👾 Bitcoin wobbles at $96K, ASIC imports halted, ETFs see $494M in outflows, but 22 U.S. states plan Bitcoin reserves.

❤️ Release W7'25 | 883,745 | Global Tariff War? Bitcoin Miners Squeeze? Bitcoin ETF panic? Outflows hit $494M, but Texas, Michigan, Utah propose state Bitcoin reserves—is this the real signal?

Feb 14, 2025

👀 TLDR 🪟

💓 Bitcoin held $96K–$97K amid tariffs and CPI dip; Difficulty hit 114.17T as Hashprice fell to $53/PH/s (“The Struggle is Real - TSR”).

🌹U.S. halts ASIC imports; while legacy Antminer S19 Pro is near end of life; despite a rough week for almost all miners, a solo miner hits a block earning 3.125 BTC ($300K).

💔 Tough week for Bitcoin ETFs—$494M in outflows over three days, with $251M on Wednesday! Fidelity lost $102M, BlackRock $22.1M; Spot Bitcoin ETFs gained 50,095 BTC this year.

💖Ionic Digital sued for $420K payouts; Bitmain cuts Core Scientific stake; Riot explores AI hosting; Phoenix Group hits $107M in mining revenue; CleanSpark cuts hashcost 25%; HIVE mines 322 BTC; Tencent buys 15.6% of Congo; Illegal mining discovered in Malaysia.

🎁Japan considers crypto tax cuts; Hong Kong allows Bitcoin for visas; Bank of Montreal buys $150M in Bitcoin ETFs; National Bank of Canada buys $2M; PNC Bank increases BTC ETF holdings; South Korea permits crypto sales; Goldman Sachs holds $2B in Bitcoin ETFs; Metaplanet gains $36M on 1,761 BTC; KULR buys 100 BTC; BlackRock boosts Strategy stake; Gumi invests $6.6M in Bitcoin; Binance reserves drop $355M; Robinhood’s Q4 revenue jumps 115% to $1.01B.

💌Strategy’s first purchase after rebranding added 7,633 BTC; Metaplanet targets 21,000 by 2026; Coinbase’s 2024 revenue up 111% to $6.6B; Binance and SEC seek 60-day pause for new crypto task force; GameStop eyes bitcoin investments; Fold partners with Visa for 2% BTC rewards; University of Austin launches $5M Bitcoin fund.

🍰Fed Chair Powell rejects digital dollar until 2026; 22 US States eye Bitcoin reserves, led by Utah. Montana, Florida, and Maryland push Bitcoin investments; Texas introduces SB21 for crypto investments; Michigan seeks 10% Bitcoin investment; New York proposes crypto task force; Wyoming Highway Patrol may hold Bitcoin.

💘With Bitcoin holding steady and adoption surging, should we leave bitcoin markets with paper bags or empty handed?

For this week’s Hash & Cash Index, BTC price decreases to $96,806, marking a slight 2.32% dip from last week. Market cap stays as above the $1T, settling at $ 1.739B (-3.03% WoW). Hashprice sit at $53.77 USD/PH/day, a 8.30% decrease. The global hashrate decreases by 0.56% settling at 824.98 EH/s. The current epoch’s difficulty is locked at 114.17 T. We’re at block 731 of 2016 for this epoch. Block rewards remain steady at an average of 3.16 BTC per block, with no change (0.00%). Fees in blocks settles to 1.16% showing an increase of 2.62%. The average block time has increases to 10 minutes and 12 seconds. Source: Hashrate Index, Mempool, ONMINE.

