Lekker Capital CIO Quinn Thompson argues on X that collapsing mining 
economics, combined with a growing shift by public miners toward AI and high- 
performance compute, could turn corporate BTC treasuries into a fresh source 
of market supply. “A large underappreciated headwind for Bitcoin is the 
disaster that which is mining economics. The only way this heals is through a 
decline in hashrate, which is being spearheaded by the AI compute first movers 
like CORZ, WULF, CIFR, IREN, etc.,” Thompson wrote. The chart Thompson shared, 
frames the problem visually. It shows aggregate bitcoin holdings across major 
listed miners climbing sharply through 2024 and 2025 before rolling over in 
2026. Thompson’s argument is not that the AI pivot is bearish in structural 
terms. Related Reading: Bitcoin Bull Score Surges To 30, Exits ‘Extra Bearish’ 
Zone On the contrary, lower hashrate and less uneconomic competition could 
improve mining industry health over time. His point is that the transition 
itself is expensive, and that capex-heavy AI buildouts may force miners to 
liquidate BTC that had previously been treated as strategic treasury. “While 
helpful to long-term health and sustainability of the network economics, it 
presents a dilemma for prices in the near-term as Bitcoin miners hold almost 
80,000 Bitcoin on their balance sheets. As these companies pivot away from BTC 
mining, they 1) need capital to fund the AI buildout capex requirements and 2) 
have no reason to hold any BTC on their balance sheet (not that they should 
have before either),” he argued. Bitcoin Miners Pivot To AI The 2025 filings 
and public data make that argument more concrete. Core Scientific’s fourth- 
quarter results showed the business mix tilting away from mining and toward 
AI-related infrastructure: self-mining revenue fell to $42.2 million from 
$79.9 million a year earlier, while colocation revenue rose to $31.3 million 
from $8.5 million. Management said the decline in hosted mining reflected the 
“continued strategic shift” to high-density colocation. For full-year 2025, 
Core generated $402.5 million of proceeds from selling digital assets and 
ended the year with 2,537 BTC on its balance sheet. TeraWulf offers an even 
cleaner read-through. The company said that in 2025 it “solidified HPC hosting 
as its primary growth engine,” signed more than $12.8 billion in long-term 
customer contracts, and built a platform with 522 critical IT megawatts under 
contract. Yet the legacy mining business was still being monetized as that 
buildout took shape: fourth-quarter digital asset revenue was $26.1 million, 
versus $9.7 million in HPC lease revenue, and the company’s year-end digital 
asset rollforward shows 1,496 BTC mined, 1,500 BTC disposed of, and only 3 BTC 
left on the balance sheet at Dec. 31, 2025. Related Reading: Bitcoin May Still 
Fall Under $10,000, Bloomberg’s McGlone Warns Cipher and IREN show two other 
versions of the same trend. Cipher said it increased its focus on HPC in 2025 
and signed two HPC tenants for a combined 600 MW of data center capacity. It 
also sold bitcoin for approximately $214.7 million during the year. By year- 
end, Cipher had classified $94.9 million of Black Pearl mining rigs as held 
for sale after signing a sublease to transition the site to an HPC tenant. 
IREN, by contrast, has already taken the treasury issue largely off the table: 
with roughly 99,900 GPUs installed or on order as of Dec. 31, 2025, it said it 
“typically liquidate[s] all the Bitcoin we mine daily” and therefore held no 
bitcoin on its balance sheet at year-end. MARA matters for a different reason. 
It is not yet as far along as Core, TeraWulf, Cipher or IREN in converting 
mining sites into a full AI/HPC business, though it had deployed its first ten 
AI racks at Granbury by November 2025 and later announced a Starwood 
partnership for AI and HPC infrastructure. But MARA is the treasury 
heavyweight in the group, and its own 2025 disclosures moved in Thompson’s 
direction: the company said it began selling bitcoin in the second half of 
2025, sold about 4,076 BTC for $413.1 million during the year, and still ended 
2025 with roughly 53,822 BTC. That is the tension in Thompson’s thesis. A 
miner-led shift into AI can reduce hashrate pressure and improve the long-run 
economics of bitcoin mining. But the bridge from mining to AI is capital- 
intensive, and the 2025 filings show that bridge is already being funded with 
BTC sales, miner disposals and site conversions. For bitcoin, that means an 
industry adjustment that may be constructive later can still look like 
overhang now. At press time, Bitcoin traded at $72,322. Featured image created 
with DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com

Bitcoin Miners’ AI Shift May Create New Overhang, Lekker Capital CIO Warns

The long-term accumulation trend among crypto ETF investors suggests a 
stabilizing influence on the volatile crypto market landscape.
The post BlackRock says over 90% of Bitcoin ETF investors are long-term 
accumulators appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

