Crypto’s latest sell-off isn’t just a price story. It shows up on balance sheets, in ETFs (spot exchange-traded funds) and even in the way infrastructure is used when markets turn.
This week, the drop in Ether (ETH) is leaving government-heavy companies dealing with massive paper losses, while Bitcoin (BTC) ETFs are giving a new wave of investors their first real taste of downside volatility.
At the same time, extreme weather reminds miners that hash rates are still dependent on power grids, and a former crypto miner turned AI darling shows how yesterday’s mining infrastructure has quietly become today’s AI backbone.
This week’s Crypto Biz newsletter looks at BitMine Immersion Technologies’ mounting paper losses, BlackRock Bitcoin ETF investors slipping underwater, and the impact of a US winter storm on public miners’ production.
BitMine’s ETH paper losses are increasing
BitMine Immersion Technologies, chaired by Tom Lee, is facing mounting paper losses on its Ether-heavy treasury, while ETH fell below $2,200 in the latest crypto sell-off.
The decline has pushed the company’s unrealized losses above $7 billion, underscoring the risks associated with balance sheets built around volatile digital assets.
BitMine currently owns approximately $9.1 billion worth of Ether, including a recent purchase of 40,302 ETH, making the company highly vulnerable to further price fluctuations.
While the losses remain unrealized unless assets are sold, they highlight the vulnerability of crypto-treasury strategies when markets turn lower. Lee has pushed back to the criticism, arguing that unrealized losses are inherent to ETH holdings. “BitMine is designed to track the price of ETH,” he said, adding that in a recession, ETH weakness is to be expected.
BlackRock Bitcoin ETF Holders Sliding Underwater
As Bitcoin fell below $80,000, total returns for investors in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) turned negative, underscoring the depth of the recent sell-off and its impact on investor portfolios.
According to Bob Elliott, Chief Investment Officer of Unlimited Funds, the average dollar invested in IBIT is now underwater. Bitcoin has since extended its decline below $75,000, further putting pressure on yields.
IBIT was one of BlackRock’s most successful ETF launches, becoming the asset manager’s fastest fund to reach $70 billion in assets. These investors are now getting a firsthand lesson in Bitcoin’s volatility, especially when price action moves decisively to the downside.
US winter storm paralyzes Bitcoin production
A powerful winter storm that hit the US in late January forced Bitcoin miners to sharply curtail production, underscoring how sensitive the mining industry remains to stress on the energy grid during extreme weather.
New data from CryptoQuant shows that public miners’ daily production averaged around 70 to 90 BTC before the storm, then dropped to just 30 to 40 BTC at the height of the disruption. The drop was abrupt and reflected widespread shutdowns as miners reduced loads or went offline to avoid strain on local power grids.
The delay turned out to be temporary. As weather conditions improved, production began to recover, emphasizing the flexibility miners maintain, but also the volatility caused by grid-dependent operations.
CryptoQuant’s data tracks publicly traded mining companies including CleanSpark, MARA Holdings, Bitfarms and Iris Energy, providing a snapshot of how large-scale U.S. mining operations respond when energy becomes scarce.
CoreWeave shows how crypto infrastructure became the backbone of AI’s data center
CoreWeave’s evolution from crypto miner to AI infrastructure provider provides a clear example of how mining-era hardware is being repurposed for the AI ​​boom, highlighting how computing resources migrate across technology cycles.
According to The Miner Mag, Ethereum’s shift from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake has greatly reduced demand for GPU-based mining, prompting CoreWeave and similar operators to focus on AI and high-performance computing.
Although CoreWeave no longer operates as a crypto company, its transition has become a blueprint for other miners exploring diversification, including HIVE Digital, Hut 8, and MARA Holdings.
CoreWeave’s pivot gained new prominence after Nvidia agreed to a $2 billion equity investment in the company, reinforcing the idea that the infrastructure built for crypto mining now forms a critical layer of the AI ​​data center backbone.
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