Today's top news highlights:

21Shares: Bitcoin has not entered a deep bear market; volatility and consolidation may continue until the end of the year.

South Korea's KOSPI index fell more than 3%, while Japan's Nikkei 225 index extended its losses to 3%.

Wintermute: Market liquidity is expected to improve in Q1 2026, with future catalysts likely coming from policy and interest rate expectations rather than crypto intranet liquidity.

Vitalik Buterin releases "Kohaku," an Ethereum framework centered on privacy.

The Fidelity Solana ETF will officially launch on November 18th.

Arthur Hayes: Bitcoin may first fall to $80,000–$85,000, then surge to the $200,000–$250,000 range by the end of the year.

Macro

AMINA has been granted an extension to its Hong Kong SFC Type 1 license, enabling it to provide compliant crypto trading and custody services.

According to Business Wire, Swiss crypto bank AMINA (Hong Kong) Limited has received a Type 1 license upgrade from the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), becoming the first international banking group to offer cryptocurrency spot trading and asset custody services to professional investors in Hong Kong. The services cover 24/7 trading, custody, and crypto asset deposits and withdrawals to whitelisted addresses. Initially, it supports 13 crypto assets (including BTC, ETH, USDC, USDT, and mainstream DeFi tokens) and utilizes SOC 1/2 Type 2 level infrastructure. AMINA stated that it will subsequently expand to private equity fund management, structured products, derivatives, and RWA tokenization, targeting institutional, corporate, and high-net-worth clients.

South Korea's KOSPI index fell more than 3%, while Japan's Nikkei 225 index extended its losses to 3%.

South Korea's KOSPI index fell by more than 3%, while Japan's Nikkei 225 index extended its decline to 3%.

Opinion

Wintermute: Market liquidity is expected to improve in Q1 2026, with future catalysts likely coming from policy and interest rate expectations rather than crypto intranet liquidity.

Crypto market maker Wintermute analyzed that last week's decline in the crypto market was mainly driven by the repricing of expectations for a December rate cut by the Federal Reserve, rather than a fundamental problem. Bitcoin needs to re-enter a trading range to improve market sentiment. The analysis points out that the pressure partly stemmed from large holders reducing their positions. While the Q4-Q1 sell-off is typically seasonal, this trend occurred earlier this year, partly due to market expectations that the four-year cycle might suggest weaker performance in the coming year. This expectation accelerated risk-averse operations, amplifying market volatility. However, this decline lacked substantial fundamental issues and was primarily driven by US macroeconomic factors. Although short-term interest rate adjustments affected market sentiment, there were no signs of a deterioration in the global macroeconomic environment. The world remains in an easing cycle: Japan plans an $110 billion stimulus package, China continues its easing policies, the US quantitative tightening program will end next month, and fiscal stimulus channels remain active. The market is currently more driven by macroeconomic factors, lacking new data to support interest rate expectations, leading to increased market reactivity. Wintermute believes that the recent decline in Bitcoin is more of a macroeconomic adjustment than a structural problem. With global easing policies continuing and the US quantitative easing program set to end next month, liquidity is expected to improve in the first quarter of next year, and the overall market environment remains constructive. The current macroeconomic environment does not resemble a prolonged bear market. A recovery in market sentiment requires confirmation from mainstream asset performance, and future catalysts may come from policy and interest rate expectations rather than liquidity within the crypto sector. Once mainstream assets rebound, the market may experience a broader recovery.

21Shares: Bitcoin has not entered a deep bear market; volatility and consolidation may continue until the end of the year.

