Doohyun Hwang

An analysis found that the long-term influence of stock tokenization will increase as its degree of integration with blockchain grows. On the 12th (local time), according to Cointelegraph, Greg Cipolaro, head of global research at New York Digital Investment Group (NYDIG), said, "The initial utility that tokenized stocks provide to blockchain networks such as Ethereum (ETH) is limited," adding, "but as their integration with blockchain expands accessibility, interoperability, and composability, those benefits will gradually grow." He explained, "The most direct benefit that blockchain receives in the early stages is the transaction fees generated during the trading process of tokenized assets," and "also, networks that store and manage tokenized assets will see their network effects strengthened over time." Recently, in the virtual asset (cryptocurrency) industry, real-world asset tokenization (RWA), especially U.S. stock tokenization, has emerged as a key issue. Major exchanges such as Coinbase and Kraken are considering launching U.S. stock tokenization platforms domestically based on their performance in overseas markets. Paul Atkins of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) also said earlier this month that "the U.S. financial system could accommodate tokenization within the next few years." Cipolaro said, "Tokenization may become the norm. In the long term, RWAs such as tokenized stocks and bonds could be incorporated into decentralized finance (DeFi) and used as collateral assets, loan assets, and trading assets," adding, "However, considerable time will be needed for technological development, infrastructure construction, and regulatory environment arrangements."

YouTube has introduced an option to pay U.S. creators in PayPal's stablecoin (PYUSD). May Zabaneh, head of PayPal's digital assets (cryptocurrency) division, said in an interview with Fortune on the 11th (local time) that "the feature allowing YouTube creators to receive earnings in PYUSD has already been launched, and it currently applies only to U.S. users." Google also confirmed that YouTube added a PYUSD payment option, but declined to comment on the details. YouTube has previously used PayPal's large-scale payout services to pay creators and contractors. PayPal added earlier this year in early Q3 a feature that allows payout recipients to receive funds in PYUSD instead of cash, and YouTube later adopted it as a creator payout option. Zabaneh said, "It's a structure where PayPal absorbs the complexity so YouTube doesn't have to handle digital assets directly." This decision aligns with a broader trend of increasing interest in stablecoins across big tech. Stablecoins are digital assets pegged to fiat currencies like the dollar, which tout faster payments and lower costs compared with existing financial infrastructure. In particular, after President Donald Trump passed stablecoin regulatory legislation, alleviating some regulatory uncertainty, discussions about adoption have been spreading, centered on Silicon Valley. Stripe entered the stablecoin market in earnest earlier this year by acquiring stablecoin startup 'Bridge' for $1.1 billion. PayPal is a company that adopted digital assets relatively early among big tech. It has supported trading of major digital assets such as Bitcoin and Ethereum since 2020, and in 2023 launched its own stablecoin PYUSD. PYUSD's market capitalization currently stands at about $4 billion. PayPal is expanding PYUSD across its ecosystem. Users can hold and send PYUSD in PayPal and Venmo wallets, and it can be used for merchant payments. Recently it also unveiled a way for small businesses to pay vendors in PYUSD.

More than 70,000,000 dollars flowed out of the U.S. Bitcoin (BTC) spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) market in a single day. While redemptions continued across major asset managers, only BlackRock and Bitwise products recorded net inflows. On the 11th (local time), according to data from TraderT, the total net outflow of U.S. Bitcoin spot ETFs that day was 78,350,000 dollars. The largest outflow occurred at Fidelity's FBTC. FBTC recorded a net outflow of 103,550,000 dollars in one day. Funds also flowed out from Ark Invest's ARKB (-16,380,000 dollars), VanEck's HODL (-19,380,000 dollars), Grayscale's GBTC (-12,210,000 dollars), and Grayscale's Mini Bitcoin ETF (-10,970,000 dollars). By contrast, BlackRock's IBIT recorded a net inflow of 75,700,000 dollars, showing a clear contrast. Bitwise's BITB also saw an inflow of 8,440,000 dollars. Invesco's BTCO, Franklin's EZBC, Valkyrie's BRRR, and WisdomTree's BTCW had no fund changes that day.

