Crypto news

The outgoing week was marked by a tectonic shift in the strategy of the largest Bitcoin miners: selling coins has transformed from a crisis-management measure into a deliberate step to finance AI infrastructure. In parallel, the market faced a pullback in the leading cryptocurrency, while in cybersecurity, neural networks solidified their place in the arsenal of both sides of the conflict.

Bitcoin returns to August lows

July's upward momentum has been completely erased. On August 14, the leading cryptocurrency fell below the $63,000 mark, retreating to levels seen at the start of the month, even though the previous week closed at $65,200. Notably, the opposite dynamic was observed in the first days: CryptoQuant analysts identified the nearest resistance zones at $67,000 and $72,000, while BlackRock recorded a shift in investor sentiment.

Glassnode specialists describe the current situation as a "compressed" market: the price is squeezed between the median realized price of $63,000 and the cost basis of short-term holders at $68,700. A break below the lower boundary of this range, in their assessment, opens a direct path to $58,500. Over seven days, quotes fell by 3.3%, settling around $63,000. A similar picture is seen with Ethereum: down 2.1%, to $1,880. The only exception among top cryptocurrencies was the HYPE token of the Hyperliquid exchange, which gained nearly 4.7%.

Institutional demand is also showing signs of cooling. Spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded their largest weekly outflow since early July at $398.7 million, while Ether funds lost $2.2 million after an inflow of $244.9 million the previous week. The Fear and Greed Index froze at 34 points in the "fear" zone, and the total market capitalization slipped from $2.22 trillion to $2.17 trillion.

Miners trade Bitcoin for data centers

The most significant trend of the week is the massive pivot of miners toward artificial intelligence. Former Bitfarms, now Keel Infrastructure, on August 11 completely decommissioned all mining capacity in the U.S., preparing sites for AI workloads. Riot Platforms went through the full cycle in a few days: signed a 20-year contract worth $9.1 billion with a leading AI laboratory, sold 4,300 BTC, and raised up to $573 million for the construction of an AI campus in Texas.

The scale of the sell-off at the largest American miner, MARA, is impressive: from January to June, 23,093 BTC were sold for approximately $1.6 billion. Hyperscale Data joined the list, selling 685 BTC for $43 million to fund its own data center. The economics of mining explain this pivot: on August 12, miners' revenue from fees fell to a ten-year low, and the realized hashrate of public companies dropped by 21.2% over three quarters.

AI as both weapon and target

The week's cybersecurity landscape demonstrated the dual nature of neural networks. On one hand, volunteers from Bitcoin Red Team faced restricted access to OpenAI tools and were forced to return to Chinese models. On the other, South Korean analysts reported that the North Korea-linked group Kimsuky is actively using local AI systems for attacks on crypto companies. Taiwanese government agencies also revealed details of a hack involving AI agents.

Particular attention deserves the July campaign against hardware wallets: Galaxy Research calculated that at least 1,778.84 BTC ($112.7 million) were stolen from vulnerable Coldcard devices, with no new cases recorded after August 6. Manufacturers also suffered reputational losses: Trezor reported a data leak affecting 13,689 users through a breach at a logistics partner, and SafePal reported the compromise of information from approximately 40,000 customers.

Regulatory pressure in Russia and institutional entry

Moscow security forces conducted mass searches at "Gorbushka" in a case involving crypto exchangers, coinciding with stricter banking compliance. Major banks began requesting explanations from corporate clients regarding USDT transactions, demanding confirmation that the counterparty is included in the Central Bank's registry of digital currency exchange operators, which does not yet exist. The law "On Digital Currency and Digital Rights" takes effect on September 1, while the State Duma is simultaneously considering a bill on criminal liability for illegal cryptocurrency circulation.

Against this backdrop, institutional players continue to enter the market: Israel's largest bank announced a partnership with Galaxy Digital for trading Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana, while Norway's sovereign wealth fund disclosed a stake in BitMine worth $81.9 million. At the same time, the legislative track in the U.S. has slowed: the probability of the Clarity Act passing is estimated at only 10%.

My comment: The miners' pivot toward AI is not a temporary market condition but a structural transformation of the industry. When the largest miners prefer to sell Bitcoin to finance data centers, it signals a fundamental reassessment of their business models. In the short term, pressure on the market will persist, but in the long term, this is a sign of the industry maturing as it seeks new monetization sources beyond mining.