Bitcoin Tests $76,000: Beyond War Expectations, DATs Begin "Finding New Ways to Raise Funds"

Written by: Yangz, Techub News

If last week’s Bitcoin breaking the $70,000 mark was still considered “a sign of warming but not yet spring,” then today’s rally to $76,000 seems to signal “the arrival of spring.” The eight consecutive bullish candlesticks on the chart appear to be swallowing market concerns one after another.

This sudden surge isn’t without precedent. Amid ongoing conflicts in the Middle East, Bitcoin has not behaved as traditional “digital gold” would—serving solely as a safe haven—or moved in lockstep with risk assets. A review of recent developments reveals that the core drivers of this rally are shifting from purely macro sentiment battles to two more specific variables: expectations around geopolitical shifts and sustained “DAT” buying from corporate entities.

Bitcoin’s Unique Path Amid Middle East Conflict

Since the conflict erupted on February 28, the Israel-Hamas war has entered its third week. Traditionally, such geopolitical tensions would boost gold prices and suppress risk assets. Yet, Bitcoin has charted its own course. After initially falling in tandem with U.S. stocks, Bitcoin began to recover independently. One possible explanation is that the market’s pricing logic for this conflict has changed.

If initial fears centered on escalation spiraling into full-scale war, then after the Trump administration signaled “hope for negotiations” last week, funds began reassessing the situation. Of course, Trump remains Trump.

According to the latest reports from CCTV News, two senior White House officials stated that Iran recently attempted to contact the Trump administration through multiple channels, hoping to restart diplomatic talks, but Trump currently refuses to resume negotiations, preferring to continue military operations. Additionally, Iranian Foreign Minister Amir Abdollahian denied recent contact with Victoria Nuland, stating on social media that his last communication with her was before the U.S. launched new military actions against Iran. White House officials also mentioned that some U.S. allies in the Middle East offered to assist in pushing negotiations, but these offers have been temporarily declined.

This back-and-forth has been interpreted by the market as an “alternative controlled signal”—both sides are drawing red lines but leaving backdoors open. While Iran’s foreign minister denies recent contacts, he emphasizes that the last contact occurred before U.S. military actions. Trump publicly states he’s not interested in talks, yet has also indicated that there are “hardly any targets left to strike.” In other words, the market is no longer trading “war itself” but rather the expectation that “war will not escalate indefinitely.”

This expectation gap is directly reflected in market sentiment. According to data from Alternative.me, today’s crypto fear and greed index rose to 28, shifting from “extreme fear” to “fear”—though still far from greed, the worst pessimism may have passed.

However, macro sentiment recovery only explains the initial rebound; it cannot sustain the rally to $76,000. There’s another force at play pushing prices higher.

“Buying Crypto” Is No Longer the News; “How to Buy” Is

In a market already fatigued by DAT accumulation, the real discussion isn’t about “whether they bought,” but rather “where does the money come from.”

Strategy: Shifting from Diluting Common Shares to Issuing Preferred Stock

On the evening of March 16, Strategy announced that within a week, it had spent $1.57 billion to purchase 22,337 BTC.

The announcement revealed that of the $1.57 billion, only about $396 million came from the issuance of Class A common stock (MSTR), while a substantial $1.18 billion was raised through the issuance of “Stretch” perpetual preferred shares (STRC). This was the largest issuance since Strategy’s first public offering of Stretch in July last year. It also marked the first time in weeks that Strategy primarily relied on Stretch to finance Bitcoin purchases. In other words, Strategy’s “financing focus” is shifting from diluting common shares to issuing preferred stock.

Recent developments support this trend. On March 1, Michael Saylor announced that the annualized dividend rate for STRC (adjusted monthly) was increased from 11.25% to 11.50%. Subsequently, according to BitcoinTreasuries.NET, STRC trading volume surpassed $200 million in early March, reaching a new high for 2026; plus, the disclosure that Anchorage Digital, the first federally licensed digital asset bank in the U.S., holds STRC, encouraged other investors to enter.

Last week, stablecoin protocol Apyx announced it had increased its holdings of STRC by 200,000 shares (about $20 million), bringing total holdings to 255,000 shares. Meanwhile, Strive, which announced a $50 million purchase of STRC, is another noteworthy player.

As a Bitcoin treasury company, Strive is also engaging in similar activities—issuing preferred shares to raise funds, part of which is used to buy Bitcoin, and part held as cash reserves to pay fixed dividends on the preferred stock. According to Strive CEO Matt Cole, these cash reserves are usually held in low-yield money market funds, but this time, Strive allocated $50 million to Stretch, which offers an annualized yield of 11.5%.

