Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing: Share Dilution Can’t Compete with Bitcoin

Happy Monday Bitcoiners, it's Bam here with another Bitcoin update!

Each week, our team at Bitcoin News saves you time by curating the most impactful events into a concise, easy-to-read update.

Notable events this week include:

• BitBonds offer a way of curing the US of its debt woes.

• Pleb mining creativity pushes boundaries, from train cars to coffee warmers.

• LNMarkets surpasses $10 billion in cumulative volume.

Let’s dive in! ⚡

Azteco. For every bit of life.

LATEST NEWS 📰

🙌 ADOPTION

• Bitcoin education is surging worldwide, from Scotland’s Lomond School adopting a curriculum by The Bitcoin Standard author Saifedean Ammous to grassroots platform My First Bitcoin expanding to 39 countries.

• LNMarkets surpasses $10 billion in cumulative volume, up from $1 billion in Oct 2023, marking explosive growth for the first Lightning-powered Bitcoin derivatives trading platform.

• Switzerland sees its first Bitcoin payment at a supermarket, with Spar in Zug now accepting sats via a static QR code. DFX Swiss says a nationwide rollout could follow if adoption picks up.

⚖️ LEGAL

• DOJ is reviewing compensation methods for digital asset fraud victims, highlighting that current reimbursement practices do not fairly account for market value changes since initial platform collapses.

• VanEck proposes "BitBonds,” a hybrid bond model combining U.S. Treasury debt and Bitcoin exposure, as a solution to help refinance $14T in upcoming debt while offering investors inflation protection and upside potential.

• Brazil sentences Joel Ferreira de Souza to 128 years for laundering funds tied to Braiscompany, a crypto Ponzi scheme that defrauded over 20,000 investors from 2018 to 2023. Losses are estimated at over $190 million.

📈 MARKETS

• Fidelity’s analysis of the past year’s three major sell-offs, the Yen carry trade unwind (Aug ‘24), the U.S. election (Nov ‘24), and the U.S. tariff launch (Apr ‘25), shows Bitcoin outperforming SOL, ETH, the Mag 7, and gold since the Yen unwind and U.S. election.

• Bitcoin ETFs continue to see positive inflows, with IBIT pulling in $2.4B YTD. Consistent dip buying by ETFs signals a more stable investor base, potentially strengthening Bitcoin’s long-term stability and lowering volatility.

• Strive Asset Management urges $165B Intuit to adopt a Bitcoin strategy, warning that anti-Bitcoin bias could threaten shareholder value, while pointing to its $2.5B in cash reserves as an opportunity.

🏦 TREASURY

• Metaplanet acquires 319 more BTC, raising total holdings to 4,525 BTC—up 48% in just 30 days with 1,475 BTC added, and issues $10 million in 0% ordinary bonds to buy more BTC.

• Swedish firm Bitcoin Treasury AB announces plans to go public with the goal of becoming “Europe’s MicroStrategy” through aggressive Bitcoin accumulation.

• Semler Scientific files to raise $500 million to acquire more Bitcoin.

⛏️ MINING

• Tether to direct its current and future Bitcoin hashrate to OCEAN, backing Luke Dashjr’s decentralized mining pool to help safeguard Bitcoin’s long-term integrity.

• Pleb Style publishes a video of mining Bitcoin with a Bitaxe while riding on a train in Germany.

• Altair Tech releases Mein Coffee, a Bitcoin-mining coffee warmer with 0.5 TH/s hash power and an OLED display showing the live Bitcoin price.

🗳️ POLITICS

• El Salvador stacks additional Bitcoin during President Bukele’s historic White House meeting with Trump, with on-chain proof confirming the purchase.

• Swedish MP Dennis Dioukarev formally petitions Finance Minister Elisabeth Svantesson for answers on establishing a national Bitcoin reserve.

• Slovenia's Finance Ministry proposes to introduce a 25% capital gains tax on Bitcoin profits.

BAMS 2 SATS 🧢

MicroStrategy Isn’t Bitcoin: Don’t Confuse Leverage with Ownership

A community is emerging on Bitcoin Twitter focused on chasing Bitcoin yield, fueled by new financial instruments tied to MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin strategy. The excitement is understandable, but I keep thinking of the old saying: “If it looks too good to be true, it probably is.”

I’ve been vocal in my support and will continue to be for companies adopting a Bitcoin standard. The premise is simple: if it benefits individuals, it should benefit corporations and even nation-states too.

But lately, I’ve seen posts implying that $MSTR is the way to outperform Bitcoin. As if it’s obvious. As if it’s riskless.

The Bitcoin Strategy

I recently came across a chart shared by Jesse, a sharp mind in the Bitcoin space, that he created for a presentation to Strategy employees. It was a compelling visualization, but I think it misses something fundamental, if by Strategy it meant MSTR will outperform Bitcoin long term. Bitcoin is the only asset that is absolutely scarce.

If the thesis of that chart were entirely true, why would anyone hold Bitcoin at all? Why not just buy $MSTR and let them do it for you? After all, they’re buying more Bitcoin on your behalf, right?

But here’s the catch: they do that by issuing more shares. That means dilution.

Let’s play this out. Imagine a country called FiatNation establishes a strategic Bitcoin reserve. They start stacking using their treasury—great. But then they realize they can print their own currency to buy more Bitcoin. Sounds like a winning strategy, right?

Would you sell your Bitcoin to buy FiatNationCoin because they’re buying Bitcoin? Probably not.

Corporations work the same way. MSTR has tapped into a pool of capital that wants Bitcoin exposure, but for one reason or another, can’t buy it directly. So they buy MSTR. In turn, MSTR prints shares, and stacks more BTC.

Is that a good investment? Even more than likely so.
Could it outperform Bitcoin? Sure, but only temporarily.

But should you sell your Bitcoin for a stock that can be infinitely printed so they can buy Bitcoin that shareholders are not entitled to? That’s a harder sell.

If everyone’s fighting to own more of the pie, wouldn’t it make more sense to just own the pie instead of gaining indirect exposure to those trying to get a bigger slice?

The Bigger Picture

It’s not just MSTR anymore. Other corporations are joining in, including Metaplanet, Semler, and more. That’s a big win for Bitcoin adoption. But maybe the better move is to take that as a win… and just stack Bitcoin for yourself.

Why reintroduce risk by chasing yield through publicly traded companies?

A Message for the MSTR Aficionados

Yes, Strategy, Metaplanet, Semler—they’re all pushing boundaries with new financial engineering tools. And yes, there’s nothing wrong with supporting them or holding some shares.

But let’s be real: mNAV doesn’t have to trade at a premium. It could just as easily trade at a discount (remember GBTC?). There may come a point when the Bitcoin they’re acquiring isn’t worth the tradeoff of not holding your own keys.

We might see a flood of new public companies double or triple their BTC holdings, and mNAV could eventually converge toward 1.

At the end of the day, just like fiat, MSTR is infinite. But Bitcoin? There’s only 21 million.

Stay safe and keep on stacking!
Bam

The Trade War Goes Viral

In our latest video report, Rob Wallace breaks down how Chinese factories are fighting Trump’s trade war, going viral on TikTok by slashing prices and selling direct to consumers to bypass new restrictions.

The factory videos are going viral, and so is our report, with over 2 million views on Instagram. Watch it below.

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11K followers

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