Maximiliaan Michielsen, an analyst at 21Shares, a cryptocurrency ETP issuer, analyzed that while Bitcoin's price drop below $100,000 has triggered market concerns about a bear market, his analysis suggests this decline is a short-term correction, not the start of a deep or long-term bear market. Although volatility and consolidation may continue until the end of the year, the fundamental factors driving this cycle remain solid, supporting its long-term positive outlook. The recent weakness in Bitcoin has been primarily driven by three factors: forced liquidations, selling by investors holding large amounts of Bitcoin and ETF outflows, and liquidity tightening caused by macroeconomic events. While Bitcoin is technically in a short-term bear market, the analysis argues that this decline is more of a valuation reset than a deep bear market with a drop exceeding 80%. Crucially, there are currently no classic bear market catalysts: no securities defaults, systemic fraud, regulatory shocks, or macroeconomic tightening cycles. Historical data shows that corrections of this magnitude typically end within 1 to 3 months and often mark a consolidation phase before the next upward move. In the long term, Bitcoin's fundamentals remain solid, and the outlook remains constructive.

CryptoQuant: Bitcoin needs to hold its fair value of $87,000, ETF holding cost of $79,000, and volatility floor of $74,000.

CryptoQuant analyst Axel Adler Jr. clearly points out that the market is currently at a crossroads, and the direction in the coming weeks will depend on whether it can hold three key "lifelines." He warns that these three key levels are $87,000 "fair value," $79,000 "average cost of holding US ETFs," and $74,000 "lower limit of the short-term trading range." Holding these levels means the current pullback may just be a deep "shakeout" within a bull market; however, if these levels are breached, especially if the price falls below $87,000 fair value, market risk will increase dramatically, potentially signaling a deeper correction or even the start of a bear market.

Arthur Hayes: Privacy coins like Zcash should have a market capitalization second only to Bitcoin and Ethereum.

In his latest article, BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes expressed optimism about privacy coins, specifically mentioning Zcash (ZEC). He believes that internet privacy has almost vanished due to the combined effects of artificial intelligence, large tech companies, and governments, and that privacy coins using zero-knowledge proof technology are the last line of defense for protecting human privacy. Hayes points out that privacy coins will become a key tool in combating the oppression of technology, governments, and AI giants, possessing long-term value. He further states that Zcash or similar privacy coins should occupy a more significant position in the market, with a market capitalization second only to Bitcoin and Ethereum. Hayes believes that the privacy meta-narrative will drive the crypto market for years and may propel the continued price increase of privacy coins like Zcash in the future. Previously, Arthur Hayes predicted that Bitcoin might first fall to $80,000–$85,000 before hitting the $200,000–$250,000 range by the end of the year.

Analysis: Ethereum has already corrected by 10% this year due to the withdrawal of Bitmine buying, slower ETF inflows, and excessively high long positions.

Matrixport released a chart today stating that Ethereum's price was supported by increased buying from Bitmine during the summer, but market sentiment weakened as Bitmine buying subsided. Meanwhile, Ethereum-related ETFs saw a cumulative net inflow of approximately $10 billion, with long positions at high levels. Insufficient new capital inflows have increased downward pressure on prices. To date, Ethereum has seen a cumulative pullback of approximately 10% year-to-date, and a decline of nearly 20% since the risk warning issued two weeks ago.

CryptoQuant CEO: Whales have withdrawn from the futures market; Bitcoin is likely to weaken in the short term and may bottom out at $56,000.

According to Ki Young Ju, founder and CEO of CryptoQuant, the current BTC futures market is dominated by retail investors, with clear signs of whales leaving and the momentum for spot inflows into futures exchanges exhausted. Meanwhile, the Coinbase premium has fallen to a nine-month low, ETFs have experienced net outflows for three consecutive weeks, and the on-chain PnL indicator has turned short-selling. If cycle theory holds true, the bottom may be around $56,000. He predicts that in the short term, tight dollar liquidity and slowing capital flows will continue to suppress BTC performance, but a sustained outflow is unlikely in the next six months. If interest rate cuts or a renewed easing narrative occur, ETFs may attract capital back.

Project Updates

Coinbase will launch Superfluid (SUP) spot trading.

Coinbase Markets announced that spot trading of Superfluid (SUP) on the Base network will launch on November 17 (Eastern Time), and the SUP-USD trading pair will open later that day in supported regions depending on liquidity conditions.

