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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.
Never a dull moment in the Bitcoin market!
Happy Thursday to the 20,413 Minimalist members reading today. 👋
Today we’re covering:
Mining power hits 1 zetahash milestone
Pakistan taps surplus energy for Bitcoin miners
Kraken partners with Mastercard for worldwide BTC payments
And everything else you need to know.
Estimated read time: 3 minutes and 2 seconds
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WHAT WE’RE WATCHING
Bitcoin hashrate is climbing quickly.
⚙️ Bitcoin’s hashrate crossed 1 zetahash (1 sextillion hashes/second) for the first time ever. This milestone reflects a surge in mining power despite low profitability, driven by ultra-efficient ASICs, cheap energy, and possibly nation-state mining. It took 8 years to grow from exahash to zetahash scale.
🏦 Former Riot VP Pierre Rochard has launched The Bitcoin Bond Company to offer bitcoin-backed fixed-income products for institutional investors. The firm aims to acquire $1 trillion in BTC over 21 years by creating structured, regulated credit products using bitcoin as collateral. Rochard sees these bonds as key to bridging traditional finance with bitcoin, making adoption easier for cautious institutions.
💳 Kraken partners with Mastercard to enable Bitcoin payments at over 150 million merchants across the UK and Europe. The collaboration will roll out crypto-linked debit cards and expand Kraken Pay, marking a major step toward everyday Bitcoin use in real-world transactions.
🐉 Arthur Hayes warns a Chinese yuan devaluation could trigger a Bitcoin buying frenzy. Citing 2013 and 2015 precedents, he links yuan weakness and capital flight to historic BTC rallies, as U.S.-China tensions spike over Trump's proposed 50% tariffs on all Chinese imports.
📉 Glassnode says Bitcoin dropped from $83.5K to $74.5K, losing $150B in value. Capital inflows have slowed sharply, falling from $100B/month to just $6B. Liquidity is tight, and bulls must defend the $65K–$71K range. Reclaiming $93K is key to regaining upward momentum.
⚡ Pakistan will use surplus electricity for Bitcoin mining and AI data centers. Their aim is to ease energy sector strains and boost digital exports. With 15–20M crypto users and a top-3 freelancer economy, officials also plan youth upskilling and regulatory sandboxes to grow fintech and blockchain sectors.
💸 A Bitcoin user accidentally paid nearly 0.75 BTC ($60K) in fees due to a replace-by-fee (RBF) mistake. The error likely stemmed from panic and confusion over manual fee settings, highlighting the risks of misconfigured transactions and the complexity of Bitcoin’s RBF mechanism.
IN THE LOOP
DXY is falling.
MicroStrategy may be forced to sell Bitcoin if prices crash, but current fears are overstated and based on longstanding disclosures.
Bitcoin has historically surged over 500% when the US Dollar Index drops below 100, a level it is now nearing again.
Strike CEO Jack Mallers says Bitcoin will decouple from markets and “go nuclear” as nations seek scarce reserve assets amid fiat debasement.
Jack Dorsey is urging Signal to adopt Bitcoin for payments.
China and Russia are increasingly using Bitcoin for trade.
Bitwise reaffirmed its $200K Bitcoin prediction, citing dollar weakness and global trade tensions as bullish factors.
The most clicked link in our last newsletter was U.S. agencies having to reveal federal Bitcoin holdings to establish a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.
MACRO & INDUSTRY
Surging Treasury yields may be driven by overleveraged hedge funds unwinding risky trades, not just Trump’s tariffs.
Maxine Waters accused Trump of using crypto ventures to enrich himself.
Kalshi now accepts Bitcoin deposits to attract crypto-native users.
Bybit’s CEO says a weakening yuan is bullish for Bitcoin as Chinese capital seeks refuge in crypto amid rising trade tensions.
The Senate confirmed pro-Bitcoin Paul Atkins as SEC chair.
US inflation fell to 2.4% in March.
POLL
Do you have anxiety when sending Bitcoin transactions?A Bitcoin user accidentally paid nearly 0.75 BTC ($60K) in fees. |
LAST THURSDAY’S POLL RESULTS
📊 Where will Bitcoin end April?
🟥⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🟥 Under $75K (8%)
🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🟨 $75K – $85K (22%)
🟩🟩🟩⬜️⬜️ 🟦 $85K – $95K (40%)
🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🟩 Over $95K (30%)
🟦 $85K – $95K: “Flatline till real money supply growth.” — Bob
🟦 $85K – $95K: “Slow and steady.” — Chris
🟨 $75K – $85K: “I thought BTC was supposed to be the digital gold. At least, I bet is what I was hearing frequently. So while gold is taking off in value, BTC is behaving more like a stock market. Not making much sense to me.” — Rick
🟩 Over $95K: “Who knows. But that direction over time” — Nick
VIDEO
PlanB notes reduced volatility, continued stock-to-flow alignment, and strong long-term correlations with S&P and gold.
His proprietary model still signals a bull market, despite a flatter trajectory.
Watch the PlanB’s most recent Bitcoin price analysis here:
CHARTS & DATA
Bitcoin Epoch - Bitcoin is nearly 25% of the way through the current halving cycle.
Pi Cycle Top Estimate - With the SMA 111-day trending downwards, there is currently no estimate for a projected Pi Cycle top cross.
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