CHAIN news

In November 2025, Wall Street witnessed a stunning scene that left the entire financial circle speechless: Solana, XRP, and Dogecoin, which had previously been labeled as 'speculative toys' by mainstream institutions, collectively landed on the NYSE and NASDAQ in just a few weeks, transforming into regulated ETF products.
It should be noted that the Bitcoin ETF took nearly ten years from application to approval, while these altcoins achieved it in just six months. More incredibly, they did not follow the SEC's traditional approval route but relied on a new 'general listing standard' and the little-known '8(a) clause' fast track, automatically coming into effect under regulatory 'tacit approval'.

At the beginning of October, the cryptocurrency circle was still relying on Bitcoin reaching an all-time high, shouting 'Uptober,' but now it is left in ruins. The October flash crash has doused all optimism — Bitcoin dropped nearly $40,000 from its peak, with a decline exceeding 33%, and altcoins are in an even more tragic state, with the entire market cap retreating to around $3 trillion.
Clearly, this year the industry's fundamentals are not considered bad, yet prices and sentiment have been declining all the way. Ultimately, the current cryptocurrency market is being weighed down by three major challenges: 'macro headwinds,' 'core funding channels malfunctioning,' and 'internal liquidity drying up.' This is not just a simple short-term correction, but a comprehensive recalibration involving funds, leverage, and confidence. Today, let's delve into the roots of this weakness and see when the market can finally catch its breath.

The past week in the crypto space can be described as 'fire and ice': on one side, the hype around altcoin ETFs had just begun, when suddenly a giant splashed cold water on the plans; on the other side, expectations for interest rate cuts soared, directly igniting the rise of crypto-related stocks. Stricter UK regulations, sudden project terminations, and presidential decree controversies have also played out in succession. Let's break down these major events in straightforward terms.

1. ETF Windfall Suddenly Cools: CoinShares Suddenly Withdraws Plans for Three Products
The altcoin ETF track that was bustling just a while ago suddenly received bad news this week - the well-known asset management firm CoinShares announced the termination of plans to launch three single-asset crypto ETFs in the U.S., which happen to involve the hottest assets right now: Solana, XRP, and Litecoin.

BlackRock increased its holdings of crypto assets by over 580 million USD in three days: On-chain monitoring shows that in the past 10 minutes, BlackRock received 300 BTC (27.51 million USD) and 16,600 ETH (50.64 million USD) from Coinbase. In the past three days, it has accumulated an additional 4044 BTC (354 million USD) and 80,100 ETH (235 million USD), showing significant institutional buying strength.
Mysterious address deposited 41.06 million USD worth of ETH to Binance in the past two weeks: An address that previously built a position in WBTC at a low price and took profit at a high price deposited 5000 ETH (15.36 million USD) to Binance 10 hours ago, accumulating a total of 13,400 ETH (41.06 million USD) in the past two weeks. This address still holds 15,000 ETH and has interacted with the GalaxyDigital address, ownership of which remains unclear.

Recently, ETH's performance has indeed been eye-catching—from the low point in October, it rebounded steadily and stood firmly above the psychological threshold of $3000, prompting many to shout, 'The bull market is coming.' But don't rush to celebrate; if you peel back the 'outer layer' of this rebound and look at the real data of the Ethereum ecosystem, the attitude of the derivatives market, and combine it with the broader global economic environment, you'll find that the road to $4000 has long been blocked by three 'checkpoints'.

To put it simply, this rebound is more like a natural rebound of 'valuation returning to a comfortable zone' and is by no means a signal for the restart of a bull market. Market confidence is as fragile as glass, and ETH is tightly trapped by the triple constraints of 'on-chain cooling', 'macroeconomic pressure', and 'lack of confidence in derivatives'.

This week in the crypto space has been full of excitement: leading exchanges were 'visited' by hackers, regulators urgently intervened to track down the real culprits; stablecoin compliance made further progress, and institutional recognition continues to rise; Ethereum's scalability blueprint has been revealed, and several giants are crossing into new fields... There’s a lot to unpack!

1. Major Event: Upbit was hacked for $30 million, Lazarus is the main suspect
This week has been a bit 'tough' for South Korea's leading exchange Upbit. Its Solana network hot wallet was attacked by hackers, initially estimated to have lost about $38.57 million, later revised to $30.43 million after verification, and the frozen funds also shrank from 12 billion KRW to 2.3 billion KRW.