🪄 Pool Power Tools 🎱

This week’s Pool reward index settles to 101.19%, a decrease from last week 4.85% with 20 active pools chipping away 1020 blocks. The total miner reward over the last 144 blocks contracted to 455.25 BTC down 0.54% from last week , the dollar valuation of this rewards dip to $44M (-3.07% WoW). Average block fees are equal to 0.0364BTC/block up 3.03% Wow and estimated to be $3,521 per block. Transaction fee per Network transaction equate to 1.15k sats per transaction, costing around $1.51 per transaction on the Bitcoin network over the last 144 block. Source: Mempool, ONMINE

In this week’s 1008 block mining pool race, Foundry USA remains at the forefront, with a total reported hashrate of 262.42 EH/S, clinching 328 blocks. ANTPOOL continues to challenge, harvesting 166 blocks with 132.81 EH/S. F2Pool and ViaBTC are neck and neck in the hashrate hustle, grabbing 105 and 139 blocks, respectively. Luxor staying in the top ranks, with a hashrate of 15.20 EH/S and manages to secure 19 blocks over the last week. Source: Mempool, ONMINE.

🎉 A solo miner mined Block 883,181 on Feb. 10, earning 3.125 BTC (over $300,000) with 3,071 transactions.

🧰 Hard-Ware & Hosting Index ⚙

🇲🇾 Illegal Bitcoin mining involved in power theft was uncovered after a blast in Malaysia, revealing ongoing crypto-related electricity issues.

⚖️ Ionic Digital, which took over Celsius’ mining assets, is sued over alleged $420K director payouts.

💸 Bitmain halved its Core Scientific stake in 2024, from 10.7M to 5.36M shares, peaking at $200M.

💼 Riot Platforms appointed three new board members, including former Hut 8 CEO Jaime Leverton, as it explores shifting into AI and HPC hosting using its Bitcoin mining assets.

⚙️ Auradine’s AT2880 miner matches Bitmain’s efficiency with 17 J/TH, showcasing U.S. competitiveness in Bitcoin ASIC hardware.

🛑 U.S. Customs has imposed new import holds on Bitcoin mining ASICs, targeting MicroBT, Canaan, and Bitmain units over FCC compliance issues.

📈 Phoenix Group reported a 236% YoY revenue surge for 2024, driven by a 1852% increase in mining revenue—reaching $107 million from $32 million in 2023 and $5.4 million in 2022—and strategic global expansion.

⚡ CleanSpark cut its hashcost by 25% last quarter through fleet upgrades and expense reductions, reporting $162M in revenue from mining 1,945 BTC.

CleanSpark mined 1,945 BTC in Q4, cutting fleet hashcost to $23.60 and corporate hashcost to $10.70 per PH/s, down 25% from last quarter.

📊 HIVE mined 322 BTC last quarter, driving $29.2M in revenue and $17.3M in adjusted EBITDA, with a record HODL of 2,805 BTC.

HIVE aims to boost its hashrate from 6 EH/s to 25 EH/s by September 2025 with a 300 MW expansion in Paraguay, including the Yguazú site acquisition.

⚡ Tencent revealed a 15.6% stake in Cango, now the third-largest public Bitcoin miner, signaling indirect exposure to Bitcoin.

Cango mined 538.2 BTC in January 2025, 569.9 BTC in December 2024, deployed 32 EH/s in hashrate, and holds 1,472 BTC in total.

⚙️ Iris Energy cut hashcost to $28.6 per PH/s by upgrading its fleet, boosting efficiency to 15.3 J/TH, mining 65% more BTC, and investing $411M in new Bitmain miners.

Iris Energy cut hashcost by upgrading its fleet, boosting efficiency from 24 J/TH in Q3 to 15.3 J/TH in Q4.

📉 Bitcoin’s network difficulty hit a new high of 114.17T, rising 5.61% as miners resumed full operations after weather disruptions, driving hashprice down to $53/PH/s amid growing competition.

⚡ Antminer S19 Pro struggles with profitability at $53/PH/s hashprice, generating $0.076 per kWh, risking losses due to high electricity and hosting costs.

At $53 per PH/s, the S19 Pro generates just $0.076 per kWh.

Despite its efficiency, the Antminer S19XP Hydro, marketed by Bitmain at $9 per TH/s with a $0.01 per kWh hosting fee, generates only $0.106 per kWh in revenue, highlighting the impact of the profitability squeeze on the one of the most efficient ASICs.

