Bitcoin Retreats 10% as MicroStrategy Buys $835.6M BTC
Bitcoin fell 10.32% last week, underperforming gold and equity indices following the US government shutdown. MicroStrategy added 8,178 BTC to its treasury, spending $835.6M at about $102,171 per Bitcoin despite its mNAV dropping to 0.9. Altcoins slid similarly, with crypto miners and the Solana ecosystem among the weakest. Solana projects MPLX and JTO tumbled 42.36% and 26.81% after a PSG1 exploit and new competition. Only RWA tokens and no-revenue indices outperformed, led by OUSG (+0.73%), HASH (-3.44%) and XRP (-6.36%). Application revenues also diverged: Hyperliquid generated $17.1M versus Pump.fun’s $9.6M, though PUMP/HYPE fell 23.4%. Solana’s revenue share shrank from 21% to 12% in two months but still ranks above Ethereum. In DeFi, Loopscale deposits rose 28% to $93M, while Kamino saw declines.
Bearish
Bitcoin’s 10.32% weekly decline highlights prevailing bearish sentiment amid broader market weakness. MicroStrategy’s mNAV dropping below 1 constrains further on-chain acquisitions, which may reduce buy pressure. Underperformance across crypto-miner stocks and the Solana ecosystem, coupled with shrinking revenue share, parallels past downturns where institutional constraints amplified price declines. Short-term volatility is likely to persist as traders digest these metrics. In the long term, market recovery will depend on improved network fundamentals and renewed institutional demand. However, current indicators suggest continued selling pressure, making the near-term outlook bearish.