An Unstoppable Wave of Adoption Is Approaching

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:

• BTCPay Server does 3,000 Lightning transactions at 2 events in Riga this week.

• BNY Mellon receives SEC approval to custody Bitcoin.

• JAN3 CEO urges Japanese officials to buy Bitcoin to match their gold reserves.

Let’s dive in! ⚡

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LATEST NEWS 📰

🙌 ADOPTION

• BTCPay Server case study during Riga Bitcoin Week highlights Bitcoin as the preferred payment method, generating €27,582 from 2,998 Lightning Network transactions.

• Boltz launches the “Boltz BTCPay Plugin”, enabling merchants to accept Lightning payments without running a node.

• Bitcoin Lightning total payment volume powered by Lightspark is going vertical.

⚖️ LEGAL

• BNY Mellon, the world’s largest custody bank, gets approval from SEC for Bitcoin and crypto custody services.

• PayPal now allows business accounts to buy, hold, and sell Bitcoin and enables U.S. businesses to withdraw Bitcoin to external wallets.

• FTX bankcrupcy attorneys report that $16 billion in cash distributions to creditors will begin on Monday.

📈 MARKETS

• Bitcoin spot ETF demand is rebounding, with the 30-day net change in total holdings turning positive. BlackRock bought more Bitcoin this week than any ETF has sold in the past three weeks.

• BlackRock continues to buy BTC for its in-house funds, adding 43,000 shares for its Global Allocation Fund in July.

• Boost VC, Draper Associates, and Thesis* announce the launch of BitcoinFi Accelerator, an exclusive 6-week program designed to fast-track the next wave of dApps and solutions built on the Bitcoin network.

⛏️ MINING

• Hut 8 Corp. and Bitmain Technologies are set to launch the next-generation Bitcoin ASIC miner, U3S21EXPH, which is expected to achieve up to 860 TH/s with an efficiency of 13 J/TH.

• Dubai’s Hodler Investments and Abu Dhabi’s EHC Investment are launching NEXGEN, a project converting wasted energy, like flared gas, into electricity for Bitcoin and AI data centers in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt.

• Bill Maher’s misinformation about Bitcoin mining gets swiftly debunked with a Community Note on X.

🗳️ POLITICS

• German parliament member Joana Cotar distributes “Bitcoin for Beginners” books in parliament.

• JAN3 CEO Samson Mow meets with Japanese officials at the “Bitcoin and Layer 2” event, advocating for the purchase of 167K BTC to match the country’s 846-ton gold reserves.

• Zimbabwe's central bank devalues its gold-backed currency by over 40% against the US dollar, signaling trouble for its latest attempt to stabilize the volatile economy.

BAMS 2 SATS 🧢

This week, I saw a remarkable slide from a presentation by Alex Thorn, which he’s been refining for years. If you can, I highly recommend checking out the full report, but for now, let’s focus on one key part.

This slide highlights the growth and adoption of the cryptocurrency ecosystem over the past 10 years. What began as a niche digital economy in a small corner of the internet has evolved into a thriving ecosystem with institutional adoption.

Given this tremendous growth, it’s no surprise to see headlines about major funds like BlackRock and high-conviction companies like MicroStrategy accumulating large amounts of Bitcoin for their clients, funds, and balance sheets. It may seem like it’s too late to enter the market, but the reality might be different.

The report shows that despite accelerated adoption, it’s still early days. When compared to the Internet’s adoption curve, the cryptocurrency ecosystem is on a similar trajectory, akin to where the Internet was in 1997-1998.

If this adoption trend continues, the number of people using Bitcoin as a store of value or a medium of exchange could more than double over the next four years, amplifying the network effect and significantly boosting its value.

Keep on stacking!
Bam

No Internet? No Problem.

Bitcoin adoption is booming in Africa. Watch this video to see how you can send Bitcoin via text—no smartphone or internet required!