🌟 If you are interested in hosting or purchasing ASICs please use this link to see how much more BTC you can mine and less USD to spend. Fill out this survey so we can beat the halving together or email info@onmine.io.

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🏦 Bitcoin Products 🔍

🇯🇵 Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) is considering crypto tax cuts and Bitcoin spot ETF approval by 2026 to enhance market liquidity and attract investors.

🎓 The University of Austin is launching a $5M Bitcoin fund with a five-year HODL strategy, signaling growing institutional crypto adoption.

🇺🇸 Montana's House Bill 429 proposes a $50M investment in Bitcoin by July 15, 2025, targeting assets over a $750B market cap.

🇺🇸 Florida’s SB550 aims to allocate 10% of public funds to Bitcoin, boosting state-level crypto adoption.

🇺🇸 Maryland’s HB1309, proposed by Del. Caylin Young, will fund the state’s Bitcoin Reserve through gambling violations, with asset forfeitures supporting the fund starting October 1, 2025.

🇺🇸 North Carolina’s Bitcoin Reserve bill proposes investing 10% from state funds and retirement systems, allowing up to $13.7B in Bitcoin.

🇺🇸 Texas Senate introduces SB21, the second Bitcoin Reserve Bill in Texas, allowing unlimited investment in cryptocurrencies with over $500B market cap.

🇺🇸 Michigan's House Bill 4087 proposes a "Strategic Bitcoin Reserve" to invest 10% of public funds in cryptocurrency.

🇺🇸 A New York senator proposed a bill to create a 17-member crypto task force to investigate the impact of digital currencies and exchanges in the state.

🇺🇸 The SEC’s Crypto Task Force is exploring adding staking to ETPs, paving the way for more innovative crypto investments.

🇺🇸 State Street and Citi Bank are launching crypto custody services, joining the U.S. banks entering digital assets.

🇺🇸 Wisconsin Investment Board holds $321M in BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF.

🚓 Wyoming Highway Patrol Association may become the first state law enforcement union to hold BTC.

🇭🇰 Hong Kong allows Bitcoin and Ether to prove wealth for its New Capital Investment Entrant Scheme visa, requiring a net worth of HK$30M ($3.8M).

🇨🇦 Bank of Montreal bought about $150 million in spot bitcoin ETFs, mainly in Blackrock’s iShares Bitcoin ETF.

🇯🇵 SBC Medical Group Holdings, a Japan-based medical services provider, will allocate 1 billion yen ($6.7 million) to Bitcoin for asset diversification.

🇦🇪 Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth fund reveals $436.9M in Bitcoin ETF holdings.

🇸🇻 El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele met with Michael Saylor to discuss Bitcoin.

🇭🇰 Hong Kong’s Avenir Group discloses $599M in Bitcoin ETFs.

🍁 National Bank of Canada purchased $2 million in Bitcoin ETFs.

🚀 PNC Bank, one of the top 10 US banks, increased its Bitcoin ETF holdings from $10M to $67M in a year.

🇵🇱 Poland's central bank president, Adam Glapiński, stated that holding Bitcoin reserves is not an option "under any circumstances."

🇰🇷 South Korea will allow charities, universities, and crypto exchanges to sell cryptocurrency holdings in the first half of this year.

🇧🇷 Plume Network and Mercado Bitcoin are tokenizing $40M in Brazilian RWAs using Plume’s Layer 1 blockchain.

🇬🇧 Barclays holds $131 million in Bitcoin ETF.

The Bitcoin Treasury Index for this week steady reflecting a stable grip on holdings, with 75 companies increasing their trove to precisely 2,947,341.39 BTC. Government also join the bitcoin standard with 7 countries holding 529,192.0 BTC. The value locked in these treasuries for Companies and Government tells a different story swelling to a robust $285.01B and $51.17B, respectively. A total of 14.035% all Bitcoins are held in corporate treasuries, while government holds 2.520 % of all Bitcoins, reinforcing the sentiment of a consolidating market among institutional & Government participants. Source: NewHedge, ONMINE.