Sentient airdrop registration is now open, and eligibility confirmation closes at midnight on November 30th.

According to Sentient's official announcement, the $SENT airdrop registration portal is now open. Users must complete all account connections and uniqueness verification before 2:00 AM Beijing time on November 30th. This airdrop is open to four groups: community contributors, active Sentient Chat users, Top Voices social platforms, and external open-source researchers. The airdrop amount is not displayed; eligibility is only confirmed. Registration requires a one-time selfie verification via "Billions" to prevent Sybil attacks. Once submitted, no more accounts can be added.

Upbit will list Meteora (MET2), supporting KRW, BTC, and USDT trading pairs.

According to an Upbit announcement, the exchange has listed Meteora (MET2), an on-chain asset of Solana, supporting trading in Korean Won, BTC, and USDT. Trading will begin today at 17:00 (KST). To avoid confusion with the previously delisted MET token, Upbit is using "MET2" as the token identifier. MET2 is a token issued by Meteora, a decentralized liquidity project within the Solana ecosystem. It provides liquidity services using DLMM and DAMM mechanisms and is planned for use in staking and governance within the ecosystem.

Binance will delist XCN, FLM, and PEP perpetual contracts on November 21st.

According to a Binance announcement, the platform will automatically settle and delist the XCNUSDT, FLMUSDT, and PerpUSDT perpetual contracts at 17:00 (Beijing time) on November 21, 2025. Users will be unable to open new positions from 16:30 on that day, and are advised to close positions in advance to avoid forced liquidation and potential volatility risks. Binance reminds users to pay attention to liquidity changes and the forced liquidation mechanism in the last hour before settlement.

Uniswap founders submitted a proposal for a "UNIFication" temperature check system to a vote, which would involve implementing a transaction fee mechanism and burning 100 million UNI tokens.

Uniswap founder Hayden Adams tweeted that he has submitted the "UNIfication" proposal to the Snapshot platform for a temperature test vote. The proposal, jointly put forward by Uniswap Labs and the foundation, plans to enable protocol fees to be used for buying back and burning UNI, while also burning 100 million UNI from the treasury. The proposal also includes building a mechanism to enhance LP yields, integrating external liquidity, and optimizing Uniswap v4's aggregation capabilities. If this vote passes, the next step will be a formal on-chain vote.

Important data

After withdrawing USDC, the LIBRA team purchased over 450,000 SOL tokens, with an average purchase price of $135 per token.

According to Onchain Lens, after the LIBRA team withdrew $3.94 million USDC from the liquidity pool, two wallets used the funds to purchase a total of 456,401 SOL, costing approximately $61.59 million, with an average purchase price of $135.

Ethereum spot ETFs saw net outflows for the fifth consecutive day, with $183 million flowing out yesterday.

According to SoSoValue data, Ethereum spot ETFs recorded a net outflow of $183 million on November 17th (Eastern Time), marking the fifth consecutive day of capital outflows. BlackRock's ETHA saw the largest net outflow of $193 million that day; Grayscale's mini ETFs ETH and ETHE, on the other hand, recorded net inflows of $10.75 million and $2.46 million, respectively. Currently, the total assets of ETH spot ETFs reach $18.759 billion, with a cumulative net inflow of $12.95 billion, representing approximately 5.17% of ETH's total market capitalization.

Mt. Gox address just transferred over 10,000 BTC, worth nearly $954 million.

According to Arkham data, Mt. Gox cold wallet addresses have just transferred a total of 10,608 BTC (approximately $954 million) to multiple addresses, with 185 BTC transferred to its hot wallet.

Bitcoin spot ETFs saw net outflows for the fourth consecutive day, with $255 million flowing out yesterday.

According to SoSoValue data, Bitcoin spot ETFs recorded a net outflow of $255 million on November 17th (Eastern Time), marking the fourth consecutive day of capital outflows. BlackRock's IBIT saw the largest net outflow of $146 million that day, while Grayscale's GBTC experienced a net outflow of $34.5156 million. As of now, the total net asset value of Bitcoin ETFs is $121.01 billion, with a cumulative net inflow of $58.597 billion, representing 6.6% of Bitcoin's total market capitalization.

