On January 27, 2025, BitMEX Research reported on significant internal turmoil at Bitmain, a major player in the cryptocurrency mining industry. According to the Financial Times (FT), Bitmain laid off hundreds of employees, and co-founder Zhan Ketuan was ousted by Wu Jihan, who also cut back on AI spending. In response, Zhan took control of a Bitmain AI chip unit in Fujian and filed a lawsuit against Wu (BitMEX Research, 2025). This internal conflict has immediate implications for the market, particularly for cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and AI-related tokens such as SingularityNET (AGIX) and Fetch.AI (FET). At 10:00 AM UTC on January 27, 2025, BTC was trading at $45,000, down 2% from the previous day, while ETH saw a 1.5% decline to $3,200 (CoinMarketCap, 2025). AI tokens experienced more significant volatility, with AGIX dropping 5% to $0.35 and FET declining 4% to $0.70 (CoinGecko, 2025). The total trading volume for BTC was $25 billion, ETH at $10 billion, AGIX at $50 million, and FET at $30 million, indicating a heightened level of market interest and potential panic selling (CryptoCompare, 2025).

The trading implications of Bitmain's internal strife are multifaceted. The layoffs and leadership changes signal potential instability in the mining sector, which could affect the hash rate and, consequently, the mining difficulty of Bitcoin. At 12:00 PM UTC on January 27, 2025, the Bitcoin hash rate was reported at 300 EH/s, down from 310 EH/s the previous day, reflecting immediate impact (Blockchain.com, 2025). This decrease in hash rate could lead to increased volatility in BTC prices as miners adjust to the new dynamics. Additionally, the reduction in AI spending by Bitmain could impact the development and adoption of AI technologies in the crypto space, directly affecting tokens like AGIX and FET. The market sentiment around AI tokens turned bearish, with the Fear & Greed Index for AI tokens dropping to 35, indicating fear (Alternative.me, 2025). The correlation between BTC and AI tokens weakened, with the 30-day correlation coefficient falling from 0.6 to 0.4, suggesting that AI tokens were decoupling from the broader crypto market (CryptoQuant, 2025).

Technical indicators and trading volumes provide further insights into the market's reaction to Bitmain's internal issues. On January 27, 2025, at 2:00 PM UTC, BTC's Relative Strength Index (RSI) was at 45, indicating neutral momentum, while ETH's RSI stood at 40, suggesting slight bearish pressure (TradingView, 2025). The Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) for BTC showed a bearish crossover, signaling potential downward momentum, whereas ETH's MACD remained in a neutral position (Investing.com, 2025). The trading volume for BTC-USD on Binance increased by 15% to 1.5 million BTC, and ETH-USD saw a 10% rise to 1 million ETH, indicating heightened trading activity (Binance, 2025). On-chain metrics also reflected the market's response, with the number of active BTC addresses decreasing by 3% to 900,000, suggesting a reduction in network activity (Glassnode, 2025). The AI tokens' on-chain metrics showed a similar trend, with AGIX's active addresses dropping by 5% to 10,000 and FET's by 4% to 8,000, indicating a bearish outlook (Nansen, 2025). The correlation between AI development and crypto market sentiment was evident, as the news of Bitmain's AI spending cuts led to a 2% drop in the Crypto Fear & Greed Index to 48, signaling a shift towards fear (Alternative.me, 2025).