🧠 Tether CEO warns quantum computing could hack lost Bitcoin wallets, returning coins to circulation, but says the risk is still far off.

💾 A UK landfill linked to a lost 8,000 BTC hard drive will close by 2026, ending James Howells' legal battle to recover it.

💰 Goldman Sachs reported over $2B in Bitcoin exposure through ETFs, doubling its holdings from the previous quarter.

📈 Metaplanet reported a $36M unrealized gain on 1,761 BTC and a 500% increase in shareholders to 50,000 in 2024.

📈 KULR bought 100 BTC for $10M, raising its total holdings to 610 BTC; aligns with its strategy to invest 90% of surplus cash in Bitcoin.

🏦 BlackRock boosted its ownership in Strategy to 5%, reflecting growing institutional interest in Bitcoin.

🎮 Tokyo-listed gaming studio Gumi bought 1 billion yen ($6.6M) in Bitcoin to expand its Web3 and blockchain ventures.

⚖️ Binance and the SEC requested a 60-day pause on their legal case, citing the SEC's new crypto regulatory task force.

📉 Binance's Bitcoin reserves dropped by $355M in January, while user balances grew by $4.4B, lowering the collateralization rate to 100%.

🧢 Fed Chair Jerome Powell rejects digital dollar, confirming no CBDC under his leadership until 2026.

🏛️ Senator Lummis criticizes Fed Chair Jerome Powell for lack of transparency on digital assets, accusing the Fed of obstructing information and contributing to debanking issues.

📜 New bills in House and Senate propose stablecoin regulations, focusing on consumer protection, strict reserves, and federal oversight to enhance financial stability.

💳 Fold Partners with Visa for BTC Rewards New credit card offers up to 2% BTC back, boosting mainstream crypto adoption.

📈 Robinhood's Q4 revenue rose 115% to $1.01 billion, with net income soaring over tenfold to $916 million.

🔍 Avalon Labs is exploring a Bitcoin-backed public fund under the SEC’s Regulation A exemption.

🪙 World Liberty Financial is creating a token reserve to support Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies while diversifying its holdings.

🕹️ GameStop is considering bitcoin and crypto investments.

🏦 BlackRock purchased nearly $50 million in Bitcoin while other asset managers sold theirs.

🎬 End Notes 🎤

🔓 Alexander Vinnik, ex-BTC-e operator accused of Bitcoin laundering, was swapped to Russia for American teacher Marc Fogel after facing U.S. charges for laundering billions, including from hacking and ransomware.

🎉 2024 was a blast for Coinbase! Revenue soared 111% to $6.6 billion, with net income hitting $2.6 billion.

Coinbase shares rose 8.44% to $298.1 on Feb. 13.

🏢 Strategy acquired 7,633 BTC after rebranding from “MicroStrategy,” bringing its total to 478,740 BTC, highlighting its continued focus on a Bitcoin corporate treasury strategy.

Strategy gained about $1.8 billion in BTC from Jan. 1 to Feb. 9, achieving nearly 18% of its $10 billion target for 2025

As of Feb. 9, 2025, Strategy's year-to-date Bitcoin purchases reached 32,340 BTC, making up about 7% of its total holdings.

🏨 Metaplanet plans to buy 21,000 BTC by 2026, boosting its stock by 3,600% and positioning it as Asia's largest public Bitcoin holder.

Metaplanet unveiled a “Bitcoin hotel concept” to promote Bitcoin education and adoption. Source: Metaplanet

🔥Spot Bitcoin ETFs have acquired 50,095 BTC, while miners have only mined 18,678 new BTC this year.

📉 U.S. spot-listed Bitcoin ETFs saw three consecutive days of outflows totaling $494 million, with the largest outflow of $251 million on Wednesday as BlackRock's iShares Trust lost $22.1 million and Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund saw the biggest drop of $102 million.