BlackRock says over 90% of Bitcoin ETF investors are long-term accumulators

Individuals transacting cryptocurrency on offshore platforms or independently 
must now report their movements when the amount of crypto transacted surpasses 
$5,000 per year. Users must now deliver sensitive data, including the purpose 
of each transaction, hashes, and destination addresses. Paraguay Ramps Up 
Crypto Reporting Requirements For VASPs and Individuals The government of 
Paraguay is ramping […]

Paraguay Strenghtens Mandatory Reporting Requirements for VASPs and Individuals

Ethereum is attempting to reclaim the $2,100 level as the broader 
cryptocurrency market experiences a modest wave of relief after weeks of 
volatility and sideways trading. While price action remains fragile, recent 
on-chain data suggests that large investors may be beginning to position 
themselves as the market searches for direction. Related Reading: XRP Reserves 
On Binance Drop To Lowest Level Since April 2025 – A $3.7B Drain According to 
blockchain analytics platform Arkham, a single wallet accumulated 
approximately $61.9 million worth of ETH in a series of transactions executed 
overnight. The purchase quickly attracted attention among market participants, 
as large-scale acquisitions of this size often signal confidence from well- 
capitalized investors. Such moves are closely monitored because whale activity 
can influence short-term liquidity dynamics and market sentiment. When large 
buyers enter the market with aggressive orders, it can indicate that certain 
participants view current price levels as attractive relative to recent market 
conditions. However, interpreting whale purchases requires caution. A single 
transaction does not necessarily represent a long-term investment thesis, as 
large traders may also use such positions for hedging strategies, arbitrage, 
or short-term market positioning. Mystery Whale Already Sits on $1M Profit 
Arkham’s data also shows that the wallet behind the $61.9 million Ethereum 
purchase has already generated an unrealized profit of more than $1 million. 
The rapid gain reflects Ethereum’s short-term rebound as the market attempts 
to stabilize and recover key technical levels. At this stage, the identity of 
the buyer remains unknown. The wallet could belong to a private high-net-worth 
individual, a trading desk, or an institutional entity accumulating exposure 
through a single address. Large investors frequently distribute funds across 
multiple wallets or operate through intermediaries, making it difficult to 
determine whether such transactions represent individual traders or larger 
organizations. Nevertheless, transactions of this size tend to attract 
attention because they often occur near important market turning points. Large 
buyers typically deploy capital when they believe risk-reward conditions have 
become favorable relative to recent price action. Ethereum currently trades 
near a critical technical area that could act as a pivot for the next phase of 
the market cycle. The $2,100 region represents a key psychological and 
structural level that traders are watching closely. If Ethereum manages to 
reclaim and hold above this zone, it could open the path for a broader 
recovery toward higher resistance levels. Failure to do so, however, may keep 
the market trapped in a prolonged consolidation phase. Related Reading: From 
$150B To $31B: The Brutal Deleveraging Of The Memecoin Attention Economy 
Ethereum Tests Key Resistance Near $2,100 The chart shows Ethereum attempting 
to reclaim the $2,100 level after a prolonged corrective phase that began in 
late 2025. Following a strong rally earlier in the cycle that pushed ETH above 
the $4,000 region, the asset entered a sustained downtrend characterized by 
lower highs and persistent selling pressure across several months. 
Technically, Ethereum remains below its major moving averages, which continue 
to slope downward and signal that the broader trend has not yet fully 
reversed. The short-term moving average is currently positioned just above the 
price and is acting as immediate resistance, while the medium-term and long- 
term trend indicators remain significantly higher, reflecting the structural 
weakness that developed during the correction. Related Reading: The $2,050 
Pivot: Ethereum Scarcity Index Turns Positive As Binance Supply Tightens The 
most aggressive move occurred in early February 2026, when Ethereum 
experienced a sharp sell-off that briefly pushed the price below the $2,000 
level. The decline was accompanied by a strong spike in trading volume, 
suggesting liquidation activity and forced selling across the market. Since 
that event, price action has begun to stabilize. Ethereum is now forming a 
consolidation structure between approximately $1,900 and $2,150 as buyers 
attempt to regain control of the short-term trend. Reclaiming and holding 
above the $2,100–$2,150 zone could open the door for a broader recovery, while 
failure to break this resistance may keep Ethereum trapped in a sideways 
consolidation phase. Featured image from ChatGPT, chart from TradingView.com

$61.9M Ethereum Buy Sparks Speculation – Mystery Whale Turns $1M Profit Overnight

Europe’s Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation is rapidly reshaping the region’s 
crypto industry, with Swissborg obtaining regulatory approval in France that 
allows the platform to expand digital asset services across the European 
Union. Swissborg Secures MiCA Approval From French AMF, Expanding Regulated 
Crypto Platform in Europe Regulatory approval under Europe’s Markets in 
Crypto-Assets framework continues to […]

Cryptocurrency price in NOK