<h2>A closer look at the firm’s thesis for next-cycle capital deployment</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>Coinbase Ventures outlines four strategic pillars for 2026 funding: RWA perpetuals, specialized exchange infrastructure, next-gen DeFi, and AI + on-chain identity.</li><li>“Perpification of everything” emerges as its highest-conviction arena, arguing perpetual markets enable exposure to assets without tokenizing them.</li><li>The firm signals that DeFi credit, privacy, Prop-AMMs, prediction-market aggregation, and proof-of-humanity tech could define the next wave of crypto growth.</li></ul><a href="https://coin360.com/review/coinbase">Coinbase</a> Ventures&nbsp;<a href="https://www.coinbase.com/blog/Coinbase-Ventures-Ideas-we-are-excited-for-in-2026">released</a> its 2026 investment outlook on November 25, 2025, describing where capital is most likely to flow over the next year and why synthetic markets, derivatives-based asset exposure, next-generation financial infrastructure, and autonomous on-chain systems represent the highest-conviction opportunities. The firm positions these priorities not as exploratory experiments but as domains where it expects the next breakthrough companies to emerge, stating directly that it is looking for founders aligned with these themes.&nbsp;Internal framing calls 2025 “one of crypto’s most important years yet,” reflecting deeper liquidity, maturing infrastructure, renewed institutional appetite, and an innovation cycle accelerating after years of structural development. Venture deployment resurged across the sector, with Q3 2025 recording roughly US$4.65 billion in funding — a 290% quarter-over-quarter increase — reinforcing the view that market readiness and capital availability are converging just as new infrastructure layers begin to demand scale.Coinbase’s clearest position centers on real-world asset perpetuals, a thesis described as the “perpification of everything,” where markets can form around data points, commodities, private equity proxies, macro indicators, or unconventional datasets without requiring traditional tokenization. Perpetual&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/futures-contracts">futures</a> are referenced as crypto’s most proven trading product and labeled structurally “faster and more flexible” than tokenization, with the argument that perpetuals enable price discovery for virtually any form of off-chain exposure. The firm divides the opportunity into two vectors: macro-level synthetic exposure — oil, inflation breakevens, volatility, credit spreads — and new market surfaces such as private company equity, alternative data streams, or niche economic metrics. The message signals a shift away from the industry’s early assumption that RWAs must first be tokenized to trade, instead suggesting synthetics may deliver scale earlier and more efficiently.Exchange and market-structure innovation appears as a second core theme, especially around proprietary&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/Automated-Market-Makers-AMMs">automated market makers</a> on networks like&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/solana-sol">Solana</a>, where liquidity providers receive protection from harmful flow and price-seeking takers. Media reporting around Coinbase’s thesis notes that Prop-AMMs accounted for 13% to 24% of Solana&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/Decentralized-Crypto-Exchange-dex">DEX</a> volume at different points in 2025, and that September marked the first month these AMMs surpassed classic designs. The firm also highlights what it views as missing infrastructure in the prediction-market sector: unified trading terminals, cross-venue routing, advanced execution types, arbitrage interfaces, and analytics layers capable of connecting fragmented liquidity across Polymarket-like platforms. A separate sub-trend involves composable&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/understanding-crypto-perpetual-futures">perpetual</a> markets able to plug into lending and collateral layers, enabling capital recycling and improved margin efficiency across protocols.Next-generation&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/decentralised-finance">DeFi</a> is treated as a structural phase shift rather than a continuation of yield-driven experimentation. Coinbase identifies unsecured on-chain credit systems as a key frontier, pairing off-chain reputation, identity signals, and verifiable behavioral history to underwrite loans without collateral. Institutional-grade privacy also stands out, with zero-knowledge, multiparty computation, homomorphic encryption, and privacy-first chain environments described as necessary infrastructure for asset managers who cannot operate transparently. The outlook suggests DeFi is evolving into a capital-market stack intended to compete with or supplant legacy rails, rather than remaining a speculative arena built around emissions and liquidity incentives.The fourth pillar intersects AI, robotics, and crypto, with the firm anticipating increasing overlap between physical-world data networks and blockchain-based incentive systems. Decentralized data collection is described as critical for training embodied AI models, particularly where robots and physical-environment interaction requires high-volume real-world input. Autonomous smart-contract agents and AI-assisted development tools appear as scaling enablers that reduce friction and expand protocol surface area. A final thread — proof-of-humanity — is flagged as a rising necessity as generative content scales, with biometric-anchored identity potentially becoming a baseline infrastructure primitive. Coinbase names&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/worldcoin-wld">Worldcoin</a> as a project already addressing the problem, while indicating an expectation that parallel frameworks will emerge as demand for authentication increases.The firm closes its note with a direct message to builders: founders working in any of these tracks are encouraged to initiate discussion, underlining that capital is actively positioned for deployment. The combination of synthetic derivatives, smarter AMMs, composable collateral systems, on-chain credit, cryptographic privacy, AI-robotics data engines, and human-verification frameworks paints a clear picture of where Coinbase believes the next institutional-scale crypto expansion will form — not only around financial tokens, but around high-bandwidth markets, autonomous computation, and identity-anchored infrastructure designed for a world where machines and markets operate in parallel.This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

Robot welds blocks, constructing next-gen trading exchange infrastructure

Coinbase Ventures Reveals 4 Key Crypto Trends to Watch in 2026

<h2>ETF Conversion Plan Highlights Rising ZEC Performance, Fund Structure, Historical Premium Gaps, and Market Risk Dynamics</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>Grayscale files to convert its Zcash Trust into a U.S. spot ETF on NYSE Arca under ticker ZCSH.</li><li>Trust holds ~394,400 ZEC valued around $199M amid a 1,000% 2025 price rally and recent 32% retrace.</li><li>Filing cites past 240% premiums, 55% discounts to NAV, arbitrage plans, and structural liquidity risks.</li></ul>Fresh registration documents&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1720265/000119312525298561/zcsh-20251126.htm">submitted</a> on November 26, 2025 show Grayscale requesting SEC approval to convert its long-running&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/zcash-zec">Zcash</a> Trust into a spot&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/zcash-zec">ZEC</a> ETF, positioning the product to list on NYSE Arca under the ticker ZCSH.&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/review/coinbase">Coinbase</a> Custody appears as the designated custodian while Coinbase also serves as prime broker and Bank of New York Mellon is listed as transfer agent and administrator. Data referenced in the filing notes roughly 394,400 ZEC held by the trust as of November 25 with an approximate valuation near $199.2 million, while separate estimates place assets closer to $196 million, giving investors a measure of scale for the proposed ETF’s collateral base. The product intends to track a ZEC&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/">crypto price</a> index, aiming to reflect underlying crypto price movement minus operational expense, though language in the document underscores there is no guarantee of perfect tracking through all market conditions.ZEC trading performance during 2025 remains one of the filing’s most influential backdrops. Chart history points to a 1,000% annual surge, followed by a recent ~40% monthly rise, but short-term cooling later cut valuations roughly 32% off the yearly peak, placing the&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/market-capitalization">market cap</a> around $8.29 billion from highs near $11.4 billion.&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/volatility">Volatility</a> persists, yet the rally aligned with rising adoption of Zcash’s privacy features, particularly shielded transaction usage that Grayscale frames as foundational to the asset’s role as a model for digital cash systems. This shift reinforces the narrative that ZEC’s identity has moved beyond speculative value storage into infrastructure-grade utility, serving a slot adjacent to&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/bitcoin-btc">Bitcoin</a>’s monetary thesis and&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/ethereum-eth">Ethereum</a>’s execution ecosystem, while remaining distinct as a privacy-first network seeking institutional recognition.<figure class="image"><img alt="Screenshot_4.png" src="https://prod-coin360-cms.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/Screenshot_4_0f38a98548.png"></figure>The Trust’s historic valuation spread provides one of the filing’s most notable disclosures. Between late 2021 and Q3 2025, Trust shares diverged materially from net asset value, at times trading at premiums as high as 240% and discounts down to 55%, with long-period averages around a 54% premium and 21% discount. Pricing as of November 21 recorded share value near $33.00, still about 31% under NAV, a core justification behind the ETF conversion proposal.&nbsp;Grayscale argues that authorized-participant creation and redemption should drive NAV-price alignment through arbitrage, though the filing states clearly that tracking efficiency depends on market liquidity, on-chain settlement continuity, and uninterrupted redemption mechanics. The document further notes that ETF trading hours limit real-time reflection of crypto price activity, since NYSE Arca operates on standard market windows while ZEC trades continuously. Off-hours price gaps may create opens that fail to reflect overnight volatility, leading to outcomes that benefit or penalize holders depending on timing.Market implications extend beyond ZEC itself. Approval could establish the first spot privacy-coin ETF in the United States, giving institutions a regulated instrument to gain exposure to an asset class often sidelined by compliance-based reluctance. The move follows Grayscale’s broader crypto-fund expansion that already includes conversions for Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other high-volume assets, signaling a strategic pathway toward regulatory-anchored diversification products.&nbsp;Whether ZCSH becomes a template for later privacy-focused ETFs hinges on structural execution, liquidity depth, and SEC posture toward shielded crypto networks. The filing describes future prospects without promotional tone, positioning ZEC as a potentially valuable diversification asset, supported by measurable coin market cap, high-volatility opportunity, and a decade-old privacy framework now stepping closer to traditional financial rails.This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

Robot unveils glowing Zcash symbol to the market, revealing privacy-focused ETF

Grayscale Seeks Approval for First U.S. Spot Zcash ETF Following a 1,000% 2025 Rally, Citing Growing Institutional Interest in Privacy-Focused Assets

<h2>Lawsuit Targets Binance Over Terror Financing Allegations Following Oct. 7 Hamas Attack</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>306 U.S. victims of the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks are suing Binance, CZ, and Heina Chen for allegedly enabling over $1B in terror-linked crypto flows.</li><li>The complaint cites pre- and post-attack transfers, weak AML/KYC, and internal messaging suggesting deliberate tolerance of illicit activity.</li><li>Plaintiffs seek ~$1B in damages, potentially tripled to ~$3B under ATA/JASTA statutes.</li></ul>A federal&nbsp;<a href="https://image.jewishinsider.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/24144541/Balva-v.-Binance-Complaint-Filed-ECF.pdf">lawsuit</a> filed November 24, 2025, in North Dakota has escalated&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/review/binance">Binance</a>’s long-standing compliance controversy into a direct terrorism-financing case, accusing the exchange and founder Changpeng Zhao of facilitating more than $1 billion in cryptocurrency flows tied to Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, and the IRGC. The 284-page filing was brought forward by 306 U.S. victims and family members of those killed, injured, or kidnapped during the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attacks, marking one of the most aggressive legal actions yet against a centralized crypto exchange under U.S. Anti-Terrorism statutes.&nbsp;The suit argues Binance not only processed illicit value transfers, but also continued enabling them after the attack, alleging more than $50 million moved to identified terror-linked wallets post-October 7. Specific breakdowns referenced across investigative documents point to over $300 million in identified transactions before the attack and another $115 million afterward through Binance-controlled wallets, a figure plaintiffs frame as evidence that intervention never meaningfully escalated.The filing pursues compensation of roughly $1 billion with treble damages under ATA/JASTA, exposing Binance to a potential ~$3 billion judgment if claims are upheld. Attorneys anchor the case to JASTA’s “knowing and substantial assistance” provision, a standard strengthened following an earlier 2025 decision in Raanan v. Binance Holdings Ltd., where a federal judge declined to dismiss ATA aiding-and-abetting claims. Legal observers note this new lawsuit leverages that precedent more aggressively by blending analytic tracing, Binance compliance logs, internal operational detail, and architecture-level critique.&nbsp;Plaintiffs argue the exchange operated as “core infrastructure” for illicit capital flow through the use of omnibus wallets, internal off-chain ledgering, and alleged VIP exemptions, creating conditions where terror-linked funds could circulate without exposure to blockchain-level scrutiny. The complaint references compliance alerts where staff reportedly flagged accounts tied to terrorist financing but, according to plaintiffs, platform leadership failed to respond effectively. Cited internal messages claim employees acknowledged that “clients are here for crime” and that compliance concerns were knowingly deprioritized, statements the accusers characterize as proof of intent.The case names Zhao and Binance executive Guangying “Heina” Chen directly, alongside the company itself. It arrives two years after Binance’s $4.32 billion settlement with U.S. authorities in 2023 and Zhao’s brief four-month sentence, later followed by a presidential pardon, and signals that regulatory resolutions did not fully close the venue on criminal-adjacency allegations. Legal representation includes Willkie Farr &amp; Gallagher, with former CFTC chair Christopher Giancarlo and senior partner Lee Wolosky guiding the action, an indication that the plaintiffs are positioning the matter not as a symbolic filing but as a potential landmark precedent to redefine responsibility for centralized platforms handling high-risk global flows.&nbsp;Observers speculate that if the case reaches discovery,&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/crypto-wallets">wallet</a> architecture, KYC exemptions, transaction-layer routing systems, and Binance’s growth-era engineering decisions may be scrutinized as possible enablers of terrorism financing. Much remains unresolved — the accusations still require demonstration of conscious participation, jurisdictional challenges are expected, and the multi-year litigation horizon means no outcome is near — yet the scale of the claim, both financially and legally, puts the exchange and the wider industry under uncommon pressure.The lawsuit stands positioned as a stress fracture that could influence how risk, ledger design, and compliance are engineered across centralized markets going forward. Exchanges with internal pooling models may face heightened liability exposure if courts determine such systems materially obscure traceability or enable sanctioned recipients. A successful case could redefine what “knowingly” means for platforms operating at the pace of global liquidity — and place every major exchange on notice that missteps in monitoring are not just regulatory headaches but potentially billion-dollar civil threats tied to international conflict.This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

Robot stands under a crashing gavel, symbolizing the heavy lawsuit allegations

Binance and CZ Sued for Allegedly Facilitating Over $1B in Hamas-Linked Crypto Transfers

