S&P 500 Says No to Saylor, but Corporate America Says Yes to Bitcoin

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 👇

• Scientists are exploring Bitcoin as interplanetary money.

• Nasdaq is tightening the rules for Bitcoin treasury companies.

• The Trumps just became publicly listed Bitcoin miners.

Let’s dive in⚡

Weekly Live Stream 🚨

Join Rob Wallace live today with Pascal Hügli, Bitcoin author and host of Less Noise, More Signal, as they unpack the biggest Bitcoin headlines and dive into Bitcoin adoption across the EU.

Latest News 📰

🙌 Adoption

• New scientific paper explores BTC as an Interplanetary Monetary Standard for Earth–Mars trade, proposing Proof-of-Transit Timestamping, a cryptographic audit trail for BTC over intermittent links.

• Treasury BTC acquires Bitcoin Conference Europe, while BTC Inc plans to license The Bitcoin Conference and Bitcoin Magazine to publicly traded treasury firms worldwide—driving grassroots Bitcoin adoption.

• "Killing Satoshi," directed by Doug Liman ("The Bourne Identity"), stars Casey Affleck and Pete Davidson. Set for release in 2026, it explores Bitcoin's creation and the mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto.

⚖️ Legal

• SEC and CFTC aim to “facilitate trading of certain spot crypto asset products on registered exchanges,” signaling a path for spot Bitcoin trading on NYSE, Nasdaq, and others.

• Anti-corruption court in Gujarat, India sentences 14 people, including a former BJP lawmaker and senior policemen, to life in prison for kidnapping and extorting BTC from a Surat businessman.

• SEC report reveals nearly a year of texts from former Chair Gary Gensler’s government phone were lost due to avoidable tech failures, during the period of FTX’s collapse and other major crypto events.

📈 Markets

• Nasdaq is increasing oversight of US-listed firms raising funds for crypto, requiring shareholder votes, more disclosures, and threatening delisting for noncompliance. MSTR claims it is unaffected by the changes.

• US Treasury will sell $100B in 4-week bills, capping a month of record auctions, as the 3-month yield drops to 4.139%, below the Fed funds rate for the first time since August 2024, just before the Fed cut rates.

• Bitcoin whale balances are at their lowest since 2018, with entities holding 100–10K BTC now averaging just 488 BTC. Once profit-taking ends, the melt-up can resume.

🏦 Treasury

• Strategy was denied S&P 500 inclusion on its first eligibility despite meeting all criteria, as the committee rejected it. Bloomberg’s Balchunas notes the SPX is effectively an active fund run by a secret committee.

• Metaplanet holds its Extraordinary General Meeting, discloses 20K BTC holdings (#6 globally), and approves three resolutions: a 555M share increase, virtual shareholder meetings, and perpetual preferred shares.

• Treasury BTC launches to become Europe’s largest Bitcoin treasury firm, backed by Winklevoss Capital and Nakamoto. It has raised €126M, amassed 1,000+ BTC, and plans a listing on Euronext Amsterdam.

⛏️ Mining

• American Bitcoin, the Trump family’s mining firm, debuted on Nasdaq with 2,400 BTC (~$260M). Shares opened at $6.95, surged nearly 90% to $14, then settled up 40% by midday after at least five trading halts.

• Bitcoin’s 7-day average hashrate passes 1 zettahash for the first time in history, with a 4.89% positive difficulty adjustment coming shortly after.

• Riot produces 477 BTC in August, up 48% year-over-year, adding 22 BTC to reach 19,309 BTC in reserves, while selling 450 BTC for $51.8M in proceeds.

🗳️ Politics

• The Central Reserve Bank of El Salvador increases its gold holdings by $50 million, marking its first gold purchase since 1990.

• California Governor Gavin Newsom is launching a memecoin called “Trump Corruption” to mock Trump’s online persona, with proceeds funding democracy initiatives and redistricting campaigns.

• South Korea’s FSC rolls out new crypto lending rules, capping rates at 20%, banning leverage, and limiting loans to the top 20 coins or those listed on three local exchanges.

🧠 Bitcoin Trivia 🧠

Bam’s 2 Sats 🧢

From Hype to Holdings

Rumors swirled this week that $MSTR would join the S&P 500. Analysts called it a done deal, some projected tens of billions in passive inflows, and Saylor stoked the hype with reposts on X.

But when the index additions dropped at 5:15pm Friday, MSTR was nowhere to be found. After all the hype, the letdown was inevitable.

Still, take a step back. The real story is that institutional Bitcoin adoption isn’t a future prospect. It’s already here, and it’s normalizing fast.

Roughly 100 public companies now hold Bitcoin, accounting for about 4% of supply. Harvard Business Review just ran a piece asking: “Does Bitcoin Belong on Your Balance Sheet?”

What stands out is how the conversation has shifted. The question is no longer whether a company should hold Bitcoin, but whether it holds too much. That’s a very different place than just a few years ago.

From finance and real estate to healthcare and construction, firms are quietly stacking — and one day, the “gradually then suddenly” moment might come not from corporate balance sheets, but when employees start demanding Bitcoin paychecks because it’s simply better money.

Stay safe and keep on stacking!
-Bam

Book Recommendation

This week’s news of scientists exploring Bitcoin as interplanetary money pairs perfectly with our book pick: Theft of Fire by Devon Erikson.

A fast-paced sci-fi set in a spacefaring future where alien tech powers humanity’s expansion and Bitcoin is the world’s most valuable money. The writing is sharp, the characters rich, and the tech explanations nuanced.

Grab your copy here