Miner sales, AI attacks, and pressure on "Gorbushka": a week that reshaped the market
The past seven days have been a period of sharp shifts in market sentiment. July's optimism faded, giving way to caution, with key events revolving around a strategic pivot by mining giants and an escalation of cyber threats using artificial intelligence.
Bitcoin Pulls Back to August Lows
The leading cryptocurrency failed to hold its gains. On August 14, the price fell below the $63,000 mark, completely erasing the gains of the previous week, which had closed at $65,200. At the start of the seven-day period, analysts were still noting resistance at $67,000 and $72,000, but the bullish momentum fizzled out. The key support zone is now the median realized price of $63,000. A break below this level, as models show, opens a direct path to $58,500. At the time of writing this review, the asset is consolidating near the $63,000 mark, having lost 3.3% over the week.
Ether also failed to hold its ground, dropping 2.1% to $1,880. The only exception was Hyperliquid's HYPE token, which gained nearly 4.7%. Outflows from spot Bitcoin ETFs were the largest since early July, reaching $398.7 million. The Fear and Greed Index remained in the "fear" zone at 34 points, and the total market capitalization slipped from $2.22 trillion to $2.17 trillion.
Miners: Betting on AI Instead of Bitcoin
A tectonic shift is underway in the strategy of public miners. Selling mined coins is no longer a crisis measure—it is a deliberate funding of the transition to artificial intelligence infrastructure. Former Bitfarms, now Keel Infrastructure, has fully decommissioned all its U.S. capacity, preparing it for data centers. Riot Platforms moved through this process rapidly: signed a 20-year, $9.1 billion contract with a leading AI lab, sold 4,300 BTC, and raised up to $573 million for the construction of a campus in Texas.
The scale of the process is striking. MARA sold 23,093 BTC in the first half of the year, worth approximately $1.6 billion. This is not panic but a survival strategy: fee income has fallen to a decade low, and the hashrate of public companies has declined by 21.2% over three quarters. The economics of mining no longer justify the costs, and capital is flowing to where margins exist.
AI in the Service of Hackers and Defenders
Neural networks have become a full-fledged tool of cyber warfare. While volunteers from Bitcoin Red Team faced access restrictions to OpenAI and were forced to return to Chinese models, attackers experience no such problems. South Korean analysts identified the use of local AI systems by the Kimsuky group for attacks on crypto companies. Taiwanese government agencies also disclosed details of a hack involving AI agents.
Particular attention is warranted for the situation with Boltz: the founders handed the project over to a team of "Bitcoin veterans" after a series of attacks allegedly carried out using neural networks. Meanwhile, the July campaign against Coldcard hardware wallets has concluded: at least 1,778.84 BTC ($112.7 million) was stolen, with no new incidents recorded after August 6. Manufacturers also suffered reputational losses: Trezor and SafePal reported data breaches affecting 13,689 and 40,000 users, respectively.
Pressure on the Russian Crypto Market
Moscow law enforcement conducted mass searches at the "Gorbushka" shopping center in connection with a case involving crypto exchangers. In parallel, major banks began requesting explanations from legal entities regarding USDT transactions, demanding confirmation that counterparties are included in a non-existent Central Bank registry. This logic of self-insurance by credit institutions was likely initiated by Rosfinmonitoring. The situation will become clearer after September 1, when the law "On Digital Currency and Digital Rights" comes into effect.
Institutional Players and Legislation
Israel's largest bank announced a partnership with Galaxy Digital for cryptocurrency trading, while Norway's sovereign wealth fund disclosed an $81.9 million stake in BitMine. Meanwhile, the likelihood of the Clarity Act being passed is estimated at only 10%—the first procedural vote in the Senate has been postponed to September 15.
My comment: The miners' pivot toward AI is not a temporary measure but a fundamental rethinking of the business model. Bitcoin sales to fund data centers will weigh on the market in the medium term, but the simultaneous entry of institutional players through traditional finance creates a counterbalance. The market is entering a phase of heightened volatility, where the key level remains $63,000.