<h2>Regulated Market Entry Meets Rising Concerns Over Retail Leverage</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>Polymarket secures CFTC approval to re-enter the U.S. through regulated intermediaries after acquiring QCEX for roughly $112 million.</li><li>User activity surges past 1.3 million traders and more than $18 billion volume, while valuation talks reportedly reach up to $12 billion.</li><li>Bank of America warns of “credit-fueled gambling” as prediction markets expand, underscoring systemic risks despite institutional interest.</li></ul>Polymarket’s long-anticipated return to the United States has taken a decisive step forward after receiving formal Commodity&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/futures-contract">Futures</a> Trading Commission clearance on November 25, 2025, enabling the platform to operate through regulated brokerages and&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/futures-contracts">futures</a> commission merchants. The&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/DustinGouker/status/1993343688920236117">approval</a> signals the first time an on-chain prediction market has been integrated into a federally supervised framework of this structure, allowing U.S. customers to participate under the oversight normally reserved for traditional derivatives venues.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img alt="tweet_1993343688920236117_20251126_053014_via_10015_io_11zon.jpg" src="https://prod-coin360-cms.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/tweet_1993343688920236117_20251126_053014_via_10015_io_11zon_46c05deda3.jpg"></figure>The company spent months upgrading surveillance systems, reporting tools, and internal risk controls to meet regulatory standards, marking a dramatic pivot from its earlier enforcement run-ins that resulted in a U.S. ban and a $1.4 million penalty. Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan described the agency’s engagement as “impressive work,” noting the approval was completed in “record timing,” while the move positions the company to unlock institutional liquidity previously blocked from touching the platform.A strategic acquisition underpins the re-entry. Polymarket purchased U.S.-licensed derivatives exchange and clearinghouse QCEX for about $112 million, a deal that laid the regulatory foundation for intermediated access and gave the company a compliant operational base. This expansion comes amid rapid platform growth. Monthly cumulative activity as of September reached roughly $17 billion in volume, while overall historical volume exceeded $18 billion. Trader counts surpassed 1.3 million with daily active users rising from about 20,000 to nearly 58,000 over recent months, illustrating a shift from niche speculation to mainstream participation.&nbsp;Private valuation discussions reportedly target as high as $12 billion, further amplified by an earlier investment arrangement valuing the firm around $8 billion through a stake purchased by Intercontinental Exchange. These metrics have fueled speculation that prediction markets could emerge as a new financial category rivaling traditional polling and, as some analysts quoted in recent coverage claim, potentially “bigger than the stock market one day” if institutional flows deepen.Momentum has not overshadowed the warnings. Bank of America issued a pointed&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-11-25/bank-of-america-warns-of-mounting-credit-risks-as-gambling-booms?taid=6925feacf3d5e40001a5511e">caution</a> on November 25, outlining growing concerns that prediction markets may accelerate credit-driven speculative behavior as access widens, especially if user borrowing becomes intertwined with high-frequency event wagering. The bank’s assessment described a mounting risk of “credit-fueled gambling,” arguing that the blend of prediction markets and easy access to borrowed funds could mirror gambling dynamics rather than hedging or data-driven forecasting.&nbsp;The tension between rapid institutionalization and emerging consumer-risk alarms reflects a sector standing at a pivot point. Polymarket’s CFTC green light marks a turning point for regulated on-chain forecasting markets, though the same expansion is prompting scrutiny over leverage, retail exposure, and the blurred line between financial product and entertainment-driven speculation.This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

Robot steps through CFTC approved archway, leading the prediction market

Polymarket Gains CFTC Approval as Bank of America Flags Credit-Fueled Prediction Market Risks

<h2>Updated Filing Signals Caution Amid Uncertain SEC Policy Toward BNB</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>VanEck’s amended S-1 for its spot BNB ETF removes all staking features and stresses regulatory uncertainty around BNB.</li><li>The firm warns the ETF may face dissolution if BNB is deemed a security, despite past court decisions on secondary sales.</li><li>The updated filing positions VBNB for Nasdaq listing while signaling a more conservative path than VanEck’s staking-enabled SOL ETF.</li></ul>VanEck’s newest <a href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/2066824/000162828025053634/vaneckbnbs-1a2.htm">S-1 amendment</a> for its proposed spot&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/binance-coin-bnb">BNB</a> exchange-traded fund lays out a markedly more cautious stance than its original May 2025 filing, stripping out every reference to staking and making clear the product will launch without any yield-generating features. The filing, submitted around November 21, positions the “VBNB” ETF for listing on Nasdaq and underscores that the trust “will not employ its BNB in&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/DeFi-Staking">Staking</a> Activities and accordingly will not earn any form of staking rewards or income of any kind.” The document adds that “there can be no assurance that the Trust will engage in any Staking Activities,” signaling that even future activation is uncertain. The reversal contrasts with the earlier version that allowed for staking “from time to time” through selected providers, a shift that reflects the firm’s new risk posture around an asset that remains entangled with regulatory overhang despite its size on major&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/">crypto price</a> index dashboards.VanEck frames the decision as a response to ongoing ambiguity about BNB’s legal status, explicitly acknowledging that the trust may be forced to dissolve or cease operations if the SEC or a federal court determines that BNB is a security. This caution persists even after a U.S. federal judge ruled in July 2024 that secondary sales of BNB did not constitute securities transactions, a nuance the filing notes while stressing that regulatory outcomes remain unpredictable. The updated language highlights the SEC’s past classification of dozens of digital assets—including BNB—during its 2023 actions against&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/review/binance">Binance</a> and its U.S. affiliate, amplifying operational risks tied to the network’s history. VanEck warns that prohibiting staking “could negatively affect the value of the Shares,” acknowledging that ETF performance may lag direct BNB holdings if staking rewards continue to influence crypto price movements.The filing reiterates structural details of the ETF, designed to hold physical BNB and track the MarketVector BNB Index, adding a potential milestone for the broader market if regulators approve the first U.S. spot BNB product. Such approval would open regulated brokerage and retirement-account pathways for the fifth-largest cryptocurrency by coin&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/market-capitalization">market cap</a>, a significant expansion for BNB’s investor base. The firm, which oversaw roughly $78 billion across 69 ETFs earlier in 2025, positions VBNB alongside its existing spot&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/bitcoin-btc">Bitcoin</a> and&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/ethereum-eth">Ethereum</a> ETFs while adopting a more conservative format than its&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/solana-sol">Solana</a> ETF, which does allow staking. Commentary cited around the filing captures that sentiment, with one observer noting that “TradFi admitting BNB is too big to ignore” shows how fast&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/altcoin">altcoins</a> migrate from niche trading assets to institutional allocation targets as spot ETFs broaden across the market.The amendment also acknowledges the opportunity cost created by avoiding staking from launch, hinting at a possible “opt-in later” model if U.S. policy matures. VanEck leaves the door open to activating staking through a future prospectus supplement once regulatory clarity improves, though no timeframe is suggested. The timing aligns with a broader wave of altcoin ETFs gaining traction in the United States—from&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/xrp-xrp">XRP</a> to&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/dogecoin-doge">DOGE</a>—as regulators tolerate a wider set of assets in ETF wrappers. For BNB, the updated filing reflects a balancing act: gaining U.S. ETF legitimacy while minimizing regulatory triggers that could stall or block approval. The narrative emerging from the amendment signals a strategic trade-off—prioritizing a cleaner regulatory profile over yield-enhancing mechanics—as crypto price and coin market cap metrics increasingly intertwine with ETF flows and institutional exposure.This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

Robot balances heavy crypto asset against legal risks and staking removal

VanEck Drops Staking From Proposed BNB ETF as Regulatory Pressure Mounts

<h2>Banking Giant Explores Blockchain Rails With Compliance-Ready Controls</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>U.S. Bancorp, the fifth-largest U.S. bank, is testing a dollar-backed stablecoin on the Stellar blockchain.</li><li>The pilot emphasizes bank-grade controls such as transaction freezing, unwinding, and strict KYC requirements.</li><li>Stellar’s low-cost, high-uptime settlement layer and PwC’s involvement signal a serious institutional push into tokenized money.</li></ul>U.S. Bancorp has&nbsp;<a href="https://stellar.org/blog/ecosystem/u-s-bank-is-testing-custom-stablecoin-issuance-on-the-stellar-network">begun testing</a> a dollar-backed stablecoin on the&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/stellar-lumens-xlm">Stellar</a> network, a move disclosed on November 25, 2025, that positions the country’s fifth-largest bank firmly inside the accelerating race toward tokenized banking infrastructure. The pilot is part of a broader initiative inside the institution’s digital-assets and money-movement division, built to explore how regulated banks can issue programmable deposits and move client funds over blockchain rails with the same control, reversibility, and oversight expected from traditional banking systems. The bank, with more than $671 billion in assets, is treating the test as a potential extension of its long-standing payments business rather than a speculative crypto experiment.Mike Villano, the bank’s senior vice president and head of digital asset products, underscored that the project is driven by compliance and operational safeguards rather than novelty. He explained that any tokenized dollar offered by a regulated institution must support “know-your-customer” requirements, as well as the “ability to unwind transactions” and “claw back transactions,” a standard not typically built into most market-dominant fintech&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/stablecoin">stablecoins</a>. Villano said Stellar was chosen after the bank confirmed the network’s “base operating layer” enables freezing assets and reversing transfers when necessary—controls that align with how banks manage errors, disputes, or fraud in legacy systems. These features allow U.S. Bancorp to experiment with digital-asset issuance without compromising risk frameworks or customer-protection obligations.Stellar’s infrastructure plays a central role in the effort, offering settlement times of roughly three to five seconds and transaction fees measured in fractions of a U.S. cent. The Stellar Development Foundation, which reports 99.99% uptime across more than a decade of network activity and billions in annual payment volume, described the pilot as a demonstration of how mature public blockchains can handle mission-critical financial operations. José Fernández da Ponte, the foundation’s president and chief growth officer, noted that financial institutions depend on absolute infrastructure reliability, adding that SDF takes the bank’s trust “very, very seriously.” The partnership also includes PwC, reinforcing that the pilot is being developed inside a heavily audited, fully supervised environment rather than the lightweight model favored by early crypto-native issuers.The bank’s initiative signals a shift in competitive dynamics within the stablecoin market, where fintech issuers have dominated despite carrying none of the institutional protections demanded of federally regulated banks. A bank-issued stablecoin with built-in compliance controls, integrated auditability, and traditional deposit backing introduces a distinct category of tokenized dollars that could appeal to enterprises requiring predictable oversight, reversible settlement, and compatibility with existing treasury workflows. Corporate clients stand to benefit from faster settlement cycles, 24/7 domestic and cross-border transfers, reduced payment friction, and potential integration with tokenized cash-management tools—although the bank has not yet confirmed whether the product will be offered to the public or restricted to internal testing and institutional use cases.U.S. Bancorp has not provided a launch timeline, and the pilot remains exploratory while regulatory conversations around tokenized bank liabilities continue to evolve. Internal commentary suggests that institutional demand for crypto custody is stronger than appetite for blockchain-based payments at this stage, and the bank acknowledges that monetization and product design will depend on how regulators classify and supervise stablecoin-style assets issued by banks. Even so, the move places U.S. Bancorp alongside financial heavyweights experimenting with blockchain-powered payments, a trend gaining momentum as institutions search for faster, programmable, and interoperable settlement infrastructure.The project arrives as stablecoins face heightened scrutiny from central banks, with policymakers warning about systemic spillover risks if tokenized money grows without clear regulatory boundaries. U.S. Bancorp’s approach—slow, compliance-first, and built on a public blockchain rather than a proprietary ledger—signals that the next phase of institutional stablecoins will prioritize governance guarantees over speculative adoption. The test represents more than just another stablecoin trial; it marks a structural step toward integrating traditional banking controls into open blockchain ecosystems, shaping the groundwork for how tokenized deposits and regulated digital money could operate at scale.This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

Robot launches tethered stablecoin rocket from bank fortress pilot platform

U.S. Bancorp Pilots Dollar-Backed Stablecoin on Stellar as Major Banks Push Into Tokenized Finance

<h2>Initial Deployment Marks Half of Authorized Treasury Allocation as Bitcoin Strategy Rolls Out</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>Texas purchased $5 million in Bitcoin on Nov. 20 via BlackRock’s IBIT ETF, not the full $10 million previously reported.</li><li>Lawmakers approved a $10 million allocation, but only half has been deployed while custody and infrastructure plans continue.</li><li>The Strategic Bitcoin Reserve officially launched with this first transaction, establishing Texas as the first U.S. state with a BTC reserve.</li></ul>Texas has confirmed that its inaugural&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/bitcoin-btc">Bitcoin</a> transaction totaled $5 million, not the previously assumed $10 million, after an update from Texas&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/blockchain">Blockchain</a> Council president Lee Bratcher&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/lee_bratcher/status/1993392123316781364?s=20">clarified</a> that half of the state’s authorized allocation has been deployed instead. The Nov. 20 purchase was executed through BlackRock’s IBIT spot Bitcoin ETF at an average entry price of roughly $87,000 per coin, giving the state a regulated and transparent exposure method while long-term custody architecture is being finalized. This marks the operational beginning of the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, the first state-backed&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/bitcoin-btc">BTC</a> reserve in the United States, launched at a time when the&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/">crypto price</a> index continues to shape financial strategy debates across public and private institutions.<figure class="image"><img alt="twittershots-lee_bratcher-1993392123316781364_11zon.jpg" src="https://prod-coin360-cms.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/twittershots_lee_bratcher_1993392123316781364_11zon_0604be520d.jpg"></figure>Bratcher noted that the full $10 million allocation approved by lawmakers remains intact, with only $5 million executed so far as the state builds out the necessary security, storage, and governance framework for direct Bitcoin self-custody. His clarification reshaped early assumptions about the scale of the initial transaction, underscoring that the reserve is being deployed in phases rather than through a single allocation event. The state’s intention to move from ETF exposure to full self-custody signals a strategic, long-horizon approach to digital asset integration rather than one tied to short-term movements in crypto price or fluctuations in coin&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/market-capitalization">market cap</a> positioning. That shift toward direct control reflects Texas’ broader ambition to develop sovereign digital-asset capabilities that complement its traditional treasury structure.Legislation passed earlier this year provided the legal basis for treating Bitcoin as a strategic reserve asset, enabling Texas to initiate the program once acquisition pathways and risk safeguards were approved. The first $5 million deployment formally activates the reserve and sets a precedent that other jurisdictions are now watching closely, particularly as Bitcoin becomes increasingly intertwined with macroeconomic discussions and the evolving crypto price index. Even with only half of the allocated funds currently invested, Texas has taken a definitive step into digital reserve management, positioning itself at the forefront of a financial shift that could influence how governments handle decentralized assets as the coin market cap landscape continues to evolve across the broader economy.This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

Robot strategizes over map highlighting the state's leadership in crypto adoption

Texas Confirms $5M Bitcoin Purchase as State Launches First Strategic BTC Reserve in the U.S.

