Crypto Biz: AI took a back seat when Bitcoin started climbing
Corporate crypto bets are getting bigger as rising markets reward direct exposure, putting balance-sheet strategies and institutional adoption back in focus.
Crypto’s August rally put corporate conviction to the test. Bitcoin (BTC) miners that spent much of the crypto downturn courting AI investors are once again trading like leveraged bets on BTC, while Strategy and Strive are adding thousands more Bitcoin to their balance sheets.
The same concentration is playing out elsewhere. Bitmine is closing in on owning 5% of Ether’s (ETH) circulating supply despite billions in unrealized losses, while 21 major financial institutions are taking a different approach by developing stablecoins for payments and settlement.
Bitcoin’s August rally lifted beaten-down mining stocks by as much as 67%, reversing a trend that had favored miners pivoting to AI and underscoring the sector’s continued sensitivity to BTC market conditions.