Bitcoin dips, AI surges. Whales sell off, Meta shifts strategy, and Microsoft bets $30B on AI. Here’s what moved markets this week.
What’s up, Pasar Crew?
Crypto and AI markets are moving fast—and not always in the same direction. This week, digital assets faced turbulence as whales, short-term holders, and ETF outflows collectively dragged down prices. Yet, amid the volatility, signs of long-term confidence are emerging: crypto companies are reshoring to the U.S. and regulators are being urged to take a more developer-friendly stance.
Meanwhile in AI, the race is heating up with major moves across both infrastructure and ideation. Anthropic is digging deep into the psychological profile of AI models, while Meta is pivoting toward personal superintelligence to shape how we interact and unwind. Microsoft and OpenAI are scaling big, each making billion-dollar commitments to the next phase of AI capability and access.
As these sectors evolve, it’s clear that innovation, ethics, and strategy are more interlinked than ever. Whether you’re tracking token flows or model architectures, the week has delivered insight for both sides of the ledger.
Let’s unpack this week’s crypto and AI stories.
Web3
Bitcoin Sells Off as Whales and Short-Term Holders Flood Exchanges
1️⃣ Bitcoin’s price slipped below US$112,000 amidst rising exchange inflows from short-term holders and whales. Over 40,000 BTC were moved, with whales leading the deposit surge.
Crypto ETFs Shed $1 Billion After Record July Inflows
2️⃣ US spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs experienced nearly $1 billion in combined outflows on 2 August. Bitcoin funds alone accounted for $812 million in redemptions, and Ethereum ETFs broke a 20-day inflow streak with $152 million in withdrawals.
Crypto Firms Reshore to the US Amidst Pro-Crypto Policy Shift
3️⃣ A growing number of crypto companies are returning to or expanding within the United States, fuelled by a narrative of a golden age of crypto from SEC Chair Paul Atkins, with platforms like Nexo, Deribit, and OKX expanding their US presence.
Curve Finance Reassesses Ethereum L2 Strategy
4️⃣ Curve Finance is reconsidering its expansion across Ethereum Layer 2 networks after a contributor cited low returns and high operational costs. Curve earns only around $1,500 daily across 24 L2s, which is $62 per network.
DeFi Education Fund Calls for Greater Protections for Crypto Developers
5️⃣ The DeFi Education Fund is urging the US Senate Banking Committee to revise its draft crypto legislation, calling for a more tech-neutral approach and stronger safeguards for developers. They insist that non-custodial software should not be regulated as financial institutions.
Pi Network Faces Backlash Over Lock-Up Push
6️⃣ Pi Network is under fire from its community over a new initiative encouraging voluntary token lock-ups that promise up to a 200% mining boost but become irreversible once confirmed. Users have criticised the move, citing a falling token price and long-standing KYC delays.
Satoshi Nakamoto Statue Stolen in Switzerland
7️⃣ A statue honouring Satoshi Nakamoto has been stolen from Lugano’s Villa Ciani park. One of three globally, the sculpture symbolised Nakamoto’s elusive identity. The Satoshi Gallery has offered a 0.1 BTC reward for information leading to its recovery.
Ethereum Price Slides as Whale and Institutional Support Dwindles
8️⃣ Ethereum’s price is under pressure as both whale activity and institutional interest decline. Open interest in ETH futures on CME, a preferred venue for institutions, has dropped to a five-day low of $6.2 billion. Meanwhile, large holder net flows have plunged 339% over the past week.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Anthropic Studies AI Personality and Dark Traits
1️⃣ Researchers at Anthropic are examining how AI systems develop distinct personalities, including potentially evil traits. Their findings show that training data plays a major role in shaping these behaviours. By identifying specific regions in neural networks, the team can predict unwanted tendencies.
Meta Shifts Towards Personal Superintelligence Vision
2️⃣ Mark Zuckerberg unveiled Meta’s new direction of personal superintelligence. Instead of competing with ChatGPT on productivity, Meta aims to use AI to enhance users’ leisure time through entertainment, social experiences, and AI-driven personas.
Figma Embeds AI to Elevate Creative Workflows
3️⃣ Figma is integrating AI into its design tools to streamline and elevate creative workflows. New features like ‘Figma Make’ can generate production-level code from simple prompts, empowering non-developers to bring their ideas to life.
NHS AI Physio Halves Back Pain Waiting Times
4️⃣ The NHS’s first AI-run physiotherapy clinic, Flok Health, has cut back pain waiting times by 55% during a 12-week pilot in England and saved 856 clinician hours per month. Patients reported positive experiences with the app-based service, praising its ease of use.
OpenAI Leak Points to Major Open-Source Model
5️⃣ A major leak suggests OpenAI may soon release a powerful open-source model. The 120-billion-parameter model is believed to use a Mixture of Experts architecture for greater performance and efficiency, along with advanced vocabulary and attention systems.
Microsoft Hits $4 Trillion Valuation on AI Strength
6️⃣ Microsoft has surpassed a $4 trillion market valuation, becoming the second publicly traded company to do so after Nvidia, thanks to a booming demand for AI and strong performance from its Azure cloud division. Microsoft plans to invest a record $30 billion in AI infrastructure this year.
OpenAI to Build AI Data Centre in Norway
7️⃣ OpenAI announced Stargate Norway, its first AI data centre in Europe, under its ‘OpenAI for Countries’ initiative. The Narvik-based facility will run entirely on renewable hydropower and is expected to house 100,000 NVIDIA GPUs by the end of 2026.
Apple CEO Vows Strong Investment in AI
8️⃣ Apple CEO Tim Cook publicly committed to significant investment in artificial intelligence, calling the AI wave bigger than the internet or smartphones. He acknowledged Apple’s usual approach of waiting to perfect a technology rather than rushing to be first.
That’s all for this week’s Pasar Pulse. Want more insights? Stay tuned to our site or subscribe via email!
