Firmus, a former Bitcoin mining company that has repositioned itself as an AI infrastructure provider, has secured $2 billion in new equity funding, lifting its post-money valuation above $10.5 billion as it expands AI factory projects across Australia and the Asia-Pacific region.

According to Firmus, the strategic equity round received full investment commitments from existing backers Coatue and Nvidia, alongside new funding from funds managed by Blackstone Tactical Opportunities and other Blackstone vehicles, with additional participation from global trading and technology firm Jane Street.

The latest raise nearly doubles Firmus’ valuation from the $5.5 billion level recorded during its April funding round. It also brings the company’s total equity raised over the past year to more than $3 billion, providing additional capital for Project Southgate, its AI factory rollout across Australia.

Firmus funding supports Project Southgate expansion

Under the new financing, Firmus plans to accelerate the next stage of Project Southgate while preparing for development across selected Asia-Pacific markets. The company said part of the investment will support early work on its recently announced Indonesia project, which is intended to serve AI-native customers.

Firmus added that it has already established Australian manufacturing for its proprietary HyperCube platform. It is building AI infrastructure based on Nvidia’s DSX AI Factory Reference Architecture, which the company said is designed to bring computing capacity online more quickly while improving tokens per watt and system resiliency.

“This investment allows us to move on multiple fronts at once,” Co-Chief Executive Officer Oliver Curtis said.

“We’re scaling across Australia while fast-tracking our capacity to expand into the wider Asia-Pacific region, including the early steps behind our recently announced Indonesia development that will serve AI-native customers,” Curtis added.

The company and Nvidia strengthened their relationship in late June through an agreement under which Firmus would purchase Nvidia infrastructure while offering cloud services powered by the chipmaker’s technology. The latest financing extends that relationship with Nvidia participating again as an investor.

Blackstone, Coatue and Jane Street deepen AI infrastructure bets

Blackstone’s participation adds another major institutional investor to the financing round at a time when large investment firms continue increasing exposure to AI infrastructure.

“We believe AI infrastructure will be a foundational driver of global growth and it is among our highest conviction investment themes,” John Watson, Senior Managing Director at Blackstone, said.

“We are pleased to continue to invest in Firmus and support platforms at the forefront of AI innovation,” he added.

Coatue also increased its investment in the company after backing an earlier funding round.

“We continue to believe Firmus represents a differentiated approach to AI infrastructure,” Robert Yin, General Partner at Coatue, said.

According to Yin, the company’s combination of proprietary technology, manufacturing capabilities and a repeatable deployment model positions it to support demand from both AI-native businesses and enterprise customers as computing requirements continue increasing.

Jane Street also joined the funding round.

“As AI models become larger and more capable, access to reliable, high-performance compute becomes increasingly important,” Daniel Pontecorvo, Head of Physical Engineering at Jane Street, said.

Pontecorvo added that Firmus is building infrastructure needed for the next generation of AI systems, which supported the firm’s decision to invest.

AI infrastructure attracts fresh capital

The financing comes as investors continue directing capital toward companies building physical AI infrastructure instead of focusing only on chip manufacturers.

Industry participants have increasingly targeted data centers, electricity infrastructure and high-performance computing capacity as demand for AI services expands. Earlier this year, Core Scientific agreed to provide AMD with up to 2.5 gigawatts of data center capacity beginning in 2027 as the former Bitcoin miner continued converting mining sites into AI infrastructure.

IREN has also accelerated its AI strategy after completing the acquisition of Spain-based Nostrum Group in June. The transaction added about 490 megawatts of secured grid-connected power and expanded IREN’s European AI cloud footprint while AI cloud revenue continued growing faster than its Bitcoin mining business.

More recently, Hyperscale Data sold approximately 100 Bitcoin and secured a Bitcoin-backed credit facility to finance construction of its Michigan AI campus. The company said the financing would help fund infrastructure for an AI contract that could exceed $3 billion if all expansion and extension options are exercised.