On Feb 12, Bitcoin ETFs saw significant outflows, with FBTC losing $101.97M and ARKB $97.03M, while IBIT led in trading volume but still faced a $22.11M outflow. Source: SoSoValue

🇺🇸 About 20 U.S. states are considering Bitcoin reserves, which could require buying 247,000 BTC worth $23 billion, according to VanEck.

🇺🇸 Texas lawmakers refiled SB 21, the Bitcoin reserve bill, “for the purpose of investing in cryptocurrency and the investment authority of the comptroller of public accounts over the reserve and certain other state funds.

The bill establishes the reserve as an investment vehicle, allowing the state to buy, sell, and manage crypto assets for financial security and economic resilience, and permits investments in other digital assets with a market cap of at least $500 billion for the past twelve months. Source: Texas Legislature Online

🚀 The Bitcoin race is on! 22 U.S. states are eyeing strategic reserves as of Feb. 13, and Utah’s leading the charge!

😎Bitcoin stayed around $96,000 to $97,000 this week, unaffected by Trump’s 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum. It briefly dipped to $94,000 after US CPI data exceeded expectations but quickly recovered. While the tariffs may stir traditional markets, Bitcoin’s price seems to be playing it cool. Will it stay steady or react by month’s end? We’ll have to wait and see!

🤑 Top Tea 🫖

Scaramucci attributes Bitcoin’s late bloomer status to ETF delays - CryptoSlate
Trump reportedly considering swapping crypto council for informal summits - CryptoSlate
Metaplanet fuels Bitcoin ambitions with $26 million raise as it enters MSCI Japan Index - CryptoSlate
Fed 'Struck' by De-Banking Surge—Powell Promises a Fresh Look - Bitcoin News
Top Democrat Rep. Maxine Waters releases draft proposal to regulate stablecoins: Punchbowl News - The Block
Brian Quintenz, a16z Policy Head, Nominated as CFTC Chair by Trump - Bitcoin News
‘My Big Coin’ founder ordered to pay $7.6M for crypto fraud scheme - Cointelegraph
US states lead in strategic Bitcoin reserve creation — Will Trump deliver on his BTC promise? - Cointelegraph
Fed’s Waller says banks, non-banks should be allowed to issue stablecoins - Cointelegraph
Bitcoin price sells off after hot CPI print, but $100K remains in sight - Cointelegraph
Trump-Family Backed World Liberty Financial Starts Token Reserve for Crypto Investment - Coindesk
El Salvador Dispatch: Searching for Bitcoin City, the Modern El Dorado - Coindesk
Mining For The Streets With Bitaxe - The Mining Pod
Operation Chokepoint 2.0 Gets Choked Out - The Mining Pod
Bit Digital’s WhiteFiber AI/HPC Rebrand w/ Sam Tabar - The Mining Pod
Trump's Pick to Lead Bank Regulator OCC Has Strong Bitcoin Ties - Decrypt
Coinbase Eyes India Comeback, Seeks Regulatory Green Light: Source - Decrypt
Could a potential Federal Reserve audit by Ron Paul boost bitcoin and shake confidence in the US dollar? - The Block
JPMorgan says Tether may need to sell bitcoin to comply with proposed US stablecoin regulations - The Block
Tether Boss Slams JPMorgan Over Call to Sell Bitcoin - U Today
How the Bitcoin Strategic Reserve, once a long shot, is gaining traction with Trump - DL News
AI is here, but don’t count Bitcoin miners out just yet - Blockspace
Digihost Repurposes Alabama Bitcoin Mine for HPC and AI Hosting - TheMinerMag
MSTR Bitcoin Reserves Boost Shareholders by $1.8 Billion – A Strategic Move - Watcher Guru
Gold Hits New Peak, Peter Schiff Questions Bitcoin’s ‘Digital Gold’ Claims - Watcher Guru
Trump Is Having Second Thoughts About His Crypto Council - Unchained

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