More than $40 million flowed out of the U.S. spot Ethereum (ETH) exchange-traded fund (ETF) market in a single day. On the 11th (local time), according to TraderT's data, the total net outflows of U.S.-traded spot Ethereum ETFs were $42.38 million. The recent inflow trend appears to have reversed. Outflows were concentrated in Grayscale products. Grayscale's ETHE saw net outflows of $31.22 million, and Grayscale's Mini Ethereum ETF saw $10.03 million flow out. Fidelity's FETH also recorded net outflows of $3.21 million. Meanwhile, 21Shares' CETH recorded net inflows of $2.08 million. BlackRock's ETHA, Bitwise's ETHW, Invesco's QETH, Franklin's EZET, and VanEck's ETHV had no inflows or outflows that day.

Do Kwon, co‑founder of Terraform Labs, was sentenced to 15 years in prison by a U.S. court on charges of triggering the Terra·Luna collapse, causing cryptocurrencies of the Terra ecosystem to plunge simultaneously. On the 11th (local time), on the Binance Tether (USDT) market, Terra Classic (LUNC) recorded 0.00005308 dollars, down 15% from the previous day. Terra (LUNA) was also trading at 0.1784 dollars, down 12%. Terra Classic USD (USTC) plunged 17.03% to 0.00911 dollars. The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York sentenced Do Kwon to 15 years in prison for causing the 2022 collapse of the algorithmic stablecoin 'Terra.' This is a heavier sentence than the prosecutors' 12‑year request, and the court reportedly emphasized the scale of the damage caused by the Terra collapse and the seriousness of the market disruption. Do Kwon's transfer to South Korea also became more remote. Do Kwon must serve half of the imposed sentence before a request for transfer to South Korea is possible. In particular, the court expressed great concern about Do Kwon's future transfer to South Korea. Judge Engelmayer asked, "In what way could the United States control the possibility that Do Kwon would be released early in Korea?" and requested additional information from authorities of both countries. The prosecutors replied that they "have not obtained specific information" about the level of prosecution and punishment in Korea, and the Korean prosecutors said only that "they cannot disclose the level of punishment, but it appears that Do Kwon is contesting the charges in Korea."

Do Kwon, co-founder of Terraform Labs, was sentenced to 15 years in prison by a U.S. court on charges related to the 2022 Terra and Luna collapse. According to CoinDesk on the 11th (local time), U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer of the Southern District of New York sentenced Do Kwon to 15 years in prison. This far exceeds the 12 years sought by prosecutors and the 5 years argued by the defense. Do Kwon must serve half of the sentence before a request for transfer to South Korea is possible. Prior to this sentencing, investors harmed by the Terra and Luna collapse appeared by telephone in court and testified about their losses. Judge Engelmayer is reported to have described this as "extremely serious financial harm." Earlier, in August, Do Kwon pleaded guilty to two charges: conspiracy to commit commodities and securities fraud, and conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud. The case, which originally involved nine charges and could have resulted in up to 135 years, was adjusted to a maximum of 25 years after prosecutors narrowed the indictment based on Do Kwon's guilty plea. Prosecutors recommended a 12-year sentence and agreed to support a request for international transfer to South Korea if Do Kwon serves half of the sentence. However, questions about Do Kwon's potential transfer to South Korea raised concerns from the court. Judge Engelmayer asked, "How can the U.S. control the possibility that Do Kwon would be released early in South Korea?" and requested additional information from authorities of both countries. Prosecutors replied that they "have not obtained concrete information" about the level of prosecution and punishment in South Korea, and South Korean prosecutors only stated, "We cannot disclose the level of punishment, but it appears that Do Kwon is contesting the charges in South Korea." It also emerged as an issue how much of the 17 months Do Kwon was detained in Montenegro would be credited toward his U.S. sentence. Prosecutors said, "Except for the four months served for the passport fraud charge, the remaining period may be counted toward the sentence in the U.S.," but the specific extent of any reduction has not yet been decided.