<h2>Crypto–Banking Tensions Escalate as Political Fallout, Market Reactions, and Security Failures Converge</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>JPMorgan’s closure of Strike CEO Jack Mallers’ accounts, MSTR-related research notes, and a $134M MSTR share sale stoke allegations of anti-crypto bias.</li><li>Political figures and crypto advocates amplify criticism as fears of MSCI index exclusion and forced outflows mount.</li><li>A separate U.S. bank data breach intensifies concerns about TradFi security, prompting renewed debate on privacy and digital-asset resilience.</li></ul>A cascade of controversies surrounding JPMorgan has placed the bank at the center of a widening confrontation between traditional finance and the digital-asset sector. Strike CEO Jack Mallers&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/jackmallers/status/1992623545571279219">disclosed</a> that JPMorgan shut down his personal accounts in early September 2025, saying the bank cited unspecified “concerning activity” under Bank Secrecy Act monitoring.&nbsp;<figure class="image image_resized" style="width:100%;"><img alt="tweet_1992623545571279219_20251125_185443_via_10015_io_11zon.jpg" src="https://prod-coin360-cms.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/tweet_1992623545571279219_20251125_185443_via_10015_io_11zon_b888cc17ee.jpg"></figure>The closure letter, dated September 2 and posted online by Mallers—who framed it and referred to the moment as a “proud” one—rekindled long-running fears of selective debanking targeting crypto-aligned companies. His response doubled as a statement that he relies on his own firm’s&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/bitcoin-btc">Bitcoin</a>-based payments infrastructure in the absence of a traditional banking option.&nbsp;The episode ignited immediate backlash among Bitcoin advocates and U.S. lawmakers, including Senator Cynthia Lummis, who&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/SenLummis/status/1992967347431223654">argued</a> publicly that “Operation Chokepoint 2.0 regrettably lives on,” asserting that such actions undermine faith in the U.S. banking system and push the digital-asset sector abroad. Social debates accelerated further when users circulated claims that Mallers’ case reflected persistent bias against Bitcoin executives during a period when the&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/">crypto price</a> index and broader coin&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/market-capitalization">market cap</a> were already volatile.<figure class="image"><img alt="tweet_1992967347431223654_20251125_185839_via_10015_io_11zon.jpg" src="https://prod-coin360-cms.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/tweet_1992967347431223654_20251125_185839_via_10015_io_11zon_76f5248d28.jpg"></figure>An overlapping flashpoint emerged from JPMorgan’s recent&nbsp;<a href="https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2025/11/20/jpmorgan-warns-msci-decision-could-force-strategy-out-of-top-equity-indices">research note</a> analyzing Strategy, the corporate successor to MicroStrategy and the largest public holder of Bitcoin. The bank warned that updated MSCI USA Index eligibility rules taking effect on January 15, 2026, could bar companies with more than half of their assets in digital currencies—a threshold Strategy easily surpasses. JPMorgan estimated potential forced outflows of roughly $2.8 billion if MSCI removes the stock and as much as $8.8 billion if other index providers adopt similar criteria. The note landed at a moment of market fragility: Strategy’s shares had already dropped 69% from their prior-year high of $543, Bitcoin was trading near $86,000 following a decline of more than 30% from its peak, and nearly $1 trillion had evaporated from the crypto market cap over the prior month.&nbsp;Analysts and social-media commentators questioned whether the timing of JPMorgan’s assessment might amplify existing downside pressures, pointing to expanding share-lending activity and unconfirmed rumors of large short positions against the stock. Some argued that a 40–50% rebound in MSTR could trigger a short squeeze severe enough to inflict substantial losses on any major institution betting against it. Prominent Bitcoin supporters drew explicit comparisons to past episodes like the GameStop rebellion, with critics linking the MSCI risk, alleged short positioning, and the bank’s historical controversies into a single storyline of institutional hostility toward crypto exposure.Fuel poured onto the fire after reports showed JPMorgan had&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/BTCtreasuries/status/1992923990923620795">sold</a> 772,453 shares of Strategy—worth roughly $134 million—during a period of heavy drawdowns for the stock.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img alt="tweet_1992923990923620795_20251125_201701_via_10015_io_11zon.jpg" src="https://prod-coin360-cms.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/tweet_1992923990923620795_20251125_201701_via_10015_io_11zon_ea2f3a1a75.jpg"></figure>Market analysts described the move as likely a portfolio-rebalancing decision rather than a directional bet on crypto price movements, but the timing still fueled perceptions of coordinated skepticism toward Bitcoin-leveraged equities. Real-estate investor Grant Cardone&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/GrantCardone/status/1992701676122485199">announced</a> he had closed his JPMorgan accounts and moved funds elsewhere, echoing calls from other crypto figures urging customers to abandon the bank. Public posts alleging a wave of account closures proliferated on social platforms, though the actual scale remains unclear.&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/xrp-xrp">XRP</a> and Bitcoin advocates, including attorney John Deaton and broadcaster Max Keiser, amplified these sentiments, tying the MSCI issue and Mallers’ account shutdown to broader claims that traditional institutions remain adversarial toward digital-asset adoption.A parallel crisis widened scrutiny of the banking sector when a cyber intrusion at technology vendor SitusAMC compromised sensitive data tied to major U.S. banks—including JPMorgan, Citi, and Morgan Stanley. The breach, discovered after a November 12 attack, exposed corporate documents, accounting records, and legal contracts processed on behalf of multiple financial institutions. SitusAMC reported no encrypting malware was used and said systems were stabilized while law-enforcement agencies, including the FBI, were notified.&nbsp;The revelation intensified public questions about the resilience of centralized financial infrastructure, especially as crypto advocates pointed to the irony of banks cutting off Bitcoin firms while facing operational exposure through third-party data systems.&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/ethereum-eth">Ethereum</a> co-founder Vitalik Buterin weighed in with the remark, “Privacy is not a feature. Privacy is hygiene,” framing the breach as an example of structural vulnerabilities in legacy institutions. His comments coincided with the rollout of Kohaku, a privacy-first toolkit designed to embed confidentiality into blockchain architecture by default, including tools that obscure&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/crypto-wallets">wallet</a> balances through systems like&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/railgun-rail">Railgun</a>. Buterin also reiterated his warning that growing institutional involvement in Ethereum governance could pressure developers or incentivize protocol changes misaligned with long-term neutrality.<figure class="image"><img alt="tweet_1992732552814305728_20251125_204421_via_10015_io_11zon.jpg" src="https://prod-coin360-cms.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/tweet_1992732552814305728_20251125_204421_via_10015_io_11zon_67a6db7c65.jpg"></figure>The convergence of these events has sharpened the contrast between traditional financial controls and the crypto sector’s emphasis on transparency, custody, and architectural privacy. Debanking concerns surrounding Mallers, forced-outflow risks linked to MSCI’s index methodology, aggressive short-position allegations, and institutional trading decisions are colliding with a broader debate about the security of centralized data systems. The collision is unfolding against volatile market conditions, where the crypto price index and overall coin market cap continue to shift amid policy uncertainty and macroeconomic tension, adding another layer of sensitivity to how financial institutions navigate their relationship with digital assets.This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

Robot balances on falling stock chart facing MSCI index exclusion risk

JPMorgan Faces Intensifying Scrutiny Over Strike Debanking, MSTR Sell-Off, Index Risks, and U.S. Bank Data Breach

<h2>Public Token Sale Structure, Market Whiplash, and Early Distribution Shape MON’s Launch Narrative</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>Monad’s mainnet launch and $269M token sale reshaped market attention around new Layer-1 valuations and lock-up schedules.</li><li>MON opened trading with a sharp early dip, then reversed into a ~46% climb after allocation distribution.</li><li>A 100B-token supply, a 50.6% lock-up, and an oversubscribed retail-weighted sale set the tone for future liquidity, governance, and the chain’s coin market cap trajectory.</li></ul>Monad’s public mainnet activated on November 24, 2025, right as the project’s 100-billion-token economy went live after one of the largest retail-oriented sales in recent memory. The rollout combined aggressive&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/tokenomics">tokenomics</a>, an unusually “small-bid-first” distribution model on&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/review/coinbase">Coinbase</a>’s new&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/news/coinbase-monad-token-sale-platform-launch">token-sales platform</a>, and a heavy locked-supply architecture that immediately set expectations for how MON would behave once price discovery began across major exchanges.The sale window opened on November 17 and ran through November 22, targeting roughly $187 million in allocations at $0.025 per token. Early data showed a burst of enthusiasm—around $43 million arrived in the first half hour—yet momentum faded fast, with only about 45% of the target filled six hours into the sale. That slowdown raised concerns about undersubscription until the final hour reversal pushed participation to roughly 85,820 buyers and total commitments to an estimated $269 million, translating to a 1.43× oversubscription ratio. Monad’s team framed the retail-heavy structure as intentional, noting that the “filling from the bottom” algorithm prioritized small participants over&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/whale">whales</a> to widen community distribution.<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/mainnet">Mainnet</a> went live with a circulating landscape shaped heavily by lock-ups: 50.6% of all MON—about 50.6 billion tokens—remains locked until the second half of 2026, with linear unlocks stretching into 2029. Team, investor, and treasury allocations fall entirely under these cliffs and vesting schedules. Meanwhile, roughly 49.4 billion tokens entered the unlocked supply at launch, comprising a 7.5-billion-token public sale allocation, a 3.3-billion-token airdrop, and about 38.5 billion tokens earmarked for ecosystem development, grants, and delegated staking.The network positioned itself as an&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/ethereum-virtual-machine">EVM</a>-compatible Layer-1 focused on optimistic parallel execution, pipelined consensus, and a custom database architecture supporting sub-second block times. Testnet data previously highlighted throughput peaking beyond 10,000 transactions per second. At genesis, multiple major applications and infrastructure providers were already integrated, including wallets such as&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/review/metamask">MetaMask</a> and&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/review/phantom">Phantom</a>, DEXs like&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/uniswap-uni">Uniswap</a> and Curve, and&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/stablecoin">stablecoins</a> including&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/usd-coin-usdc">USDC</a>, USDT0, and AUSD. Base fees incorporate a burn mechanism intended to provide long-term supply pressure, while early liquidity programs launched with products such as Magma staking and its corresponding gMON liquid staking token.MON’s&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/">crypto price</a> behavior reflected the tension between broad retail distribution and the market’s interpretation of its fully-diluted valuation. With a 100-billion supply priced at $0.025, the project entered trading with a fully diluted coin&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/market-capitalization">market cap</a> of roughly $2.5 billion—a level more typical of late-stage ecosystems than fresh mainnets. Initial market trading brought a sharp early dip before supply absorption steadied and MON climbed approximately 46% as sale buyers received their allocations. The recovery signaled resilience but also revealed how sensitive early price action remains to unlock expectations, given the massive tranche of supply scheduled to enter circulation between 2026 and 2029.Stakeholder commentary centered on builder experience and distribution philosophy. Co-founder Keone Hon emphasized Monad’s goal to avoid forcing developers to choose between speed and usability, calling the chain’s architecture a direct attempt to merge both without abandoning existing EVM tooling. He also praised Coinbase’s allocation algorithm for giving the project “access to users the team wants to engage and re-activate,” highlighting the strategic intent behind favoring smaller bids.The broader market narrative now hinges on whether Monad can convert its launch momentum into sustained developer traction and whether its crypto price index reactions remain stable as the ecosystem begins deploying the 38.5-billion-token growth pool. A retail-heavy sale, aggressive technical claims around high-speed execution, and one of the largest supply lock-ups in recent L1 history have put MON under immediate scrutiny. Unlock timing, validator distribution, and real-world throughput will shape the next phase of sentiment far more than the early bounce in crypto price, making the coming months a defining period for how investors interpret Monad’s long-term viability and market positioning.This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

Robot balances on platform during volatile market price recovery

Monad Mainnet Debuts With $269M Token Sale, Heavy Lock-Ups, and a Volatile First Trading Session

<h2>Alt-Coin ETFs Attract Heavy Volumes, Fee Waivers, and Market Attention as Trading Begins</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>Grayscale launched spot XRP (GXRP) and Dogecoin (GDOG) ETFs on NYSE Arca on Nov. 24, 2025, marking a major expansion of U.S. regulated alt-coin ETFs.</li><li>Franklin Templeton debuted its competing XRP ETF, XRPZ, the same day, triggering sharp moves in crypto price, derivatives volume, and coin market cap metrics.</li><li>Fee waivers, surging trading volumes, and renewed institutional competition signaled a new phase for alt-coin products beyond Bitcoin and Ether.</li></ul>UPDATE: The spot DOGE ETF by Grayscale Investments debut only drew about $1.41 million in secondary trading volume but recorded $0 net inflows (i.e., no authorized-participant creations) on its first day. Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas had projected up to <a href="https://twitter.com/EricBalchunas/status/1993310328554504432">~$12 million</a> in first-day volume, but with this performance, it failed to live up to expectations.Grayscale Investments pushed the U.S. market into new territory on November 24, 2025, with the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2025/11/24/3193558/0/en/Grayscale-Investments-Launches-Grayscale-XRP-Trust-ETF-Ticker-GXRP-on-NYSE-Arca.html">debut</a> of two spot cryptocurrency ETFs on NYSE Arca: GXRP, backed by&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/xrp-xrp">XRP</a>, and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2025/11/24/3193483/0/en/Grayscale-Dogecoin-Trust-ETF-Ticker-GDOG-Begins-Trading-on-NYSE-Arca-as-First-Dogecoin-ETP-in-the-U-S.html">GDOG</a>, backed by&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/dogecoin-doge">Dogecoin</a>. The launch converted the firm’s long-running private trusts into fully regulated exchange-traded funds and came with a promotional 0% management fee for three months or until the funds reach $1 billion in assets, after which fees revert to 0.35% annually. GXRP opened with custody managed by&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/review/coinbase">Coinbase</a> Custody and held roughly 6 million XRP, valued at $11.67 million as of November 21. The move represented one of the largest expansions of regulated alt-coin exposure since spot&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/bitcoin-btc">Bitcoin</a> and&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/ethereum-eth">Ether</a> products went mainstream earlier in the cycle.Franklin Templeton’s competing product, XRPZ, also&nbsp;<a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20251124259829/en/Franklin-Templeton-Launches-Franklin-XRP-ETF-XRPZ">went live</a> the same day with a sharply lower long-term fee structure. The fund charges 0.19%, though all fees on the first $5 billion in assets are waived through May 31, 2026. Franklin Templeton’s head of ETF product and development, David Mann, said the launch offers investors a regulated channel to access a digital asset “that plays a foundational role in global settlement infrastructure,” framing XRPZ as a bridge between traditional markets and emerging blockchain-based payment rails. Trading opened with 768,692 shares exchanged in XRPZ early in the session, while broader XRP derivatives volume had already climbed 51%, reaching $12.74 billion ahead of the listing. Dogecoin derivatives rose 30%, touching $7.22 billion, underscoring how speculation built rapidly before the ETFs hit the tape.<figure class="image"><img src="https://prod-coin360-cms.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/etf_launch_date_f644fdc316.webp" alt="etf launch date.webp"></figure>Market reaction unfolded quickly across key metrics. XRP rose roughly 8.94% over 24 hours, supported by a 63% jump in daily trading volume to more than $6.3 billion, while broader&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/">crypto price</a> activity reflected a rotation into assets tied directly to newly listed ETFs. Dogecoin saw an uptick in liquidity as GDOG established itself as one of the first regulated U.S. spot ETFs tied to a meme-coin asset. Shifts across the crypto price index and coin&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/market-capitalization">market cap</a> data highlighted a measurable effect on investor positioning, particularly among traders moving from offshore venues into U.S. brokerage channels that do not require wallets or private-key management.<figure class="image"><img src="https://prod-coin360-cms.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/Screenshot_3_e285830c3b.png" alt="Screenshot_3.png"></figure>Competitive pressures intensified further as analysts pointed to rising institutional flows. One notable development came from Bitwise, which reported $118 million in inflows into its own XRP-related product during the week leading into launch. Analysts widely interpreted the fee wars between Grayscale and Franklin Templeton as a signal that issuers expect meaningful long-term demand for regulated access to XRP, Dogecoin, and potentially other alt-coins once pending listings, such as Grayscale’s planned GLNK product, clear final approvals. The day also renewed attention on the regulatory path that opened the door for these ETFs, arriving roughly five years after the SEC’s lawsuit against&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/xrp-xrp">Ripple</a> was formally resolved through a $125 million settlement, clearing the way for broader institutional participation.The concurrent rollout of spot XRP and Dogecoin ETFs created a rare synchronized event for the alt-coin sector, pushing attention across crypto price behavior, derivatives markets, and coin market cap rankings. The trading debut demonstrated that investor appetite has expanded well beyond Bitcoin and Ether, particularly as zero-fee periods and custody-backed structures lower barriers for traditional brokerage clients. It also marked the strongest signal yet that regulated alt-coin ETF infrastructure is moving into its next phase, driven by liquidity incentives, lower fees, and intensifying competition among major U.S. asset managers.This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

