Crypto-linked stocks extended their rebound over the past week after bitcoin briefly rose above $81,000 and ether moved above $2,500. The move came as the market reacted to what the source described as favorable U.S. regulatory developments, remarks from Donald Trump and a broader policy tailwind. Strategy, BitMine and Circle were among the names highlighted for strong performance.
Outside crypto equities, Japanese and South Korean stock markets were still in a repair phase, while the U.S. storage segment remained weak and gains in AI-related shares slowed sharply. Macro account The Kobeissi Letter said hedge funds posted their largest weekly net sales of U.S. equities since the week of the April 2025 “Liberation Day,” ending three straight weeks of net buying. Single-name stocks made up about 53% of the selling, with nine of 11 sectors seeing net outflows, led by information technology, industrials, utilities, healthcare and materials. Macro products including index futures and ETFs accounted for about 47%. Hedge funds also slightly increased short exposure to U.S.-listed ETFs, ending six straight weeks of short covering and signaling a reduction in long exposure to U.S. equities.
Economist Fu Peng said the market is in a vacuum period for proving or disproving whether AI can form a complete and viable commercial loop. In his view, investor enthusiasm has cooled and the market logic has shifted from rewarding the capital-expenditure arms race to punishing it. He cited the market’s earlier punishment of Google after free cash flow turned negative and the rotation into Apple as a typical example, adding that a similar pattern is now playing out among Chinese internet giants.
JPMorgan strategist Jason Hunter said the current AI trading boom resembles the late-1999 to 2000 tech bubble, with positioning in the technology sector becoming overly concentrated and raising the risk of a correction. JPMorgan also listed rising U.S. Treasury yields, geopolitical tension in the Middle East and slowing consumer spending as potential sources of pressure.
Public bitcoin treasury companies increased weekly net buying
According to SoSoValue, as of 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time on Aug. 24, 2026, global listed companies excluding miners recorded $81.48 million in net bitcoin purchases for the week, up 1,431.6% from the previous week.
As of publication, the tracked public companies excluding miners held a combined 1,140,751 BTC, up 0.1% week over week. Those holdings were valued at about $89.52 billion and represented 5.7% of bitcoin’s circulating market capitalization.
Strategy sold MSTR stock but made no BTC trades
Strategy did not buy or sell bitcoin during the week. It did, however, sell 18,261,118 shares of MSTR common stock and generated $2.007 billion in proceeds.
The company now holds 840,447 BTC at an average purchase price of $75,385. After bitcoin rose for five straight days and moved above $78,000, the position returned to a paper profit for the first time since July.
Using a bitcoin price of $78,400, the holding was worth about $65.89 billion against a cost basis of $63.36 billion, leaving an unrealized gain of about $2.53 billion, or roughly 4%. Over the past six weeks, the value of the position changed by about $15.5 billion.
Since May, Strategy has sold 6,948 BTC for about $432.5 million in cash. Over the same period, it raised $334 million through MSTR stock sales and used the funds for preferred stock dividends, STRC buybacks and U.S. dollar reserves, which stood at $6.7 billion.
Metaplanet stayed on the sidelines for a sixth straight week
Japan-listed Metaplanet did not buy bitcoin last week, extending its stretch without purchases to six consecutive weeks.
Strive and BitMine disclosed fresh bitcoin purchases
Two other companies announced bitcoin purchases during the week. Asset manager Strive said on Aug. 24 that it spent $81.48 million to buy 1,110 BTC at $73,409 each, bringing total holdings to about 21,356 BTC.
Ethereum treasury company BitMine said on Aug. 24 that it bought 1 BTC. It did not disclose the purchase amount. Its total bitcoin holdings reached 210 BTC.
Boyaa Interactive reported a second-quarter purchase
Boyaa Interactive said on Aug. 20 that it spent $7.35 million in the second quarter of 2026 to acquire 108 BTC at about $68,047 each. As of June 30, 2026, its total holdings stood at 4,201 BTC.
Strive CEO says the company remains all-in
Strive CEO Matt Cole said in a post that Feb. 19 marked the bottom for ASST in this bear-market cycle. He said that even when market sentiment around the company was extremely negative, his conviction in bitcoin and the company’s long-term strategy did not change. He added that company executives and directors bought ASST shares with personal funds during that period, and that some directors left the board to join the company full-time.
Strive said ASST has since rallied sharply and market sentiment has improved, but the company’s focus has not changed. It said the bitcoin bull market is only getting started, that it has built a capital structure around bitcoin to amplify performance, and that it remains “All-in.”
BSTR ended its merger plan with Cantor Equity Partners
Bitcoin treasury company BSTR Holdings said it had agreed with Cantor Equity Partners to terminate the business combination agreement the two sides signed on July 16, 2025.