Alongside those projects, publicly listed Bitcoin miners have continued repositioning power assets toward AI computing as long-term infrastructure agreements become an increasingly important source of contracted revenue. Industry data published in late July also showed Bitcoin mining difficulty remained well below its 2025 peak while companies pursued AI data center investments to diversify income.

Australia remains central to Firmus’ rollout

While preparing projects elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific region, Firmus said Australia will remain the primary focus for the newly raised capital.

According to the company, its existing manufacturing capability and software platform provide the foundation for faster deployment of AI infrastructure across domestic sites before additional regional expansion proceeds.

The company also stated that the transaction is a private financing and not a public securities offering. Firmus said the securities issued in the round have not been registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933 and may not be offered or sold in the United States except under an applicable exemption from registration requirements.

While acknowledging bipartisan support exists for the legislation, Rafique said party politics are likely to outweigh the industry’s push for regulatory clarity.

He dismissed Democratic concerns over ethics provisions as inconsistent, arguing lawmakers should instead adopt broader restrictions on public officials participating in financial markets.

Despite his skepticism, Rafique described the Clarity Act as critical to the future of the U.S. digital asset industry. He said clear federal rules would help retain entrepreneurs, investment and intellectual property that are increasingly being built overseas.

“Without clarity, entrepreneurs will continue to stay offshore,” Rafique said, pointing to companies such as Hyperliquid and Backpack, which chose jurisdictions outside the U.S. “There is only one Silicon Valley and one Wall Street. The U.S. should be creating the environment for these companies to build at home.”

OKX is one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, offering spot, derivatives and Web3 services. The company resumed its U.S. expansion in 2025 after resolving a long-running case with the U.S. Department of Justice over unlicensed money-transmitting activity.

Limited upside if Clarity passes

Rafique also argued that markets have already priced in much of the potential benefit from the legislation.

He said bitcoin’s recent rebound was partly driven by renewed optimism around the bill, meaning passage would likely generate only a modest short-term rally of around 3%-4%.

WhiteBIT has introduced Spot Grid and Martingale DCA bots for UK users, expanding automated trading within a market where retail access to crypto derivatives remains restricted.

WhiteBIT adds Grid and DCA bots for UK traders

WhiteBIT has made its Spot Grid and Martingale DCA bots available to UK users, according to a company announcement carried by multiple crypto publications.

The Spot Grid Bot places multiple buy and sell orders at fixed intervals within a chosen price range. It buys as the market moves toward the lower sections of the range and sells as the price moves higher.

WhiteBIT designed the strategy primarily for sideways markets, where an asset repeatedly moves between established support and resistance levels. Users can choose the trading pair, investment amount, price range, and number of grids.

The Martingale DCA Bot follows a directional strategy. It opens an initial position and places additional buy orders if the asset declines, lowering the position’s average entry price. The bot then attempts to close the full position when the market recovers to a predefined profit level.

WhiteBIT said users can adjust certain parameters while a trading cycle is active, giving them some control without requiring them to terminate the strategy and start again.

UK derivatives ban increases focus on spot trading

Both bots operate in the spot market and do not use leverage. This removes the liquidation mechanism associated with leveraged futures positions, but it does not protect users from market losses.

A DCA bot can continue buying into a prolonged decline, increasing the trader’s exposure to a falling asset. Grid strategies can also underperform when the price breaks sharply outside the selected range instead of continuing to move sideways.

The UK’s regulatory framework makes the spot focus particularly relevant. The Financial Conduct Authority banned firms from selling crypto derivatives, including futures, options and contracts for difference, to retail customers in January 2021.

Although the FCA later restored retail access to certain exchange-traded notes listed on recognized UK exchanges, the regulator has kept the crypto derivatives ban in place. Retail consumers can still buy and sell cryptoassets directly through spot platforms, subject to the UK’s financial promotion and anti-money laundering requirements.

WhiteBIT’s products therefore automate strategies in a segment that remains accessible to British retail traders without offering prohibited leveraged derivatives.