Solayer, a high-performance execution layer based on Solana (Solana·SOL), officially unveiled its mainnet alpha on the 11th, capable of processing 300,000 transactions per second (TPS). The mainnet alpha applies its own hardware acceleration technology, 'InfiniSVM' (InfiniSVM), and with this release developers can deploy existing Solana applications as-is and build services that require high-speed execution. The core of Solayer's technology is that, departing from the 'batch processing' method adopted by existing blockchains, it introduces a 'transaction streaming' architecture that streams transactions in real time. The blockchain batch processing method inevitably causes delays, increasing liquidation risk in volatile markets and limiting processing speed in real-world asset (RWA)-based payments. By contrast, Solayer said it leverages specialized hardware clusters and InfiniBand technology to achieve payment speeds faster than market movements and finality of under one second. Alongside the mainnet launch, three key applications leveraging Solayer's performance were also unveiled. First, Spout is an RWA platform tokenizing U.S. stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs), aiming to replace the traditional financial sector's next-day settlement structure based on sub-second finality. DoxX Exchange is a hardware-accelerated MetaDEX combining a central limit order book (CLOB) and automated market maker (AMM), providing institutional-grade order execution environments. The AI-agent-based trading platform buff trade emphasizes ultra-fast trading functionality aiming to enter within 200 ms (0.2 seconds) after a signal is generated. The Solayer mainnet alpha is currently open to general users, and the project team plans to actively pursue ecosystem expansion in conjunction with the 'Solana Breakpoint' event held in Abu Dhabi. Jason Li (Jason Li), co-founder of Solayer, said, "Applications have long been bound by hardware limits that software optimization cannot overcome," emphasizing, "InfiniSVM removes these barriers, providing developers with an 'infinite canvas' and marking a technological turning point."

Michael Saylor "Will keep buying Bitcoin" Predicts 30% annual rise over 20 years Aiming to be the 'central bank of Bitcoin' MicroStrategy Chairman Michael Saylor once again expressed a strong intention not to stop purchasing Bitcoin (BTC). He characterized Bitcoin as "digital capital and digital gold," emphasizing that MicroStrategy's corporate value is continuing to grow structurally centered on this asset. In a keynote speech at Abu Dhabi Finance Week (ADFW) held at the ADQ Arena in Abu Dhabi on the 10th (local time), Saylor said, "MicroStrategy is a company that has grown with Bitcoin as its core capital," adding, "Bitcoin will become the foundation of global credit and capital markets beyond digital gold." MicroStrategy has maintained an aggressive accumulation strategy since its first Bitcoin purchase in August 2020. As of the 8th, the company holds 660,624 bitcoins, with an estimated value of about $61 billion. This represents about 3.1% of total Bitcoin supply, the largest holding by any single company worldwide. Saylor said, "We are buying $500 million~$1 billion worth of Bitcoin every week," and added, "Through this strategy we have increased our equity by $60 billion over the past 14 months." He explained, "Five years ago, few people knew the name MicroStrategy, but now we have become the fifth-largest company by financial size in the S&P universe." He added, "At this rate of accumulation, we will probably become the company with the largest financial size within 4~8 years." He said Bitcoin should be viewed not merely as an investment asset but as the foundation of new financial infrastructure. As the U.S. government and major banks recognize Bitcoin as a new form of capital, he predicted that the restructuring of the global credit system will accelerate. He also predicted long-term price appreciation for Bitcoin. Saylor stated, "If you look at an investment period longer than four years, Bitcoin is a good choice," and asserted, "I believe Bitcoin will rise by an average of 30% per year for the next 20 years." He emphasized that MicroStrategy is not simply a Bitcoin-holding company but a company that creates digital credit using Bitcoin as collateral. MicroStrategy is currently launching various digital credit products that use Bitcoin as the underlying asset and has a structure in which funds raised through these products are used to purchase more Bitcoin. Saylor said, "We created the world's first digital credit instrument, and our products are credit products backed by Bitcoin," adding, "Our goal is to permanently provide investors with a stable annual return of 8~10% while maintaining Bitcoin's long-term appreciation." He emphasized, "The reason we want to pay dividends permanently is clear. We will also invest in Bitcoin permanently." He added, "If you have confidence in the company, buy perpetual preferred STRK·STRD, and if you don't want to trust anyone, buy Bitcoin," concluding, "MicroStrategy will act like the 'central bank' of Bitcoin." Hwang Doo-hyun, Lee Soo-hyun, Bloomingbit reporters cow5361@bloomingbit.io

