Crypto market on the morning of August 11: Anthropic and Riot deal for $9.1 billion, Hayes' forecast on the yen, and new BlackRock rules
While most market participants were resting, the night brought several significant events at once. Anthropic struck a record deal with miner Riot, Arthur Hayes proposed an unconventional scenario for yen strengthening, and BlackRock radically simplified access to its bitcoin ETF for institutional investors.
Market dynamics: consolidation without surprises
Bitcoin (BTC) was trading around $63,980 by 08:40 Moscow time. The night session passed in a narrow range: quotes dipped to $63,800 and rose to $64,100, after which they stabilized near the $64,000 mark. Ether (ETH) held around $1,874, with a low of $1,868 and a high of $1,880 following a recent drop from $1,928.
Altcoins in the top 10 showed minimal volatility. Hyperliquid (HYPE) performed best with a gain of 2.12%, followed by Solana (SOL) with an increase of 1.04%. BNB, on the other hand, lost 0.52%. Among the top 100, Curve DAO Token (CRV) stood out, rising by 10.8%, as well as Internet Computer (ICP) and Lighter (LIT), which gained 7.84% and 6.62%, respectively.
The day's laggard was the token Audiera (BEAT), which collapsed by 51.2%. Canton (CC) and Cardano (ADA) also came under pressure, losing 6.25% and 4.94%.
Flows into spot ETFs remained mixed. Bitcoin funds recorded an outflow of $144.67 million, while ether products lost $14.59 million. At the same time, Solana ETFs attracted $8.83 million, and HYPE funds — $2.74 million. Over the past 24 hours, exchanges liquidated positions of 68,722 traders totaling $201.08 million. The largest liquidation order was for a BRENTOIL oil contract on Hyperliquid — $10.55 million.
Key events of the night
AI developer Anthropic signed a $9.1 billion deal with bitcoin miner Riot Platforms for a 20-year term. The company will receive 191 MW of computing capacity at Riot's site in Rockdale, Texas. Full deployment of the capacity is scheduled for June 2028, and two five-year extension options could increase the total contract value to $16.1 billion. This deal is a clear signal that AI giants are willing to pay a premium for control over energy infrastructure, which directly affects the availability of capacity for mining.
BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes presented a scenario in which yen strengthening would be bullish for the crypto market. According to his logic, Japan could pledge U.S. Treasury bonds in exchange for dollars, then sell them to buy yen. If the $60 billion counterparty limit is raised, the Fed's balance sheet would grow, since the Japanese government and the GPIF fund hold about $1.37 trillion of such bonds. The analyst views the resulting dollar liquidity as a positive factor for bitcoin, gold, and ether. The idea is debatable, but it reflects a growing understanding that global dollar liquidity is the main driver of growth for risk assets.
BlackRock, meanwhile, lowered the minimum threshold for in-kind transactions in its bitcoin ETF from $25 million to $1 million. Now an investor with $1 million in bitcoin can exchange it for shares of the IBIT fund through authorized participants. Manager Robert Mitchnick also announced the BITA fund, designed for investors who need returns in the 15–19% range in exchange for lower volatility and limited upside potential. This is a step toward democratizing access to ETFs, but also a sign that major players are beginning to structure products for different risk profiles.
My take: the night showed that the market is in an accumulation phase ahead of important macroeconomic data. The Anthropic deal is not just news, but an indicator that the AI sector will absorb more and more computing capacity, which could intensify competition for electricity and equipment. And the lowering of the entry threshold for IBIT is a signal that institutions are preparing for more active participation in the market.