Robot pushes crypto ETF cart in a race, symbolizing market competition

Grayscale and Franklin Templeton Launch Competing Spot XRP and Dogecoin ETFs on NYSE Arca

Coin360 weekly crypto news, cryptocurrency updates, market movement

Coin360 weekly crypto news

Coin360 Weekly Dispatch | Crypto Market Updates & Highlights | November 16 - November 22, 2025

<h2>Federal Investigation Zeroes In on Foreign-Made ASIC Rigs and Critical-Infrastructure Risks</h2>Federal officials are expanding a quiet but far-reaching&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-11-21/chinese-manufacturer-bitmain-faces-us-security-review">investigation</a> into whether&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/bitcoin-btc">Bitcoin</a>-mining machines made by China’s Bitmain could expose U.S. energy grids and critical infrastructure to hidden operational risks. The multi-agency review, known internally as Operation Red Sunset, has been running for months under the Department of Homeland Security with policy coordination from the National Security Council, according to documents and investigators familiar with the matter. Officials confirm the inquiry traces back to a prior federal assessment that flagged mining equipment deployed near a U.S. military installation and described several “significant national security concerns,” prompting a deeper inspection of imported hardware, firmware, and supply-chain provenance.Federal teams have paused multiple shipments of Bitmain rigs at U.S. ports, disassembled machines for forensic chip-level analysis, and examined firmware architectures for latent remote-access pathways. Senate Intelligence Committee materials from July referenced “disturbing vulnerabilities” discovered during an earlier review and warned that devices positioned near strategic infrastructure could be susceptible to remote manipulation from overseas technicians. The concerns map directly to Washington’s shifting view of Bitcoin mining as an energy-intensive digital industry intertwined with physical grid stability rather than a purely commercial activity.Bitmain rejects any suggestion of covert access capabilities, labeling the allegations “unequivocally false” and stating that it maintains strict compliance with U.S. regulations. The company also said it had no prior knowledge of the ongoing inquiry. Despite that response, regulators are evaluating a wide set of contingencies that range from enhanced customs screening and mandatory firmware audits to potential restrictions on future imports should the investigation escalate. Industry analysts warn that such measures could carry heavy consequences for U.S. miners given Bitmain’s dominant market position and the concentration of supply around a handful of Chinese manufacturers.Market-structure data referenced in the broader coverage place Bitmain’s share of the global Bitcoin ASIC sector at more than 80%, with combined concentration across Bitmain and MicroBT reaching roughly 97%. That level of dependence has become a geopolitical liability for domestic operators, particularly as mining facilities increasingly cluster near substations and power-dense regions connected to state and federal infrastructure. Some operators now face heightened scrutiny over past procurement decisions, including a roughly $314 million purchase of about 16,000 Bitmain machines by American Bitcoin Corp., a mining venture linked to the family of former President Donald Trump. The acquisition intensified questions about the overlap between political influence, regulatory posture, and hardware sourcing in a sector already under policy pressure.Regulators and security analysts describe the current probe as part of a broader recalibration of how the U.S. treats imported digital-infrastructure components. Crypto-mining hardware, once viewed as commodity computing equipment, is increasingly assessed through the same lens as telecommunications gear, satellite systems, and industrial-control layers. Energy-policy officials argue that large-scale mining operations—running tens of thousands of machines drawing substantial power loads—expand the potential attack surface for grid-level disruption if vulnerabilities exist in device firmware or maintenance channels.U.S. miners watching the situation unfold are preparing for potential procurement shocks should import controls tighten. Many are now reassessing hardware diversification strategies, reviewing firmware-update processes, and mapping out long-term exposure to foreign supply chains. The investigation’s trajectory signals that Bitcoin-mining infrastructure is moving into the domain of national-security risk management, a shift that stands to reshape investment planning, operational oversight, and vendor selection for an industry built on the assumption that mining machines are politically neutral pieces of silicon rather than strategic assets subject to federal intervention.This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

Robot halting shipment of Bitmain mining rigs at customs

U.S. National-Security Scrutiny Intensifies Over Bitmain’s Bitcoin Mining Hardware

<h2>Market turbulence intensifies as BTC slips under pressure&nbsp;</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>Robert Kiyosaki disclosed a $2.25 million Bitcoin sale despite maintaining a long-term bullish stance.</li><li>A separate whale sell-off of roughly 11,000 BTC triggered more than $900 million in liquidations across the market.</li><li>Quantum-security fears, shifting whale behavior, and renewed ETF inflows shaped volatility across the broader crypto price index and coin market cap landscape.</li></ul>Robert Kiyosaki’s latest disclosure sent a jolt through crypto circles after he confirmed selling roughly $2.25 million in&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/bitcoin-btc">Bitcoin</a>—despite years of consistently presenting himself as a “buy-and-hold” advocate for digital assets. He&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/theRealKiyosaki/status/1991936172860563661">said</a> he originally purchased his Bitcoin at around $6,000 per coin and exited the position at roughly $90,000, redirecting the capital into two surgery centers and a billboard business that he expects will generate around $27,500 per month in tax-free cash flow by February 2026.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img alt="tweet-1991936172860563661_11zon.jpg" src="https://prod-coin360-cms.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/tweet_1991936172860563661_11zon_04939f4853.jpg"></figure>His remarks reinforced a broader theme of real-asset cash generation rather than a retreat from the market, stressing that he remains “very bullish and optimistic on Bitcoin” and plans to accumulate more with future cash flows. His comments mirrored earlier posts from October and November in which he warned that Bitcoin’s supply was narrowing quickly as 21 million remains the hard cap, projected a $250,000 Bitcoin price for 2026, and argued that current market declines reflect forced liquidity rather than structural weakness in the underlying asset.Market stress escalated further after a long-time Bitcoin holder moved roughly 11,000&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/bitcoin-btc">BTC</a>—valued at around&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/news/bitcoin-whale-selloff-quantum-fears-liquidations">$1.3 billion</a> at the time—and directed approximately $230 million of that stack to&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/exchange/kraken">Kraken</a>. That transfer accelerated sell-side pressure just as Bitcoin slipped below $81,000, leaving the broader&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/">crypto price</a> index flashing red and setting off one of the most punishing&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/understanding-liquidation-crypto-trading-guide">liquidation</a> waves of the month. Roughly $2 billion in leveraged positions evaporated across the market over a 24-hour stretch.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img alt="btc.png" src="https://prod-coin360-cms.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/btc_ddb14cda13.png"></figure>Quantum-computing concerns resurfaced during the turmoil after Ray Dalio publicly warned that Bitcoin could become trackable, controllable, or even vulnerable in a post-quantum environment. Analysts pushed back on the alarm, arguing that Bitcoin’s SHA-256 is significantly more resistant than standard RSA systems that dominate traditional security infrastructure. Despite the theoretical nature of the threat, the timing of Dalio’s remarks—arriving during peak market fragility—added a psychological layer to the sell-off and temporarily weighed on crypto price sentiment. Meanwhile, data showed that “younger&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/whale">whales</a>,” those who accumulated more recently at an average entry around $112,788, now hold about 45 percent of the&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/whale">Whale</a> Realised Cap. Many remain underwater on their positions, amplifying the risk that additional volatility could force smaller-scale capitulation.ETF flows broke a negative streak as U.S. spot Bitcoin products added about $75 million in net inflows on November 19, offering a partial counterweight to bearish leverage-driven pressure. For the broader month, Bitcoin ETF assets hovered around $138.08 billion with roughly $1.2 billion in inflows—equivalent to about 6.67 percent of Bitcoin’s overall valuation footprint—showing that institutional buying had not fully stepped back from the market. Kiyosaki’s own framing of recent price weakness aligned with this dynamic, calling it a “dash for cash” event and insisting it had nothing to do with Bitcoin’s structural viability. He reiterated his stance that fiat currency remains “fake money” while digital and physical hard assets represent what he calls “people’s money,” arguing he avoids traditional paper-based investment vehicles such as ETFs, REITs, stocks, and bonds.The combined narrative—Kiyosaki’s strategically timed sale, the billion-dollar whale exit, quantum-era security anxieties, and the rebound in ETF demand—created a layered moment for the market. Traders and analysts parsing the shifts noted that while short-term swings continue to drive fragmentation across the crypto price landscape, long-term macro positioning remains rooted in liquidity cycles, regulatory confidence, and the accelerating integration of Bitcoin into institutional balance sheets.This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

Massive whale sell-off crashing the broader crypto price index

Robert Kiyosaki’s $2.25M Bitcoin Sale Intersects With Whale Exit and Quantum Security Fears

<h2>Retail Panic and Macroeconomic Jitters Fuel Massive Market Reset Before Rate-Cut Optimism Returns</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>Bitcoin plummeted to a local low of $80,500, wiping out nearly $2 billion in leveraged positions and pushing the global coin market cap below the $3 trillion threshold.</li><li>U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs suffered a staggering $903.11 million in daily net outflows, led by BlackRock’s IBIT, as analysts identify retail selling as the primary driver of the correction.</li><li>A swift recovery above $85,800 followed dovish comments from Federal Reserve officials, which reignited hopes for a December rate cut and reversed earlier pessimism caused by strong jobs data.</li></ul>Friday’s trading session unleashed one of the most severe market flushes of the year, sending the&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/">crypto price</a> of Bitcoin spiraling down to a local bottom of $80,500. This violent downward move forced the total capitalization of the digital asset sector to breach the psychological $3 trillion mark for the first time since the spring of 2025.&nbsp;The sheer velocity of the sell-off triggered a cascade of forced closures across derivatives platforms, resulting in nearly $2 billion worth of leveraged positions being liquidated within a single 24-hour window. Data reveals that the carnage affected over 396,000 individual traders, with the most significant single loss occurring on the&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/review/hyperliquid">Hyperliquid</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/Decentralized-Crypto-Exchange-dex">decentralized exchange</a>, where a whale position valued at $36.78 million in&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/bitcoin-btc">BTC</a>-USD was instantaneously wiped out. Market sentiment deteriorated rapidly alongside price action, with the "Crypto Fear &amp; Greed Index" collapsing to a score of 11, signaling a state of extreme distress among participants.<figure class="image"><img alt="btc.png" src="https://prod-coin360-cms.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/btc_a5f19c6a4e.png"></figure>The groundwork for this correction was laid on Thursday, when U.S. spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds recorded their second-largest daily net outflow in history, totaling $903.11 million. BlackRock’s IBIT fund, typically a bastion of inflow stability, led the exodus with $355.5 million leaving the product. This was closely followed by Grayscale’s GBTC and Fidelity’s FBTC, which saw outflows of $199.35 million and $190.4 million, respectively. The bearish sentiment was not isolated to Bitcoin;&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/ethereum-eth">Ethereum</a> spot ETFs also bled $261.6 million.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img alt="Screenshot_1.png" src="https://prod-coin360-cms.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/Screenshot_1_e7d00247f2.png"></figure><figure class="image"><img alt="Screenshot_2.png" src="https://prod-coin360-cms.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/Screenshot_2_979b2a8cdd.png"></figure>Interestingly, the chaos did not deter interest in newer altcoin products, as Bitwise’s&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/xrp-xrp">XRP</a> fund attracted $105 million on its launch day, and&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/solana-sol">Solana</a> ETFs managed to secure $23.66 million in positive flows. Analysts at JPMorgan&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theblock.co/post/379840/jpmorgan-crypto-market-correction-retail-selling-bitcoin-ether-etfs">suggest</a> this divergence indicates that the correction is being driven almost exclusively by retail panic selling of crypto ETFs, rather than a broader institutional retreat, noting that retail investors continued to pour approximately $96 billion into equity ETFs throughout November.Macroeconomic factors further exacerbated the risk-off environment earlier in the week. Delayed non-farm payroll data for September shocked the market by showing the U.S. economy added 119,000 jobs, more than double the estimated 50,000. This robust economic signal initially dampened the crypto price index, as traders scaled back their expectations for a Federal Reserve interest rate cut.&nbsp;Compounding the uncertainty were tremors from the traditional tech sector, where AI giant Nvidia reported a concerning spike in accounts receivable to $33.4 billion despite strong revenue growth. This "red flag" regarding potential demand softening sent Nvidia shares tumbling 3.15%, dragging the Nasdaq and S&amp;P 500 down with it and deepening the correlation between volatile tech stocks and the broader coin market cap.<figure class="image image_resized" style="width:85.43%;"><img alt="twittershots-KobeissiLetter-1991561731122794902.png" src="https://prod-coin360-cms.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/twittershots_Kobeissi_Letter_1991561731122794902_4f09398c20.png"></figure>Despite the severity of the drop to $80,500, the market staged a resilient recovery by late Friday, with Bitcoin climbing back above the $85,800 level. The reversal was catalyzed by comments from New York Fed President John Williams, who adopted a dovish tone suggesting that current borrowing costs might be too restrictive. His remarks immediately shifted the probability of a December rate cut back to approximately 71%, effectively neutralizing the bearish impact of the jobs report.&nbsp;Market observers, including the co-founders of Glassnode,&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/Negentropic_/status/1991813000840302718">characterized</a> the crash as a "mechanical unwind" driven by forced sellers rather than a fundamental shift in the asset's value proposition. Meanwhile, research from Bitwise Europe indicates the market is currently testing a "max-pain" zone between $73,000 and $84,000, a range that represents the cost basis for major institutional holders like MicroStrategy and BlackRock, suggesting a classic cycle reset may be underway.This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

Robot sliding down a steep crash affecting the crypto price

Bitcoin Plunge to $80,500 Triggers $2 Billion Liquidation Event as ETF Outflows Hit Near-Record Highs

