What Happened in Crypto This Week: MicroStrategy Buys $836 Million BTC as Fed Signals Renewed Rate Cut Hopes

The cryptocurrency market just wrapped up one of the wildest weeks in recent memory. And while digital assets were largely down at the start of the week, investors got a glimpse of hope on Wednesday that could put crypto back on track for December.

Institutional developments of the week

The week started with MicroStrategy, Bitcoin’s largest corporate holder, announcing its largest BTC acquisition in months. The purchase, worth $836 million, came at a time when Bitcoin was falling, reinforcing the idea that Michael Saylor is buying the dip.

Bitcoin mining company Hyperscale Data was another company that was stockpiling BTC during a bearish market. The company announced on Monday that its BTC treasury had reached more than $70 million, more than 94% of its total market capitalization.

BitMine moved to another blockchain and announced it had purchased $66 million worth of ETH, while Chairman Tom Lee emphasized that he expects Ethereum to enter a “100x supercycle” in the future.

Metaplanet, the largest corporate Bitcoin treasury in Asia, is issuing class B preferred shares for ¥21.249 billion – aiming to increase its BTC supply.

One of the OG Bitcoin whales that had owned the asset for over 10 years finally sold during the most recent market downturn. Owen Gunden, holder since 2011, finally paid out more than $1.13 billion on Friday.

Finally, USDT issuer “Tether” is significantly increasing its exposure to gold. The company will become one of the largest non-sovereign gold holders in the world, with a treasury now estimated at 116 tonnes, worth $12.9 billion.

Regulation and macro news of the week

On Monday we reported on how Fed Governor Adriana Kugler was forced to resign in August amid investigations into possible insider trading. In other news, the US Treasury Department has joined the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF), in a concerted effort to combat cross-border tax evasion.

Monetary policy played an even bigger role this week.

On Tuesday, expectations that the Fed would cut rates for the third time this year began to lose steam. This reinforced the recent sense of risk in the crypto markets, further increasing the pressure on digital assets.

The relationship between US President Donald Trump and Fed Chairman Jerome Powell remained tense. To the point that Trump is already signaling a new chairman who could replace Powell before his term ends in May 2026.

And finally, as it almost became a given that rates would remain frozen until 2026, recent comments from New York Fed President John Williams indicated that the Federal Reserve could still cut rates.