Strategy spends $2.01B to buy 24,869 BTC; Bitmine holds 4.37% of ETH supply

Editor's note: After a short, sharp rebound, the broader crypto market has slipped back into the $76,000–$79,000 range, dragging down crypto-linked equities. DAT bellwethers such as Strategy and Bitmine have given back most of the past month's gains. Risk assets have also softened amid multiple cross-currents and renewed expectations of potential Federal Reserve rate hikes, with South Korea's financial markets and U.S. stocks posting modest pullbacks. Compared with the upbeat signals highlighted in last week's "Crypto Stock Outlook," negative headlines—including the U.S.-Iran situation and the rise of Wash—have arrived in quick succession. Near-term, crypto equities may still need fresh catalysts such as a SpaceX IPO or an Anthropic fundraising update. On the policy front, a key watch item is the U.S. SEC potentially rolling out a regulatory framework for tokenized stocks as soon as this week, a move that could reignite interest in onchain securities. For more on coin-linked equities, visit MSX.com. U.S. equity pullback risk rises as big money crowds into semiconductors Morgan Stanley says the risk of a meaningful U.S. equity pullback has increased sharply after the 10-year Treasury yield moved above 4.5%, a level the bank has previously flagged as a headwind for valuation. Michael Wilson, the firm's Chief Investment Officer and a well-known Wall Street bull, said that if long-end yields keep climbing and bond volatility picks up, U.S. stocks could see their first significant correction since late March. Buffett and Dalio's Q1 moves: leaning into chip infrastructure, trimming software, portfolios more concentrated Berkshire Hathaway's first-quarter 13F shows a major add to Alphabet (GOOGL.O), with more than 36 million shares bought and its stake rising from 2.04% to 5.93%. Berkshire also added to The New York Times, started a new position in Delta Air Lines (DAL.N) with 39.8 million shares valued at about $26.5 billion, and fully exited Amazon (AMZN.O), Visa (V.N), Mastercard (MA.N) and UnitedHealth Group (UNH.N). It reduced Chevron (CVX.N) and Bank of America (BAC.N). As of Q1, Berkshire's U.S. equity portfolio was valued at $26.3 billion versus $27.4 billion in the prior quarter. It bought roughly $16 billion of stocks and sold about $24 billion, for net sales of around $8.15 billion. The number of holdings fell from 42 to 29, underscoring rising concentration. Bridgewater Associates, the world's largest hedge fund, reported Q1 2024 U.S. equity holdings of $22.4 billion as of March 31, down from $27.4 billion in the prior quarter. In the quarter it opened 214 new positions, added to 292, closed 261, and cut 487. The fund boosted semiconductor exposure—notably NVIDIA, Broadcom and Micron Technology—while exiting enterprise software names such as Salesforce and ServiceNow and trimming Adobe. Bridgewater increased NVIDIA by 827,800 shares, lifting the weighting from 2.63% at end-2023 to 3.65%; added 670,000 Broadcom shares, raising the weighting from 1.47% to 2.54%; and added 586,000 Micron shares, lifting the weighting from 0.93% to 2.23%. It also initiated a TSMC position of 1.077 million shares, representing 1.62% of the portfolio at quarter-end. Weekly update: crypto-treasury public companies BTC treasuries: weekly net purchases surge to $2.03B Public companies' net Bitcoin purchases jumped to $2.03 billion over the past week, more than 44 times the previous week, according to SoSoValue. As of 8:00 a.m. ET on May 18, 2026, global public companies (excluding miners) posted weekly net BTC buying of $2.03 billion, up 4,403.11% week over week. Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) disclosed a $2.01 billion purchase—up 4,574.4% from the prior week—buying 24,869 BTC at an average price of $80,985. Total holdings rose to 843,738 BTC. Japan's Metaplanet made no purchases last week. Four other firms added BTC: - Strive said on May 12 it bought 9 BTC (spend undisclosed), lifting holdings to 15,009 BTC. - UK-based The Smarter Web Company said on May 12 and May 15 it spent $2.84 million to buy 25 BTC at $81,592.67 and 10 BTC at $79,662, taking total holdings to 2,840 BTC. - France's Capital B said on May 18 it spent $15.02 million to buy 192 BTC at $78,205.40, lifting holdings to 3,135 BTC. - Brazil's OrangeBTC said on May 18 it spent $390,900 to buy 5 BTC at $78,180, taking total holdings to 3,737 BTC. As of publication, publicly traded companies tracked in these statistics (excluding miners) hold 1,113,841 BTC, up 2.37% from the prior week, with an estimated market value of about $86.16 billion—roughly 5.6% of