From “Issuing Shares to Buy BTC” to “Issuing Preferred Stock to Buy BTC,” Strategy is building an increasingly sophisticated financing machine. The popularity of Stretch reveals a deeper trend: when one DAT’s preferred shares are bought by another DAT, and stablecoin protocols and compliant banks start holding these assets—an ecosystem centered around Bitcoin, linked by preferred shares, with various institutions holding stakes in each other—is quietly taking shape.

BitMine’s “Alternative Approach”

Besides Strategy, other companies are also exploring their own methods.

In the first two weeks of March, BitMine increased its Ethereum holdings by 60,976 and 60,999 ETH respectively, significantly above its previous weekly average of around 40,000 to 50,000 ETH. As of March 15, its total ETH holdings reached 4,595,562, accounting for approximately 3.81% of the total ETH supply.

Similar to Strategy, what truly captures market attention isn’t just the amount bought, but the manner of buying.

On March 15, the Ethereum Foundation announced an OTC sale of 5,000 ETH, with proceeds used for foundation operations, protocol development, ecosystem growth, and community funding. The buyer? BitMine. Usually, the Ethereum Foundation is seen as a potential source of selling pressure; if it sells ETH, markets often worry. But here, BitMine directly purchased from the foundation, turning a potential sell-off into actual buying.

Some comments jokingly call this the “official certification of a ‘bagholder’.” But from another perspective, this is part of BitMine’s strategy: outside the public markets, seeking all possible sources of chips—even directly from the foundation. This “targeted accumulation” provides liquidity for the foundation and avoids market dumps, offering a win-win.

Moreover, BitMine’s holdings aren’t just sitting idle. As of March 15, it had staked 3,040,515 ETH, earning an annualized yield of about $180 million.

For BitMine, since implementing its Ethereum treasury strategy, the position currently shows a paper loss of over $6 billion. Yet, Tom Lee remains calm. He believes that when the “mini crypto winter” truly ends, every current buy-in will seem incredibly cheap.

Japanese Players Follow Suit

Beyond Strategy and BitMine, a Japanese company is also adopting an equally aggressive approach.

On March 16, Metaplanet CEO Simon Gerovich posted two updates:

First: Raising approximately $255 million through a global institutional share placement; simultaneously issuing fixed exercise price warrants, raising an additional roughly $276 million. Totaling about $531 million, all aimed at increasing Bitcoin holdings.

Second: Issuing its first “mNAV” clause transferable warrants (MSW), with a scale of 100 million shares. These warrants can only be exercised if the company’s stock price reaches at least 1.01 times the mNAV (net asset value per Bitcoin). Gerovich stated this design allows the company to raise about $234 million for Bitcoin acquisitions.

Both updates share a common goal: raising funds to buy Bitcoin. Unlike Strategy’s mix of common and preferred shares, Metaplanet’s warrants introduce a new twist.

mNAV is a metric invented by Metaplanet, calculated as the total Bitcoin value held divided by the total number of shares issued—essentially, “how much Bitcoin net asset value per share.” The 1.01x threshold means warrants can only be exercised when the stock price exceeds the net asset value per share by at least 1%. This clever design ties financing costs to shareholder interests: if the stock is below net asset value, warrants can’t be exercised, avoiding dilution; if above, exercising the warrants to buy Bitcoin doesn’t dilute existing shareholders and may even increase their holdings.

From Strategy to BitMine to Metaplanet, these companies share a common logic: using listed companies as financing platforms, converting raised funds into crypto assets, and letting the stock price follow Bitcoin’s fluctuations. This model has vulnerabilities—if Bitcoin’s price falls and stays low for too long, the financing premium disappears, and the cycle could reverse. But for now, the cycle continues.

Summary

As of writing, Bitcoin has again fallen below $74,000, down about 2.95% from the intraday high. The quick test of $76,000 came and went swiftly, silently reminding everyone: the path to reclaiming lost ground is never smooth.

Yet, beyond surface volatility, underlying capital flows continue to signal bullishness. According to CoinShares’ latest data, last week’s net inflow into digital asset investment products reached $1.06 billion, marking three consecutive weeks of strong inflows. Additionally, U.S. Bitcoin spot ETFs saw a net inflow of $767 million last week, and Ethereum spot ETFs added $161 million, also maintaining positive flows for three weeks. In other words, even amid market turbulence, “smart money” on Wall Street keeps entering.

Peeling back the fog of market fluctuations, ordinary investors should focus on two core drivers supporting this rally: first, the expectations gap in geopolitics—markets are no longer trading “war itself,” but “war will not escalate indefinitely”; second, the continuous blood transfusion from DAT companies—Strategy, BitMine, and Metaplanet are using real capital and innovative financing leverage to transform Bitcoin from a volatile speculative asset into a core reserve on global corporate balance sheets.

Fires will eventually die down, but the expansion of Strategy and others resembles a long-term narrative.