🏛️ D.C. Targets Miners as Wall Street Buys More Bitcoin

⛏️ Release W16'25 | 893,105 | D.C. Turns Up the Heat as Difficulty Hits 123T; 7.4 GW of Compute Power; $285 Ms—Miners Pivot; Tariffs Bite; Wall Street Stacks Sats; and Tether Doubles Down on Bitdeer

The Paper News

Apr 19, 2025

Bitcoin falls in love with the 80s; while the network difficulty hiked up again to 123T; as network hashrate tops 920 EH/s.
Senate Dems propose the Clean Cloud Act for emissions fines; Bit Digital pivots to AI with new facilities; Tether directs hashrate to OCEAN Pool and increases Bitdeer stake; CleanSpark boosts Coinbase credit to $200M; Auradine raises $153M for Bitcoin and AI expansion; public miners sell 40% of March BTC output; North American Bitcoin miners now control 7.4 GW of power; Bhutan explores green crypto mining.
Strategy buys 3,459 BTC for $285M; Metaplanet acquires 319 BTC and issues $10M in bonds; The Smarter Web Co. IPO includes Bitcoin strategy; Semler Scientific files $500M offering; BlackRock buys $30M BTC; Value Creation buys ¥100M BTC; ANAP buys $70M BTC; Panama City accepts Bitcoin for taxes; Bybit offers Bitcoin yield; Project Eleven offers 1 BTC challenge;Spar in Switzerland accepts Bitcoin via Lightning.
Powell hints at easing crypto rules; South Korea blocks 14 exchanges; eXch exchange shuts down; SEC lawsuit paused; Arizona crypto reserve bill nears approval; Slovenia plans 25% crypto tax; 11% of El Salvador Bitcoin firms active; Unchained launches $1M Legacy Project; 1723.HK buys 10 BTC; McDonald’s rejects Bitcoin proposal; Meliuz seeks Bitcoin approval; SBC Medical buys 5 BTC; Oklahoma Bitcoin reserve bill fails; Bitwise lists crypto ETPs; Strive urges Bitcoin adoption by Intuit and Mailchimp; Andrew Kang bets $200M on Bitcoin; Eric Trump speaks at Consensus 2025; China debates seized crypto rules; Hines suggests tariff revenue for U.S. Bitcoin Reserve; Colorado receives $57K in crypto taxes; Oku launches BTC lending; Gensler says Bitcoin outlasts altcoins; Trump building crypto game; Coinbase processes $100B in Bitcoin futures.
Flaw found in some ESP32 chips; Bitcoin millionaires down 20% post-Trump; US Bitcoin ATMs decline; VanEck proposes $110B BitBonds; could Bitcoin rise to $150K?
Miners rushed hardware shipments pre-deadline, but new chip tariffs now target Bitcoin rigs?
Will Bitcoin’s next move be driven by the small fish selling off, or will the big players step in as new regulations and market shifts continue to evolve?

For this week’s Hash & Cash Index, BTC price settles at $85,183, marking a 1.59% increase from last week, slightly outperforming the broader market. Market cap stays as above the $1T, settling at $ 1.579B (1.61% WoW). Hashprice sit at $43.99 USD/PH/day, a 0.46% increase. The global hashrate is currently 907.17 EH/s, rises 2.19% from last week. The current epoch’s difficulty is 123.23T this week. We’re at block 980 of 2016 for this epoch. Rewards remains to 3.17 BTC per block. Fees in blocks settles to 1.29% showing a decrease of 9.15%. The average block time is 15 minutes and 5 seconds. Source: Hashrate Index, Mempool, ONMINE.

🪄 Pool Power Tools 🎱

This week’s Pool reward index settles to 101.59%, a 0.38% decrease from last week with 20 active pools chipping away 1024 blocks. The total miner reward over the last 144 blocks contracted to 455.69 BTC, a 0.03% decrease from last week, the dollar valuation of this rewards settles at $38M (1.66% WoW). Average block fees are equal to 0.0395BTC/block, decreasing 2.23% Wow and estimated at $3,367per block. Transaction fee per Network transaction equate to 1.11k sats per transaction, costing around $0.94 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 282.15 EH/S, clinching 327 blocks. ANTPOOL continues to challenge, harvesting 188 blocks with 162.21 EH/S. F2Pool and ViaBTC are neck and neck in the hashrate hustle, grabbing 107 and 156 blocks, respectively. Luxor staying in the top ranks, with a hashrate of 39.69 EH/S and manages to secure 46 blocks over the last week. Source: Mempool, ONMINE.

📈 Bitcoin mining difficulty rose 1.4% to a record 123T as hashrate topped 920 EH/s, pushing hashprice to $44/PH/s.

🌊 Tether will direct its hashrate to OCEAN Pool, supporting Bitcoin mining decentralization.

🧰 Hard-Ware & Hosting Index ⚙

🏛️ Senate Dems propose Clean Cloud Act, fining miners and AI centers exceeding emissions limits, requiring 100% renewable energy by 2035.

🇧🇹 Bhutan is exploring green cryptocurrency mining with hydropower to boost jobs and its economy.