<h2>Forced Selling, Shrinking Liquidity, and Crashing NAVs Reshape the Digital-Asset Treasury Landscape</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>Major Digital Asset Treasury (DAT) companies face severe NAV compression, billions in unrealized losses, and escalating pressure to sell crypto to fund stock buybacks.</li><li>Ethereum- and Solana-heavy treasuries suffer the steepest damage as thinning liquidity and corporate leverage magnify downside moves.</li><li>Canceled billion-dollar deals and regulatory suspensions signal a broader reassessment of the DAT model as the crypto price index deteriorates.</li></ul>A wave of violent selling has rippled across the market, erasing nearly $100 billion in coin&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/market-capitalization">market cap</a> within a day and dragging both large-cap tokens and their corporate treasury counterparts into a synchronized downturn.&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/bitcoin-btc">Bitcoin</a>’s slide toward $82,864 after a 10% single-day drop set the tone for a market already strained by thinning order books and a surge in forced selling. More than 416,000 leveraged traders saw their positions wiped out in 24 hours, with over $2.24 billion liquidated as margin calls propagated across exchanges. The&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/">crypto price</a> index tracked a broad deterioration across majors, with&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/ethereum-eth">Ethereum</a> falling to $2,683 and&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/solana-sol">Solana</a> hovering at $124.57, cementing a 31% monthly decline. The backdrop of a $2.92 trillion total coin market cap underscored how quickly sentiment flipped from accumulation to&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/understanding-liquidation-crypto-trading-guide">liquidation</a>, and how structural weaknesses inside DAT portfolios accelerated the damage.<figure class="image"><img src="https://prod-coin360-cms.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/photo_2025_11_22_05_29_25_fd7415d87b.jpg" alt="photo_2025-11-22_05-29-25.jpg"></figure>Some market commentators detailed how these 2025 DATs increasingly rely on in-kind token contributions rather than cash purchases to seed treasuries, setting valuations internally before the market assigns a real price. Sponsors benefit from offloading token inventory at book value, while shareholders inherit exposure to assets whose liquidity and fair value often prove fragile under stress. Once the equities list, even modest price weakness can drag the stocks sharply below the implied value of the contributed tokens. That design works in uptrends but exposes investors to amplified downside when the cycle turns, as several DATs now funding buybacks through token sales are discovering.Evidence of systemic strain became unmistakable. Multiple reports confirmed that DAT companies have deployed roughly&nbsp;<a href="https://cryptopotato.com/digital-asset-treasury-companies-pour-42-7b-into-crypto-in-2025-22-6b-spent-in-q3-alone/">$42.7 billion</a> into crypto this year, including $22.6 billion in Q3 alone when Bitcoin rallied above $126,000. As prices rolled over, NAV discounts widened sharply, and leveraged balance sheets became liabilities. Bitcoin’s 1% order-book depth fell from $20 million to $14 million, a 33% contraction that made every large sale more impactful. Analysts estimated that forced liquidations from DATs could reach $4–$6 billion if only 10–15% of treasuries unwind, exceeding the roughly $2.33 billion in Bitcoin ETF outflows seen this month. With the crypto price deteriorating and liquidity thinning, sell-side pressure began feeding on itself.FG Nexus illustrated the severity of the pivot. Its stock collapsed 94% over four months, prompting the firm to liquidate 10,922&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/ethereum-eth">ETH</a> for $32.7 million to fund a buyback program aimed at narrowing the gap between market price and a reported NAV of $3.94 per share. The company now holds 40,005 ETH and $37 million in cash, but its debt has climbed to $11.9 million. Roughly 21% of its ETH reserves from September were sold to finance the repurchase of 3.4 million shares at $3.45 each, an attempt to stabilize an equity curve that kept sinking as Ethereum’s price fell. Crypto analyst Crypto Patel summarized the development bluntly, noting that the treasury model had shifted from accumulation to liquidation.<figure class="image image_resized" style="width:85.39%;"><img src="https://prod-coin360-cms.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/twittershots_Crypto_Patel_1991589865666867645_11zon_4bf80316f5.jpg" alt="twittershots-CryptoPatel-1991589865666867645_11zon.jpg"><figcaption>Source: X</figcaption></figure>ETHZilla followed the same script, offloading&nbsp;<a href="https://www.investing.com/news/company-news/ethzilla-sells-40-million-in-eth-to-fund-share-repurchases-93CH-4311509">$40 million</a> in ETH to fund nearly $12 million in buybacks since late October. Its stock has traded at a steep 30% NAV discount for weeks. Such moves signaled that treasury companies marketed as long-term holders had turned into involuntary sellers, unable to maintain exposure while their equities traded far below asset value.At the other end of the spectrum, BitMine Immersion Technologies faced more than $4.5 billion in unrealized losses on its massive 3.56-million-ETH position—about 2.97% of the entire Ethereum supply. Ethereum’s roughly 27% monthly decline dragged the value of BitMine’s stack to just under $10 billion, leaving the firm around $4.18–$4.52 billion underwater depending on the reference price. The company’s mNAV ratio of 0.75 and diluted mNAV of 0.9 underscored how much equity investors marked down its underlying ETH.&nbsp;The stock, BMNR, slid 49.8% in a month, outpacing Ethereum’s decline. Yet on-chain data showed BitMine quietly adding exposure, including purchases of 110,288 ETH earlier in the month and another 17,242 ETH through institutional partners, doubling down despite accelerating losses. Research firm 10x Research described shareholders as stuck in a “Hotel California” structure—easy to enter in a bull cycle, painful to exit during a downturn.<figure class="image"><img src="https://prod-coin360-cms.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/Screenshot_6_b43a545835.png" alt="Screenshot_6.png"><figcaption>Source: BitMine Tracker</figcaption></figure>According to Strategic ETH Reserve (SER), Sharplink Gaming, with 859,853 ETH valued at roughly $2.38 billion, carried $668.1 million in unrealized losses, while Bit Digital’s 150.24K ETH stake was up about $40.7 million. Analysis from Capriole Investments&nbsp;<a href="https://capriole.com/charts/?chart=eth-treasuries-screener">reported</a> negative returns of 25–48% for ETH-heavy DATs across daily and weekly timeframes, revealing a sector-wide downturn far deeper than the headline crypto price moves suggested.<figure class="image"><img src="https://prod-coin360-cms.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/Screenshot_7_85c7883a27.png" alt="Screenshot_7.png"><figcaption>Source: Strategic ETH Reserve</figcaption></figure>Bitcoin-focused treasuries experienced a mixed outcome. <a href="https://coin360.com/news/saylor-strategy-8178-btc-purchase">Strategy</a>, the largest of them, reported 649,870 BTC at an average cost of $74,433, leaving more than $6.15 billion in unrealized gains even after the latest pullback. But later-cycle buyers were less fortunate. Marathon Holdings’ 53,250-BTC position dropped 23.7% over three months, and Metaplanet’s 30,823 BTC carried $774 million in unrealized losses. Several firms leaned into buybacks to reduce apparent NAV discounts: Metaplanet authorized a $500 million program, Strive approved another $500 million, and Block initiated $5 billion in repurchases on November 19.<figure class="image"><img src="https://prod-coin360-cms.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/image_281_3b6f88b137.png" alt="image-281.png"><figcaption>Source: Lookonchain</figcaption></figure>Solana-focused treasuries displayed an equally sharp divide. Forward Industries’ 6.83 million&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/solana-sol">SOL</a> at an average cost of $232 was down 45.7%. Upexi’s position fell 17%.&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/decentralised-finance">DeFi</a> Development Corp. is also down 20% on 2.14 million SOL valued at $269.29 million. Forward Industries introduced a $1 billion buyback program on November 3, while Upexi authorized $50 million in repurchases on November 13, both moves signaling efforts to counter growing NAV dislocations.<figure class="image"><img src="https://prod-coin360-cms.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/Screenshot_8_931964b0c8.png" alt="Screenshot_8.png"><figcaption>Source: DefiLlama</figcaption></figure>A broader shift in corporate sentiment emerged through stalled or canceled initiatives. Corporate crypto purchases slowed sharply, and Strategy’s decline of about 60% during recent Bitcoin volatility added pressure across the treasury sector. Solana holdings inside smaller firms saw NAV contractions approaching 40%. Analyst DrBullZeus framed BitMine’s drawdown as a wake-up call for companies considering the DAT model, noting the tension with upcoming Ethereum ETF products.<figure class="image image_resized" style="width:85.25%;"><img src="https://prod-coin360-cms.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/twittershots_Dr_Bull_Zeus_1991529427810021863_11zon_b7b4754ec5.jpg" alt="twittershots-DrBullZeus-1991529427810021863_11zon.jpg"><figcaption>Source: X</figcaption></figure>Momentum stalled further when&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/avalanche-avax">AVAX</a> One Technology, formerly AgriFORCE Growing Systems, announced a $40 million share buyback program on November 20. Backed by Anthony Scaramucci and planning to raise $550 million for&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/avalanche-avax">Avalanche</a> accumulation, the firm said its equity had fallen roughly 70% from the day it announced its crypto-treasury pivot. CEO Jolie Kahn said the company aimed to enter the market soon and would adjust repurchases as conditions change, positioning the move as a response to significant undervaluation.<figure class="image image_resized" style="width:85.71%;"><img src="https://prod-coin360-cms.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/twittershots_avax_one_1991527995022901750_11zon_acbc030928.jpg" alt="twittershots-avax_one-1991527995022901750_11zon.jpg"><figcaption>Source: X</figcaption></figure>Regulatory headwinds added to the strain. Starcoin Group, a Hong Kong-listed DAT, faced a looming&nbsp;<a href="https://www1.hkexnews.hk/listedco/listconews/sehk/2025/1117/2025111700041.pdf">trading suspension</a> after the HKEX deemed its operations and asset base insufficient under Listing Rule 13.24. Its stock plunged 68% after the announcement, and trading will be halted on November 26 under Rule 6.01(3). Starcoin had recently signed an MOU with Starcoin Foundation to issue a token on&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/conflux-cfx">Conflux</a> eSpace, offering one token per ten shares and framing its future as a&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/web3-companies-projects">Web3</a> investment bank, but the suspension effectively stalled those ambitions.The final blow to market confidence came from the collapse of a major Asia-led Ethereum DAT initiative backed by&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/news/asia-ethereum-treasury-pause-bitmine-eth-accumulation">$1 billion</a> in planned capital. Investors including Li Lin of&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/huobi-token-ht">Huobi</a>, Fenbushi Capital co-founder Shen Bo, and HashKey Group’s Xiao Feng were preparing to acquire a Nasdaq-listed entity as a wrapper for the treasury, with commitments of $200 million from Avenir Capital and $500 million from large Asian investors such as HongShan Capital Group.&nbsp;According to Wu&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/blockchain">Blockchain</a>, the deal was shelved and capital returned after the sharp October 11 selloff, highlighting how quickly institutional appetite for leveraged public exposure evaporated. Ethereum’s price has fallen more than 38% from its October high, placing BitMine’s total holdings at around $10.3 billion with a cost basis near $11.1 billion, about 7% below water. Analysts noted that Ethereum’s realized price sits near $2,316, meaning long-term holders remain roughly 24% in profit even as short-term indicators cool.<figure class="image image_resized" style="width:85.22%;"><img src="https://prod-coin360-cms.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/tweet_1991014403773178350_20251122_052742_via_10015_io_11zon_1d836d4abe.jpg" alt="tweet_1991014403773178350_20251122_052742_via_10015_io_11zon.jpg"><figcaption>Source: X</figcaption></figure>A summary reinforced the structural shift: DAT firms across Ethereum and Solana have begun selling crypto to fund equity support, and if even a fraction of their collective $42.7 billion in holdings are liquidated under pressure, several billion dollars in additional sell-side flow could hit a market already struggling with liquidity. With NAV discounts widening, liquidity thinning, and corporate leverage amplifying drawdowns, this phase of the cycle has turned DATs from headline buyers into reluctant sellers. The convergence of forced liquidation, canceled billion-dollar deals, regulatory interventions, and collapsing market confidence now defines a sector recalibrating its assumptions just as the crypto price index absorbs one of its sharpest resets of the year.This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

Robot unloads crypto reserves onto liquidation track during DAT selloff

Crypto Market Turmoil Deepens as DAT Firms Unwind Holdings, Triggering NAV Crises and Billions in Paper Losses

<h2>Regulated Exchange Surges Ahead While Crypto-Native Rival Seeks U.S. Pathway</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>Kalshi’s valuation rockets from $5B to $11B within weeks after a $1B round led by Sequoia and CapitalG, solidifying its position as the regulated leader in the prediction-market sector.</li><li>Polymarket explores a new valuation range of $12B–$15B while working to regain U.S. access through a derivatives exchange acquisition after years of regulatory restrictions.</li><li>Trading-volume metrics show Kalshi commanding roughly 62% of global prediction-market activity during several benchmark periods, with annualized volumes nearing $50B.</li></ul>Kalshi’s aggressive climb in valuation reached a new peak on November 20, 2025, as&nbsp;<a href="https://techcrunch.com/2025/11/20/source-kalshis-valuation-jumps-to-11b-after-raising-massive-1b-round/">TechCrunch</a> revealed the platform had closed a massive $1 billion funding round that pushed its valuation to $11 billion. The seven-year-old MIT-founded prediction-market operator had already stunned the market earlier in October with a $300 million raise at a $5 billion valuation, making the new figure especially striking given that both rounds landed only weeks apart. Investors doubling down included Sequoia Capital and CapitalG, joined again by Andreessen Horowitz, Paradigm, Anthos Capital and Neo, signaling a high-conviction bet that Kalshi’s regulated-exchange model is gaining durable traction across global markets.Kalshi’s surge coincides with its reported annualized trading volume reaching $50 billion, a jump from roughly $300 million the year prior. The platform now counts users across more than 140 countries and offers an expanding catalog of real-world markets, ranging from U.S. electoral outcomes to cultural events like the Time Person of the Year selection or the opening-week Rotten Tomatoes score for the film&nbsp;Wicked. Those consumer-friendly markets sit alongside more institutional-style contracts tied to macroeconomic releases, allowing Kalshi to pursue a broad retail and professional user base. Kalshi’s leadership leaned into the momentum earlier this year, with CEO Tarek Mansour telling industry participants that the sector “is starting to look like a trillion-dollar market,” framing the speed of adoption as exceeding even the team’s optimistic internal projections.Market-share data from CoinDesk highlights just how forcefully Kalshi’s model is resonating with traders. During the September 11–17, 2025 period, Kalshi logged more than $500 million in weekly trading volume alongside approximately $189 million in average open interest, giving it about 62% of the global prediction-market volume for that stretch. Analysts studying the ratio between open interest and volume found Kalshi’s turnover to be faster than its crypto-native competitors, echoing the platform’s positioning as a destination for shorter-horizon and event-driven traders. Monthly totals have pushed beyond $1 billion at times, reinforcing the view that regulated access in the U.S. gives Kalshi a more stable and expansive base of liquidity.The competitive narrative is heavily shaped by Polymarket, which for years dominated the crypto-linked side of prediction markets before U.S. regulators forced it to block American users under a 2022 settlement with the Commodity&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/futures-contract">Futures</a> Trading Commission. Polymarket has since pursued a path back into the U.S. by acquiring the derivatives exchange and clearinghouse QCX, an effort intended to build a compliant structure similar to Kalshi’s federally regulated framework. Sources cited by TechCrunch reported that Polymarket was simultaneously exploring a valuation range between $12 billion and $15 billion following an earlier round valuing the platform at $8 billion pre-money. The firm’s trajectory mirrors Kalshi’s in scale, although its regulatory constraints continue to shape its market composition and longer-duration positions.Both companies represent distinct philosophies now competing for global leadership. Kalshi leans on regulatory approval as a moat, having successfully sued the CFTC last year to secure U.S. operating rights, while Polymarket pushes forward with its decentralized architecture and crypto-native user community. Kalshi’s expansion strategy also includes forging distribution partnerships with major broker apps and exploring integrations within the broader crypto ecosystem, a dual-market push aimed at building a unified liquidity pool across traditional finance and on-chain venues. Polymarket’s strategy focuses on leveraging the speed and expressiveness of blockchain-based markets while navigating the final stages of its U.S. compliance rebuild.The speed of valuation growth for Kalshi—moving from $2 billion in June to $5 billion in October and then $11 billion in late November—has drawn attention from both supporters and skeptics. The acceleration suggests investor enthusiasm for prediction markets as a maturing asset class, though the sustainability of that pace will depend on the ongoing regulatory posture toward event-based trading, the emergence of new competitors and the evolution of U.S. policy on sports-adjacent or political markets. Yet the investment community continues to frame the sector as entering a breakout phase. Paradigm’s Matt Huang captured this sentiment earlier in the year, praising Kalshi’s position by saying, “There’s no better team than Kalshi to scale prediction markets and reshape how people think about everything from elections and economic markets to weather and sports.”Across both platforms, the numbers reflect a rapidly expanding industry that is transitioning from fringe curiosity to mainstream financial instrument. Whether Kalshi’s regulatory edge proves durable or Polymarket’s return to the U.S. reshapes the balance, the sector’s next phase will hinge on liquidity depth, platform accountability, and the willingness of institutional and retail participants to treat future-event information as a fully monetizable asset class.This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

