Bitcoin’s "IPO Moment": A Seismic Market Shift Hiding in Plain Sight

Happy Monday Bitcoiners - it’s Bam with another weekly update!

Each week, we condense the most impactful news releases into a concise, easy-to-read update so you’re always in the know!

Notable events this week include 👇

• Two European powerhouses introduce Strategic Bitcoin Reserve bills.

• Bitcoin-backed lines of credit for hodlers are finally hitting the market.

• Everybody, including the Treasury Secretary, celebrates Whitepaper Day.

Let’s dive in ⚡

Weekly Live Stream 🚨

Join Rob Wallace live with Pete Marcano, a full-stack engineer from OpenNode, as they unpack the latest headlines and dive into current sentiment among the Bitcoin community.

Latest News 📰

🙌 Adoption

• Bitchat becomes Jamaica’s 2nd-most-downloaded app amid Hurricane Melissa, enabling encrypted, internet-free communication via Bluetooth mesh networks as connectivity across the Caribbean collapses.

• Steak n’ Shake launches a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, pledging to allocate the entirety of their Bitcoin payments to it and donate 210 sats from every Bitcoin meal to OpenSats over the next year.

• Bitcoin Month commences in El Salvador, featuring 3 conferences (Bitcoin Historico, Adopting Bitcoin, and Bitcoin Economia) and speakers including Jeff Booth, Jack Mallers, and Russell Brand.

⚖️ Legal

• California fines Bitcoin ATM operator Coinhub $675k for overcharging customers and violating state rules on fees, cash limits, and required disclosures.

• Mt. Gox creditor repayments have been delayed until October 2026 due to incomplete procedures and unresolved issues, with over 36,000 BTC still awaiting distribution to creditors.

• MARA is suing to block residents near its Hood County mine from incorporating as a city, which could allow them to shut down the facility after months of noise complaints over cooling fans.

📈 Markets

• Lava launches the world’s first Bitcoin-backed line of credit, enabling efficient borrowing and an upcoming payment card that allows users access dollars without disposing of their Bitcoin or triggering taxable events.

• IBM launches Digital Asset Haven, a unified platform for banks and governments to manage the full digital asset lifecycle from custody to settlement, built with Dfns, creator of 15M wallets for 250+ clients.

• Tether has become the world’s 17th-largest holder of U.S. Treasuries with $135B in holdings, surpassing countries such as South Korea, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Germany.

🏦 Treasury

• S&P Global Ratings assigns Strategy Inc a ‘B-’ issuer credit rating (junk status) with a stable outlook, marking the first time a major agency has rated a Bitcoin treasury company.

• Metaplanet launches a share repurchase program to boost capital efficiency and Bitcoin yield, while securing a new credit facility to support flexible execution within its capital allocation strategy.

• Coinbase increases its Bitcoin holdings by 2,772 BTC in Q3 through weekly DCA purchases, raising its total from 11,776 BTC to 14,548 BTC.

⛏️ Mining

• Home miner hits the jackpot, solo-mining a 3.125 BTC block worth $324,000. The odds were slimmer than a lightning strike, but after self-reporting, he now owes the IRS more than $158K.

• American Bitcoin, the Trump family-backed mining firm, has grown its holdings to 3,865 BTC, adding 1,414 BTC since September through mining and purchases, making it the 5th-largest public miner by reserves.

• Canaan secures a 4.5 MW contract in Japan to deploy its hydro-cooled Avalon bitcoin miners for real-time grid balancing, using smart control chips to dynamically adjust voltage, frequency, and hashrate.

🗳️ Politics

• Christine Lagarde reports that the EU is accelerating the preparatory phase of the digital euro (CBDC) and aims to roll it out fully by 2029.

• France and Germany both introduce bills from their respective conservative parties to establish Strategic Bitcoin Reserves, with France’s targeting 2% of Bitcoin’s total supply, or about 420,000 BTC.

• Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent marked the 17th anniversary of the Bitcoin Whitepaper with a post on X saying the Bitcoin network is “more resilient than ever”.