🧠 Bit Digital is buying a $53M North Carolina site and building a $40M Québec facility as it pivots from Bitcoin mining to AI computing.

💼 CleanSpark boosts its Coinbase credit to $200M, shifting its Bitcoin strategy to cover costs and fund growth.

💰 Auradine raised $153M to grow its bitcoin mining and AI businesses.

🪙 Tether raised its Bitdeer stake to 24.2% with a $32M buy, doubling down as shares drop 65% YTD.

Tether boosted its Bitdeer stake with ~$32M in buys during a market dip in early to mid-April.

📉 Public Bitcoin miners sold over 40% of their March BTC output—the highest since Oct 2024—as low hashprice and trade war fears pressure margins.

As reported by TheMinerMag, which analyzed data from 15 publicly listed mining firms, the rise in Bitcoin liquidations comes amid broader macroeconomic uncertainty, suggesting companies are selling BTC to offset financial shortfalls — a trend that adds selling pressure and may fuel price volatility.

⚡ TheMinerMag’s updated North American Bitcoin Mining Map reveals that public miners in Canada and the USA now control 7.4 GW of power, up from 5.42 GW in 2023, with Texas leading at nearly 3.85 GW, followed by Georgia (703 MW) and New York (546 MW).

🌟 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 🔍

💼 Strategy acquires 3,459 BTC for $285M, boosting total holdings to 531,644 BTC.

🇯🇵 Metaplanet buys 319 BTC for ¥3.8B ($26.3M), raising holdings to 4,525 BTC, and issues $10M in 0% bonds for more Bitcoin.

🇬🇧 The Smarter Web Company’s IPO includes UK retail access and a Bitcoin treasury strategy, raising up to £2M.

💼 Semler Scientific files $500M offering to fund operations and buy more Bitcoin.

🇯🇵 Value Creation to buy ¥100M BTC, joining Japan’s BTC treasury trend.

🚀 BlackRock has purchased $30.73 million in Bitcoin.

💰 Japanese fashion retailer ANAP has purchased $70 million worth of Bitcoin for its corporate treasury.

🏝️ Panama City will accept Bitcoin (BTC) for taxes and fees, converting it to USD.

🪙 Bybit now offers Bitcoin yield via Avalon’s CeDeFi lending integration.

🏛️ Fed Chair Powell hints at easing crypto rules for banks to foster innovation while ensuring safety.

🪙 Project Eleven offers 1 BTC to anyone who can break Bitcoin's cryptography with Shor's algorithm within a year.

🇰🇷 South Korea blocks 14 unregistered crypto exchanges on Apple Store.

🛑 Crypto exchange eXch will shut down after links to Lazarus Group and laundering claims.

⚖️ U.S. court paused an 18-state lawsuit against the SEC, citing hopes the new chair could resolve it without further litigation.

🧾 Arizona’s crypto reserve bill is one vote from approval, but Gov. Hobbs may veto it over funding issues.

🇸🇮 Slovenia plans a 25% tax on crypto and derivatives gains starting in 2026 to align with global standards.

The Bitcoin Treasury Index for this week steady reflecting a stable grip on holdings, with 77 companies increasing their trove to precisely 2,965,999.37 BTC. Government also join the bitcoin standard with 7 countries holding 527,259.0 BTC. The value locked in these treasuries for Companies and Government tells a different story swelling to a robust $250.53B and $44.54B, respectively. A total of 14.124% all Bitcoins are held in corporate treasuries, while government holds 2.511 % of all Bitcoins, reinforcing the sentiment of a consolidating market among institutional & Government participants. Source: NewHedge, ONMINE.

🇸🇻 Just 11% of El Salvador’s registered Bitcoin firms remain active.

💰 Unchained launches the Bitcoin Legacy Project, committing $1M to support bitcoin development, education, and advocacy.

🇭🇰 1723.HK bought 10 BTC last week, now holding 28.88 BTC.

🍔 McDonald’s, backed by the SEC, rejected a shareholder proposal to buy Bitcoin.

🇧🇷 Meliuz seeks shareholder approval to adopt Bitcoin as its main treasury asset.

💉 SBC Medical Group completes Bitcoin purchase, acquiring 5 BTC as of April 14, 2025.

🏛️ Oklahoma's Bitcoin reserve bill fails 6-5 in Senate committee.

🚀 Bitwise lists 4 crypto ETPs on the London Stock Exchange, expanding access to Bitcoin and Ethereum.

💼 Strive CEO urges Intuit to adopt Bitcoin and revise Mailchimp's crypto policy.

💰 Andrew Kang doubles Bitcoin bet to $200M, citing market rebound.

🇺🇸 Eric Trump to speak at Consensus 2025 on his American Bitcoin mining venture targeting 50 EH/s.

🇨🇳 China debates new rules for seized crypto, as local governments profit despite the ban.

🪙 Bo Hines suggests using tariff revenues to fund the U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.

💰 Colorado has received just $57,000 in crypto tax payments, 0.0005% of its $11 billion revenue, since 2022.

🌽 Oku launched BTC lending on Corn via Morpho, using BTCN as 1:1 Bitcoin-backed collateral.

