Saylor sat out Bitcoin’s 20% rally while Tom Lee bought Ethereum after a 30% surge
Bitcoin and Ethereum surged final week as falling Treasury yields, renewed US crypto optimism, and a wave of brief liquidations despatched digital belongings sharply greater.
Bitcoin climbed greater than 20% and approached $80,000, while Ethereum gained about 30% in its strongest weekly advance since May 2025.
The rally drew contemporary $2.6 billion in ETF inflows, pressured billions of {dollars} in bearish positions out of the market, and pushed each belongings to multi-month highs.
Interestingly, the breakout produced a sharp break up between the businesses behind crypto’s two largest company treasuries.
Strategy, the most important company holder of Bitcoin, used the power to lift capital with out including to its BTC holdings, while BitMine Immersion Technologies, the most important ETH holding firm, continued shopping for the digital asset into the rally.
Strategy makes use of the rally to construct a $6.7 billion money buffer
Strategy’s determination to sit down out Bitcoin’s breakout coincided with one in every of its largest capital raises, leaving the corporate with extra cash to deploy than at any level in its Bitcoin-buying marketing campaign.
Between Aug. 17 and Aug. 23, Strategy said that it bought 18.26 million MSTR shares for about $2.01 billion in internet proceeds.
Rather than recycle that cash into Bitcoin, it directed $300 million into its present USD Reserve, used $136.4 million to repurchase STRC most well-liked shares, and positioned many of the the rest into a newly created USD Cash account.
That pushed the corporate’s greenback liquidity to $6.69 billion as of Aug. 23, together with $5.10 billion in its reserve and $1.59 billion within the new money pool.
The distinction between the 2 accounts provides Strategy significantly extra flexibility than the headline money determine suggests.
The USD Reserve is primarily supposed to cowl preferred-stock dividends and curiosity obligations, while USD Cash can be utilized to purchase Bitcoin, repurchase MSTR or most well-liked shares, repay convertible debt or fund different treasury transactions.
Strategy mentioned the extra liquidity would permit it to reply extra rapidly to market circumstances, together with “dislocations” in Bitcoin and its personal securities.
The timing stands out as a result of Bitcoin’s rally carried the asset again above Strategy’s common acquisition value of $75,385.
The firm presently owns 840,447 BTC acquired for about $63.36 billion, however didn’t add to that place throughout a week when capital markets had been sturdy sufficient for it to lift greater than $2 billion from widespread shareholders.
Instead, Strategy used a part of the proceeds to retire 1.43 million STRC shares, including one other layer to a capital-allocation technique that now extends properly past merely issuing fairness to purchase Bitcoin.
The firm nonetheless has $516.6 million approved for added preferred-stock repurchases and a separate $1 billion authorization to purchase again MSTR.
With billions now sitting in money, Strategy has successfully given itself the choice to attend for cheaper Bitcoin, distressed costs in its personal securities, or different alternatives earlier than deploying the capital.
BitMine retains shopping for after Ethereum’s 30% surge
BitMine took the other method, treating Ethereum’s sharpest weekly achieve in additional than a yr as a cause to maintain accumulating quite than look ahead to a pullback.
The firm bought one other 32,447 ETH throughout the week, lifting its holdings to five.85 million tokens as of Aug. 23. That represents about 4.8% of Ethereum’s circulating provide and leaves BitMine near its said purpose of controlling 5% of all ETH.
The buy prolonged a shopping for streak that has continued each week for the reason that firm launched its Ethereum treasury strategy in June 2025, even because the asset’s value rose sharply. ETH’s roughly 30% weekly achieve was its strongest since May 2025 and pushed the token again above $2,400.
Chairman Tom Lee framed the transfer as a part of a broader breakout quite than a cause to gradual purchases. BitMine pointed to 2 earlier durations since 2021 when ETH posted comparable weekly features, each adopted by considerably bigger advances over the next months.
The firm has additionally dedicated most of its present holdings to staking. About 5.07 million ETH, or roughly 87% of its treasury, is presently staked, permitting BitMine to generate yield while sustaining publicity to additional value appreciation.
Lee mentioned:
“Annualized staking revenues are actually projected at $330 million.”
That provides BitMine extra room to stay aggressive than Strategy, whose Bitcoin holdings generate no native yield and whose rising preferred-stock and debt obligations require important greenback liquidity.
BitMine reported simply $308 million in money and marketable securities alongside its crypto holdings, reflecting how closely its steadiness sheet stays tilted towards Ethereum.
The distinction grew to become sharper after final week’s rally. Strategy used sturdy markets to lift money and protect flexibility for the subsequent dislocation. BitMine used the identical market power to maneuver nearer to its provide goal, successfully betting that Ethereum’s breakout nonetheless has additional to run.
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