What happened in crypto this week: MicroStrategy buys $836M BTC as Fed signals renewed rate‑cut hopes

The cryptocurrency market just closed off one of its wildest weeks in recent memory. And while digital assets moved mostly downward at the start of the week, by Wednesday, investors got a glimpse of hope that could set crypto back on track for December. 

Institutional Developments of the Week

The week kicked off with MicroStrategy, the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin, announcing its largest BTC acquisition in months. The purchase, worth $836 million, came at a time when Bitcoin was slipping, reinforcing the idea that Michael Saylor is buying the dip.

Bitcoin mining firm Hyperscale Data was another company stockpiling BTC during a bearish market. The company announced on Monday that its BTC treasury had reached over $70 million, over 94% of its entire market capitalization. 

Moving over to a different blockchain, BitMine announced that it had purchased $66 million in ETH, while its chairman, Tom Lee, reinforced that he expects to see Ethereum entering a “100x supercycle” in the future. 

The leading corporate Bitcoin treasury in Asia, Metaplanet, is issuing Class B Preferred Shares for ¥21.249B — aiming to increase its BTC stash. 

One of the OG Bitcoin whales who had been holding the asset for over 10 years has finally sold amid the most recent market drop. Owen Gunden, a holder since 2011, finally cashed out over $1.13 billion on Friday. 

Finally, USDT issuer “Tether” is significantly increasing its exposure to gold. The company is becoming one of the largest non-sovereign gold holders in the world, with a treasury now estimated at 116 tons, valued at $12.9 billion.

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Regulation and Macro News of the Week

On Monday, we reported on how Fed Governor Adriana Kugler was forced to resign in August, amid investigations about potential insider trading. In other news, the U.S. Treasury moved to join the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF), in a joint effort to battle cross-border tax evasion. 

Monetary policy took an even bigger role this week. 

By Tuesday, expectations that the Fed would lower interest rates by a third time this year began to lose traction. This reinforced the recent risk-off sentiment seen in crypto markets, adding more bearish pressure on digital assets. 

The relationship between U.S. President Donald Trump and Fed Chair Jerome Powell continued to strain. To the point that Trump is already signaling a new Chairman who may replace Powell before his term ends in May 2026.

And finally, when it was becoming almost a given that interest rates would remain frozen until 2026, recent remarks by New York Fed President John Williams signaled that the Federal Reserve could still lower rates.