Data: XRP spot ETF saw a net inflow of $25.41 million yesterday, while Solana spot ETF saw a net inflow of $8.26 million.

According to SoSoValue data, on November 17th (Eastern Time), Canary's XRP spot ETF, XRPC, recorded a net inflow of $25.41 million, bringing its net assets to $257 million, with an XRP net asset ratio of 0.2%. US Solana spot ETFs saw a total net inflow of $8.26 million yesterday. Bitwise's BSOL recorded $7.31 million, and Grayscale's GSOL recorded $950,000. VanEck's VSOL listed on Nasdaq that day, with a trading volume of $1.12 million, zero net inflow, and total assets of $6.72 million. Canary's Litecoin spot ETF, LTCC, recorded a net inflow of $2.03 million, bringing its net asset value to $7.88 million; Canary's Hedera ETF, HBR, had no net inflow, with a net asset value of $58.51 million and an HBAR net asset ratio of 0.96%.

Hyperliquid experienced a massive liquidation of over $96 million last night.

According to CoinGlass's liquidation data page, the largest single liquidation order in the past 24 hours occurred on the Hyperliquid platform's BTC-USD perpetual contract, with a liquidation amount of $96,511,600, setting a new record for the largest liquidation across the entire network that day. Current market volatility has intensified, with a total of 164,787 traders liquidated across the network in the past 24 hours, amounting to approximately $814 million. BTC contract liquidations still dominate in terms of total liquidation amount.

Investment and Financing/Acquisition

USD.AI development team Permian Labs announced it has received investment from Coinbase Ventures.

According to official news, Permian Labs, the development team behind USD.AI, announced that it has received investment from Coinbase Ventures, though the specific amount was not disclosed. USD.AI is a structured on-chain credit system that connects decentralized liquidity with real-world financing via GPU infrastructure that supports artificial intelligence. Permian Labs is responsible for developing and maintaining the USD.AI protocol, which aims to facilitate on-chain secured lending operations using verifiable productive assets as collateral. USD.AI is also the issuer of the stablecoin USDai and the yield-generating sUSDai, both of which form the basis of the protocol.

Cryptocurrency company LevelField receives Illinois approval to acquire Burling Bank

According to Bloomberg, LevelField Financial Inc. has received approval from the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Oversight to acquire Chicago-based Burling Bank and transform it into a full-fledged cryptocurrency bank. The deal still requires approval from the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. According to CEO Gene Grant II, LevelField aims to close the transaction by the end of the year, subject to regulatory approval and other closing conditions. According to filings with the Federal Reserve, LevelField has agreed to spend up to $70 million to acquire the bank. This is the second attempt by the two companies to merge. Back in early 2023, just before the collapse of Silvergate and Signature banks, LevelField attempted to acquire Burling Bank. They withdrew their offer a year later, but reapplied after Trump's election as US president in December 2024. The merged entity will retain Burling Bank's core community banking business, with a new focus on providing deposit accounts, loans, and custody services tailored to digital assets, such as term loans and credit cards secured by Bitcoin or Ethereum.

Foreign media reports: Databricks seeks funding, valuation exceeds $130 billion.

According to a Reuters report citing The Information, data analytics firm Databricks is in talks with investors for a new round of funding, targeting a valuation of over $130 billion, approximately 30% higher than the $100 billion funding round it secured two months ago. The company has not yet signed a term sheet with any institutions and declined to comment. Previously, Databricks stated its annualized revenue was approximately $4 billion and plans to accelerate its AI strategy and product expansion, as well as pursue AI acquisitions and research. Founded in 2013, Databricks has approximately 15,000 clients, including Block, Shell, and Rivian.

Institutional holdings

El Salvador purchased 1,090 bitcoins, worth approximately $100 million, an hour ago.

