Bitcoin’s return above the $80,000 level is underscoring just how deeply the crypto industry now depends on traditional capital markets. Michael Saylor’s Strategy needs a receptive market to keep financing its Bitcoin (BTC) accumulation machine, Circle’s outlook increasingly resembles a wager on the growth of dollar-denominated financial infrastructure, and US Treasury bond buybacks helped set the stage for the latest surge in crypto equities.

This week’s Crypto Biz examines how that relationship is reshaping the companies, balance sheets and networks behind the market’s rebound.

Bitcoin rally sends crypto stocks soaring

Bitcoin’s climb above $80,000 lifted crypto stocks, with miners and digital asset treasury companies posting double-digit gains in a broader recovery fueled by the US Treasury’s plan to double certain long-dated bond buybacks (Cointelegraph). The move reflects a wider pattern in which crypto equities have tended to trade as a high-beta proxy for Bitcoin itself, amplifying both rallies and drawdowns relative to the underlying asset.

Canaan, MARA Holdings and Strive ranked among the biggest gainers of the past week, while Coinbase and Robinhood also rallied. Bitcoin extended its weekly advance past 23%, and Ether gained nearly 30% to trade above $2,500, according to CoinMarketCap data.

Additional support came from President Trump renewing his call for Congress to pass the CLARITY Act (Cointelegraph), although the bill remains stalled after lawmakers failed to advance it before the August recess. The legislation could establish clearer rules for US crypto markets, and Trump separately revived the prospect of government Bitcoin purchases, though neither outcome is assured. Regulatory ambiguity has long been cited by industry participants as a barrier to institutional participation, which is why the bill’s fate is watched closely across the sector.

Bernstein bets on fresh USDC growth cycle

Bernstein analysts are bullish on Circle, arguing that a new growth cycle for its USDC stablecoin could provide a significant boost over the next 12 months as supply growth picks up again (Cointelegraph).

In a Monday research note, the firm said USDC supply grew by roughly $2 billion in seven days, ending a six-month stretch of stagnant or declining growth. Bernstein maintained its Outperform rating on Circle (CRCL) and a $140 price target, implying roughly 60% upside. Circle shares have risen about 40% over the past month.

Analysts said the next leg of growth could come from renewed crypto momentum, US regulatory clarity, tokenized capital markets and broader payments adoption, with early signs of demand from AI agents. USDC’s share of adjusted transaction volume climbed from roughly 40% in 2025 to over 60% so far in 2026, overtaking Tether’s USDt on that measure. Stablecoin supply broadly contracts when market activity cools and expands when it heats up, making USDC issuance a frequently watched gauge of demand for dollar exposure onchain.

Circle shares have been volatile since the company’s June 2025 IPO, when the stock was priced at $31. After an initial post-IPO surge, shares fell back toward that level by November 2025 as the crypto market downturn took hold.

Strategy’s real risk is capital market access, not Bitcoin price

A Regime Intelligence report finds that Strategy’s chief vulnerability is not a Bitcoin price crash but losing access to capital markets (Cointelegraph), which could threaten its ability to service $1.76 billion in annual obligations without selling BTC. That distinction matters because Strategy’s leveraged treasury model — issuing convertible notes, preferred stock and equity to buy Bitcoin — depends on investor appetite for those instruments as much as on Bitcoin itself.

According to the report, Strategy’s 840,447 BTC backs $22 billion in debt and preferred claims, with no margin calls tied to Bitcoin’s price. Its stress tests suggest Bitcoin would need to fall 96% before the company’s holdings no longer cover its convertible notes. Strategy also holds cash reserves equal to 2.6 times its annual obligations, and its Bitcoin holdings are worth $66.7 billion against a cost basis of $63.36 billion.

“Even if equities unraveled, Strategy’s Bitcoin holdings put it in a good situation to weather most any storm. The company is holding far more Bitcoin than its annual cash obligations,” Komodo Platform co-founder Kadan Stadelmann told Cointelegraph.

The bigger risk emerges if financing conditions deteriorate. A prolonged Bitcoin downturn, combined with a falling Strategy share price and lower mNAV, could make raising fresh capital increasingly difficult, potentially forcing the company to draw down reserves or sell Bitcoin.

“Strategy’s weakness lies in the need to issue capital to service the structure. If equities markets collapse, the company could have to part ways with Bitcoin as part of its operating structure,” Stadelmann said.

Strategy has sold BTC four times since May, though CEO Phong Le said the company accumulated 25 times more over the same period and plans to resume purchases. Strategy remains the largest institutional Bitcoin holder (BitcoinTreasuries.NET). Its approach has also inspired a wave of imitators, with other public companies now adopting Bitcoin treasury strategies of their own — a cohort whose fate is similarly tied to capital market conditions.

Solana activity hits record as SOL rallies 40%

Solana processed a record 4.2 billion onchain transactions in July, preceding a 40% rally that pushed SOL above $100 for the first time since February, according to onchain data presented by The Kobeissi Letter (Cointelegraph).

Transaction counts rose 13.5% from June and 91% from December, adding roughly 2 billion transactions over that period. The Kobeissi Letter also cited RWA.xyz data showing that nearly $4 billion worth of real-world assets are now tokenized on Solana, up 11.8% over the past month. Across tracked networks, distributed RWAs have surpassed $38 billion. Tokenization of traditional assets such as Treasuries on public blockchains has been one of the fastest-growing crypto subsectors, and networks competing for that activity have pointed to RWA volume as evidence of institutional relevance.

The rally accelerated after the US Treasury Department announced plans to double certain long-dated bond buybacks to at least $4 billion per operation, helping push yields lower and boost risk appetite across crypto markets. Still, SOL’s gains came as part of a broader market recovery, and continued growth in network activity could depend on further RWA adoption and macroeconomic conditions.

Crypto Biz is Cointelegraph’s weekly pulse on the business behind blockchain and crypto, delivered every Thursday.