitcoin’s price, suggesting central bank liquidity strongly influences BTC movements.

📊 Over $1.67 billion exited US spot Bitcoin and Ether ETFs in March, but inflows of $13.3 million on March 12 signaled a pause in outflows, with Bitcoin ETFs attracting $35.4 million over two days and Ether ETFs seeing $14.6 million on March 4.

Spot Bitcoin ETF daily flow data. Source: Farside Investors

Bitcoin ETFs saw a $13.3 million inflow on March 12, briefly halting outflows, with total trades that day reaching $2.01 billion, the lowest since Feb. 20, driven by BlackRock’s IBIT, ARK 21Shares ARKB, and Grayscale’s BTC fund. Source: SoSoValue

⭐ Michael Saylor explains why Bitcoin is key to America’s prosperity and how the U.S. can lead as a global Bitcoin superpower.

🔮 “With increasing institutional adoption and the growing push for Bitcoin reserves, could Bitcoin become the primary store of value in the coming years? Stay tuned for the next wave of developments!”

🤑 Top Tea 🫖

Crypto leaders meet at Trump’s summit with strategic reserve in focus – Reuters
White House Draws Line Between Bitcoin And Digital Assets At Its First Crypto Summit, In EO – Bitcoin Magazine
Bitcoin has formally entered its sovereign state era – Blockworks
Ben Gagnon: energy access and deregulation key for Bitcoin mining growth – Crypto News
U.S. creating a strategic Bitcoin reserve is ‘very significant,’ analyst says – Crypto News
Peter Schiff Creates His Own BTC Reserve, Receives Solana Instead – U Today
White House Crypto Summit Offers Details On Trump’s Bitcoin Reserve – IBD
The US Government’s Liquidation of High-Value Crypto Could Net Another 5,000 BTC – Bitcoin News
Bitcoin Hits $76K as Trump’s Economic Agenda Shakes Markets – Bitcoin News
Bitcoin Whales Rapidly Buying It Back – 5,000 BTC Added in March – U Today
Fundsrat’s Tom Lee Says Bitcoin Could Be the Most Profitable Product for JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs – Here’s Why – The Daily Hodl
Analyst Who Nailed End of 2021 Bull Market Says Bitcoin May Have Seen Worst of Correction – Here’s Why – The Daily Hodl
Bitcoin’s price drop sparks speculation over DOJ’s possible sell-off – Crypto Briefing
Bitcoin has to fall this low for Michael Saylor’s Strategy to lose money – Finbold
Peter Schiff Criticizes MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin Strategy Amid BTC Price Crash – Coingape
The United States Must Embrace Bitcoin Now: A Recap Of Bitcoin For America – Bitcoin Magazine
US to Implement BTC Reserve in Weeks: Bitcoin Magazine CEO – The Crypto Basic
U.S. Treasury Market Most Volatile in 4 Months May Slow Any Bitcoin Price Recovery After CPI – Coindesk
EU retaliatory tariffs threaten Bitcoin correction to $75K — Analysts – Cointelegraph
What Canada’s new Liberal PM Mark Carney means for crypto – Cointelegraph
Argentine lawyer requests Interpol red notice for LIBRA creator: Report – Cointelegraph
Bitcoin Mining In Australia – The Mining Pod
EPA Slashes Regulations, Canaan Secures $200M, CoreWeave’s OpenAI Deal and NYDIG’s Mawson Beef – The Mining Pod
Don’t fear the quantum reaper – Blockspace
Bitcoin Plan: Scaramucci’s 2% Strategy Wasn’t Enough—Saylor Calls It Contradictory – Watcher Guru
Bitcoin’s Fall Resembles 2017 Crash – Watcher Guru
3 Top Economic Factors That Can Fuel Massive Bitcoin Rebound – Coingape
Trump-backed World Liberty Financial (WLFI) Completes $590M Token Sale – Coindesk

💉 Dopamine Hit 🕺🏻

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Around half of SNP voters back nuclear power in energy mix – poll