At the end of November, the global market was ignited by a strong expectation of "easing". The probability of a Federal Reserve rate cut in December surged from less than 40% a week ago to 86.9%, equivalent to giving the market a "shot of confidence"; Bitcoin rebounded, with the largest ETF holder recovering from near losses to a profit of 3.2 billion USD; Wall Street collectively called for bullish sentiment on US stocks, with the S&P 500 index projected to reach 8000 points. Even more noteworthy is the new issuance of 17.25 billion USD in the stablecoin market, suggesting that a massive influx of capital is entering to "buy the dip". How should ordinary people seize this liquidity-driven market trend? We will break down the key signals one by one.

UK FCA establishes regulatory sandbox for stablecoins, treasury bill market simultaneously expands: The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) announced the establishment of a stablecoin task force within its regulatory sandbox, with application channels open until January 18, 2026. Meanwhile, the UK Debt Management Office is studying the expansion of the treasury bill market, with market speculation that this move may be related to the optimization of stablecoin reserve structures.
UK Autumn Statement: Cryptocurrency tax remains unchanged, regulation tightened: Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves made it clear in the Autumn Statement that there will be no new specific taxes on cryptocurrency, maintaining the same tax treatment as other asset classes. However, the implementation of the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF) global tax transparency system in 2026 will be promoted, with industry concerns that strict regulation may exacerbate talent outflow.

In the past week, global markets have been like a roller coaster: JPMorgan overturned its rate cut prediction within a week, changing from 'cut in January next year' to 'cut in December'; Bitcoin received good news with its institutional holdings limit doubling, while also facing a blow from stablecoin rating downgrades; gold prices have been targeted at $5000, and the China-US tariff exemptions have suddenly been postponed. These messages may seem scattered, but they actually string together the core logic of the current market - under the expectation of liquidity easing, the curtain has been raised for a reshuffling of assets.

1. Macro Policy Nuclear Bomb: Fed Rate Cut Expectations Take a 'Triple Jump', JPMorgan Leads Reversal

Vitalik announces core strategy for Gas adjustment: Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin stated that the block Gas limit will be increased by 5 times in the future, while imposing a 5 times Gas cost on inefficient operations. Key adjustment targets include new storage creation (SSTORE), non-elliptic curve precompiles, large contract calls, etc., and Calldata costs will also be fine-tuned. Currently, the block Gas limit has doubled from last year's 30M to 60M, with the related EIP being developed for the 'Glamsterdam' or 'H*' upgrade.
Vitalik clarifies: No planned economy, transactions are still determined by the market: In response to the question of 'whether to implement a planned economy', Vitalik replied that the total block Gas is set by votes from validators, but transaction selection completely follows market mechanisms. Validators usually refer to developer suggestions, but which transactions are ultimately included in the blockchain is still freely filtered by the market, 'not the same as Bitcoin's system'.

Japan plans to require cryptocurrency exchanges to set up mandatory liability reserves: The Financial Services Agency of Japan plans to introduce a mandatory liability reserve system for cryptocurrency exchanges to address asset losses due to hacking and other incidents, allowing for quick compensation to users in the event of an accident. This system will be included in the recent report from the Financial Review Council's working group, with subsequent rules to be developed.
South Korea's Upbit operator fined $25 million: The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) of South Korea has imposed a $25 million fine on Dunamu, the operator of Upbit, and suspended new customer registrations for three months. An investigation found 5.3 million violations of customer verification and failed to report 15 suspicious transactions. Dunamu is considering an appeal, and the FIU is also examining other exchanges.

Have you ever thought about this scenario: without needing to find an agent, you can spend a few hundred yuan on your phone to buy a 'partial ownership' of an American apartment, with monthly rent automatically deposited into your wallet; without opening a securities account, you can invest in U.S. Treasury bonds for just 1 dollar, with returns three times higher than bank deposits; even the enterprise invoices and carbon emission quotas you hold can be transformed into on-chain assets for trading at any time.

This is not a sci-fi plot, but a transformation that is currently happening with the global capital frenzy for RWA (Real World Asset Tokenization). Simply put, RWA is issuing a 'blockchain ID' for assets like houses, bonds, and gold, allowing them to circulate across regions, at low cost, and around the clock. The OKX Research Institute stated: This is not a transient hotspot, but a 'necessary path' for Web3 to connect the trillion-level traditional financial market.

Recently, there has been a surge of significant news in the global market. The probability of a rate cut by the Federal Reserve has risen to 80%, and the cryptocurrency market is greeted with dual benefits from ETF stabilization and new ETF launches. Citigroup also maintains a positive long-term outlook for Bitcoin. Behind these news are the core trends of the market's future, explained clearly in simple terms.

