Bitcoin’s $80K push faces Jackson Hole

August 24, 2026

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Strategy raises $2B, but leaves Bitcoin untouched

Key points:

  • Strategy raised $2.01 billion by selling 18.26 million MSTR shares, directing most of the proceeds into a new, flexible cash pool.

  • Its 840,447 BTC remained unchanged for a second week, while Bitcoin’s rally pushed the holdings back above their aggregate cost.

News - Strategy tapped its stock for $2.01 billion last week without adding to, or reducing, its Bitcoin position. The company instead split the proceeds among an STRC preferred-share buyback, its existing dollar reserve, and a liquidity account that leaves several uses open.

Cash gets a second lane - Strategy spent $136.4 million repurchasing roughly 1.43 million STRC shares and added $300 million to its USD Reserve. The remaining proceeds entered USD Cash, which stood at $1.59 billion on August 23. Combined with the $5.1 billion reserve, the company held $6.69 billion across both pools.

The distinction matters. The reserve is designated for preferred dividends and debt interest, while USD Cash can fund Bitcoin purchases, securities repurchases, convertible-note obligations, reserve additions, or other corporate purposes. Strategy said that flexibility could help it respond faster to market dislocations.

Bitcoin did the balance-sheet lifting - Strategy neither bought nor sold Bitcoin during the week, leaving its holdings at 840,447 BTC for a second consecutive week. The stack cost $63.36 billion, or $75,385 per coin. With Bitcoin near $78,400, it was worth about $65.9 billion, producing an unrealized gain of roughly $2.5 billion.

Funded, but not deployed - The filing permits future Bitcoin purchases but does not commit Strategy to one. Its last acquisition came in June, leaving the latest raise as a liquidity build rather than another BTC bet.

Bitcoin’s $80K test meets the Warsh wildcard

Key points:

  • Bitcoin reclaimed its 50-week EMA after a 22% monthly climb, but analysts identified $80,000 as the recovery’s next major obstacle.

  • Kevin Warsh’s first Jackson Hole keynote arrives Friday, although historical data suggests 2022’s sharp post-speech loss was an exception.

News - Bitcoin entered Jackson Hole week on track for its strongest August since 2017. That run also raised the bar for further gains. The move restored a closely watched bear-market trendline, while Warsh’s policy debut could help determine whether it extends or invites profit-taking.

One speech broke the pattern - Bitcoin fell 6% when Jerome Powell delivered his hawkish Jackson Hole address in August 2022, then traded 9% below its pre-speech level two days later. The magnitude of that reaction stood apart from the milder moves around later addresses. Bitcoin lost just 0.4% following another hawkish speech in 2023, while it slipped 1.3% after Powell’s 2025 remarks.

Those outcomes suggest tone alone did not dictate Bitcoin’s response, leaving the degree of policy surprise central to Friday’s risk.

Momentum reaches resistance - Bitcoin closed last week at $77,727 after reaching $79,550, securing its first weekly finish above the 50-week EMA since November 2025. However, analysts placed clear resistance near $80,000. Recent buyers also have an aggregate breakeven point around $73,000, narrowing their downside cushion if the rally reverses.

Warsh keeps markets guessing - The Fed held rates at 3.50% to 3.75% in July, with three officials favoring a hike. Futures assigned roughly 38% odds to a September increase, while Warsh has revealed little about his rate outlook. July PCE data on Wednesday and $1.9 billion in last week’s spot Bitcoin ETF inflows add two more variables before his Friday address.

Bitmine’s ETH target is 187,000 coins away

Key points:

  • Bitmine bought 32,447 ETH, worth roughly $81 million, lifting its treasury to nearly 5.85 million tokens.

  • The company is approaching its goal of owning 5% of Ethereum’s supply, with 87% of its holdings already staked.

News - Bitmine’s largest weekly ETH purchase since early July moved it closer to a specific finish line. The company now holds about 4.8% of Ethereum’s supply, while ETH’s 30% weekly rally has sharply increased the value of that expanding treasury.

The final 3% - Bitmine held 5,847,611 ETH as of August 23, valued at approximately $14.6 billion with ETH near $2,500. Based on Ethereum’s roughly 120.7 million token supply, reaching 5% would require about 6.04 million ETH. That leaves the company approximately 187,000 tokens short.

Bitmine has added ETH every week since launching its treasury strategy in June 2025, although its purchasing pace has varied. The self-imposed target would not give Bitmine control over Ethereum’s transactions, upgrades, or governance.

Most of the stack is working - The company has staked about 5.07 million ETH, representing 87% of its holdings. At current yields, Bitmine projects approximately $330 million in annualized staking revenue. It has not said whether purchases will stop once the 5% target is reached.

Outperformance meets a warning - ETH gained about 30% last week and outpaced Bitcoin, while the ETH/BTC ratio formed a golden cross after rising 25% from its June 6 low. The signal reflects strengthening momentum, but its history is uneven. Crosses in May and August 2022 became bull traps, while the February 2021 occurrence preceded a 93% ETH/BTC rally. Bitmine’s target is close, but ETH’s next move remains far less predetermined.

Pakistan gives crypto firms a stay-or-exit deadline

Key points:

  • Crypto firms serving Pakistani users on or before March 5 must seek preliminary clearance by September 5 or cease operations.

