Nightly crypto market news: Anthropic and Riot's $9.1 billion deal, Hayes' forecast on the yen, and new BlackRock rules
While most market participants were resting, the crypto industry received several significant signals at once — from a strategic alliance in AI and mining to important changes in institutional products. I break down the key events that will set the tone for trading in the coming days.
Market dynamics: bitcoin holds $64,000, altcoins in a sideways trend
By 08:40 Moscow time, bitcoin was trading near $63,980. During the night, consolidation was observed on the 15-minute chart: quotes dropped to $63,800, then rose to $64,100, after which they settled around the $64,000 level. Ether (ETH) held near $1,874, fluctuating in a narrow range of $1,868–$1,880 after a recent decline from $1,928.
Altcoins from the top-10 showed moderate dynamics. The best result was from Hyperliquid (HYPE), which gained 2.12%, and Solana (SOL) with a rise of 1.04%. BNB, on the contrary, 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) with gains of 7.84% and 6.62%, respectively.
The outsider of the day was the Audiera token (BEAT), which collapsed by 51.2%. It was followed by Canton (CC) with a drop of 6.25% and Cardano (ADA) — down 4.94%.
ETF flows and liquidations
Spot bitcoin ETFs recorded an outflow of $144.67 million, while ether products lost $14.59 million. At the same time, Solana funds attracted $8.83 million, and HYPE — $2.74 million. The divergent flows confirm: institutions are redistributing capital in search of higher returns rather than exiting the market.
Over the past 24 hours, exchanges liquidated positions of 68,722 traders totaling $201.08 million. The largest liquidation order came on Hyperliquid — for a BRENTOIL oil contract worth $10.55 million, highlighting the growing role of crypto platforms in trading traditional assets.
Anthropic and Riot deal: AI takes over miners' capacity
Anthropic, the developer of Claude, has entered into a 20-year contract with bitcoin miner Riot Platforms worth $9.1 billion. The company will receive 191 MW of computing capacity at Riot's site in Rockdale, Texas. Full launch is scheduled for June 2028, and two five-year extension options could increase the total deal value to $16.1 billion.
This is a vivid example of how AI giants are actively reserving energy resources and infrastructure, creating a new source of revenue for miners and reducing their dependence on bitcoin volatility.
Arthur Hayes: the yen rescue scenario is a bullish signal for BTC
BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes presented an unconventional forecast: the strengthening of the Japanese yen will occur not through a rate hike or a sell-off of US Treasury bonds, but through the Fed's FIMA repo mechanism. Japan will be able to pledge its $1.37 trillion in US government bonds in exchange for dollars, then sell them to buy yen. If the $60 billion counterparty limit is increased, the Fed's balance sheet will grow, adding liquidity and becoming a bullish factor for bitcoin, gold, and ether.
BlackRock lowers the threshold for in-kind exchanges
BlackRock managing director Robert Mitchnick confirmed the reduction of the minimum threshold for in-kind operations in bitcoin ETFs from $25 million to $1 million. Now an investor with $1 million in bitcoin will be able to exchange them for shares of the IBIT fund through authorized participants. He also announced the BITA fund, focused on returns of 15–19% with limited upside potential — a product for conservative players seeking stable cash flow.
My view: BlackRock's threshold reduction is a step toward democratizing access to ETFs, which will increase the inflow of institutional capital. And the Anthropic and Riot deal only confirms: the convergence of AI and crypto infrastructure is becoming mainstream, opening new opportunities for diversifying miners' revenue.