Weekly: scandal around CZ’s book, risks from Claude Mythos, and the theater of decentralization in Bittensor

Bitcoin this week returned to the level above $70,000, but the market still does not look calm. Ethereum is holding a stronger foundation, while at the same time the crypto industry is once again stuck in conflicts, regulatory pressure, weak token sales, and old security issues. Alongside this, the AI theme is growing more aggressively and is already affecting not only the tech sector, but also financial infrastructure.

Bitcoin returned to growth, but this did not give the market confidence

This week, Bitcoin first rose to $70,000 and then climbed to $72,000 amid de-escalation between the US and Iran. It was an important move for the market, because in recent weeks geopolitics had been putting pressure on both crypto and the stock market segment. Against this background, Michael Saylor said that BTC may have already found its bottom around the $60,000 area.

But the growth itself does not cancel out caution. On-chain metrics paint a mixed picture: the Sharpe ratio hints at the end of the stress cycle and the asset’s undervaluation, while network activity has fallen to multi-year lows. Spot ETFs showed a small inflow; Morgan Stanley’s Bitcoin ETF product attracted more than $30 million on the first day, while Strategy continued to build up its reserves. At the same time, the company is sitting on a large unrealized loss, while Bhutan, on the contrary, has sharply reduced its holdings. In other words, the market is not in a single phase: some are adding risk, while others are already reducing exposure.

Cloudflare is already setting 2029 as a benchmark for a full transition to post-quantum protection, Bitcoin developers are discussing new security mechanisms, and Circle is integrating post-quantum standards into Arc. These are no longer abstract conversations about a future threat, but normal preparation.

Ethereum is in a stronger position, but capital flows still do not provide full comfort

Against the backdrop of geopolitical tension, Ethereum, Nasdaq, and gold outpaced Bitcoin in performance. Fundamentally, ETH looks strong: the volume of coins on exchanges has fallen to its lowest level since 2016, and staking queues have stretched to almost 50 days. This is a direct signal of supply shortage.

At the same time, Ethereum is increasingly being presented as the base infrastructure for AI agents and DeFi, where the volume of tokenized assets has already exceeded $22.5 billion. But capital flows are still uneven: Ethereum ETFs recorded outflows, although some funds continue to attract capital. Against this backdrop, Grayscale calls altcoins undervalued and sees current levels as a possible entry point. In the end, we have a familiar market situation: the fundamentals look stronger than the mood of major investors.

Iran is introducing crypto payments for the passage of oil tankers, a new figure as Satoshi, and the CZ book added even more noise to the market

One of the strangest stories of the week came from Iran. They want to introduce payment in cryptocurrency for the passage of oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz. The story shows that crypto is increasingly entering areas where it was previously not considered at all as a tool of geopolitics and logistics.

At the same time, The New York Times once again reignited the old topic of Satoshi Nakamoto’s identity. In a new investigation, the publication suggested that Adam Back could be behind this pseudonym. He, as before, denies it.

Another loud story is CZ’s book Freedom of Money. Changpeng Zhao presented it as a story about the creation of Binance, the development of the market, and conflicts with US regulators. But instead of a calm launch, it led to a public conflict with OKX CEO Star Xu, who claimed that the book contained false statements. As a result, the book premiere quickly turned into another round of industry infighting.

Token sales are collapsing, projects are shutting down, and Bittensor is facing a crisis of trust

The 2025 token sales market looks openly weak. According to Messari, only 6 out of 41 tokens are trading above their listing price. The average investor loss is around 46%, and in some cases losses reach 98%. This is no longer just about unsuccessful launches, but an indicator of how difficult it is for projects without a real foundation to survive now.

Another alarming signal is project closures. Since the beginning of 2026, at least 15 crypto teams have already shut down or partially scaled back their operations. Some openly speak about financial difficulties, others explain nothing. The current market is very quickly filtering out weak models.

Against this backdrop, the Bittensor story looks especially telling. This is no longer about an external hack, but about an internal crisis of management and centralization. Accusations of decentralization theater ended with the departure of key Covenant AI developer and a drop in TAO with a loss of about $820 million in market capitalization. This is hitting not only the price, but also trust in the model itself.

Regulators are once again putting pressure on the market while promising clarity

The SEC filed 456 cases in fiscal year 2025 and imposed penalties totaling $17.9 billion. At the same time, the White House received initiatives regarding a safe harbor for crypto startups and an updated token taxonomy. Formally, this looks like an attempt to reduce uncertainty, but the overall background remains tough.

Scott Bessent publicly called for the adoption of the CLARITY Act so that the US would not lose global leadership. But alongside this, authorities are separately warning officials about the ban on insider trading, while Congress is demanding tougher action from the CFTC regarding prediction markets. Separately, the discussion around stablecoins continues, where banks fear deposit outflows and the White House downplays these risks. In other words, the market is once again getting a familiar signal: clarity is being promised, while control is only getting stronger.

AI news was calmer this week

OpenAI is preparing for the age of superintelligence and is already talking about changing the economic model and introducing new taxes on AI. At the same time, the US is trying to bring OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google into one defensive framework against China, while Britain is trying to seize the initiative by positioning London as a new center for AI development.

Claude Mythos became one of the most alarming topics of the week. The launch of the model has already triggered a nervous reaction from regulators in the US: banks were urgently convened because of the risk of new types of cyberattacks and systemic instability. At the same time, internal turbulence continues within OpenAI itself – from a crisis of trust in leadership to Elon Musk’s $150 billion lawsuit. The conclusion here is simple: the struggle for AI has long been happening not only at the level of technology, but also at the level of money, politics, and control.

Fraud and cyberattacks once again hit the most painful points

The $280 million attack on Drift Protocol, likely linked to North Korea, became part of a broader model involving social engineering, malware, and infiltration through developers. At the same time, analysts are talking about fake IT specialists from North Korea, while the Stabble case showed that the risk of their actual employment in crypto projects is no longer just theory. In Ukraine, meanwhile, a fraudulent scheme involving Telegram, fake websites, and drainers for the mass theft of funds was uncovered.

Kursoff’s opinion

This week was not about one dominant event, but about the accumulation of tension in several areas at once. Bitcoin is rising, but without a full sense of stability. Ethereum looks stronger, but big money still does not give the market full comfort. Conflicts are flaring up inside the industry, weak models continue to fall apart, and decentralization in some cases once again turns out to be a beautiful sign with no real support behind it.

The market is increasingly less forgiving of weak structure, vague management, and beautiful stories without a foundation. That is why right now it is important to look not only at price movement, but also at who is really holding up under pressure and who drops out at the first serious stress.