Major players from Wall Street continue to increase their exposure to digital assets despite volatility. Over the past seven days, three public companies — Strive, BitMine, and Strategy — have collectively directed more than half a billion dollars toward purchasing Bitcoin and Ethereum. These are not just one-off deals but a systematic strategy based on converting market demand for shares into direct investments in cryptocurrencies.
The mechanics are simple and elegant: companies issue new shares, sell them at the peak of investor interest, and immediately convert the proceeds into digital assets. Thus, an increase in the cryptocurrency's value automatically raises the stock price, creating a closed loop of capital raising.
What exactly the giants bought
Strive, led by CEO Matt Cole, acquired 1,800 BTC at an average price of $79,431. Its balance sheet now holds 23,156 bitcoins, equivalent to $1.83 billion. The company reported issuing more than 3.57 million new Class A shares over the week, increasing its cash reserve to $183.5 million.
BitMine chose a different path, betting on Ethereum. Its portfolio grew by 53,501 ETH, marking the 65th consecutive week of purchases since June 2025. The company focuses on yield: through its own validator network MAVAN, it has staked more than 5.067 million ETH — 86% of its entire portfolio. Board Chairman Tom Lee forecasts annual income of $335–390 million from this strategy. BitMine now controls 4.9% of all issued ether, and it is just 133,888 coins short of the 5% target.
Meanwhile, Strategy resumed purchases after a ten-week pause, adding 4,603 bitcoins. Unlike BitMine, the company discloses the average purchase price — $75,412 per coin.
ETF money turned around before portfolio investors
The reason for this activity lies in capital flows. U.S. spot Bitcoin funds attracted more than $3.3 billion in August after an outflow of $4.5 billion in June. Ethereum funds repeated the scenario, adding about $1.75 billion after two months of outflows. The reaction was swift: Bitcoin rose 25.7% over the month, while Ethereum gained 33.3%.
This is a classic pattern: demand for funds pushes up the price of coins, rising coins boost the value of fund reserves, and selling reserves allows buying coins again.
Other changes in August
Last week, $3.2 billion flowed into crypto funds — the largest weekly inflow since October 2025. This indicates growing optimism in the market.
Many believe this money came from the artificial intelligence bubble, but the timeline does not match that version. The most significant crash occurred in July: the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell 20.6%, and South Korea's KOSPI dropped 22%. August, however, was calmer: the Nasdaq 100 gained 4.2%.
The redistribution of money is also visible elsewhere. In August, foreign investors withdrew 10.17 trillion won from Korean stocks, while trading volumes on Upbit, the country's largest exchange, increased roughly eightfold.
The market also received support from the United States: on August 19, President Donald Trump urged Congress to pass the CLARITY bill, and the Senate will vote on it on September 15. On the same day, the U.S. Treasury expanded its long-term bond buyback program — from $2 billion to a minimum of $4 billion per operation. Yields on 30-year paper briefly fell to 5.19% but then returned to 5.25%.
On Monday, Bitcoin traded around $78,818. Currently, companies are held back not by a decline in the coin's price but by a closed funding window.
My view: this dynamic confirms that institutional investors view cryptocurrencies not as a speculative asset but as a strategic reserve capable of generating returns through staking and capital appreciation. The continuation of BitMine's purchase streak and the resumption of Strategy's activity signal the formation of a sustained upward trend backed by real capital inflows, not just market euphoria.