🟠 Bitcoin Election Day

First time reading? I’m Jordan, and this is The Bitcoin Minimalist. Every Tuesday & Thursday, we scour 100s of sources to bring you need-to-know Bitcoin insights.

Good morning — Jordan here.

Happy Tuesday to the 16,986 Minimalist members reading today. 👋 

Today we’re covering:

• Bitcoin mining difficulty hits record high

• Developing nations consider Bitcoin investments

• Bernstein sets Bitcoin at $200,000 by 2025

• And everything else you need to know.

Estimated read time: 2 minutes and 54 seconds

WHAT WE’RE WATCHING

💸 Bernstein raises its Bitcoin price projections, expecting $80,000-$90,000 if Trump wins and $50,000 under Harris. A bullish long-term target of $200,000 by 2025 remains regardless of election outcome, driven by fiscal pressures, increased demand for hard assets, and anticipated spot Bitcoin ETF approvals.

🌍 Developing nations may soon invest billions in Bitcoin monthly, according to David Bailey. He noted that energy-intensive, state-backed Bitcoin mining projects are expanding, potentially setting the stage for national reserves. Many countries view Bitcoin as a means to boost financial autonomy and reduce dependence on the U.S. dollar.

🇺🇸 A new report by the Bitcoin Policy Institute recommends a U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve (SBR). This proposal aims to boost the USA’s financial stability, geopolitical leverage, and energy resilience. The report suggests Bitcoin’s decentralized nature and finite supply could diversify reserves, support the dollar, and align with renewable energy goals despite mining’s high energy demands.

📊 MicroStrategy unveils its "21/21 Plan". The goal is to raise $42 billion over three years—$21 billion through equity and $21 billion via debt—to invest heavily in Bitcoin. The company aims to enhance BTC holdings, targeting a 6-10% annual BTC yield to grow shareholder value amid volatile market conditions.

💰 Mt. Gox moved approximately $2.2 billion in bitcoin (32,371 BTC) to unmarked wallets, per Arkham data. This major transfer, following a 500 BTC move last week, may be tied to its creditor repayment plans. Mt. Gox recently delayed its repayment deadline to October 2025.

💻 Bitcoin mining difficulty hit an all-time high of 101.7 trillion, up 6.2%, as the network’s hash rate reached a record 755.5 EH/s. This increase, following April’s block subsidy halving, demands more computational power, squeezing out less efficient miners amid rising competition and energy demands.

📺 Bitcoin Magazine will host an Election Day livestream for Bitcoin enthusiasts, going live at 3pm EST on Nov 5. In partnership with Stand with Crypto, this event provides AP-powered election results, candidate scorecards on Bitcoin policies, and commentary by Bitcoin experts. Available on X, YouTube, and Rumble.

IN THE LOOP

• Strive Enterprises, backed by Vivek Ramaswamy, is launching a Bitcoin-integrated wealth management division.

• Deutsche Telekom will mine Bitcoin in Germany using surplus renewable energy to stabilize the power grid.

• The National Center for Public Policy Research warned Microsoft it could face shareholder lawsuits if it refuses to invest in Bitcoin and prices surge.

• A UK pension fund allocated 3% of its portfolio to Bitcoin following due diligence.

• Crypto firms including Robinhood, Kraken, and Paxos are backing a new stablecoin, USDG.

• Semler Scientific added 47 bitcoin in Q3, bringing its total holdings to 1,058 BTC.

• Marathon and Riot reported their highest Bitcoin production since April’s halving.

POLL

THURSDAY’S POLL RESULTS

Do you think Bitcoin derivatives & options could disrupt the traditional four-year Bitcoin cycles?

🟢🟢🟢 Yes, institutional investors change the game - 50%

🔴 No, the cycle is too ingrained - 13%

❓❓Unsure, need more evidence on the effects - 37%

🟢 Yes - “I just think that the market will always be extremely unpredictable and the uncertainty will always be there no matter what happens. It's like a roulette table black or red, odds or evens.Just because it's rolled evens the last 15 rolls it doesn't mean it's gonna be that way the next roll. Things will always change for the better or worse we do not know. We shall all have to wait and see.” - John

🟢 Yes - “The ability to short Bitcoin through futures contracts likely contributes to downward pressure on spot prices. This is because pessimistic traders could now bet on price declines, whereas previously the market was dominated by optimistic buyers.” - Smith

❓Unsure - “Let's just watch the ETFs this cycle, we should get a much clearer answer.” - Jerry

VIDEO

Is Wall Street ruining Bitcoin?

Matthew Kratter argues that increased Bitcoin adoption by Wall Street and institutions supports hyperbitcoinization.

CHARTS & DATA

IBIT ETF - Blackrock’s Bitcoin ETF, IBIT, continues to acquire bitcoin. The ETF now holds over 430,000 BTC.

U.S. Election - Polymarket currently has Trump at around a 63% chance of winning the U.S. presidential election today.

FROM THE ARCHIVE

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