Bitcoin and ether surged last week, but the responses of the two leading corporate holders clearly diverged.

On Aug. 24 local time, blockchain outlet CryptoSlate reported that Strategy did not buy additional bitcoin and built up cash, while BitMine Immersion Technologies kept buying despite the rally in ether.

Bitcoin rose more than 20 percent last week to near $80,000. Ether climbed about 30 percent, posting its strongest weekly gain since May 2025. Falling U.S. Treasury yields, a recovery in crypto optimism in the United States and short-covering combined to drive a strong rebound across the digital asset market. During the move, $2.6 billion flowed into ETFs and positions betting on declines were unwound on a large scale.

The biggest change emerged in corporate treasury strategy. Strategy, the largest corporate holder of bitcoin, used the rally as a funding opportunity. Strategy sold 18.26 million shares of MSTR from Aug. 17 to 23, securing about $2.01 billion in net proceeds. It did not put those funds into bitcoin purchases.

Strategy placed $300 million into its existing dollar reserve account and used $136.4 million to repurchase 1.43 million shares of STRC preferred stock. Most of the remainder was moved into a newly created dollar cash account. As of Aug. 23, dollar liquidity rose to $6.69 billion. Of that, $5.1 billion was allocated to reserves and $1.59 billion to the new cash account.

The two accounts also differ in purpose. The reserve is mainly used for preferred stock dividends and interest payments. The new cash can be used for bitcoin purchases, buybacks of MSTR and preferred shares, repayment of convertible bonds and other financial transactions. Strategy said the additional liquidity would allow it to respond more quickly to market conditions such as an "abnormal price dislocation" between bitcoin and its own securities.

The decision drew attention because it came as bitcoin moved back above Strategy's average purchase price of $75,385. Strategy currently holds 844,447 bitcoin bought for about $63.36 billion. Even during periods when capital markets were favorable, like last week, it did not increase its holdings. Instead, it combined preferred stock redemption and cash accumulation, shifting from a simple bitcoin-buying focus to a broader capital allocation strategy. Strategy has left a separate limit of $516.6 million for additional preferred stock repurchases and $1 billion for MSTR share buybacks.

By contrast, BitMine Immersion Technologies, the largest holder of ether, moved in the opposite direction. BitMine bought an additional 32,447 ETH last week, lifting holdings to 5.85 million ETH as of Aug. 23. That is about 4.8 percent of ether in circulation, close to its goal of securing 5 percent of all ETH.

BitMine has continued buying weekly since starting its ether treasury strategy in June 2025. This time, it did not view the price surge as a signal to stop buying. Chairman Tom Lee (톰 리) viewed the move as part of a larger upward trend. BitMine said there had been two similar weekly gains since 2021, and both were followed by larger rises over the subsequent months.

BitMine is also securing returns by putting most of its ether holdings into staking. About 5.07 million ETH, or about 87 percent of its total holdings, is currently staked. Tom Lee said, "Annualized staking revenue is currently expected at $330 million."

The structure further widens the differences with Strategy. Bitcoin cannot generate returns on its own, but ether can produce cash flow through staking. Unlike Strategy, which needs to keep large dollar liquidity due to preferred stock and debt burdens, BitMine is maintaining an aggressive crypto-focused balance sheet. BitMine held just $308 million in cash and marketable securities.

Ultimately, last week's surge clearly revealed the two companies' priorities. Strategy chose to increase cash in a strong market and wait for the next opportunity, while BitMine used the same market strength to move closer to its ether-holdings target.