As cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum gain more traction among investors, traditional financial institutions on Wall Street are evolving to keep up. Here’s a quick roundup of some major developments this week where the old and new worlds of finance intersect:

**MicroStrategy Buys More Bitcoin**
MicroStrategy, a company known for its massive Bitcoin investments, just bought another big chunk of the cryptocurrency. Between December 16 and December 22, the company purchased 5,262 Bitcoins for around $561 million. That averages out to about $106,662 per Bitcoin. These purchases were funded by selling company shares, as previously announced. By the end of December 22, MicroStrategy and its subsidiaries owned a staggering 444,262 Bitcoins in total. The company has spent around $27.7 billion on these acquisitions, with an average cost of $62,257 per Bitcoin.

**IREN Surpasses Mining Goals**
Bitcoin miner IREN has blown past its end-of-year goal for mining capacity. Originally aiming for 20 EH/s (exahashes per second), they managed to hit 31 EH/s by expanding their operations at the Childress facility in Texas. This site now operates at 350 MW (megawatts), with an additional 400 MW available for future growth. Co-CEO Daniel Roberts called this achievement a huge milestone and credited their on-site team for making it happen. The company now aims to hit 50 EH/s by mid-2025, positioning itself as one of the fastest-growing and most cost-efficient Bitcoin miners in the world.

**CleanSpark Beats Hashrate Target**
CleanSpark also exceeded its goals this year, achieving a hashrate of 37.5 EH/s—higher than its original target of 37 EH/s. This was made possible by new data centers in Tennessee and Wyoming, as well as upgrades to their mining equipment. CEO Zach Bradford shared that CleanSpark has grown its hashrate nearly 300% in 2024 and plans to reach 50 EH/s by mid-2025. The company raised $650 million through a convertible bond offering to fund this expansion. CleanSpark also reported holding nearly 10,000 mined Bitcoins in its reserves, reflecting its focus on efficient operations.

**TeraWulf Secures Long-Term Data Center Deals**
TeraWulf has signed long-term agreements to provide over 70 MW of data center infrastructure for Core42, a company focused on high-performance computing and AI workloads. These facilities will be located at TeraWulf’s Lake Mariner site in New York and will roll out between Q1 and Q3 of 2025. The deal includes options for expansion, potentially adding another 135 MW to the site. CEO Paul Prager highlighted that this partnership connects TeraWulf to both AI computing and Bitcoin mining, solidifying its position as a leader in energy-efficient digital infrastructure.

**LM Funding Boosts Mining Capacity**
LM Funding America is stepping up its Bitcoin mining game by ordering 270 new Bitmain S21+ mining machines. These units will arrive in March 2025 and will be installed at the company’s new Oklahoma site, which has a capacity of 15 MW. This expansion is expected to increase LM Funding’s overall mining power to 562 petahash by early 2025.

**Top Crypto Stocks to Watch**
If you’re interested in publicly traded companies involved in crypto, keep an eye on Bit Digital, Coinbase, Core Scientific, Greenidge Generation, Mara Holdings, MicroStrategy, Riot Platforms, Stronghold Digital Mining, and TeraWulf.

**Bitcoin Price Update**
This week wasn’t great for Bitcoin prices—it dropped about 2% and is currently valued at approximately $95,349.

In summary, the crypto world continues to evolve rapidly as companies make big moves in mining capacity and infrastructure development while expanding their influence into areas like AI computing. Keep an eye on these developments as we head into 2025!