Crypto Currents: Strategy pauses buying as Bitmine adds billions in ether

The final trading day of the quarter arrived with a structural shift in the digital asset landscape, as major corporate treasuries diverged in their accumulation tactics while mining operators accelerated a sector-wide defection to artificial intelligence infrastructure. Stay up on the crypto news that matters with “Crypto Currents,” daily from The Fly. Join us at 2 PM ET for your essential briefing on the fast-moving world of cryptocurrency on FlyCast radio.

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CORPORATE TREASURIES DIVERGE AS STRATEGY PAUSES AND BITMINE ACCUMULATES ETHER: In a stark departure from its aggressive accumulation strategy, Strategy disclosed in a weekly 8-K filing that it made zero bitcoin (BTC-USD) purchases during the March 23–29 window, marking the first pause in its 13-week buying streak. The company currently sits on an unrealized paper loss of approximately $6.2B with its holdings remaining at 762,099 coins. This pause coincides with a broader institutional retreat, as data from SoSoValue shows that weekly spot fund outflows reached a three-week high of $464M, led by a $201.5M single-day withdrawal from the iShares Bitcoin Trust managed by BlackRock BMNR“>(BMNR) announced via an 8-K operations update that it purchased 71,179 ether (ETH-USD) last week, worth roughly $143M. The firm has now accelerated its buying pace for four consecutive weeks, bringing its total holdings to 4.73M ether, equivalent to approximately 3.92% of the total circulating supply. Bitmine expects its treasury to generate $177M in annualized staking revenue and maintains a $102M stake in Eightco Holdings NAKA“>(NAKA) filed to register the resale of over 500M shares following its PIPE transaction, and Empery Digital updated its $200M buyback program, which is being funded by the strategic sale of bitcoin reserves to close its net asset value discount.

MINERS DEFECT TO ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE INFRASTRUCTURE TO ESCAPE MARGIN SQUEEZE: Mining operators are currently facing an existential margin deficit, losing an estimated $19,000 for every bitcoin produced as all-in production costs have ballooned to $80,000. According to a CoinShares report cited by CoinDesk, this pressure is forcing a rapid pivot toward artificial intelligence and high-performance computing contracts. Bitdeer Technologies Group filed a 6-K disclosing a design agreement to convert its Tydal site in Norway into a 180 megawatt AI data center powered by Nvidia SLNH” style=””>(SLNH) reported in its 10-K that its power development pipeline has expanded to 4.3 gigawatts to host AI workloads, even as revenue fell to $29.7M. This infrastructure reorientation is also being seen at MARA Holdings (MARA), Riot Platforms (RIOT), Core Scientific WULF” style=””>(WULF), and IREN (IREN), all of whom are being modeled increasingly as data center operators like Equinix TRUMP CEASEFIRE COMMENTS TRIGGER SHORT SQUEEZE AMID MACRO VOLATILITY: The broader crypto complex staged a recovery on Monday following a Truth Social post from President Trump stating that the U.S. is in “serious discussions” for a ceasefire in Iran. The news triggered $9.3M in short liquidations in a single hour, lifting assets like solana (SOL-USD), XRP (XRP-USD), and BNB (BNB-USD). Despite the relief rally, Reuters warns that traders are pricing a 69% probability of a Bank of Japan rate hike on April 28, which could trigger a massive carry trade unwind. Amidst this volatility, analysts at Bernstein maintained Outperform ratings on Coinbase HOOD“>(HOOD), and Figure according to price data from TipRanks.