Nightly crypto market news: Anthropic and Riot's $9 billion deal, Hayes' scenario for bitcoin, and BlackRock's move
While most market participants were resting, the crypto industry received several important signals at once. From a strategic alliance between an AI giant and a miner to a change in the rules of the game for institutional investors — I'm breaking down what happened and how it could impact digital assets.
Market in numbers: sideways movement and isolated spikes
Bitcoin (BTC) is holding around $63,980 as of the morning of August 11. During the night hours, on the 15-minute chart, the price traveled between $63,800 and $64,100, but ultimately settled near the $64,000 mark. Ether (ETH) is trading around $1,874, consolidating in a narrow range of $1,868–$1,880 after a recent drop from $1,928.
Altcoins in the top 10 are showing low volatility. The growth leader was Hyperliquid (HYPE) with a gain of 2.12%, Solana (SOL) rose by 1.04%, while BNB corrected by 0.52%. Among the top 100 assets, 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 collapsed by 51.2%. Canton (CC) lost 6.25%, and Cardano (ADA) declined by 4.94%.
ETF flows and liquidations
The movement of funds in spot exchange-traded funds turned out to be mixed. Bitcoin ETFs recorded outflows of $144.67 million, while ether products lost $14.59 million. At the same time, investors were actively increasing positions through Solana funds, with inflows of $8.83 million, and HYPE ETFs received $2.74 million.
Over the past 24 hours, exchanges liquidated positions of 68,722 traders totaling $201.08 million. The largest liquidation order occurred on Hyperliquid — a BRENTOIL oil contract was closed for $10.55 million.
Deal of the century: Anthropic and Riot Platforms
The key event of the night is the agreement between AI developer Anthropic and bitcoin miner Riot Platforms worth $9.1 billion over a 20-year term. Under the deal, Anthropic will receive 191 MW of computing capacity at Riot's site in Rockdale, Texas. Full deployment of the capacity is scheduled for June 2028.
The contract includes two options for extension of five years each, which could increase the total value of the deal to $16.1 billion. This is a vivid example of how AI developers are rushing to secure infrastructure for growing demand, while miners are diversifying their business by turning their data centers into versatile hubs.
Hayes' scenario: yen rescue as a catalyst for BTC
BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes presented an interesting macroeconomic scenario. He believes that the strengthening of the Japanese yen will occur not through a sharp rate hike or a sell-off of US Treasuries, but through the Fed's FIMA repo credit facility. The gist is that Japan will be able to pledge its Treasury securities in exchange for dollars, then sell them to buy yen. If the counterparty limit of $60 billion is raised, the Fed's balance sheet will grow, since the Japanese government and the GPIF fund have accumulated about $1.37 trillion in such bonds. Hayes considers the resulting dollar liquidity a bullish factor for bitcoin, gold, and ether.
BlackRock lowers the entry threshold for bitcoin ETF
BlackRock managing director Robert Mitchnick announced a reduction in the minimum threshold for in-kind operations in the bitcoin ETF. Now, an investor with $1 million in bitcoin will be able to conduct exchanges through authorized participants and receive shares of the IBIT fund. Previously, this threshold was $25 million. Mitchnick also spoke about the BITA fund, aimed at investors who need returns of 15–19% in exchange for lower volatility and limited upside potential for bitcoin.
Analyst comment: Lowering the threshold for in-kind operations is a powerful signal of growing institutional demand. BlackRock is effectively opening the doors for mid-sized capital, which could strengthen liquidity inflows into BTC. Combined with the Anthropic and Riot deal, we see how crypto infrastructure is becoming a strategic asset for giants in adjacent industries. This reinforces the long-term bullish outlook, but in the short term, the market remains stuck in a sideways range, awaiting new triggers.