Night Watch: Anthropic and Riot deal, Hayes scenario, and new BlackRock threshold — digest for August 11
Last night on the crypto market was packed with events capable of setting the tone for medium-term dynamics. Key news came from the sphere of institutional adoption and macroeconomic scenarios, while the market itself showed restrained volatility.
Market in numbers: sideways movement at key levels
Bitcoin (BTC) was trading around $63,980 as of 08:40 Moscow time. During the night, on the 15-minute chart, quotes ranged between $63,800 and $64,100, failing to hold above the psychologically important level of $64,000. Ether (ETH) held near $1,874, steadily staying in the corridor of $1,868–$1,880 after noon Moscow time.
The top-10 coins showed minimal changes over the day. The best result came from Hyperliquid (HYPE) with a gain of 2.12%, Solana (SOL) added 1.04%, and BNB corrected by 0.52%. Among the top-100, Curve DAO Token (CRV) stood out, surging by 10.8%, followed by Internet Computer (ICP) and Lighter (LIT) with gains of 7.84% and 6.62%, respectively.
The day's laggard was the token Audiera (BEAT), which plunged by 51.2%. Canton (CC) lost 6.25%, Cardano (ADA) — 4.94%. Flows into spot ETFs were mixed: bitcoin funds recorded an outflow of $144.67 million, Ethereum products — $14.59 million. Meanwhile, Solana ETFs attracted $8.83 million, and HYPE funds — $2.74 million.
Over the day, exchanges liquidated positions of 68,722 traders totaling $201.08 million. The largest liquidation order was on Hyperliquid — a BRENTOIL oil contract worth $10.55 million.
Deal of the century: AI and mining unite
The main news of the night is the agreement between AI developer Anthropic and bitcoin miner Riot Platforms worth $9.1 billion over 20 years. Under the terms of the deal, Anthropic will receive 191 MW of computing capacity at Riot's site in Rockdale, Texas. Full deployment of capacity is scheduled by June 2028. Two five-year extension options could increase the total contract value to approximately $16.1 billion.
This is not just a contract, but a signal of a tectonic shift: AI developers are willing to pay a premium for access to the energy infrastructure that miners have been building for decades. For the industry, this is confirmation that their assets are not only hashrate, but also a strategic resource for the new economy.
Hayes on yen rescue and BlackRock lowers the threshold
BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes presented his scenario for yen strengthening, which he considers bullish for the crypto market. According to his logic, Japan will not resort to sharp rate hikes or selling off U.S. Treasury bonds, but will use the Fed's FIMA repo facility. Japan will be able to pledge its Treasury securities in exchange for dollars, then sell them to buy yen. If the $60 billion counterparty limit is raised, the Fed's balance sheet will grow, since the Japanese government and the GPIF fund hold about $1.37 trillion of such bonds. Hayes considers the resulting dollar liquidity a positive factor for bitcoin, gold, and Ethereum.
In parallel, BlackRock lowered the minimum threshold for exchanges in its bitcoin ETF. Managing director Robert Mitchnick confirmed that the minimum for in-kind operations has been reduced from $25 million to $1 million. Now an investor with $1 million in bitcoin can conduct exchanges through authorized participants and receive shares of the IBIT fund. Mitchnick also announced the BITA fund, aimed at returns of 15–19% in exchange for lower volatility and limited bitcoin upside potential.
My view: BlackRock lowering the in-kind threshold is a clear step toward democratizing ETF access for mid-sized holders, which will strengthen institutional capital inflows. And Hayes's scenario, although speculative, points to a growing understanding that the crypto market benefits from any form of monetary easing. Together, these factors create a favorable backdrop for resuming the uptrend, but the current consolidation near $64,000 requires caution — a break downward could open the path to $62,500.