🇺🇸 Ex-SEC Chair Gensler says Bitcoin will last like gold, but most altcoins won’t survive.

🎮 Trump is reportedly building a Monopoly-style crypto game, adding to his NFT, memecoin, DeFi, and Bitcoin mining ventures.

🚀 Coinbase International processed nearly $100 billion in Bitcoin perpetual futures last week, driven by tariff-related market volatility.

🇨🇭 Spar supermarket in Switzerland now accepts Bitcoin via Lightning, joining 1,000+ BTC-accepting businesses.

🎬 End Notes 🎤

🛡️ Researchers found a critical flaw (CVE-2025-27840) in the ESP32 chip used in Bitcoin hardware wallets, allowing forged ECDSA signatures and unauthorized transactions.

💸 After Trump took office on Jan 21, 2025, Bitcoin’s million dollar addresses club fell nearly 20%—from 176,364 before inaugiuration to only 141,627 Bitcoin Millionaires—amid policy-driven market uncertainty.

🌍 Bitcoin ATMs grew globally in Q1 2025, but the US saw a decline from 30,119 to 29,934, despite a pro-crypto stance.

📈 Bitcoin's ‘Ultimate VIX Bottom’ signal hints at a potential rise to $150,000, despite short-term pullback risks.

The BTC/VIX ratio just touched a 10-year trendline of higher lows—the same one that marked major bottoms in 2015, 2020, and 2024, each followed by massive rallies, with the smallest still delivering a 105% gain. Source: TradingShot

🐟 So far in April, Bitcoin sell pressure is primarily coming from short-term holders, shrimps (480 BTC/day), fish, and sharks (402 BTC/day), while whales (70 BTC/day) and long-term holders remain mostly inactive.

💰 VanEck proposes $110B “BitBonds” to help the US buy more Bitcoin and tackle its $14T debt mountain.

🚚 As covered last week, U.S. Bitcoin miners rushed to charter planes before Trump’s tariff deadline, but the challenge extended to trucks and barges from Southeast Asia. Compass Mining moved 3,000 units across the Canadian border amid shifting tariffs, while Bitmain faced delays in Indonesia. EES Freight arranged last-minute shipments, and Luxor Technology moved rigs from Thailand.

😤 Miners breathed a sigh of relief with the tariff exemption, but that quickly turned to frustration as electronics, including Bitcoin miners (HS 8471), will now be subject to new semiconductor tariffs.

🤑 Top Tea 🫖

Bitcoin Miners Are Selling More BTC to Make Ends Meet: CryptoQuant - Decrypt

Yen Surge, Soaring Bond Yields Could Threaten Bitcoin as BOJ Weighs Policy Shift - Decrypt
Bitcoin Stumbles as Investors Fear Fed Chair Powell Is Slow to React on Rate Cuts - Decrypt
Trump-linked World Liberty Financial gets $25M investment from DWF Labs - Cointelegraph
Bitcoin gold copycat move may top $150K as BTC stays 'impressive' - Cointelegraph
Crypto’s debanking problem persists despite new regulations - Cointelegraph
Italy finance minister warns US stablecoins pose bigger threat than tariffs - Cointelegraph
Crypto ‘more taboo than OnlyFans,’ says Violetta Zironi, who sold song for 1 BTC - Cointelegraph
NYDIG Weekly Research - April 11, 2025
US jobless claims hint at stability as Bitcoin reaches 'inflection point' at $85K- Cointelegraph
The Rise and Fall of Bitcoin Mining in Kazakhstan w/ Didar Bekbau - The Mining Pod
Ranking Bitcoin Miners, Auradine’s $150M Raise, and Coinbase’s ‘Base’ Rugpull - The Mining Pod
This Bitcoin OG is Orange Pilling the Bond Market - Blockspace
Ranking Bitcoin Miners, Auradine’s $150M Raise, and Coinbase’s ‘Base’ Rugpull - Blockspace
Binance Says Multiple Governments are Eyeing Their Own Crypto Reserves - Watcher Guru
S&P 500 futures fall on White House 245% tariff headline as Bitcoin lags all major asset classes - CryptoSlate
China debates $50B in seized crypto policy shift, urged to create national reserve - CryptoSlate
Coinbase warns of potential new crypto winter as market signals turn bearish - CryptoSlate
Family offices show stronger preference for Ethereum ETFs over Bitcoin - CryptoSlate
Bitcoin Rally Short-Circuited as Fed Chair Powell Raises Stagflation Fear - Coindesk
Kyrgyzstan President Brings CBDC a Step Closer to Reality - Coindesk
Crypto Casino Founder Richard Kim Arrested After Gambling Away Investor Funds - Coindesk
Energy experts slam 'deeply flawed' Harvard-led study on Bitcoin mining's environmental impact - The Block
Spot bitcoin ETFs see $169 million exit, ending two-day inflow streak - The Block
Retail curiosity is rekindled as Google search volume for 'Bitcoin' and 'Ethereum' jumps- The Block
JPMorgan says bitcoin has failed to benefit from safe-haven flows backing gold - The Block