Robot pushes rising valuation pillar in a regulated finance-themed environment

Kalshi’s $1B Raise Pushes Valuation to $11B as Prediction-Market Race with Polymarket Escalates

<h2>Institutional Demand Grows Despite XRP’s Weak Q4 Performance</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>Bitwise launches its XRP ETF on NYSE with a 0.34% fee, debuting during a period of falling XRP prices and risk-off sentiment.</li><li>XRPL fundamentals—multi-billion transaction history, rapid settlement, and cross-border payment ambitions—form the backbone of Bitwise’s long-term thesis.</li><li>Bitwise CIO forecasts more than 100 new crypto ETFs by 2026 as regulatory standards evolve and index-based products gain traction.</li></ul>Bitwise Asset Management&nbsp;<a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-bitwise-xrp-etf-ticker-xrp-begins-trading-on-nyse-with-0-34-management-fee-fee-set-at-0-for-first-month-on-500m-in-assets-302621840.html">pushed ahead</a> with its newest product rollout on November 20, 2025, introducing a spot&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/xrp-xrp">XRP</a> ETF on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker “XRP,” even as the token’s recent performance raised questions about the timing. The fund carries a 0.34% management fee that Bitwise temporarily waived for the first month on the first $500 million in assets, a move aimed at accelerating early institutional participation. The launch is framed internally as a long-term infrastructure investment rather than a short-term wager on token appreciation, particularly as the broader&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/">crypto price</a> index and coin&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/market-capitalization">market cap</a> metrics have shown muted momentum alongside continued risk-off trading patterns.Bitwise’s narrative leans heavily on the scale and efficiency of the XRP Ledger, describing it as the third-largest Layer-1 network with more than 4 billion transactions processed to date and an average daily volume of approximately $1.9 billion. Executives also highlight the XRPL’s ability to settle transactions in three to five seconds at negligible cost—a technical feature they argue positions the ecosystem to compete in the projected $250 trillion cross-border payments market by 2027. Despite those fundamentals, XRP has struggled through Q4, sliding roughly 25% as liquidity thinned and sentiment grew increasingly defensive. The XRPL’s&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/decentralised-finance">DeFi</a> environment has also contracted, with total value locked falling around $50 million from its late-July peak near $120 million, a reversal that underscores ongoing pressure in the network’s on-chain activity.Market action surrounding the launch reflected that tension. XRP slipped below $2.00 on the day of the ETF’s debut, touching an intraday low near $1.98 and extending a weekly decline of roughly 16%. Analysts observing the rollout noted that the ETF’s strong operational debut did not translate into immediate price stabilization, illustrating the gap between institutional product development and spot-market behavior. Comparisons to&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/bitcoin-btc">Bitcoin</a>’s surge following its own spot ETF introductions were quickly dismissed by Bitwise itself, which cautioned that XRP is unlikely to replicate those early patterns given the current macro environment and momentum loss in the asset’s crypto price.<figure class="image"><img alt="Screenshot_16.png" src="https://prod-coin360-cms.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/Screenshot_16_efc1984115.png"></figure>Longer-term dynamics may ultimately matter more to Bitwise’s positioning. CIO Matt Hougan&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2025/11/19/palooza-in-cryptoland-bitwise-predicts-etf-surge-as-bitcoin-falls.html">characterized</a> the coming year as a turning point for regulated crypto investment vehicles, predicting that 2026 could bring more than 100 new ETFs and ETPs across the market. He emphasized growing demand for index-based exposures designed for investors who prefer broad crypto market baskets over single-asset allocations, noting that many institutional buyers “want to buy a significant portion of the cryptocurrency market and hold it for the long term,” regardless of their views on individual networks like Bitcoin,&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/ethereum-eth">Ethereum</a>, or&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/solana-sol">Solana</a>. Hougan’s outlook aligns with recent regulatory adjustments at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which approved streamlined listing standards expected to accelerate new product pipelines.Bitwise’s XRP ETF represents its 49th listed product across the U.S. and Europe and forms part of a broader effort to supply regulated entry points for institutional investors seeking exposure without direct asset custody. XRP’s spot trading volume hovered around $6.48 billion near launch, with prices fluctuating around the $2.08 region as of November 21 according to independent market tracking. The subdued reaction to the ETF rollout points to a familiar tension across digital asset markets: robust infrastructure developments do not always deliver immediate gains in coin market cap rankings or in spot pricing trends. Instead, the debut underscores Bitwise’s bet that long-term adoption drivers—ranging from settlement efficiency to cross-border payment growth—will eventually matter more than the near-term softness weighing on XRP’s crypto price today.This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

Robot braces XRP cube as crypto price index momentum weakens

Bitwise’s XRP ETF Debuts During a Market Pullback as 2026 ETF Wave Looms

<h2>Whale Exit, ETF Flows, and Quantum Debate Add Pressure Across the Market</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>A longtime Bitcoin holder offloaded 11,000 BTC worth about $1.3 billion, sending $230 million to Kraken as part of his exit.</li><li>Roughly $910 million in leveraged crypto positions were liquidated within 24 hours as BTC dropped below $87,000.</li><li>Quantum-computing concerns, shifting whale behavior, ETF inflows, and broader liquidity stress reshaped the crypto landscape and weighed on the crypto price index and coin market cap.</li></ul>A wave of volatility swept through the market as a major early&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/bitcoin-btc">Bitcoin</a> holder closed out a years-long position worth roughly $1.3 billion, finalizing the move with a fresh&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/arkham/status/1991528115638800804">$230 million</a> transfer to&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/exchange/kraken">Kraken</a>.&nbsp;<figure class="image image_resized" style="width:85.58%;"><img alt="twittershots-arkham-1991528115638800804_11zon.jpg" src="https://prod-coin360-cms.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/twittershots_arkham_1991528115638800804_11zon_33e8fef0ca.jpg"></figure>The sale hit the tape just as Bitcoin slipped under $87,000, amplifying pressure across the market and helping trigger a cascade of liquidations.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img alt="Screenshot_15.png" src="https://prod-coin360-cms.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/Screenshot_15_ec592344ed.png"></figure><a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/derivatives">Derivatives</a> trackers recorded more than $910 million in liquidated crypto positions during the 24-hour window surrounding the downturn, including a single hour that wiped out roughly $264.79 million in longs and $256.44 million in shorts. Traders dealing with high leverage suddenly faced one of the sharpest intraday resets of the quarter, feeding uncertainty into the broader&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/">crypto price</a> landscape and sending risk appetite sharply lower.<figure class="image image_resized" style="width:85.53%;"><img alt="twittershots-DeItaone-1991499993325170896_11zon.jpg" src="https://prod-coin360-cms.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/twittershots_De_Itaone_1991499993325170896_11zon_5047b90246.jpg"></figure>Market sentiment thinned even further when renewed debate over quantum-computing risks reached traders during the selloff. Ray Dalio&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/DeItaone/status/1991499993325170896">added fuel</a> to the conversation with concerns that Bitcoin could be “tracked,” “controlled,” or “hacked” under future cryptographic-breaking conditions. His comments struck a nerve among traders already stressed by the&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/understanding-liquidation-crypto-trading-guide">liquidation</a> wave, though cybersecurity voices countered the claim.&nbsp;<figure class="image image_resized" style="width:85.57%;"><img alt="tweet_1991518757492252857_20251121_025427_via_10015_io_11zon.jpg" src="https://prod-coin360-cms.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/tweet_1991518757492252857_20251121_025427_via_10015_io_11zon_5ded887e5b.jpg"></figure>Analyst Mel Mattison pushed back by underscoring the relative difficulty of breaking Bitcoin’s SHA-256 system compared to traditional RSA structures used across global banking. The clash of perspectives contributed to the narrative tension shaping price action and left investors weighing whether quantum risk was a short-term psychological trigger or a long-term structural threat.&nbsp;The whale-driven pressure came during a period of shifting ownership dynamics inside the&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/bitcoin-btc">BTC</a> ecosystem. Data released on October 30 showed younger&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/whale">whales</a>—those who accumulated large stacks more recently—now hold about 45% of the&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/whale">Whale</a> Realised Cap, with an average acquisition price around $112,788. Their positions currently sit in unrealized loss territory, creating concern among analysts that this newer cohort may be quicker to reduce exposure during breakdowns. That generational flip follows months of distribution by older holders, many of whom appear to be rotating toward regulated investment vehicles. Research earlier in November showed whales increasingly moving from direct BTC ownership into ETF exposure for structural and tax advantages, reflecting a quiet but measurable shift in capital behavior.<figure class="image"><img alt="Whale Realised Cap.PNG" src="https://prod-coin360-cms.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/Whale_Realised_Cap_2d45ce9f6f.PNG"></figure>Institutional flows told their own story during the chaos. U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs logged approximately $75 million in net inflows on November 19, snapping a five-day streak of outflows and signaling sustained institutional interest even as the crypto price sagged under whale selling. The broader ETF market carried a net asset value around $138.08 billion for the month, with inflows near $1.2 billion, representing roughly 6.67% of Bitcoin’s total valuation footprint. Analysts tracking long-term performance noted that BTC’s four-year compound annual growth rate has cooled toward 13%, suggesting the asset is gradually shifting from high-growth speculation toward a profile more aligned with a hedge or alternative reserve. This moderation, combined with structural inflows, paints a more mature but less explosive investment environment.Liquidity indicators reflected mounting stress beneath the surface. Analysis from November 18 highlighted that whales have been retreating from&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/futures-contracts">futures</a> markets, with activity on major venues falling even as volatility picked up. The&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/review/coinbase">Coinbase</a> premium fell to a nine-month low, pointing to weakening U.S. spot demand relative to offshore markets. ETF flows, despite their positive print mid-week, had been negative for three consecutive weeks before the reversal. One market analyst projected that, if liquidity continues to thin and forced unwinds persist, Bitcoin’s cycle low could feasibly migrate toward the $56,000 range, though that scenario assumes sustained imbalance between buyers and sellers.The convergence of whale rotation, liquidation pressure, quantum-security anxiety, and structural flow shifts created a moment of unusual fragility for Bitcoin, reshaping both the crypto price index and the broader coin&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/market-capitalization">market cap</a> outlook. Whether the turbulence evolves into a deeper structural correction or stabilizes as capital rotates into ETFs depends on whether whales, institutions, and retail traders interpret the recent moves as a tactical disturbance or the early signals of a longer-term repositioning across the market.This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

Robot braces falling Bitcoin cube during volatile crypto price downturn

Bitcoin Whales Trigger Market Jolt as Quantum-Security Fears Collide With $1.3B Selloff and Major Liquidations

<h2>Congressional Momentum Builds Around Tax Payments in BTC and a Federal Reserve-Backed Bitcoin Reserve</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>New federal bills aim to let Americans pay taxes in Bitcoin, with all collected BTC channeled into a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.</li><li>Forecast models suggest the U.S. could accumulate more than 2.6 million BTC by 2030 under a 1% participation scenario.</li><li>Parallel Senate proposals call for direct Treasury purchases totaling 1 million BTC over five years with 20-year minimum holding periods.</li></ul>The push to integrate&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/bitcoin-btc">Bitcoin</a> into federal infrastructure gained fresh momentum as Rep. Warren Davidson introduced the “<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uQCCCI77jTgLHf-wI0c-iPHjkbz0ZCZi/view?pli=1">Bitcoin for America Act</a>” on Nov. 20, 2025, a proposal that would authorize taxpayers to settle federal tax obligations in&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/bitcoin-btc">BTC</a> and direct all received coins into a national Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. The bill frames Bitcoin as a long-term asset capable of strengthening U.S. financial resilience, warning that the country risks “falling behind Russia, China, and emerging nations” if it fails to diversify national wealth into what the measure calls a “non-inflationary store of value.” Davidson described the legislation as a modern shift in federal financial architecture, arguing that Americans already engaging with digital assets daily should have the option to use Bitcoin for statutory payments. He emphasized that the model is designed to give citizens choice while building what he characterized as a more strategically sound federal balance sheet.Lawmakers backing the initiative cite early modeling from the Bitcoin Policy Institute that estimates more than 2.6 million BTC—roughly $230 billion based on prices when the analysis was drafted—could flow into the reserve between January 1, 2025, and the end of 2030 if just 1% of federal taxes were paid in BTC. That scale of accumulation would place the United States among the most significant sovereign Bitcoin holders globally, adding notable market and geopolitical dimensions to the proposal. The legislative narrative portrays this as an opt-in, market-driven approach to national Bitcoin acquisition rather than a sweeping federal mandate. Leading researchers argue the reserve would give the U.S. a long-term appreciating asset rather than a currency exposed to inflation-driven erosion. At the time coverage circulated, Bitcoin traded near $88,769 after slipping around 1% over the day and remained almost 30% below its August peak above $126,000.Parallel activity in the Senate shows that the momentum behind a strategic reserve framework has been building for more than a year. Sen. Cynthia Lummis’ BITCOIN Act of 2024, introduced July 31, 2024, laid out a comprehensive plan requiring the U.S. Treasury to purchase 200,000 BTC annually for five years, ultimately amassing 1 million BTC, or roughly 5% of the asset’s total capped supply. That bill stipulates a 20-year minimum holding period for all acquired Bitcoin unless used to retire federal debt, and it calls for a decentralized network of secure storage facilities across the country. Funding mechanisms would rely on Federal Reserve bank surplus reductions and mandated remittances of certain net earnings for ongoing BTC purchases. The Senate framework underscores its intent to treat Bitcoin similarly to how the government historically manages gold reserves—a strategic hedge rather than an actively traded financial instrument.Davidson’s proposal adds a second pathway to accumulation by using voluntary taxpayer participation rather than Treasury-driven purchases. Supporters say the dual approach could accelerate national stockpiling while reducing the federal budget impact by enabling citizen-driven inflows. Rep. Nick Begich has reinforced the long-term positioning language common across these bills, arguing that any strategic reserve asset must be held long enough to matter geopolitically, describing his view of the government as “not a day-trader” but a steward of durable national reserves. Lummis earlier framed Bitcoin as a digital-era counterpart to long-standing gold holdings, emphasizing that the Treasury’s mandate historically includes safeguarding assets that could bolster economic security during periods of volatility or global competition.The growing constellation of bills signals an evolving federal view of Bitcoin’s role within national strategy. Whether through taxpayer-driven deposits or Treasury-directed purchases, U.S. legislators are now openly debating whether Bitcoin should sit alongside legacy reserve assets and how quickly the government should move to accumulate it. The scale of BTC proposed for federal ownership—whether 1 million coins through direct purchases or several million via tax-payment inflows—marks a consequential shift in Washington’s posture toward digital assets. The debate now centers not on whether Bitcoin belongs in the national conversation, but on how aggressively the U.S. should act as other nations sharpen their own strategies in the race for monetary and technological advantage.This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