Even with a rate cut imminent, the market has "already priced it in" Short-term adjustment possible immediately after the FOMC This week attention is focused on the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed)'s interest rate decision. However, despite the high likelihood of a rate cut, forecasts are spreading that Bitcoin (BTC) has limited room for a short-term rebound. The expectation of a rate cut has already been largely priced into the market, and the past pattern of weakness immediately after FOMC meetings is also cited as a burden. The Fed will hold the FOMC at 4 a.m. on the 11th (KST) to decide the benchmark interest rate. The market predominantly expects a 0.25 percentage point rate cut at this meeting. According to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) FedWatch tool, the probability of a rate cut reaches 89.4%. Standard Chartered analyzed that "although major economic data releases are delayed by a federal government shutdown and internal differences of opinion exist, the Fed is likely to ultimately implement a rate cut in December." Kevin Hassett, chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers (NEC) and a leading candidate for the next Fed chair, also raised the likelihood of a December rate cut, saying "it's right to further lower rates. Jerome Powell, the Fed chair, would agree with that," increasing the chances of a December rate cut. However, regardless of whether rates are cut, the prevailing view is that a short-term price rebound for Bitcoin is unlikely. Expectations of a rate cut have already been quickly reflected across the market, weakening price momentum. On the 8th (local time) Bitcoin traded on the Binance Tether (USDT) market at around 90,100 dollars, down 1.3% from the previous day. Since intraday lows of 80,600 dollars on the 21st of last month, it has continued to trade in a box range between 84,000 and 93,000 dollars, and volatility has also been greatly reduced. QCP Capital said in a report that "the FOMC rate cut has already been largely priced in," and analyzed that "open interest in Bitcoin and Ethereum has fallen to about half since October, causing market participation funds to exit." A decrease in open interest generally leads to a reduction in price volatility. Gracy Lin, CEO of OKX Singapore, also saw that a rate cut announcement would be unlikely to boost Bitcoin's short-term volatility. She said, "In a phase where policy signal gaps between central banks are widening, the impact of the rate cut itself is limited," and "rather, unexpected policy changes or external factors are more likely to cause a sharp rebound." Some warn that a rate cut could instead be a catalyst for a short-term correction. The Fed cut rates by 0.25 percentage points twice in September and October this year, and Bitcoin fell by 7% and 19%, respectively, at those times. Crypto analyst Ali Martinez said, "Out of seven FOMCs held this year, Bitcoin fell immediately after six of them," and analyzed that "a price pullback due to the 'disappearance of the catalyst'—the rate cut—could occur in this FOMC as well." Ryan Yoon, co-lead of Tyger Research, also said, "Historically, short-term declines have repeatedly occurred immediately after rate cuts," and judged that "the rate cut is unlikely to trigger an immediate rebound this time either." However, he added, "A rate cut would be positive for improving the liquidity environment and building a long-term uptrend."

The U.S. Ethereum (ETH) spot ETF market recorded net outflows for two consecutive trading days. On the 5th (local time), according to SosoValue data, $75.21 million was withdrawn from Ethereum spot ETFs traded in the U.S. that day. This net outflow occurred only at BlackRock's ETHA. ETHA recorded net outflows of $75.21 million that day. Meanwhile, other Ethereum spot ETFs such as Grayscale's ETHE, Fidelity's FETH, and Bitwise's ETHW did not experience net inflows or outflows.

