Cryptocurrency markets spent another week consolidating after last week’s recovery. Bitcoin (BTC) stayed above the $90,000 psychological level while investor sentiment remained in “fear,” edging up modestly from 20 to 25 on CoinMarketCap’s Fear & Greed index.
Traders are also watching the U.S. Federal Reserve meeting this Wednesday for guidance on monetary policy into 2026. Markets now price an roughly 87% chance of a 25-basis-point rate cut, up from about 62% a month ago, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch tool.
Ethereum treasury trade unwinds as whales dominate buys
Monthly acquisitions by Ethereum digital asset treasuries (DATs) have plunged about 81% over the past three months, falling from roughly 1.97 million ETH in August to about 370,000 ETH in November, Bitwise data show. Bitwise senior research associate Max Shennon described the trend as “ETH DAT bear.”
Despite the slowdown, a small number of large corporate and institutional players continue to accumulate. BitMine Immersion Technologies, now the largest corporate Ether holder, bought roughly 679,000 ETH — about $2.13 billion — in the past month, completing about 62% of its stated goal to hold 5% of the ETH supply, data from StrategicEthReserve indicate. BitMine reportedly also holds about $882 million in cash, suggesting potential for more purchases.
Citadel urges SEC to regulate tokenized stocks, sparking backlash
Market maker Citadel Securities urged the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to tighten rules around decentralized finance platforms that offer tokenized U.S. equities. In a letter to the SEC, Citadel argued DeFi developers, smart-contract coders, and self-custody wallet providers should not receive broad exemptive relief when facilitating tokenized-share trading, saying such activity likely falls under exchange or broker-dealer definitions and should be governed by securities laws. The recommendation prompted pushback from parts of the crypto community and innovation advocates.
Arthur Hayes calls Monad a high-risk “VC coin”
Former BitMEX chief Arthur Hayes warned that Monad, a newly launched layer‑1 blockchain, could fall as much as 99%, calling it a “high FDV, low-float VC coin” driven more by venture capital than broad adoption. Hayes told Altcoin Daily that large gaps between fully diluted valuation (FDV) and circulating supply can produce early pumps followed by steep selloffs as insider tokens unlock. Monad raised $225 million from Paradigm last year and launched with an airdrop of its MON token, which has climbed roughly 40% since launch.
Crypto lending market grows, led by transparent players
Galaxy Research reports the crypto lending market’s aggregate loan book hit nearly $25 billion outstanding in Q3 — up more than 200% since early 2024 and the highest level since Q1 2022 (though still below the $37 billion peak). Galaxy said the market is now dominated by more “transparent” participants such as Tether, Nexo and Galaxy, marking a shift from past cycles with less opaque lenders.
Portal to Bitcoin raises $25M, launches atomic OTC desk
Bitcoin-native interoperability protocol Portal to Bitcoin raised $25 million in a round led by JTSA Global and has launched an Atomic OTC desk aimed at instant, trustless cross-chain settlement for large block trades. The firm positions its tech as enabling Bitcoin to serve as a settlement layer for global asset markets without bridges, custodians, or wrapped assets.
DeFi market snapshot
Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed most of the top 100 cryptocurrencies ended the week in the red. Canton (CC) posted the biggest weekly decline among the top 100, down about 18%, followed by Starknet (STRK), down roughly 16%. Total value locked (TVL) in DeFi continues to be tracked by providers such as DefiLlama as the sector evolves.
Thanks for reading this week’s DeFi developments — join next Friday for more updates and analysis.
