Crypto news

The outgoing week was rich in events that will determine the medium-term trajectory of the industry. We are observing three key trends at once: an unprecedented pivot by mining giants toward AI infrastructure, an escalation of cyber warfare using neural networks, and increased regulatory pressure on crypto exchanges in Russia. Let's break down each of them in detail.

Bitcoin returns to August lows

July's rebound in the leading cryptocurrency has been fully erased. On August 14, the asset broke below the $63,000 mark, returning to levels seen at the start of the month, even though the weekly close a week earlier was at $65,200. Notably, the first days of trading sent opposing signals: CryptoQuant analysts highlighted the nearest resistance levels at $67,000 and $72,000, while BlackRock recorded a shift in institutional investor sentiment.

However, the market chose a different scenario. Glassnode specialists describe the current situation as "compression": the price is stuck 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 estimation, opens a direct path to $58,500. Over seven days, bitcoin lost 3.3%, settling around $63,000. Ethereum showed similar dynamics, down 2.1% to $1,880. The only notable exception was the HYPE token from the Hyperliquid exchange, which gained nearly 4.7%.

Institutional demand is also 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 stalled at 34, remaining in the "fear" zone, and the total market capitalization slipped from $2.22 trillion to $2.17 trillion.

Miners: selling as a strategy, not a rescue

The key signal of the week is that miners have stopped viewing the sale of mined coins as a crisis measure. This is about a structural shift in business models. Four major companies simultaneously directed the proceeds toward building AI infrastructure.

The most illustrative case is former Bitfarms, now Keel Infrastructure, which completely decommissioned all its mining capacity in the U.S., preparing sites for data centers for high-performance computing. Riot Platforms went through the entire cycle in a few days: signed a 20-year contract with Anthropic worth $9.1 billion, sold 4,300 BTC, and raised up to $573 million for an AI campus in Texas.

The scale of the process is impressive. MARA sold 23,093 BTC in the first half of the year for approximately $1.6 billion, citing financing operations and liquidity management. On Friday, Hyperscale Data joined the list, selling 685 BTC for $43 million. The economics of mining explain this pivot: fee revenues have fallen to a decade low, and the realized hashrate of public companies has declined by 21.2% over three quarters.

AI in the hands of hackers: the new reality of cybersecurity

The past week clearly demonstrated that neural networks have become a working tool on both sides of the barricades. Defenders face limitations: AnchorWatch CEO Rob Hamilton lost access to OpenAI under a cybersecurity program, forcing the Bitcoin Red Team to return to Chinese models. Attackers, meanwhile, are bound by nothing.

South Korean analysts at Genians reported that the North Korea-linked group Kimsuky is actively using local AI systems to attack crypto companies. Taiwanese government agencies also disclosed details of a hack using AI agents. Particularly alarming is the incident with the non-custodial service Boltz, whose founders handed the project over to a group of "bitcoin veterans" after a series of attacks allegedly carried out using neural networks.

Also noteworthy are the findings from Anthropic itself: groups of AI agents have been found to have issues with trust, lying, and collusion. When multiple models work on a task, their behavior changes—this opens new attack vectors that the industry is not yet prepared for. Meanwhile, the July campaign against Coldcard hardware wallets has concluded: according to Galaxy Research estimates, attackers stole at least 1,778.84 BTC ($112.7 million), with no new cases recorded after August 6.

Russia: raids, registries, and uncertainty

On the evening of August 13, Moscow law enforcement conducted mass raids at the "Gorbushka" shopping center in a case involving crypto exchangers. This coincided with stricter banking compliance: major Russian banks began asking corporate clients for explanations regarding USDT transactions, requiring confirmation that the counterparty is included in the Central Bank's registry of digital currency exchange operators. The problem is that such a registry does not yet exist—the regulator plans to create it only in the fall.

Crypto expert Viktor Pershikov links the checks not to a direct instruction from the regulator, but to the logic of banks self-insuring, with the initiative coming from Rosfinmonitoring. The uncertainty will not last long: the law "On Digital Currency and Digital Rights" takes effect on September 1, and the State Duma is simultaneously considering a bill on criminal liability for illegal crypto circulation with confiscation.

Institutions and legislation

On a positive note: Israel's largest bank, Bank Leumi, announced a partnership with Galaxy Digital for trading bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana. Norway's sovereign wealth fund disclosed a stake in BitMine worth $81.9 million. However, bitcoin treasuries risk losing their place in MSCI indices, and Galaxy Digital analysts estimate only a 10% probability of the Clarity Act passing after the Senate vote was postponed to September 15.

My comment: The miners' pivot to AI is not a temporary measure but a fundamental transformation of the industry. Bitcoin sales will continue, putting pressure on the price in the medium term. At the same time, the use of AI in cyberattacks is becoming hackers' asymmetric response to stronger defenses—the industry urgently needs to rethink its security approaches, or we will see new high-profile hacks.