Crypto markets and infrastructure faced a mix of disruption, heavy investment and security threats. MANTRA’s token plunged to a new all-time low as its blockchain was halted over an undisclosed incident, Bitcoin miners continued shifting billions toward AI and high-performance computing, and cybersecurity researchers uncovered a phishing campaign targeting roughly 885,000 phone numbers.
MANTRA token hits record low as blockchain halts
MANTRA’s native token fell sharply, reaching a new all-time low shortly before MANTRA Chain halted block production as a precaution while investigating an unspecified incident.
According to CoinGecko data, MANTRA dropped from around $0.00506 to approximately $0.00413 before recovering toward $0.00440. The token remained down about 10% over 24 hours, while trading volume surged nearly 600% to roughly $24 million.
MANTRA said it had detected an incident affecting its network and temporarily froze all endpoints and transactions while its engineering and security teams investigated. The project said it had not yet identified the root cause or established a timeline for restoring normal operations.
The halt also affected deposits and withdrawals involving MANTRA across supported exchanges, leaving users unable to move assets through the network until further notice.
Bitcoin miners spend billions accelerating AI expansion
Bitcoin miners are increasingly turning to artificial intelligence and high-performance computing as an alternative source of revenue, but the transition is requiring substantial upfront investment.
According to BlocksBridge Consulting, nine comparable publicly traded miners spent more than $5 billion on capital expenditures during the first half of 2026 while generating approximately $341.2 million from AI and HPC operations.
The figures highlight the capital-intensive nature of the transition, with the companies spending roughly $15 on infrastructure for every dollar generated from their AI and HPC businesses.
Across a broader group of 15 Bitcoin mining and AI data-center companies, capital expenditure reached $30.7 billion during their latest reporting periods, already 42.6% above total spending recorded throughout 2025.
Revenue from the new businesses is nevertheless gaining momentum. The nine miners generated about $205.8 million in AI and HPC revenue during the second quarter, representing a 52% increase from the previous quarter.
Companies including Core Scientific, TeraWulf and Bitdeer are among those expanding into the sector. However, converting Bitcoin mining facilities into AI-ready data centers requires significant spending on power infrastructure, cooling systems, buildings, networking and, in some cases, specialized computing hardware.
The strategy offers miners a potential path to diversify beyond an increasingly competitive Bitcoin mining business, but profitability will depend on how quickly these investments translate into recurring AI infrastructure revenue.
Phishing campaign targets 885,000 phone numbers
Cybersecurity company Rapid7 has uncovered a cryptocurrency-focused phishing operation dubbed Operation Asterix, targeting approximately 885,000 phone numbers across multiple countries.
The campaign was designed to identify cryptocurrency users and direct potential victims toward fraudulent services impersonating legitimate wallet and crypto companies.
Rapid7 found that 5,576 of the targeted numbers were associated with Binance accounts and had been identified for potential attacks. Investigators also recovered phishing infrastructure and fake communications impersonating companies including Crypto.com.
The largest dataset contained more than 316,000 German mobile numbers, alongside additional lists involving targets in Hong Kong, Bulgaria, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and users associated with Ledger.
Attackers reportedly used fake support emails and phone calls to direct victims toward fraudulent applications impersonating popular hardware and software wallets, including Ledger, Trezor and Exodus. The ultimate objective was to obtain sensitive wallet information such as seed phrases and gain access to users’ crypto holdings.
Rapid7’s findings highlight the growing sophistication of crypto-focused social engineering, where attackers combine large-scale data collection, impersonation and convincing fake interfaces rather than relying solely on traditional malicious websites.
The campaign also underscores the continuing threat posed by phishing. According to Hacken, phishing and social engineering accounted for approximately $306 million of the $482 million lost across the crypto industry during the first quarter.
The bigger picture
Today’s developments highlight three different pressures facing the crypto industry: network security, infrastructure transformation and user protection. MANTRA is dealing with an unresolved network incident, Bitcoin miners are betting billions on AI infrastructure, and attackers are increasingly using sophisticated social engineering to target crypto users.
