- Below is the latest edition of w3w, my free newsletter about emerging technology, including AI, Bitcoin, Ethereum, and more . If you would like to receive it in your inbox every Sunday, please subscribe here.
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There have been some surprising twists lately in how tech companies get funded, which investors have access, and who benefits. Over time, the implications could be massive both for privately held startups and listed Big Tech stalwarts alike.
At the startup-y end of the spectrum, The Block reports that crypto companies have raised over $15 billion this year through digital-asset treasuries (DAT), outpacing traditional investment rounds by venture capital firms. The volume of traditional VC deals with crypto startups has plunged 56% so far this year.
Some background: The listed business-services firm Strategy pioneered the implementation of DAT in 2020, when it began acquiring bitcoin as an alternative to holding traditional dollar deposits and U.S. Treasury debt in its corporate cash reserve. As bitcoin's token price has generally risen over the years, Strategy's stock-market valuation has as well, based increasingly on the amount of bitcoin on its books.
For Strategy, which was founded in 1989 under the moniker MicroStrategy, adopting bitcoin in 2020 was a big pivot at a time when the company was already pretty mature, after it had built up a conventional business generating income from clients.
By contrast, startups have been recently building from scratch as DAT companies. In many cases, that's meant raising investor money to build their token stockpiles from zero, with no other revenue streams in place. Hence this is where tokenized treasuries have begun to compete more directly with the old-school VC business.
Other aspects of this trend to watch:
- Bitcoin remains by far the most popular treasury asset among companies for now. But ether and various altcoins have been making inroads. The combined ETH holdings of 69 DAT entities now surpass $17 billion, according to The Block.
- Former BTC miner BitMine Immersion Technologies just announced an expansion of its ETH reserve to $6.6 billion, more than 1% percent of all ETH tokens in circulation. That now makes it the second-largest DAT company, behind only Strategy.
- Julie Goldenberg of Forbes notes that a lot of financial firms providing "picks-and-shovels" services to DAT companies are also racking up big profits from the boom. These include various crypto custodians, brokers, asset managers and investment banks.
- Many conventional VCs have of course turned their attention to AI of late. Investors including Thrive Capital, SoftBank Group, and Dragoneer Investment Group are planning to buy $6 billion in OpenAI shares soon from current and former employees of the company, according to the Los Angeles Times... Meanwhile, in a much less closely watched deal, the startup Eight Sleep just raised $100 million in a venture round that values the company at $500 million overall. Eight Sleep's product: AI-enabled mattresses that cost $3,000 each and require a monthly subscription.
For publicly listed tech companies, the week's big news was Friday's announcement that the U.S. government has taken a 10% equity stake in chipmaker Intel.
To be sure, Intel has fallen far behind rival Nvidia in selling components for computers running AI applications. But it's not bankrupt or facing some immediate collapse that might suggest a bailout. This just seems like a naked cash grab by the Trump administration — one diametrically at odds with any notion of truly free enterprise in America.
Just ask former Commerce Department bigwigs Mike Schmidt and Todd Fisher, who criticized the deal in a Wall Street Journal op-ed. Or Thom Tillis, a Republican senator from North Carolina. Or Nikki Haley, a former U.S. ambassador appointed by Trump. Or Scott Lincicome of the Cato Institute, a conservative think tank in Washington.
But, characteristically, it was the Washington Post's editorial board that perhaps captured everyone's misgivings most succinctly. Referring to the idea that a government Intel stake might advance U.S. national security by guaranteeing access to chips, so we don't have to buy as many from overseas, the Post writes:
"We cannot beat China by acting like it."
Bingo.
Five Things: Aug. 17-23, 2025
The week's top headlines about emerging technologies and trends reshaping the web:
- Token prices ended an otherwise humdrum week on Wall Street with a flourish Friday after remarks from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell signaled that America's central bank may cut its benchmark interest-rate target soon. Bitcoin leapt 4% Friday to finish around break-even for the week. Bitcoin's price remains shy of its all-time highs, but miners are nevertheless feeling squeezed by recent records in the Bitcoin network's hashrate. That makes it more difficult and less profitable for miners to verify transactions and mint new tokens.
- Meta is planning to re-organize its in-house AI efforts for the fourth time in six months. (Reuters)
- Wyoming became the first U.S. state to launch its own stablecoin. (Gizmodo)
- Anthony Scaramucci's SkyBridge Capital announced plans to tokenize about $300 million in shares of its investment funds using the Avalanche blockchain. (Fortune)
- Federal prosecutors charged a 22-year-old Oregon man with operating a vast network of hacked devices that may be the largest botnet ever. (Wall Street Journal)
Market Snapshot
A quick look at some major indicators as of Friday's market close on Wall Street:
| Indicator | Close | Weekly | YTD |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bitcoin | $116,735.32 | -0.2% | +24.4% |
| Nasdaq 100 | 23,498.12 | -0.9% | +11.8% |
| Gold | $3,418.50/oz | +1.1% | +30% |
| USD Index | 97.73 | -0.1% | -9.9% |
| 10-yr U.S. Treasury Yield |
4.2600% | -0.0680 | -0.3130 |
Looking Ahead
- The Washington Post's Drew Harwell explored the rise of "AI slop" videos, a low-effort, often surreal subgenre that you've probably noticed proliferating on your favorite social network lately. Harwell gives a nice overview of who exactly is making this stuff and what the long-term effects on the web's creative economy might be. (Spoiler alert: They're probably not good.)
- Mental health pros are growing concerned about "AI psychosis." While the term isn't yet a formal clinical diagnosis, it's increasingly being used to describe alarming patterns of delusional thinking, emotional dependency, and distorted reality emerging in some users after extended interaction with chatbots. (Washington Post)
- Google unveiled its new lineup of Pixel devices, emphasizing AI features to take on Apple's iPhone more directly. Early reviews have generally been favorable. Nevertheless, the Washington Post's Shira Ovide says Google faces an uphill battle for market share. Since the Pixel's initial early launch, the search giant has positioned the line as an Android flagship. But Ovide notes that historically hasn't translated into strong sales.
Odds & Ends
- Food-inspired "gourmand" fragrances are hot. Singer Melanie Martinez is re-releasing her Cry Baby Milk perfume, which has hints of strawberries, milk, and caramel scent. It has been off the market since 2020, but demand remains so high, old bottles of it have been selling online for over $1,000 each. (Salon)
That's it for now. Thanks for reading the newsletter today! If you want to know more about w3w's history and (ahem) the author, that info is available here.
If you need to reach me directly, please email peter[at]w3w[dot]media.
Best wishes for a healthy and productive week ahead. 😊