Bitcoin's circulating market cap. Strive: Q1 added 6,001 BTC; GAAP net loss $265.9M Bitcoin-treasury firm Strive reported first-quarter 2026 results and said its SATA preferred shares will shift to daily dividend payments on business days starting June 16, 2026, with the annualized dividend rate unchanged at 13%. As of May 12, 2026, Strive held 15,009 BTC, including about 5,048 BTC obtained via the Semler Scientific acquisition. It added 6,001 BTC during Q1 2026 and purchased an additional 1,381 BTC through May 12 in Q2. The company posted a GAAP net loss of $265.9 million, with about $295.8 million tied to fair-value declines in its Bitcoin holdings. ETH treasuries: Bitmine adds 71,672 ETH; holds 4.37% of supply Over the past week, Bitmine bought 71,672 ETH. It now holds 5,278,462 ETH valued at $11.56 billion, equal to 4.37% of total ETH supply. Bitmine also holds 202 BTC, $200 million in Beast Industries shares, $83 million in Eightco Holdings shares and $685 million in cash. The company has staked 4,712,917 ETH valued at $1.03 billion, generating annualized staking income of $289 million. Sharplink CEO: ETH-treasury firms shifting away from the Strategy playbook Sharplink CEO Joseph Chalom said Ethereum-treasury companies are increasingly diverging from the Strategy/Michael Saylor model, prioritizing staking yield and simpler balance sheets over complex financing. In his view, holding ETH can generate returns through staking, reducing the need for heavy leverage, and only a small number of ETH-treasury firms are likely to endure market downturns. He also referenced BlackRock CEO Larry Fink's description of Ethereum as a "tokenized toll road," and pointed to developments such as NYSE and Nasdaq advancing 24-hour trading plans, DTCC exploring tokenized collateral, and Bullish acquiring Equiniti as factors pushing tokenized assets deeper into traditional finance. Chalom expects stablecoins, tokenized assets, DeFi and AI applications to keep expanding, with Ethereum increasingly following a different development path from Bitcoin. SOL treasuries Upexi shares drop after $109M quarterly loss Solana-treasury company Upexi fell 8.16% Tuesday after reporting a wider net loss of $109 million for its third fiscal quarter, mainly tied to declines in the value of its crypto holdings. Tuesday filings showed $92.3 million of unrealized losses on digital assets. Revenue rose 46% year over year to $4.6 million, supported by staking income, but the company still posted a loss. As of March 31, Upexi held 2.5 million SOL worth more than $238 million, ranking as the second-largest corporate SOL treasury behind Forward Industries, which holds more than 7 million SOL. DeFi Development: Q1 net loss $83.4M; SOL per share up 108% YoY DeFi Development Corp said SOL holdings per share increased 108% over the past year, from 0.0322 to 0.0670 SOL, even as its first-quarter loss widened. As of May 13, it held about 2.2946 million SOL and equivalents. CEO Joseph Onorati said growth came from internal staking, operating joint validator nodes with Bonk, and deploying more than 25% of the treasury onchain. The firm reported Q1 revenue of $2.66 million, up 827% year over year, and a net loss of $83.4 million versus a $778,000 loss a year earlier, largely due to SOL price declines. SOL Strategies names Jon Matonis board chair Nasdaq-listed Solana ecosystem treasury company SOL Strategies said on May 12 it appointed Jon Matonis as Chairman of the Board. Matonis is a founding director of the Bitcoin Foundation and a longtime advocate for financial privacy. Altcoin treasuries Hyperion DeFi: HYPE holdings top 2M; Q1 net profit $8.8M Nasdaq-listed HYPE-focused financial company Hyperion DeFi reported Q1 net profit of $8.8 million, improving from a Q4 2025 net loss of $39.8 million. Since quarter-end, it has added about 60,000 HYPE tokens, taking total HYPE holdings to more than 2 million. Its verified node has received 10.2 million HYPE tokens in delegation, ranking among the top six verified nodes, just behind the Hyperliquid Foundation. The company also holds 1.92 million KNTQ tokens and 10 million HPL tokens. Bitwise to allocate part of Hyperliquid ETF fees to HYPE Bitwise Asset Management said it will use 10% of management-fee revenue from its BHYP Hyperliquid ETF to acquire Hyperliquid's native token, HYPE, for its balance sheet, and it will stake the associated HYPE holdings. Bitwise cited Hyperliquid's "community-first" approach, noting that about 99% of onchain revenue is used to repurchase and burn HYPE. The BHYP ETF listed on the New York Stock Exchange last Friday, offering exposure to Hyperliquid and staking rewards.