Coinbase and Robinhood expand trading automation

WhiteBIT’s launch follows several automation rollouts covered by crypto.news over the past two months, though the companies use different systems.

crypto.news reported in June that Coinbase launched Coinbase for Agents, allowing users to connect systems such as ChatGPT and Claude to their accounts. Authorized agents can monitor markets, execute trades, place conditional orders and rebalance portfolios under rules established by the customer.

Coinbase expanded the service in July with real-time market views and conditional commands. Users can instruct an agent to sell an asset when Bitcoin falls below a selected price or cancel an order after a fixed period.

Robinhood took a similar approach with dedicated agentic trading accounts. crypto.news reported on June 15 that the company opened the system to all customers, allowing connected AI agents to research markets, execute trades and rebalance portfolios.

WhiteBIT’s bots are narrower. They follow predefined Grid and DCA strategies rather than allowing an external AI agent to manage a wider range of account activities.

Automated strategies still require active oversight

The new tools reduce the need to place every order manually, but their results depend on market direction, selected parameters, and the assets being traded.

Grid bots generally require prices to remain within a defined range. Martingale strategies rely on an eventual recovery and can commit increasing amounts of capital as prices fall. Neither approach guarantees a profit, and previous performance or backtesting cannot predict future results.

UK users will need to monitor open strategies and adjust or stop them if market conditions no longer support the original setup.

The authors of the study examined roughly two months of five-minute bitcoin contracts. They found unusually large orders on Binance in the final seconds before settlement, followed by rapid price reversals in bitcoin.

The paper did not prove traders’ intent or directly establish that the spot-market orders were placed by the same people holding positions on Polymarket. But it found that, excluding market makers, 93% of the losses in windows classified as manipulated fell on retail traders.

“A bet the market treated as near-certain was overturned one time in three,” the authors wrote.

Polymarket did not respond to a CoinDesk email requesting more information.

Prediction market concerns

Before the July-dated study, Variance Lover, a pseudonymous onchain analyst, raised similar concerns, including in one extensive and detailed post dated May 21.

“By now, most people are aware that market manipulation has become a major problem on Polymarket’s 5-minute crypto markets. The mechanism is simple: accumulate a large position on Polymarket, then move the price on Binance during the settlement window to force the market to resolve in your favor.”

An Axis Robotics contributor who goes by 郡主Christine on X, on May 11 noted that manipulation in Polymarket’s five-minute bitcoin market was becoming more severe, citing “precise reversals in the last few seconds.”

Russia has detained over 20 workers in raids on nine crypto exchanges over alleged laundering scheme tied to scam proceeds.

According to an official statement from Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), authorities, working with the Interior Ministry, shut down nine unregistered cryptocurrency exchange services operating from Moscow’s business district after alleging they were used to convert money stolen through phone scams into cryptocurrency and send it to accounts controlled by Ukrainian coordinators.

The operation took place at the Moscow International Business Center, commonly known as Moscow City, where more than 20 employees of the exchange services were detained. The FSB alleged the exchanges formed part of nine overseas-coordinated channels used to move funds out of Russia through crypto transactions.

Authorities said the case centers on proceeds from remote fraud targeting Russian citizens. According to the FSB, victims remained in continuous contact with scam call centers, followed detailed instructions from fraudsters and did not realize the nature of the transactions they were carrying out.

Crypto exchange workers and couriers face fraud charges

Investigators allege the exchange services sold cryptocurrency to victims, including pensioners who were acting under the influence of scammers, before transferring the digital assets to accounts belonging to what the FSB described as Ukrainian handlers.

Alongside the exchange employees, authorities detained alleged accomplices between the ages of 18 and 25 who, according to the agency, worked as couriers. Officials said the couriers collected cash from defrauded individuals and delivered it to the crypto exchange points for conversion before the funds were allegedly sent abroad.

The FSB also said many of the people recruited to work at the exchanges had been hired remotely from different Russian regions despite lacking sufficient financial knowledge. Investigators alleged they had been drawn into the operation by promises of easy earnings.