Big moves from the Federal Reserve: The probability of a rate cut in December skyrocketed to 82.9%, with core officials supporting it.
The Federal Reserve policy that the market is most concerned about now has a clear signal of turning.
According to CME's "FedWatch" data, the probability of a 25 basis point rate cut by the Federal Reserve in December has surged to 82.9%, a significant increase from the previous day's 69.4%, while the probability of keeping the rate unchanged is only 17.1%. Looking further ahead, by January next year, the cumulative probability of a 25 basis point rate cut reaches 65.4%, with even a 22% chance of a cumulative 50 basis point cut.

Amazon to Invest $50 Billion in Government AI and Supercomputing Infrastructure: Amazon has announced plans to invest up to $50 billion to expand artificial intelligence and supercomputing infrastructure for U.S. government agencies, with construction set to officially begin in 2026.
Trump Launches 'Genesis Mission' to Advance AI Research Revolution: President Trump has signed an executive order to initiate the 'Genesis Mission' plan, described as the largest federal research resource integration since the Apollo program. It requires the Department of Energy and other agencies to deploy AI to analyze big data from national laboratories, open up research data and computing infrastructure, and support breakthroughs in fields such as medicine and energy.

WLFI rises nearly 10% to break through $0.15 in 24 hours: market data shows WLFI currently quoted at $0.1545, with a 24-hour increase of 9.8%. Recent market fluctuations have been significant, and risk control should be noted.
XMR rises over 12% to break through $370: currently quoted at $372.27, with a 24-hour increase of 12.9%, making it one of the standout mainstream crypto assets today.
BNB steadily rises to break through $830: currently reported at $830.34, with a 24-hour increase of 1.57%, maintaining a relatively stable performance amid market fluctuations.
PORT3 suffers a hacker attack, token plummets by 77%: hackers illegally minted 1 billion PORT3 using a BridgeIn vulnerability and dumped them, profiting $166,000 (exchanging for 199.5 BNB). The project team has removed on-chain liquidity, and some exchanges have suspended deposits. Subsequently, the hackers destroyed the remaining 837 million tokens. The project team advises users to halt trading and is in communication with the hackers.

Friday's crypto market can be described as a 'day of horror': Bitcoin fell below the critical line of $84,000, plummeting 9.28% in a single day, and Ethereum fared worse, dropping over 10% in 24 hours and falling below $2,700. Some are shouting 'the bear market is here', saying it needs to drop another 50% to find the bottom; others say 'the adjustment is nearly over', with a state government even issuing bonds in Bitcoin against the trend. The market is half sea and half fire, and today we will clarify the most critical information and logic.

The battle of bulls and bears: after the plunge, is it time to buy the dip or escape the peak? The big shots are arguing fiercely.
The core question after the plunge: how far will this round of adjustment fall? The views of institutional leaders are directly 'opposed', and each logic is quite persuasive.

BTC falls below the $85,000 mark: Market data shows that BTC is currently priced at $84,982.36, with a 24-hour decline of 2.55%, short-term volatility intensifying, and market risks increasing.
Bitwise CIO provides key BTC support and retracement targets: Matt Hougan pointed out that $84,000 (the low point of the March retracement) is an important line of defense recently. If the entire increase from October is surrendered, it may dip to the $70,000 range. He emphasized the short-term panic and long-term confidence divergence in the market, with institutions like Harvard's endowment fund tentatively building positions.
Retail miners create a miracle with a 1 in 180 million chance of mining a block: A miner using Solo CKpool, with a hash rate of only 6 TH/s, unexpectedly mined a block and received a reward of $265,000, marking CKpool's first block mined in nearly three months.

The recent developments in the finance and crypto circles are more dramatic than a TV drama: the critical defense line of Bitcoin at $84,000 is precarious, yet institutions are proclaiming that we are 'close to the bottom'; Grayscale is bringing Dogecoin and XRP ETFs to the rescue, while on the other hand, the Federal Reserve's interest rate cut vote is trapped in a 'one vote determines life and death' deadlock, and the unemployment rate for white-collar workers in the U.S. has reached a historical high. These issues are interconnected, and today we will clarify their relationships and impacts in simple terms.

Crypto market: $84,000 is the defense line, are institutions quietly bottom-fishing?
The recent market conditions for Bitcoin have made many people anxious, especially the fluctuations at key support levels, which have become the focus of market attention.

Recently, the financial and crypto circles can be described as 'fire and ice': on one side, Goldman Sachs warns that $40 billion worth of stocks will be sold next week, with technical indicators in the US stock market flashing red; on the other side, Tether has quietly accumulated 116 tons of gold, predicting that the market platform's valuation will double in a month. Behind these seemingly unrelated events lies a new logic of asset allocation, which I will explain in simple terms today.

Market warning: The S&P has broken a critical point, is a $40 billion sell-off coming?
The recent days in the US stock market have been tough, and a key signal breaking could trigger a chain reaction.