🟠 BTC Bills Collapse

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.

Fear and Greed is at 25. Are you feeling the panic?

Happy Tuesday to the 20,607 Minimalist members reading today. 👋 

Today we’re covering:

• Strategy buys $1.99B in BTC

• Bitcoin plunges below $87,000

• U.S. state Bitcoin reserve bills fail

• And everything else you need to know.

Estimated read time: 3 minutes and 12 seconds

WHAT WE’RE WATCHING

🏛️ Montana's House rejected a Bitcoin reserve bill in a 41-59 vote, citing taxpayer risk and speculative concerns. The bill aimed to let the state invest in Bitcoin and other assets. Supporters argued for potential returns, but opponents opposed state-backed Bitcoin speculation. Similar bills are active in 20 other states.

📈 Strategy bought 20,356 BTC for $1.99B at an average price of $97,514. This brings total holdings to 499,096 BTC, acquired at an average of $66,357 per coin. The purchase was funded through a $2B convertible note offering. Strategy holds an unrealized $14.8B profit despite a $670M Q4 loss.

📉 Bitcoin plunged below $91,000 after Trump announced tariffs on Canada and Mexico. The announcement triggered a crypto market sell-off. Nearly $800M in liquidations followed as investors braced for further volatility ahead of the March 4 implementation.

🛒 Bitcoin then fell below $86,000 for the first time in three months, dropping over 7%. Eric Trump urged investors to "buy the dip" while Michael Saylor claimed that Bitcoin is “on sale”.

📉 U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs saw $516M in net outflows on Monday, the fifth-largest since launch. Fidelity’s FBTC led with $247M in withdrawals, followed by BlackRock’s IBIT with $158.6M.

💰 Tokyo-listed Metaplanet bought $12.9M worth of Bitcoin, adding 135 BTC at an average price of $95,951. The firm now holds 2,235 BTC and aims to reach 10,000 BTC by year-end. Metaplanet’s stock is up 67.5% in 2025 despite a 1.3% dip on Tuesday.

IN THE LOOP

• Angel investor Brad Mills advises young people to max out credit cards to buy bitcoin, citing its long-term potential despite the risks.

• South Dakota lawmakers effectively killed a bill that would have allowed the state to invest in Bitcoin.

• Republican divisions are causing state-level Bitcoin Reserve bills to fail despite strong industry support.

• Michael Saylor said, "Bitcoin is on sale," after Strategy purchased 20,356 BTC for $1.99 billion, bringing its total holdings to nearly 500,000 BTC.

The most clicked link in our last newsletter was Samson Mow's claim that Bitcoin's price action "looks very manufactured," pointing to possible price suppression despite strong institutional inflows.

MACRO & INDUSTRY

• Hackers stole $1.5 billion from crypto exchange Bybit in the largest crypto heist ever, with analysts linking it to North Korea’s Lazarus Group.

• The SEC dropped its investigation into Robinhood’s crypto unit, signaling a shift toward looser regulation under President Trump.

• Ross Ulbricht called for clemency for Roger Ver.

• President Donald Trump has repeatedly suggested that the gold in Fort Knox may have been stolen, raising speculation about his intentions.

POLL

THURSDAY’S POLL RESULTS

Is the Bitcoin price being manipulated?

🟩🟩🟩🟩⬜️ 👍 Yes (73%)

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 👎 No (27%)

👍 Yes: “I have been following while dripping into Bitcoin since 2021 and I agree it just seems off. There is so much more public awareness and information on it. Good things “seem” to be happening with major institutions, and governments adopting it. Our president and most of his staff support it, But when you look at the price action only, you would think that things are quiet and maybe it’s been forgotten. I really think the launch of Trump’s meme coins didn’t help either. ” — Kate

👍 Yes: “I think if Bitcoin wasn’t manipulated, it wouldn’t fluctuate so much.” — Darius

👍 Yes: “It's a strong possibility, but I don't think it can be sustained.” — Dylan

👍 Yes: “It’s impossible for historic institutional and governmental demand to increase and the price to stay the same.” — Lucas

👍 Yes: “For sure. All prices are being manipulated all the time. People always manipulate as much as they can get away with.” — Trent

👍 Yes: “The same up, downs nearly the same times/days. Almost Every drop lands at exactly even numbers and instantly goes up to previous levels. Banksters own everything around you.” — Charlie

👎 No: “Every time we chop sideways everyone freaks. The whole point is to stack your coins so it can't be. If it is, more cheap sats for the plebs and the squeeze will be insane. Stay Humble. Stack sats. We're not there yet. Be patient.” — Steven

CHARTS & DATA

Fear & Greed - The Bitcoin Fear & Greed Index has crashed over the past day or so, and now stands at 25. We’re almost in extreme fear zone.

Mayer Multiple Bands - Bitcoin has fallen into the “bearish” band of the Mayer Bands.

MVRV - Bitcoin MVRV has slipped to just 2.0. This means the price is just double the realized price.

FROM THE ARCHIVE

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