Sen. Lummis Pushes for Strategic Bitcoin Reserve as StarkWare Establishes Its Own BTC Treasury

Major Moves in Bitcoin: Legislation, Corporate Investments, and Market Shifts

Happy Tuesday! In the ever-evolving world of crypto, fortunes rise and fall—just ask memecoin influencer Murad Mahmudov, whose once-soaring portfolio has plummeted from $56 million to under $10 million. But while speculative assets take a hit, institutional interest in Bitcoin is heating up.

Sen. Cynthia Lummis is once again championing a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, StarkWare is committing to BTC in its corporate treasury, and Bitwise has rolled out a new ETF focused on companies stockpiling Bitcoin. Meanwhile, Axelar Foundation has disclosed $30 million in AXL token sales. Let’s dive in.

Sen. Lummis Reintroduces Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Bill

Sen. Cynthia Lummis has revived her "Boosting Innovation, Technology and Competitiveness through Optimized Investment Nationwide Act"—better known as the BITCOIN Act—aiming to create a federally managed Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. This move aligns with former President Trump's recent executive order supporting Bitcoin adoption.

Originally proposed in July 2024, the bill has been refined but maintains its core mission: strengthening the U.S. financial position by incorporating Bitcoin into national reserves. "By transforming the President's visionary executive action into enduring law, we can ensure our nation harnesses the full potential of digital innovation to address national debt while maintaining global competitiveness," Lummis stated.

The bill proposes a decentralized network of secure Bitcoin vaults managed by the U.S. Treasury, with a target of acquiring 1 million BTC—approximately 5% of Bitcoin’s total supply—mirroring the country’s approach to gold reserves. Funding would come from reallocating existing federal assets rather than new government spending.

Republican senators Jim Justice, Tommy Tuberville, Roger Marshall, Marsha Blackburn, and Bernie Moreno are backing the proposal, while Rep. Nick Begich has introduced a companion bill in the House.

StarkWare Joins the Bitcoin Movement with Its Own Reserve

Blockchain development firm StarkWare has established its own Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, committing to holding Bitcoin in its treasury as a fundamental part of its business strategy.

"We put our money where our mouths are," StarkWare CEO and co-founder Eli Ben-Sasson told The Block. While he declined to disclose the exact amount of Bitcoin the company holds or intends to acquire, he emphasized his belief that all blockchain firms should incorporate Bitcoin into their reserves.

StarkWare, which was valued at $8 billion in its last investment round, is best known for its work on Ethereum Layer 2 network Starknet. However, the company has increasingly focused on Bitcoin research, advocating for scalability solutions like OP_CAT to enable trustless Bitcoin-to-Starknet transfers. Starknet also aims to be among the first Layer 2 networks to settle transactions on both Ethereum and Bitcoin.

Bitwise Debuts ETF for Corporate Bitcoin Holders

Bitwise Asset Management has launched a new Bitcoin Standard Corporations ETF (OWNB), designed to track companies that hold significant Bitcoin reserves—at least 1,000 BTC in their treasuries.

The ETF’s largest holding is MicroStrategy, which dominates the corporate Bitcoin space with 499,096 BTC (valued at $41 billion). Other top-weighted companies include major mining firms like Marathon Digital (MARA), CleanSpark, and Riot Platforms.

Additional holdings include firms such as Boyaa Interactive, Metaplanet, Aker ASA, Bitfarms, BitFuFu, and Galaxy Digital. The ETF uses a Bitcoin-weighted allocation strategy, capping the largest holding at 20% while giving companies with smaller BTC allocations a 1.5% weight.

Cboe BZX Proposes Ethereum ETF Staking with Fidelity

Cboe BZX Exchange has submitted a 19b-4 filing to the SEC to enable staking for Fidelity’s spot Ethereum ETF (FETH). This move could allow Fidelity’s fund to generate additional income by staking some or all of its Ethereum holdings.

Previously, several ETF issuers had considered staking but removed the feature at the SEC's request under former Chair Gary Gensler. Now, with a more crypto-friendly administration, Franklin Templeton, Grayscale, and 21Shares have also filed similar proposals to integrate staking into their Ethereum ETFs.

If approved, the change would allow Fidelity’s ETF to stake ETH through various providers, with any rewards being treated as income.

Taproot Wizards to Auction Bitcoin Ordinals Collection

Bitcoin Ordinals project Taproot Wizards is set to hold its first public NFT auction on March 25. The collection includes 2,121 Wizards NFTs, originally minted two years ago but never sold.

The first batch of assets will be available for 0.2 BTC each, with the rest auctioned via a Dutch auction format. These digital collectibles are modeled after an early Bitcoin community mascot and have gained significant interest among collectors.

However, the auction will exclude 13 honorary Wizard NFTs that resemble notable figures in the crypto space, such as Casa founder Jameson Lopp and crypto trader Cobie—these will not be inscribed.