  • Full licensing requires local incorporation, financial-monitoring registration, and compliance across 11 activity categories.

News - Pakistan has moved its crypto framework from legislation into enforcement. Existing providers now face a September 5 decision: enter the country’s licensing pipeline or stop serving Pakistani customers.

The deadline is only gate one - Providers operating by March 5 must apply for a No Objection Certificate by the deadline. Continuing without an application after that date constitutes an offense under the Virtual Assets Act 2026.

The portal also accepts full license and sandbox applications, offering supervised product testing before full authorization.

Offshore access needs a local footprint - Receiving an NOC does not complete the process. A firm must then register with Pakistan’s Financial Monitoring Unit, incorporate a local subsidiary, and submit its full license application. Binance and HTX already hold preliminary certificates allowing them to establish local entities and prepare applications.

Eleven categories, one compliance net - The regime spans exchanges, custody, brokerage, advisory work, lending, derivatives, asset management, settlement, mining infrastructure, asset-referenced token issuance, and fiat-pegged stablecoin issuance.

Applicants face category-specific capital requirements, vetting of directors and key personnel, cybersecurity and continuity standards, and anti-money laundering controls. Licensees must segregate customer assets and cannot lend or pledge them without written consent.

Formal authorization gives providers access to Pakistan’s banking system, following the removal of restrictions on banks serving licensed crypto firms. Banks may provide accounts, including segregated client-money accounts, but remain prohibited from investing in, trading, or holding crypto assets themselves.

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Did you know?

  • The SEC built a fake ICO, then trapped every “buyer” with the truth: In 2018, the agency launched HoweyCoins.com with a vague white paper, guaranteed-return claims, and a ticking countdown clock. Clicking “Buy Coins Now” redirected visitors to investor education instead of a token sale.

  • For 20 minutes, a regulated exchange priced Bitcoin at zero: A February 2018 glitch at Japan’s Zaif allowed seven customers to acquire Bitcoin with no yen value before the exchange voided the trades. One customer attempted to move the discounted coins, but nobody ultimately profited from the error.

  • A researcher burned $150,000 in supercomputer time to mine at most $10,000 in Bitcoin: An NSF investigation found that the unnamed researcher misused agency-supported computing resources at two universities, including remotely accessing one machine through a European mirror site. The researcher lost access to all NSF-funded supercomputers and was suspended government-wide.

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Top 3 coins of the day

Bittensor (TAO)

Key points:

  • TAO rebounded from $217 to $218 and reclaimed the rising 9-period SMA at $233.

  • RSI recovered to 63.35, but resistance between $244 and $250 still stands in the way of a fresh breakout.

What you should know:

TAO’s pullback found buyers between $217 and $218, allowing price to reclaim the rising 9-period SMA at $233 and recover to $241. Rather than immediately extending its earlier surge, the rebound returned TAO to a decision point: the latest candle reached $244 but met renewed selling below the recent $250 peak. RSI recovered to 63.35 after cooling from overbought territory, restoring bullish momentum without repeating the earlier extreme. Volume remained above its pre-breakout baseline, though it trailed the burst recorded around the peak. A market-wide rally accompanied by roughly $1.5 billion in short liquidations provided a risk-on backdrop, while Bittensor’s Covenant-72B distributed training milestone reinforced its AI narrative. Support between $231 and $234 now underpins another attempt at $244 to $250; losing it would expose $217 to $222.

Ethereum (ETH)

Key points:

  • ETH erased its pullback from around $2,360 and returned above $2,500.

  • RSI rose back to 72.02 while the bullish Supertrend held at $2,334.

What you should know:

The first momentum reset after ETH’s breakout failed to derail the advance. Price rebounded from around $2,360, returned above $2,500, and pressed toward the previous $2,545 peak. RSI, which had cooled from the 90s into the low-to-mid 60s, climbed back to 72.02, placing momentum in overbought territory again. The Supertrend remains bullish at $2,334, while rebound volume improved without matching the initial breakout surge. The non-technical backdrop added two ETH-specific signals: spot Ether ETFs recorded $71.47 million in single-day net inflows, while the Platåberget testnet deployment advanced preparations for Ethereum’s planned Q4 Glamsterdam upgrade. Resistance stands between $2,520 and $2,545. Immediate support sits between $2,440 and $2,475, followed by the Supertrend if the recovery weakens.

Lighter (LIT)

Key points:

  • LIT retreated from around $3.75 to $3.43, putting its rising 9-period SMA at $3.41 under pressure.

  • EWO strengthened to 17.13 even as red volume expanded near the peak.

What you should know:

Upbit’s LIT/KRW listing gave the rally a concrete catalyst. The announcement coincided with a reported 113.4% jump in daily trading volume to $176.6 million, while Lighter’s buybacks reached 15.5 million LIT, or about 6.3% of circulating supply, with those tokens slated for a permanent burn. On the chart, that enthusiasm carried LIT through the former resistance area between $2.45 and $2.50 and toward $3.75 before profit-taking pulled it back to $3.43. The EWO still strengthened to 17.13, but red volume expanded near the top. Price now tests the rising 9-period SMA at $3.41. Holding it keeps $3.56 and $3.75 in view; losing it shifts attention to support between $3.10 and $3.20.

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