Market Snapshot
Price (start)
$83,200
Price (end)
$86,400
Weekly Change
+3.8%
BTC Dominance
54.2%
Hash Rate
612 EH/s
LN Capacity
5,523 BTC
Top Stories
Bitcoin ETF Weekly Inflows Hit $2 Billion Record
Spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded their highest weekly inflows since approval, with BlackRock's IBIT leading at $1.2 billion. Total assets under management across all spot Bitcoin ETFs now exceed $120 billion. The sustained institutional demand is being driven by pension fund allocations and corporate treasury diversification strategies that have accelerated in Q1 2026.
Bitcoin Core 28.0 Released with Enhanced Privacy Features
The latest Bitcoin Core release includes improvements to transaction relay privacy, mempool management, and peer-to-peer networking. The update also introduces preliminary support for Stratum V2 mining protocol integration, which improves decentralization of block template construction by giving individual miners more control over transaction selection.
Japan Exempts Unrealized Bitcoin Gains from Corporate Tax
Japan's Ministry of Finance announced that corporations holding Bitcoin as a long-term investment will no longer be taxed on unrealized gains, aligning crypto tax treatment with that of stocks and bonds. The policy change, effective April 2026, is expected to encourage Japanese corporations to add Bitcoin to their balance sheets.
Lightning Network Capacity Exceeds 5,500 BTC
The Lightning Network reached a new milestone with public channel capacity surpassing 5,500 BTC. The growth is driven by increased merchant adoption through BTCPay Server, exchange integrations (Kraken, Coinbase, Binance), and improved wallet experiences from Phoenix and Breez. Private channel capacity is estimated to be significantly higher.
MicroStrategy Acquires Additional 3,000 BTC
MicroStrategy announced the purchase of 3,000 more Bitcoin for approximately $255 million, bringing its total holdings to over 220,000 BTC. The company continues its strategy of using corporate cash flows and convertible note offerings to accumulate Bitcoin as a primary treasury reserve asset.
Discussion Questions
- Will sustained ETF inflows create a supply squeeze given Bitcoin's fixed supply? What happens when ETF demand outpaces miner selling?
- How significant is Japan's corporate tax exemption for unrealized Bitcoin gains? Could other countries follow?
- Bitcoin Core 28.0's Stratum V2 support aims to decentralize mining. Is mining pool centralization a growing concern?