BSTR said the deal was ended because valuations of bitcoin and listed bitcoin treasury companies remain under pressure in the current market environment, creating a mismatch in capital markets and limiting the leverage effect of instruments such as convertible bonds and perpetual preferred stock in bitcoin treasury strategies. The company said it still plans to pursue institutional bitcoin asset management once conditions stabilize.
Metaplanet’s U.S. unit completed its first ATM financing
Super League, Metaplanet’s U.S.-based bitcoin treasury subsidiary, raised $2.3 million in what the report described as its first financing through an at-the-market issuance since the transaction was announced. Metaplanet is raising capital across markets in two continents.
BitMine expanded its ETH treasury to 5.85 million coins
As of 2:00 p.m. ET on Aug. 23, BitMine held 5,847,611 ETH, equal to roughly 4.8% of Ethereum’s total supply, after adding 32,447 ETH during the week.
The company said its crypto assets, cash, marketable securities and “Moonshot” investments totaled about $14.9 billion. That figure included $308 million in cash and marketable securities, 210 BTC, a $180 million equity stake in Beast Industries and an $89 million investment in Eightco Holdings.
BitMine has staked 5,067,309 ETH, about 87% of its holdings, worth about $12.4 billion. It estimated annualized staking income at about $330 million.
Based on BitMine’s holdings data from Aug. 22, the company then held 5,815,164 ETH at an average cost of $3,366. At an ETH price of $2,436 at the time, its unrealized loss had narrowed to $5.408 billion.
Tom Lee outlined BitMine’s 10-year vision
BitMine chairman Tom Lee said the company’s historical contribution is helping Ethereum maintain its position as the most important public blockchain. He said the idea that Ethereum’s market capitalization could overtake bitcoin is “very defensible,” and added that an ether price of $50,000, $100,000 or $200,000 would produce “legendary” returns for shareholders.
SharpLink Gaming staked another 39,300 ETH
On Aug. 21, Lookonchain said SharpLink Gaming (@Sharplink) had staked another 39,300 ETH about four hours earlier, worth $91 million.
Solmate added to its SOL treasury
Nasdaq-listed Solana treasury company Solmate Infrastructure said it bought another 1,000 SOL, lifting its total holdings to about 1.25 million SOL. The company estimated the market value of those holdings at about $102.2 million.
Solmate also said that while it has started moving into AI infrastructure, that shift will not change its long-term commitment to the Solana ecosystem.
Other listed digital-asset treasury companies also reported changes
AIxCrypto plans to exit crypto holdings and pivot to robot leasing
Nasdaq-listed AIxCrypto Holdings said it plans an orderly exit from its crypto asset holdings and will shift toward a robot leasing business.
As of June 30, the company held 46 BTC, 616 ETH, 6,659 SOL, 1,308 BNB and smaller amounts of ADA, LINK, TRX, USDT and XRP. The total cost basis was $10.43 million, while fair value was $5.21 million.
AIxCrypto said operating cash burn in the first half reached $7.94 million, cumulative losses totaled $150 million and cash at the end of the quarter was $577,000. It made no crypto purchases or sales in the second quarter and said volatility, market depth and custody constraints could leave realized liquidation value far below book value.
Eightco bought back 14 million shares
Nasdaq-listed Eightco Holdings (NASDAQ: ORBS) said it had repurchased about 14 million shares over the past two weeks. Its treasury assets currently total about $389 million.
According to company disclosures, Eightco’s treasury includes about 302 million WLD (Worldcoin) tokens, 16,278 ETH, about $90 million in indirect OpenAI equity exposure and about $18 million in equity investment in Beast Industries.
Eightco previously said it is building its asset-allocation framework around three themes: artificial intelligence, digital identity and the creator economy. It described its WLD position as a key part of its digital identity strategy and said the holding represents about 8% of circulating supply, making it one of the larger publicly disclosed institutional positions.
Stanley Druckenmiller bought BTDR and PURR shares
Duquesne Family Office founder Stanley Druckenmiller bought 4.1 million shares of high-performance computing company Bitdeer Technologies Group (BTDR) in the second quarter. The position was worth more than $64.7 million, with an average purchase price of $12.26. Bitdeer makes crypto mining hardware and operates data centers in the U.S. and other regions.
Druckenmiller also bought 2.9 million shares of Hyperliquid Strategies (PURR), a digital-asset treasury company tied to the HYPE segment. That stake was worth $23.1 million and gave him indirect HYPE exposure. Hyperliquid Strategies aims to provide U.S. and institutional investors with access routes tied to the HYPE token.
The report said Druckenmiller’s move was similar to buying by Jane Street and Citadel in BTDR during the same period. Jane Street now holds BTDR shares worth more than $112 million. BlackRock, State Street and Citadel also increased PURR positions in the second quarter, while HYPE had earlier climbed to a record high on news tied to compliance progress.