Episode 177 — August 17, 2025

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State-Level Bitcoin Reserves: Texas has officially created its own Bitcoin reserve via S.B. 21—now operating as a standalone fund outside the general treasury.

Corporate Treasury Adoption: Public companies now hold ~320,000 BTC across 30+ firms, including MicroStrategy—whose stock still trades at a premium to its Bitcoin holdings.

Trump Executive Order on 401(k)s: New policy now allows for incorporating alternative assets such as cryptocurrency, private equity, and real estate in U.S. retirement plans.

Scott Bessent’s Strategic Reserve Comment: The former Soros CIO briefly proposed the U.S. create a Bitcoin reserve, drawing headlines—before walking it back.

AI + Bitcoin Mining: TeraWulf secured a $3.7 billion, 10-year AI hosting agreement backed by Google, positioning mining facilities as dual-use compute centers.

Federal Reserve Custody Oversight Shift: The Fed ended its “special crypto supervision” unit and is folding crypto oversight into regular bank supervision.

On-Chain Market Trends: Long-term holders remain dominant, but notable movements like Galaxy Digital’s ~80,000 BTC transfer show strategic circulation—not panic.

India’s New Bitcoin Policy: India launched a new Bitcoin-focused policy institute to mature understanding and regulation of the asset.

Physical Security Alert: Woeful increase in “wrench attacks” and kidnappings targeting Bitcoiners—emphasizes the critical need for robust OPSEC.

Quantum Readiness, No Panic: Bitcoin’s migration to quantum-resilient cryptography is already underway—multisig and Taproot help mitigate risk today.

Substack Feature: Bitcoin and the Future of Estate Planning — Estate planning for sovereignty.

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