Robot places Bitcoin cube into federal vault amid strategic reserve debate

U.S. Lawmakers Push Forward Multiple Bills Positioning Bitcoin as a Strategic National Asset

Institutional money is flooding into crypto, testing the limits of centralized control and demanding technical superiority. Speed is everything right now. You need to understand where the capital is going and why. This article breaks down the 2025 events shaping the next financial era.This year marks a major pivot point for crypto in general. Massive growth is simply undeniable, driven by the quiet confidence of big capital flows. From new retail adoption to the sudden maturation of the Decentralized Finance space, money moves fast. That velocity forces a direct confrontation between open protocols and sovereign control. Focus has truly moved from mere curiosity to critical infrastructure. Establishing technical superiority remains the only long-term path for permissionless finance.<h2>Global Market Size Institutional Capital Drives the Next Trillion</h2>Market growth is accelerating far beyond initial expectations. Nearly 28% of U.S. adults&nbsp;<a href="https://www.security.org/digital-security/cryptocurrency-annual-consumer-report/">already own crypto</a> in 2025. Another 14% of non-owners plan to buy in soon. The most exciting growth engine right now might be blockchain gaming, projected to reach a market size of $65 billion by 2025. Utility is genuinely driving this adoption cycle. The global cryptocurrency market size is projected to reach $6.34 billion in 2025, according to Grand View Research. That projection clearly underpins the institutional adoption narrative.&nbsp;You're seeing the sudden maturation of the Decentralized Finance space. The total value locked in DeFi systems hit $129 billion by January 2025, according to Webisoft data. Such a huge 137% year-over-year increase signals permissionless protocols are moving serious financial weight. Look at the United States, typically a pretty useful barometer for asset confidence.&nbsp;<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Sovereign Control vs Permissionless Value in Brazil</h2>Brazil presents a perfect paradox for global regulators trying to keep pace. The country remains a massive powerhouse of crypto activity. It received an estimated $318.8 billion in crypto value over a single year, based on Chainalysis data from late 2024. Much of this activity is conducted using stablecoins.Stablecoins are the default payment rail for Brazilians. They settle 90% of the nation’s crypto transaction volume. This organic adoption is running headlong into a government mandate. The regulated onshore&nbsp;<a href="https://www.gamingintelligence.com/finance/218790-brazil-gambling-market-generates-revenue-of-r17-4-billion-in-h1-2025/">iGaming market projects</a> revenues of $4.1 billion in 2025. That financial target drives strict control over payment rails.Brazil's new iGaming regulations, established by Normative Ordinance No. 615/2024, prohibit cryptocurrency payments, requiring all transactions to use traceable electronic channels. This highlights the challenges governments face in regulating a financial system that users often prefer.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>New Standard Speed and Finality in High-Frequency Markets</h2>In digital commerce, time really is money. Online casino players demand withdrawals that happen instantly, not in hours. Legacy financial systems struggle to meet this demand. In regulated markets with the best fast payout casinos in Canada, you&nbsp;<a href="https://www.casino.ca/fast-withdrawals/">get your winnings within 24 hours</a> or sooner. The actual fiat processing time often ranges from one to six hours in 2025. Crypto-native platforms deliver funds in under 10 minutes.Efficiency is built into the architecture of decentralized systems. Between 90% to 95% of all crypto withdrawal processes are fully automated. That level of automation removes manual risk checks inherent in legacy financial systems. Player preference proves decisive in this arms race for speed. McKinsey data indicates that 82% of players in 2025 would switch platforms specifically to access faster, more reliable payout channels.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Solana and Layer 2 Architecture</h2>The market is in a big competition to be the go-to settlement layer. Bitcoin is ramping up its usefulness, moving past just being a store of value. With the Lightning Network, you can make instant BTC deposits and withdrawals, which really helps with high-frequency stuff since it bypasses the base layer's 10-minute block time. On top of that,&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/news/solana-ecosystem-weekly-news">Solana is stepping up</a> as a contender.It's a preferred solution for high-volume transactions, offering near-instant settlement finality and minimal fees. That makes it pretty ideal for the micro-transaction economy of digital gaming. The wider adoption of&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/learn/ethereum-tps-eip9698-layer2-impact">Ethereum Layer 2</a> solutions is equally critical. Operators offer "gasless" transactions this way. They abstract away the complexity and high cost of Layer 1 fees. That offers a seamless, fiat-like user experience with crypto backend rails. The architecture of these high-speed networks directly enables the high automation rate seen in withdrawal processing.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Drex and the CBDC Timeline</h2>Governments aren't sitting still while private stablecoins dominate payment flows. Brazil’s direct countermove is "Drex," the country's Central Bank Digital Currency. Public rollout of Drex is planned for between late 2025 and early 2026, after extensive pilot testing, according to a July 2025 update from BRICS Brasil. The initial utility is focused on the wholesale market.The design concentrates on the settlement of tokenized assets and interbank transfers. This strategy is clearly designed to integrate "smart contract" capabilities into the official state currency. Pushing for a state-backed programmable currency is a direct response to reclaim monetary sovereignty from massive permissionless stablecoin adoption. Will the wholesale focus prevent retail adoption, giving permissionless systems an ongoing advantage?The headlines of 2025 revolve around speed versus centralized control. Institutional money validates the asset class, but true utility is proven in the high-frequency demands of digital commerce. The superior technical throughput of systems like Solana and Lightning means the decentralized world has already won the performance war. Central banks are playing catch-up, but reclaiming payment flow from open protocols will prove a tough job.

hands holding gold and silver Bitcoin coins over a metal tray on a wooden surface

Cryptocurrencies Enter New Markets and Define Financial Utility

<h2>Investor Flows Signal a Shift in How Institutions View Solana’s Role in a Volatile Market</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>21Shares and Fidelity rolled out new Solana ETFs during a broader market downturn, attracting notable inflows despite falling crypto price conditions.</li><li>Fidelity’s staking-enabled ETF and 21Shares’ early nine-digit inflows point to rising institutional willingness to treat Solana as a standalone asset class.</li><li>Analysts frame the launches as a structural shift in altcoin accessibility, arriving as Solana’s coin market cap sits far below Ethereum’s but backed by growing ecosystem activity.</li></ul>A wave of&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/solana-sol">Solana</a>-focused exchange-traded products arrived this week as 21Shares and Fidelity introduced new vehicles at a moment when market sentiment was still thinning across major&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/altcoin">altcoins</a>. The timing was unusual: 21Shares launched its Solana ETF on November 19, 2025 as the underlying token was reeling from a sharp multi-week drawdown, with $100 million in assets under management (AUM).&nbsp;The product debuted during a period when Solana had been under consistent pressure, reflecting broader risk-off positioning that had dragged down the&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/">crypto price</a> index and erased momentum across alternative-layer networks. The willingness of allocators to commit capital under weakening crypto price conditions helped shape the article’s core observation — investor demand persisted even as Solana traded through a deep monthly decline. The ETF’s reception offered a counterpoint to conventional behavior during altcoin downturns, where flows typically freeze. This backdrop built a narrative that some institutions now see Solana not just as a momentum play, but as a chain worthy of exposure even during cyclical stress.<figure class="image image_resized" style="width:85.52%;"><img alt="tweet_1991137823626248638_20251120_045016_via_10015_io_11zon.jpg" src="https://prod-coin360-cms.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/tweet_1991137823626248638_20251120_045016_via_10015_io_11zon_7d5df66f6f.jpg"></figure>A parallel development came just one day earlier on November 18, when Fidelity introduced its&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/news/fidelity-solana-staking-etf-launch-institutional-shift">FSOL fund</a> — a U.S. spot Solana ETF equipped with integrated staking operations. Fidelity opted to waive both its expense ratio and staking-reward fees until May 18, 2026, after which fees will shift to a 0.25% annual expense ratio and a 15% charge on staking rewards.&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/DeFi-Staking">Staking</a> participation could reach up to 100% of the&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/solana-sol">SOL</a> held by the fund, excluding liquidity reserves and operational buffers. The infrastructure behind the product leaned on Anchorage Digital Bank NA,&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/review/coinbase">Coinbase</a> Custody Trust Company, and BitGo Trust Company, with delegation spread across multiple node operators. The fund enters a competitive channel already populated by issuers such as Bitwise (BSOL) and Grayscale (GSOL), though Fidelity’s stature and the staking component positioned FSOL as a structurally distinct entry. Market context featured prominently in the reporting: Solana’s coin&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/market-capitalization">market cap</a> sat near $80 billion — roughly one-fifth of&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/ethereum-eth">Ethereum</a>’s $380 billion — highlighting its scale while underscoring the gap between established institutional majors and emerging entrants.Analysts cited by the coverage pointed to possible short-term recalibration despite the broader drawdown.&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/bitget-token-bgb">Bitget</a> chief analyst Ryan Lee projected that Solana could revisit the $156–$160 band by late November as on-chain activity remained active across&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/decentralised-finance">DeFi</a>, consumer apps, and memecoin trading. StealthEx CEO Maria Carola noted that “for the first time, institutional investors are being invited to consider Solana as a standalone macro asset,” framing the ETF launches as a perceptual milestone. The broader crypto environment still reflected fragility — including reference to a roughly $1.2 trillion marketwide sell-off that characterized the month prior — yet the simultaneous arrival of two Solana-focused ETFs from well-known issuers reinforced the sense that institutions were preparing for longer-term positioning rather than responding to short-term volatility.The structural implications of these launches formed the underlying theme across sources. The products arrived during a period when the crypto price index had been sliding and liquidity conditions were thin, yet managers pushed forward with regulated wrappers that packaged staking, custody, and yield operations into a single regulated instrument. The emergence of ETF-based staking represented a notable shift: activities previously gated behind technical friction — self-custody, delegation, and validator risk — were now abstracted away behind a traditional investment wrapper. BlackRock’s decision to sit out the Solana ETF race was mentioned as a temporary opening for competitors like Fidelity, which may use its early-mover position to secure distribution across institutional channels. Meanwhile, 21Shares’ nine-digit early inflows suggested that downturn conditions had not discouraged allocators from building exposure.These launches, arriving just days apart, point to a broader institutionalization trend within altcoins. Even as the crypto price index softened and risk appetite declined across the market, Solana’s ecosystem fundamentals — including DeFi activity,&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/nft">NFT</a> throughput, and developer growth — provided a backdrop that issuers were willing to lean into. The story presented Solana’s evolving identity: no longer framed as a speculative “Ethereum-killer,” but as a maturing layer-one with enough scale, infrastructure support, and investor demand to justify earnest ETF packaging. As issuers race to differentiate through staking mechanics, fee waivers, and custody architecture, the events of this week signaled a new phase for altcoin exposure in regulated markets, arriving precisely when the macro environment looked least hospitable.This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

Robot carries Solana block toward ETF gateway as institutional demand rises

Solana ETF Momentum Builds as 21Shares and Fidelity Draw Institutional Interest Despite Market Weakness

<h2>Institutional Hesitation Forms Sharp Contrast With Aggressive Corporate ETH Buying</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>Asia’s planned $1 billion Ethereum digital asset treasury has been paused as market sentiment weakens and risk appetite cools.</li><li>BitMine Immersion Technologies continues to accumulate ETH aggressively, adding 21,054 ETH as prices slide.</li><li>Market turbulence, ETF outflows, and shifting crypto price index readings highlight a growing divergence between institutional caution and corporate accumulation strategies.</li></ul>A high-profile effort by a coalition of Asia’s most influential crypto investors to assemble a $1 billion&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/ethereum-eth">Ethereum</a> digital asset treasury has entered a holding pattern, reflecting how quickly sentiment shifted following months of severe market turbulnce. The initiative, which involved heavyweight figures such as&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/huobi-token-ht">Huobi</a> founder Li Lin, Fenbushi Capital founder Shen Bo, HashKey Group chief executive Xiao Feng, and Meitu founder Cai Wensheng, initially sought to establish a Nasdaq-listed vehicle that would hold and manage a large&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/ethereum-eth">ETH</a> reserve. Avenir Capital reportedly committed up to $200 million, and the proposed treasury aimed to leverage Ethereum’s staking yield to generate returns in the 3%–5% range, which analysts estimated could translate into $30 million–$50 million annually on a $1 billion position. The group had already identified a suitable listed shell company for the structure and described the infrastructure as ready to launch once market conditions improved.Multiple sources&nbsp;<a href="https://www.scmp.com/tech/blockchain/article/3333429/chinese-crypto-founders-shelve-us500-million-ether-digital-asset-treasury-project">published</a> on November 19 indicated that the founding group opted to pause the initiative after concluding that the current environment carried “unnecessary risk.”&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/volatility">Volatility</a> swept across digital asset markets since October, with forced liquidations erasing tens of billions in leveraged positions and dragging broader sentiment sharply lower. The slide pushed the&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/">crypto price</a> index into sustained risk-off territory, with ETH struggling to maintain momentum after a string of weekly declines. Market watchers pointed to weakening equity benchmarks, a cooldown in institutional flows, and ETF outflows exceeding $500 million at various points in November as evidence that buyers had stepped back.&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/decentralised-finance">DeFi</a> activity provided little support either, with total value locked dropping 24% over 30 days to about $74 billion and October DApp revenues falling 18% to $80.7 million.&nbsp;Analysts at Bernstein added another layer of caution earlier in the year, warning that corporate Ethereum treasuries carry liquidity and lock-up risk due to staking mechanics—risks not typically associated with&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/bitcoin-btc">Bitcoin</a>-focused treasury strategies—despite the potential for yield-based income. Their research noted that corporate ETH treasuries collectively hold roughly 876,000 ETH, or about 0.9% of supply, highlighting the growing but still young market segment.A separate storyline emerged as BitMine Immersion Technologies, a publicly traded firm led by long-time market strategist Tom Lee, moved in the opposite direction. A newly identified company&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/crypto-wallets">wallet</a> added&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/lookonchain/status/1990951990340563417">21,054 ETH</a> via transfers from&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/exchange/kraken">Kraken</a>, even as ETH hovered near $3,073 after a 23.93% decline over 30 days and an 11.83% weekly drop.&nbsp;<figure class="image image_resized" style="width:85.64%;"><img alt="twittershots-lookonchain-1990951990340563417.png" src="https://prod-coin360-cms.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/twittershots_lookonchain_1990951990340563417_8399a8b0f9.png"></figure>Traders highlighted support near $3,000 and $2,900 and resistance around $3,800, with a deeper corrective zone near $2,150 if downside momentum accelerated further. Lee has repeatedly argued that periods of heightened volatility create asymmetric opportunities, a view that guided BitMine’s earlier October purchase of 202,037 ETH at an average of roughly $4,154, a haul then valued at approximately $827 million. Those purchases pushed BitMine’s total holdings to more than 3 million ETH—about 2.5% of circulating supply—valued at more than $13 billion at the time.The contrast between the two developments underscores diverging risk appetites within the institutional landscape. A regionally driven collective of veteran investors opted to delay a major strategic initiative tied to Ethereum’s long-term adoption, citing market uncertainty and jurisdictional challenges such as limited support for digital asset treasury structures in Hong Kong. Meanwhile, a U.S.-listed corporation maintained an accumulation strategy even as the coin&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/market-capitalization">market cap</a> for ETH and other majors contracted through November, suggesting a stronger corporate willingness to lean into short-term dislocation. The tension between caution and conviction arrives at a moment when global investors remain sensitive to macroeconomic pressure, shifting ETF flows, and deteriorating liquidity conditions across digital assets. As sentiment fluctuates and the crypto price index reflects the broader repositioning, the paused treasury plan and BitMine’s continued buying illustrate how different institutional actors interpret the same market landscape through sharply different strategic lenses.This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