The U.S. Bitcoin (BTC) spot ETF market turned to net inflows in one day, reversing the flow again. On the 5th (local time), according to SosoValue's data, Bitcoin spot ETFs traded in the U.S. recorded net inflows of 54,790,000 dollars that day. The most notable inflow that day was ARK·21Shares' ARKB, which saw new inflows of 42,790,000 dollars. Fidelity's FBTC also showed strength, recording net inflows of 27,290,000 dollars. In addition, Bitwise's BITB (4,860,000 dollars) and VanEck's HODL (11,390,000 dollars) contributed to the inflow trend, and WisdomTree's BTCW recorded net inflows of 947,222 dollars. On the other hand, Grayscale's GBTC did not experience net inflows or outflows that day. BlackRock's IBIT had net outflows of 32,490,000 dollars, resulting in capital outflows, but it still maintains an overwhelming first place with cumulative net inflows of 62.5 billion dollars. Despite the turn to net inflows, Bitcoin is struggling to recover to 90,000 dollars. Currently, Bitcoin is trading in the Binance Tether (USDT) market at around 89,650 dollars, down about 2.5% from the previous day.

Bitcoin (BTC) is attempting short-term stabilization in the $90,000 range, but on-chain indicators still appear to warn of a high risk of correction. According to on-chain analytics firm CryptoQuant, the "Risk-Off" model, which integrates six indicators including downside/upside volatility, net exchange inflows, funding rate, futures open interest (OI), and market cap behavior, has recently approached the 60 line and entered a high-risk zone. Since higher model values indicate greater market vulnerability, the assessment is that the possibility of a short-term correction remains high. Axel Adler Jr., an analyst at CryptoQuant, analyzed, "The profit-and-loss score has fallen to around -3. This is a level that has been observed in past bear markets or long correction phases." He explained that the current drawdown (about 30%) has exceeded the typical cycle correction range (20~25%), but remains above the drawdown (50~70%) considered a panic selling zone, placing it in an "intermediate vulnerability zone." Analyst Adler warned, "The risk of further decline is large until signals of macro environment improvement and on-chain profitability recovery appear," adding, "Even though the price is holding at the $90,000 level, one should remain cautious." On-chain data also captured modest positive signals. Glassnode said that the magnitude of realized losses during this decline reached the largest level since the 2022 FTX collapse. Most losses occurred among short-term holders (STH), while losses by long-term holders (LTH) were limited. Glassnode assessed, "The resilient holding pattern of LTHs has acted to buffer additional panic selling in several past cycles." Whether the psychological resistance level of $100,000 is breached was also identified as an important inflection point. CryptoQuant said, "$100,000 is a key zone that separates market sentiment," and added, "Whether the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) cuts rates in December could act as momentum for a breakout." However, it analyzed that the difference in growth rate of realized value relative to market cap (an MVRV-based extended indicator) remains in a contraction phase at -0.00095, signaling strong structural weakness. Renowned Bitcoin futures trader Byzantine General said, "Bitcoin is hesitating at a key resistance zone," and projected, "If it breaks above this zone upward, it could quickly run to $100,000, but if resisted, a $92,000~$82,000 box range would continue."

Amid continuing controversy over the financial stability of stablecoin issuer Tether (USDT), CoinShares has actively rebutted, saying "the concerns are exaggerated." On the 5th (local time), James Butterfill, head of research at CoinShares, explained, "Tether holds sufficient reserves of $181 billion compared with total liabilities of $174.45 billion," and "while the risks of stablecoins in general should be guarded against, based solely on current data Tether's financial soundness does not appear to be problematic." Earlier, Arthur Hayes, co-founder of BitMEX, pointed out that expectations of interest rate cuts by the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) could reduce Tether's key source of income, Treasury yield income. He claimed, "Tether has changed its portfolio composition by increasing purchases of gold and Bitcoin, but if the value of those assets falls by 30%, its equity could be wiped out." In response, Butterfill said, "Tether is currently recording a surplus of approximately $6.78 billion, and interest income from reserve assets alone has generated cumulative returns of over $10 billion," saying that Tether's operational strategy itself is not problematic.

A Bitcoin (BTC) whale address that had been inactive for 14 years has resurfaced. On the 5th (local time), on-chain analytics firm Lookonchain reported that a long-dormant address starting with '1Au1uZ' transferred 1000 bitcoins to a new wallet about 4 hours ago. It is worth about $89 million at current prices. The whale first received the 1000 bitcoins 14 years ago, when the price of Bitcoin was only $3.88 each. That day, Bitcoin traded at $89,230 on the Binance Tether (USDT) market. Compared with the initial holding price, this represents an increase of more than 2.3 million times.