Russia’s Interior Ministry has opened criminal cases under Part 4 of Article 159 of the country’s Criminal Code, covering fraud on an especially large scale. According to the authorities, exchange employees and couriers are being investigated as alleged accomplices in the offenses and could face prison terms of up to 10 years if convicted.

At the same time, officials said they are continuing to identify additional victims, verify witness statements and determine whether financial losses can be recovered.

Russia steps up oversight before crypto rules take effect

The enforcement action comes less than a week after President Vladimir Putin signed Russia’s new digital asset law, which establishes a regulated framework for cryptocurrency exchanges, brokers, custodians and other market participants beginning Sept. 1.

Under the legislation, crypto exchange providers must join a government registry and maintain minimum capital requirements before offering services under the new legal regime. Existing exchange businesses have a transition period before registration requirements become mandatory, although the FSB identified the businesses targeted in the latest operation as unregistered exchange points allegedly involved in criminal activity.

The legislation also limits retail cryptocurrency purchases, introduces mandatory suitability testing for investors and continues Russia’s ban on using cryptocurrency to pay for ordinary goods and services inside the country. At the same time, it permits digital assets to be used in certain cross-border trade settlements under the framework approved by lawmakers.

Meanwhile, the Bank of Russia is preparing additional regulations covering exchange operations, organized trading, digital depositories and investor protection before the main provisions of the law take effect.

Authorities have tightened enforcement across the crypto sector

The latest raids follow several recent government measures affecting the cryptocurrency industry.

Earlier this month, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin approved an expansion of Russia’s regional cryptocurrency mining restrictions, extending a long-term mining ban to Moscow, the Moscow Region and parts of Kursk from Aug. 15 through the end of 2032. Officials said the decision was intended to address electricity capacity concerns in affected regions while continuing to allow registered activity elsewhere.

Authorities have also introduced a mining registry to distinguish registered operators from unauthorized ones as part of their supervision of the sector.

Separate survey findings published this week by Rambler&Co indicated that many Russians remain unfamiliar with digital assets despite the approaching launch of the regulated market. 

According to the survey, 69% of respondents said they could not identify a practical reason to use cryptocurrency, while more than half reported knowing little about how cryptocurrencies work. Respondents also identified clear regulations, licensed platforms and reliable information as priorities before using digital assets.

So the protections stay what they are: at the federal level not law, but an interpretive notice sorting 16 tokens, a collateral pilot, a few no-action letters, a memorandum of understanding between two federal agencies, any of it revocable without a vote. The rest is left to the states, where investors get real protection in certain states, less elsewhere, and in some states none at all, none of it reaching a market that is national. The last great collapse already showed which protections hold and which give way.

When FTX failed, its offshore exchange misused its customers’ assets for years. But several entities under the FTX umbrella — including LedgerX, a CFTC-regulated exchange and clearinghouse — came through the collapse whole, their customers’ assets segregated and intact. LedgerX survived for one reason: its protections were law. Not a clever mechanism but a plain one, customer segregation a regulator required and checked, which held whether or not anyone chose to honor it once the panic set in. The unregulated part of FTX ran on promises. In one collapse, under one roof, law held and promises broke.

FTX sat offshore for a reason. For years the United States met this industry with enforcement in place of rules, and its capital and talent went where the rules were clear, to Europe, Asia, and the Gulf. The rest went where there was no real oversight, and that is the gap an exchange like FTX grows in. When Washington started to offer clarity, the firms started returning to the U.S: Nexo came back after years away, London’s Wintermute opened a New York office, and Switzerland’s Taurus set up in New York to serve its bank clients. Law protects what it can reach, and the CLARITY Act would make that migration permanent instead of leaving the next firm to choose the dark. It would make the regulated, onshore model the norm for firms such as Bullish, a NYSE-listed digital asset market infrastructure firm (and the parent company of CoinDesk) already regulated in financial centres including Frankfurt, Hong Kong and New York, now pursuing CFTC registration as a designated contract market and derivatives clearing organization.