Roughly half of the SNP’s voters believe nuclear power should be part of Scotland’s mix of clean energy generation, a poll suggests, despite the party’s longstanding opposition to it.Polling for the campaign group Britain Remade found 52% of those who voted for the party in 2021 believe nuclear power should be included in Scotland’s energy mix to meet the 2045 net zero target.
Meanwhile, 57% of those who voted for the party in last year’s general election felt the same way, the poll found.
A total of 56% of Scots thought nuclear power should be part of Scotland’s clean energy mix to meet the targets, while 23% disagreed, and 21% said they did not know.
Opinium surveyed 1,000 Scottish adults between April 22 and 25.
Britain Remade describes itself as a grassroots campaign for economic growth.
Founder Sam Richards said: “The message from our polling is clear: when it comes to safe and reliable nuclear power, the SNP is not just out of step with the majority of Scots – they’re at odds with a huge number of their own supporters.
“It’s time for the SNP to stop saying ‘no’ to new nuclear and start listening to the people, the experts, and the communities who know what’s at stake.
“Investing in a new generation of nuclear power is not just critical if Scotland is to hit its 2045 net zero target – it is essential for Scotland’s economy. Grangemouth could be transformed by SMR (small modular reactor) technology, but the SNP’s opposition is standing in the way.”
Scotland nuclear energy
Scotland has one remaining active nuclear reactor, at Torness in East Lothian, which is due to shut down in 2030.
Last week the deactivated Hunterston B power station was declared “nuclear free” as all fuel elements were removed ahead of decommissioning.

Hunterston B nuclear power station in Ayrshire, which was due to be decommissioned in 2016, has had its operational licence extended until 2023Credit: James Williamson

Labour MSP Martin Whitfield said: “If we don’t act soon to end this ideological opposition, Scotland will lose its nuclear energy capacity entirely, damaging jobs and the economy, including East Lothian.
“A Scottish Labour Government will end the block on new nuclear, delivering zero carbon nuclear energy, kickstarting economic growth and bringing significant investment into East Lothian and the rest of Scotland.”

Conservative MP John Lamont said: “It’s absolutely ridiculous for the Nationalists to ignore the majority of Scots who support the use of more nuclear power, especially since it is clean energy that doesn’t harm the environment.”
However the SNP argued nuclear power projects remain too expensive to be a viable alternative to renewable power.
MSP Bill Kidd said: “Our focus is delivering a just transition that supports communities and creates long-term economic opportunities to build a truly sustainable future.
“Nuclear remains one of the most costly forms of energy with projects like Hinkley Point C running billions over budget and years behind schedule.
“In contrast, Scotland’s net zero transition is already delivering thousands of green jobs across energy, construction, innovation, and engineering. This number will continue to grow.
“Simply, renewables are cheaper to produce and develop, create more jobs, and are safer than nuclear as they don’t leave behind radioactive waste that will be deadly for generations.
“While Labour funnels billions into slow, centralised projects, the SNP is focused on creating real, sustainable jobs in Scotland now.”

Synaptec aims to tackle million pound wind farm cable problem

Glasgow-based Synaptec has developed new technology designed to tackle the issue of cable failures on offshore wind farms that can cost operators millions.The company’s Greenlight provides automated monitoring of the joints and terminations in a cable network, delivering early warnings of emerging faults before they become failures.
The system is based on Synaptec’s Distributed Electrical Sensing (DES) technology, which was Synaptec previously deployed on the latest phase of the Dogger Bank wind farm.
Cable failures are a major issue facing offshore wind farms, with a single fault in transmission networks and offshore wind developments capable of costing up to £1m per day in lost revenue.
Allianz, the insurer for UK offshore wind projects including Dogger Bank and East Anglia Three, warned that damage to cables is the main cause of offshore wind insurance claims, accounting for 53% of claims across its global portfolio from 2014-2020.
Around 70% of these failures originate in the joints and terminations rather than the cables themselves.
The Global Underwater Hub (GUH) recently launched a forum to tackle rising costs and reliability issues facing subsea cable systems on the UK’s offshore wind farms.
Synaptec vice-president of applications, Dr Steven Blair, said: “Greenlight gives operators control over the most unpredictable and expensive aspect of offshore cable operations and maintenance.
“It’s a system designed not just to collect data, but to deliver clear, early, and location-specific insight that finds the early warning signs of failure.

“The return on investment is immediate – it pays for itself the first time it pre-empts an issue that would otherwise shut down a wind farm.”
Synaptec has made the first commercial installations of Greenlight with offshore wind operators and transmission systems internationally. There are plans for further large-scale installations throughout 2025.
The firm previously raised £6.5m in funding last year, with participation from Megger Group, Proserv, and Equity Gap.
The company aims to use the funds to support its expansion, including the development of new manufacturing facilities in Scotland.
The company had previously said that it aims to increase its revenues fourfold in the next two to three years, along with doubling its headcount as it takes advantage of the 24.4GW pipeline of floating offshore wind capacity off Scotland’s shores.