Live: Bitcoin Holds Narrow Range as AI Compute Deals Keep Accelerating

• Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has nearly stopped as the 60-day U.S.-Iran ceasefire expires without a new agreement, bringing oil-price concerns back into focus and adding another obstacle for crypto markets. At the same time, ETF flows are showing signs of improvement.

NVIDIA backs OpenAI in $600 billion AI compute push

• NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang said the company will begin securing land, electricity and infrastructure for a network of AI factories, starting with a facility in Portsmouth, Ohio, where OpenAI will serve as the tenant.
• NVIDIA will cover certain portions of the facility’s lease and power costs and provide a residual-value commitment, while OpenAI will handle lease payments and deploy NVIDIA’s computing equipment.
• NVIDIA estimates that the Ohio facility could generate between $150 billion and $200 billion in revenue for the chipmaker during each hardware replacement cycle over its 20-year lifespan. Including OpenAI’s broader planned deployments, NVIDIA sees the total computing opportunity reaching about $600 billion through 2030.
• Huang also rejected suggestions that the arrangement involves circular financing, saying OpenAI will be responsible for paying the lease.

Strive adds 79 BTC to its holdings

• Strive Asset Management purchased another 79 BTC for approximately $5 million, paying an average of $63,231 per bitcoin.
• The acquisition brings Strive’s total Bitcoin holdings to 20,246 BTC, worth roughly $1.27 billion at current prices.
• Strive shares gained about 0.5% in premarket trading Monday.

Bitmine now holds 4.8% of Ethereum supply

• Bitmine Immersion, led by Tom Lee, increased its ether holdings to 5.815 million ETH, according to the company’s latest update.
• The holdings represent approximately 4.8% of Ethereum’s total supply.
• The company also repurchased another 1.7 million shares last week, taking its total stock buybacks since early July to 20.8 million shares.
• BMNR shares were little changed in premarket trading.

Anthropic revenue jumps above $11.5 billion

• AI company Anthropic reportedly generated more than $11.5 billion in revenue during the second quarter, representing more than a 14-fold increase from the same period a year earlier, Bloomberg reported.
• The company also recorded positive operating income for the quarter, adding to expectations that it could pursue a major IPO as early as this fall.
• The results provided a modest boost to technology sentiment, with Nasdaq 100 futures gaining about 0.5%.

Strategy raises $333.7 million without adding Bitcoin

• Michael Saylor’s Strategy raised $333.7 million last week through the sale of common stock, according to a Monday filing.
• The company used $132.2 million of the proceeds to repurchase its high-yielding STRC preferred shares. The remaining funds were allocated toward dividends and increasing its cash reserves, which now total about $4.8 billion.
• Strategy’s Bitcoin holdings remained unchanged at 840,447 BTC.
• MSTR shares were up about 1.3% in premarket trading, while STRC was little changed.

Bitcoin, gold and silver rise as risk assets gain

• Risk assets moved higher Monday, with Bitcoin, gold and silver all posting gains.
• Bitcoin climbed about 1% over 24 hours to trade above $63,500, while gold approached $4,400 per ounce and silver remained just below $66.
• Memory and semiconductor stocks also advanced in premarket trading. The Roundhill Memory ETF rose more than 4.5%, extending its rebound from July lows to roughly 35%, while Sandisk gained more than 4%.
• Micron Technology climbed around 3%, and the Invesco QQQ was up more than 0.5%.

Hormuz disruption keeps oil risk in focus

• The 60-day U.S.-Iran ceasefire was set to expire Monday without a new agreement, while shipping activity through the Strait of Hormuz had fallen sharply.
• Kpler data showed only five cargo vessels crossed the waterway Saturday, with none recorded on Sunday, compared with 31 during the previous weekend.
• Traffic has dropped roughly 90% from prewar levels. The strategic waterway normally carries about one-fifth of global oil supplies.
• Tehran reportedly said it had reached a separate agreement with Oman to reopen the strait, provided the U.S. lifts its naval blockade, according to CNBC.
• For crypto markets, the key concern is the potential impact on oil prices. Continued disruption and the expiration of the ceasefire could trigger an oil-price spike, adding to inflation pressures and potentially keeping the Federal Reserve more hawkish.
• Higher oil prices could also support the dollar and Treasury yields, creating a headwind for Bitcoin just as ETF demand begins to recover.
• Bitcoin remained near $63,300 Monday, still below the $64,000 level.

HIVE jumps on $350 million GPU cloud agreement

• HIVE surged about 9% in Monday premarket trading after announcing a five-year GPU cloud contract worth $350 million.
• The agreement raises HIVE’s contracted annual recurring revenue to approximately $180 million, with the company aiming to reach $200 million by the fourth quarter of 2026.
• The announcement follows HIVE’s first-quarter fiscal 2027 results, which showed revenue increasing 73.5% year over year to $79.1 million. High-performance computing revenue rose 52% to $7.1 million.

Dollar falls to lowest level since June

• The U.S. Dollar Index fell to 99.29 early Monday, its weakest level since June 5, according to TradingView.
• The decline pushed the index below an upward trendline that had defined its recovery from the January low of 95.55.
• A weaker dollar is generally viewed as supportive for Bitcoin and other risk assets.

Bitcoin ETF flows show signs of recovery

• Bitcoin may appear stuck near $63,500, but underlying fund flows have recently improved, according to Yusuf Fakhro, a partner at ARP Digital.
• U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs absorbed more than 14,000 BTC during the five days through Aug. 7, marking their strongest stretch since May, Fakhro said.
• Q3 has so far recorded roughly 11,000 BTC of net ETF inflows, compared with about 110,000 BTC of outflows during the second half of Q2, suggesting institutional selling has shifted toward accumulation.
• At the same time, spot trading volumes have fallen to their lowest levels in about two and a half years, while perpetual futures volumes are at roughly three-year lows. Volatility has also dropped toward multi-year lows.
• Fakhro argued that new demand entering an unusually thin market could be an early sign of a durable bottom. He views Bitcoin’s prolonged trading range between $60,000 and $80,000, combined with its ability to avoid a deeper decline similar to previous bear markets, as evidence of investor apathy rather than continued deterioration.
• The market remains vulnerable in both directions, however. Bitcoin is still caught between resistance around $64,000 and support near $62,000, while leverage could amplify any breakout.
• Perpetual futures open interest has remained above 300,000 BTC throughout the summer, staying elevated even as trading volumes have fallen sharply. That imbalance leaves Bitcoin exposed to a potentially aggressive liquidation-driven move in either direction.

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