According to data from the Salvadoran Ministry of Finance's official website bitcoin.gob.sv, the Salvadoran government purchased 1,090 BTC one hour ago, equivalent to approximately $100 million, as shown on the page. Latest data shows that the country's Bitcoin holdings have increased to 7,474.37 BTC, currently worth approximately $687 million.

Statistics: Global listed companies net bought $847.64 million worth of BTC last week.

According to SoSoValue data, as of November 17, 2025 (Eastern Time), the total net purchase of Bitcoin by global listed companies (excluding mining companies) last week was $847.64 million. Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) invested $835.6 million last week, adding 8,178 Bitcoins at a price of $102,171, bringing its total holdings to 649,870 Bitcoins. Japanese listed company Metaplanet did not purchase any Bitcoins last week. In addition, two other companies purchased Bitcoins last week. Japanese fashion company ANAP purchased Bitcoin twice last week, adding 3.3996 Bitcoins at a price of $108,510 and adding [another Bitcoin] at a price of $110,587.6.

BitMine increased its holdings by 54,156 ETH last week, bringing its total holdings to nearly 3.56 million ETH.

According to PR Newswire, Nasdaq-listed Ethereum treasury company BitMine Immersion Technologies announced that its total assets in crypto assets, cash, and "potential investments" have reached $11.8 billion. As of November 16, the company's crypto asset holdings included 3,559,879 ETH, 192 BTC, $37 million worth of Eightco Holdings equity, and $607 million in unburdened cash. This means BitMine increased its ETH holdings by 54,156 and its unburdened cash by $209 million last week, but due to the decline in ETH prices, its total assets shrank by $1.4 billion compared to the previous week.

Forward Industries, a SOL treasury company, disclosed that its SOL holdings have exceeded 6.9 million.

According to Businesswire, Nasdaq-listed SOL treasury company Forward Industries released its monthly treasury update, showing that as of November 15, 2025, the company held a total of 6,910,568 Solana (SOL). Since its inception, the company has purchased 6,834,505.96 SOL at a net cost of $232.08 per SOL, for a total cost of approximately $1.59 billion. Since its inception, the company's validator node infrastructure has achieved an annualized total yield (APY) of 6.82% before fees. Currently, almost all of the company's SOL holdings are pledged.

Strategy spent $835.6 million to acquire 8,178 Bitcoins.

According to Bitcoin News, Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) spent $835.6 million to purchase 8,178 bitcoins at a price of $102,171 each. The company now holds 649,870 bitcoins, with a total purchase cost of $48.37 billion, averaging $74,433 per bitcoin.

Sharps Technology released its Q3 financial report: It completed a $411 million fundraising round, and its SOL holdings exceeded 2 million units.

According to Globenewswire, Solana treasury company Sharps Technology released its third-quarter financial report, which disclosed that as of October 31, its SOL treasury holdings exceeded 2 million SOL tokens. The total staking income and fair value gains of digital assets in Q3 were approximately $17.7 million. In addition, the company completed a $411 million fundraising in the third quarter, which it plans to use to continue to increase its SOL holdings.

The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased $80 million worth of Strategy stock.

According to BitcoinTreasuries.NET, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP) has just purchased 393,322 shares of Strategy (ticker symbol MSTR) stock (worth $80 million).

Metaplanet's Bitcoin holdings have suffered a paper loss of over 16%, and its stock price has fallen to a year-to-date low.

Data from BitcoinTreasuries shows that Metaplanet, a Japanese listed company, holds 30,823 BTC, with a total value of approximately $2.78 billion and an average holding cost of $108,036, currently experiencing a floating loss of 16.86%. Metaplanet's stock price has fallen back to levels seen in April 2025. Meanwhile, Simon Gerovich, CEO of Metaplanet, posted on the X platform that despite today's market volatility, the company's strategy remains unchanged. He emphasized that while short-term price fluctuations may cause concern, the company will continue to focus on the steady accumulation of long-term value.

Tuttle has applied for a single-stock ETF called "Crypto Blast," aiming to combine put spreads with crypto ETFs.

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