Robot adjusts Ethereum support bars to reflect shifting technical market levels

Asia’s $1B Ethereum Treasury Plan Stalls as BitMine Accelerates Accumulation Amid Market Pullback

<h2>Labour-Market Blind Spots Complicate December Rate-Cut Expectations</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>Fed minutes show a razor-thin divide over a December rate cut as liquidity-stress signals creep in.</li><li>Cancellation of the October jobs report removes a critical datapoint ahead of the December meeting.</li><li>Bitcoin slips below $89,000 as markets reassess the crypto price index and broader coin market cap reaction to fading rate-cut odds</li></ul>The latest Federal Reserve&nbsp;<a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/files/fomcminutes20251029.pdf">minutes</a> from the October 28–29 policy meeting delivered one of the clearest indications yet that officials remain split over the path of interest rates heading into December. Language in the minutes revealed that “many” participants judged a near-term cut as “likely not appropriate,” while “several” believed an easing move “could well be appropriate,” creating a narrow but meaningful divide that undercut earlier expectations of a smooth pivot. Traders quickly re-priced the odds of a December reduction, pushing the probability closer to roughly 40% from levels near 90% just weeks earlier, widening uncertainty across risk-asset markets and forcing investors to reconsider how the next phase of monetary policy could influence the&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/">crypto price</a> index.Market participants reacted to the wording with heightened sensitivity because the hierarchy in Fed language matters: “many” is interpreted as a stronger headcount than “several,” hinting that the committee leaned modestly against cutting rates even before new complications emerged. Analysts noted that officials are now wrestling with contradictory signals, ranging from sticky components of inflation to pockets of labour-market cooling, all while structural liquidity pressures begin to surface. The minutes referenced growing stress across key funding markets, including repo-market volatility and shrinking usage of the overnight reverse-repo facility, developments typically associated with reserves drifting toward scarcity and the late stages of quantitative tightening. Those dynamics contribute to a heavier macro backdrop that spilled directly into crypto, where&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/bitcoin-btc">Bitcoin</a> briefly fell below the $89,000 mark, erasing months of gains and amplifying caution as traders scanned the broader coin&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/market-capitalization">market cap</a> landscape for signs of stabilisation.<figure class="image"><img alt="Screenshot_12.png" src="https://prod-coin360-cms.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/Screenshot_12_92d3519243.png"></figure>Compounding the uncertainty, the Bureau of Labor Statistics confirmed that the U.S. will not publish an official unemployment rate for October after the 43-day government shutdown prevented the agency from conducting the household survey. The November employment report has been pushed to December 16, leaving the Fed without a complete labour-market snapshot heading into its December 9–10 meeting. Economic advisers have already warned that the absence of these metrics introduces a blind spot at a critical moment. Former White House economist Kevin Hassett described the situation plainly, noting that “we’re going to get half the employment report. We’ll get the jobs part, but we won’t get the unemployment rate.” The gap forces policymakers to rely on fragmented indicators just as private-sector data points toward softening fundamentals, including continuing unemployment claims rising from roughly 1.916 million to 1.957 million between mid-September and mid-October.Several labour-market indicators released by private organisations deepen the picture. Announced job cuts for October reached about 153,074—the highest October reading in more than two decades—driven mostly by layoffs in technology, logistics, and warehousing sectors. Analysts monitoring wage dynamics highlighted an unusually wide gap between higher- and lower-income earners, reportedly the largest in ten years, raising concerns about structural pressures that could accelerate if economic momentum weakens. These datapoints have fed into the bond market’s shift toward safety and raised questions about whether any potential rate cut would be interpreted as stabilisation or as confirmation that the economy is cooling faster than expected. Investors tracking the crypto price index and coin market cap movements have increasingly priced in the latter possibility, creating additional headwinds for assets sensitive to tightening liquidity conditions.Traders who had previously framed a December cut as bullish are recalibrating their outlook as the narrative transitions from “cut because inflation is under control” to “cut because growth and labour conditions are deteriorating.” The distinction matters for crypto markets because easing under weaker economic assumptions often brings sharper volatility rather than steady upside. Analysts observing Bitcoin’s slide below $89,000 noted that risk appetite has thinned as liquidity signals worsen and as the Fed faces one of the tightest policy calls since the inflation-fighting cycle began. A line within the minutes encapsulated the sentiment: “If the Fed chooses to hold in December, markets may need to brace for a longer-than-expected plateau and more volatility ahead.” Crypto-linked assets have mirrored that mood, with traders increasingly aware that the combination of labour-market fog, policy division, and funding-market stress removes the clarity that risk-on environments typically require.The convergence of a divided policy committee, the cancellation of a major economic dataset, and early signs of liquidity strain has raised the stakes for December. Markets that once assumed a linear easing path now face a more ambiguous and potentially fragile setup. Whether the Fed cuts, holds, or signals caution, the reaction across the crypto price index and broader coin market cap suggests traders are preparing for wider swings, not calmer waters, as policymakers move toward one of their most consequential meetings of the year.This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

Robot steadies shifting rate dial amid missing jobs data uncertainty

Fed Division, Missing Jobs Data, and Bitcoin’s Slide Below $89K Put Markets on Edge

<h2>Rising Electricity Losses and Expanding Crypto-Mining Crackdowns Across Malaysia</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>Malaysia confirms RM4.57 billion (US$1.1 billion) in electricity losses tied to illegal crypto-mining across 13,827 premises between 2020 and August 2025.</li><li>TNB reports theft cases jumping nearly 300% from 610 in 2018 to around 2,397 in 2024, with thousands of mining rigs seized.</li><li>Officials warn the theft wave threatens grid stability, public safety, and economic integrity, even as industry voices push for a formal mining framework.</li></ul>Malaysia’s mounting struggle with illegal crypto-mining intensified this year after the Ministry of Energy Transition and Water Transformation&nbsp;<a href="https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3333370/crypto-power-theft-malaysia-drains-us111-billion-utility-firm">disclosed</a> that 13,827 premises were caught siphoning electricity for mining operations between 2020 and August 2025, inflicting RM4.57 billion in losses on Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB), roughly US$1.1 billion. The figure surfaced in a parliamentary filing dated November 19, 2025, and underscores how widespread, organized, and persistent underground mining has become across multiple states. Government officials described the phenomenon as a direct threat to the national electricity system, public safety, and economic stability, noting that many operators actively bypass meters or tap directly into distribution transformers to evade detection. Their setups often involve industrial ventilation and concealed cooling systems hidden behind rented shophouses, residential blocks, or makeshift warehouses, enabling high-density mining rigs to run continuously without attracting attention.TNB’s historical data traces the roots of the problem to several years earlier. Electricity-theft cases linked to crypto-mining climbed from 610 incidents in 2018 to approximately 2,397 by 2024, representing a near 300% surge. Between 2018 and 2023 alone, TNB estimated losses of at least RM3.4 billion tied to stolen power for mining equipment. From 2020 through 2024, the utility logged an average of 2,303 theft cases per year and received roughly 1,699 public complaints annually related to suspicious energy use. Officials said many miners believe they can operate undetected because meters are often absent from these covert facilities, leading them to assume the grid cannot monitor irregular consumption patterns. Several cases also revealed operators relocating frequently to avoid enforcement efforts, complicating TNB’s attempts to shut down clusters of repeat offenders.Authorities have increasingly escalated their crackdown in response. TNB built an internal database documenting landlords and tenants at properties flagged for suspected illicit use, describing it as a key operational reference for inspections. Investigators also expanded deployment of smart meters and launched a Distribution Transformer Meter pilot program at substations aimed at identifying abnormal electricity flows in real time. Joint operations involving police, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission, and municipal councils have led to the seizure of thousands of mining machines, including one case earlier this year where an explosion revealed a hidden mining farm connected via stolen lines. Officials argue that the combination of low industrial electricity tariffs, regulatory ambiguity, and gaps in oversight has made Malaysia highly attractive for underground mining groups that move between districts quickly.Regulators emphasize that crypto-mining itself is not illegal in Malaysia, yet tampering with meters or bypassing power infrastructure violates the Electricity Supply Act 1990, an offense punishable by fines of up to RM1 million, imprisonment of up to 10 years, or both. The absence of a dedicated licensing or tariff framework for mining has left the sector in a grey zone, with the Securities Commission Malaysia overseeing trading and custody of digital assets but not mining operations. Industry stakeholders, including the ACCESS&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/blockchain">Blockchain</a> Association Malaysia, argue that establishing a formal regulatory structure could draw RM400 million to RM700 million in investment, generate up to 4,000 jobs, and contribute RM80 million to RM150 million in yearly tax revenue. They claim a structured environment could shift mining activity back onto the grid legitimately—potentially strengthening Malaysia’s role in the global hash-rate arena at a time when market participants track volatility in the&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/">crypto price</a> index, shifting crypto price behavior, and broader changes across coin&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/market-capitalization">market cap</a> metrics.Officials warn that unchecked power theft continues to strain distribution networks and elevate fire-risk scenarios, especially when high-density GPU and ASIC installations run without proper electrical compliance. Investigators said the explosion earlier this year illustrated the type of hazard these covert operations pose to surrounding communities. Even as enforcement intensifies, the scale of Malaysia’s findings—spanning RM4.57 billion in losses, nearly 14,000 compromised premises, and multi-year surges in theft reports—suggests the country is confronting a major structural issue. Whether Malaysia focuses on containment, legalization, or a hybrid model remains unresolved, but policymakers increasingly acknowledge that the nation’s electricity grid and digital-asset ecosystem are now intertwined in ways that can no longer be ignored.This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

Robot halts illegal power line feeding mining rigs impacting coin market cap

Malaysia Faces Escalating RM4.57B Power-Theft Crisis Tied to Illegal Crypto Mining From 2020–2025

<h2>Citadel Securities’ $200M Commitment Pushes Valuation to $20B as Expansion Plans Accelerate</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>Kraken secured $800 million in new funding, including a $200 million investment from Citadel Securities at a $20 billion valuation.</li><li>The firm surpassed its $1.5 billion 2024 revenue total within the first three quarters of 2025 and plans deeper global expansion.</li><li>Leadership emphasized long-term infrastructure building and dismissed the notion of rushing toward an IPO despite filing confidentially with the SEC.</li></ul><a href="https://coin360.com/exchange/kraken">Kraken</a>’s latest funding milestone reshaped the conversation around digital-asset infrastructure, as the long-running U.S. exchange confirmed an&nbsp;<a href="https://fortune.com/2025/11/18/kraken-citadel-securities-ken-griffin-800-million-fundraise">$800 million</a> capital injection anchored by a $200 million strategic commitment from Citadel Securities. The company disclosed the news in a November 18–19 release, marking its largest raise to date and setting a fresh $20 billion valuation that lifts it above several publicly traded industry peers. The scale also underscores how large institutional players are viewing the convergence of traditional and on-chain financial rails after a period of cautious engagement across the broader&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/">crypto price</a> landscape.The raise followed a prior funding round earlier in 2025 that valued Kraken at roughly $15 billion, making the latest figure a significant step up for a platform that had taken on just $27 million in primary capital before this year. A broad mix of institutions participated across the two tranches, including Jane Street, DRW Venture Capital, Oppenheimer Alternative Investment Management, HSG Capital—formerly part of Sequoia China—and Tribe Capital, joined by a large personal contribution from the family office of Co-CEO Arjun Sethi. The Citadel Securities investment carried symbolic weight beyond the dollar amount, signaling that one of the most influential market-making firms in global finance now sees Kraken as a strategic player in shaping the future structure of digital markets.Kraken framed the raise as fuel for a substantial strategic roadmap centered on bringing more traditional financial products on-chain. Sethi positioned the company’s mission with an almost engineering-level clarity, stating that its goal remains to build “trusted, regulated infrastructure for the open financial system” and create a platform where users can trade “any asset, anytime, anywhere.” The firm has been expanding accordingly, now operating a vertically integrated stack for spot trading, derivatives, equities, tokenized assets, staking and payments. Its infrastructure spans matching, custody, clearing, settlement, market-data distribution and&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/crypto-wallets">wallet</a> services, drawing comparisons to full-service trading houses rather than a typical exchange. Citadel Securities President Jim Esposito framed the partnership as an endorsement of that direction, noting that Kraken is helping shape “the next chapter of digital innovation in markets.”Revenue momentum provided the financial backbone behind the valuation jump. Kraken reported $1.5 billion in revenue for 2024 and exceeded that number within the first three quarters of 2025, a trend consistent with third-quarter revenue of $648 million reported earlier this year. That performance arrived during a volatile period for the crypto price index, coin&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/market-capitalization">market cap</a> rankings and asset-specific liquidity cycles, reflecting durable user activity rather than short-term speculation. Alongside revenue growth, Kraken accelerated product expansion through acquisitions and internal development, including its purchase of NinjaTrader to advance U.S. derivatives offerings and the rollout of KRAK, its global payments, savings and investing app.The company signaled clear priorities for deploying the new capital: expanded operations in Latin America, Asia-Pacific and EMEA, continued build-out of its regulated footprint and an increasing focus on multi-asset markets rather than a siloed crypto-only approach. Planned offerings include additional asset classes, more advanced trading tools, broader institutional services, staking enhancements and extended payment features. The leadership team also indicated that targeted acquisitions remain part of its growth pathway as competition intensifies across digital and tokenized-equity markets.Despite renewed attention around its long-rumored market debut, Kraken pushed back against the idea that it is preparing to sprint toward an IPO. The company confirmed that it filed a confidential Form S-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission but emphasized that share counts and pricing remain undecided. Sethi reiterated that the firm has “enough capital” and does not intend to rush to public markets, a stance that reflects both confidence in its financial position and caution in navigating an evolving regulatory environment that still shapes the global crypto price narrative.The raise leaves Kraken positioned as one of the most heavily capitalized private firms in the digital-asset sector, an outcome that resonates through the broader ecosystem as exchanges, broker-dealers and hybrid market platforms jockey for advantage during a period of structural realignment. With crypto price metrics, liquidity patterns and coin market cap leadership shifting throughout 2025, the company’s $20 billion valuation sets a high bar for execution. The coming expansion across multiple regions and asset types will test Kraken’s ability to translate investor confidence into sustained operational scale, especially as traditional finance incumbents accelerate their own digital-assets strategies.The implications of this raise stretch beyond Kraken itself. Citadel Securities’ involvement signals that market-structure expertise from traditional finance may increasingly define the next stage of digital-asset evolution. The funding also raises expectations of more mergers, regulated market entries and competitive pressure among platforms seeking to integrate crypto and conventional assets. Kraken now enters that landscape with significant capital, a broad product stack, and a clear intention to compete not just as a crypto exchange but as a full-fledged global markets operator built on on-chain infrastructure.This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

Robot inserts funding block representing Kraken valuation shift in digital markets