🧠 Bitcoin Trivia 🧠

Bam’s 2 Sats 🧢

An Uneasy Rally: Between Wall Street Euphoria and Treasury Troubles

Another week, another rollercoaster for Bitcoin. After climbing to local highs near $116K, optimism faded rapidly as the Federal Reserve’s 25 bps rate cut sent BTC sliding back below $107K.

What is noteworthy is that this comes as the S&P 500 hit a record high of 6,920 on Thursday, while gold, hovering near $4,000, pauses after its strong rally.

Still, the mood feels uneasy. Wall Street may be hitting record highs, but wave after wave of layoffs tells a different story. Amazon alone cut 14,000 jobs last week.

As a result, the “recessionista” narrative is making a comeback in Bitcoin circles. Despite strong year-to-date gains in Tech, AI, and even Bitcoin mining stocks, the mood remains cautious. Nvidia ($NVDA) is up 47% this year. Impressive for a $5 trillion company, yet Bitcoin’s legendary CAGR isn’t inspiring much confidence.

For some, it’s prompting deeper reflection: is their Bitcoin conviction rooted in its potential as an investable asset or in its role as freedom money?

The Bitcoin community seems to be shifting into a more bearish mindset, moving away from the long-held belief that gold and stocks pave the way for Bitcoin’s moves higher.

Part of that unease comes from the growing pressure on Bitcoin Treasury Companies (BTCTC). As noted last week by Caprioles, roughly 1 in 4 of these firms are currently trading below a 1x mNAV, meaning their market value is less than the worth of their Bitcoin holdings

Even with Citi upgrading MicroStrategy ($MSTR) to a $485 target and S&P granting it a ‘B-’ credit rating, the stock continues its downtrend to the mid $200’s.

Yet, some analysts see this as a necessary step toward unlocking trillions in global capital through what’s being called the “Bitcoin Milkshake” strategy, allowing institutions to gain exposure to yield-generating Bitcoin instruments.

A recent video making the rounds highlights products like $STRC with its ~11% annual yield paid monthly and incorrectly marketed as “tax-free”. However the label is misleading. In reality, it’s not tax-free, but rather tax-deferred.

As Death Cab to QE explains, tax-deferred means you do not pay taxes today, but you will owe them later. The advantage is that if inflation remains elevated, investors receive yield in today’s stronger dollars and pay taxes later in weaker ones (effectively deferring the burden while reinvesting in the present). The trade-off, of course, is a large tax bill down the road, which requires careful planning.

Still, these products appeal to dividend seekers, especially as rates begin to fall and investors look for alternatives. They could even serve as tools for early Bitcoin adopters to diversify or generate income from long-term positions.

After all, OGs took big risks and earned big rewards, so it makes sense that some may want to realize gains more sustainably.

For the average Bitcoiner, these offerings might seem tempting. A “safe” ~11% yield sounds attractive in quieter markets. But such returns are only possible because Bitcoin’s long-term growth rate is expected to far exceed them. These products only look appealing when Bitcoin is not performing as it normally does.

In his latest piece, Jordi Visser explains why. He says Bitcoin is in a process familiar to traditional markets, similar to an IPO distribution phase. Early holders (aka “OG whales”) are finally able to take profits after more than a decade of illiquidity.

With institutional demand from ETFs, corporate treasuries, and sovereign wealth funds, these early adopters can thus exit gradually without destabilizing the market.

The result is the slow, sideways grind we are currently seeing: old coins moving on-chain, steady accumulation by new investors, and a quiet transfer of ownership from early believers to institutional hands.

Like companies that consolidate after an IPO, Bitcoin is transitioning from concentrated to distributed ownership. Each coin that changes hands makes the network stronger, less volatile, and more resilient.

The era of explosive 10x moves may fade, but what emerges is sturdier. Bitcoin is evolving into a foundational global monetary asset. So hold on, and do not mistake boredom for weakness. This is not the end of Bitcoin’s story. It is the end of the beginning.

Stay safe and keep on stacking!
-Bam