Grayscale has officially begun the procedures to launch a SUI (SUI) spot ETF. On the 5th (local time), Grayscale announced that it submitted an S-1 registration statement to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to establish the 'Grayscale SUI Trust (SUI)'. This trust is an entity established under Delaware law that holds SUI, a digital asset based on the Sui network, and issues shares based on it. If the registration documents become effective, the trust name will be changed to 'Grayscale SUI Trust ETF.' The trust's objective is to have the share value directly track the net asset value (NAV) that reflects SUI price fluctuations and staking rewards when conditions are met. Through this, investors can obtain exposure to SUI via the ETF without holding SUI directly. The product is currently trading on the OTCQX market under the ticker 'GSUI', and after conversion to an ETF, it is planned to be listed on NYSE Arca under the same ticker. Shares will be continuously issued, and purchases/redemptions will be conducted in 10,000-share basket units. Creations and redemptions can be done via in-kind SUI exchanges and cash orders. NYSE Arca has already approved in-kind creations and redemptions, and a structure allowing authorized participants (APs) to directly exchange SUI with the trust is permitted. The sponsor is Grayscale Investments, and the trustee is CSC Delaware Trust. The administrator/transfer agent and prime broker/custodian will be BNY Mellon and Coinbase, respectively.

Pong Le, Strategy's CEO, described Strategy's recent securing of a 1.4 billion dollars cash reserve as "a measure to calm investors' anxieties." CEO Le said in a CNBC interview on the 5th (local time), "Recent sharp drops in the price of Bitcoin have increased concerns about the company's financial soundness," adding, "This raising of reserves is to dispel those worries." Previously, Strategy announced that it had newly raised a dollar reserve of 1.444 billion dollars to cover preferred stock dividends and company debt interest payments. The company explained that the goal is to secure dividend funds for at least 12 months and up to 24 months. CEO Le said, "Because Strategy is a pillar of the Bitcoin ecosystem, questions about market volatility are always raised," and "by raising capital and incorporating dollars onto the balance sheet, we tried to dispel the various rumors and concerns recently raised." He also drew a line regarding concerns raised by some about the 'possibility of dividend payments.' CEO Le emphasized, "There is absolutely no problem. There is no need to sell Bitcoin." He added, "We raised 1.444 billion dollars in just 8 days," and "this shows that Strategy is still a company that can raise funds in the market even in a Bitcoin bear market."

Although major U.S. stock markets closed higher on the 5th (local time), crypto (cryptocurrency)-related stocks were unable to avoid weakness. That day the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.22%, the S&P 500 rose 0.19%, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.31% to close. However, the recovery in risk-asset appetite did not spread to the crypto sector. Recently, controversy has erupted inside and outside the industry over companies that adopted the Digital Asset Financial Strategy (DAT), and related stocks overall took a direct hit from the contraction of investor sentiment. Earlier, CoinShares warned that "the enterprise value of companies that recently adopted DAT has become excessively high compared to actual fundamentals," raising the possibility of a 'DAT bubble.' In fact, Bitmine, regarded as a representative DAT company, plunged 6.22% that day, and SharpLink Gaming also fell 3.94%. Stablecoin issuer Circle (–2.1%), Coinbase (–1.58%) and other major listed crypto firms also recorded weakness across the board, reflecting market caution. Crypto market conditions also remained mixed. Bitcoin (BTC), which had regained the $93,000 level, was pushed back below $90,000, widening its losses. Ethereum (ETH) and XRP each fell more than 4%.

In the U.S. spot digital asset (cryptocurrency) ETF market on the 4th (local time), both XRP (XRP) and Solana (SOL) products recorded net inflows. While Bitcoin and Ethereum spot ETFs showed concurrent net outflows, altcoin ETFs continued to see solid demand. According to data from SosoValue, U.S.-listed XRP spot ETFs saw total net inflows of $12.84 million on the day. By asset manager, Franklin's XRPZ recorded the largest inflow at $5.70 million; Bitwise's XRP ETF (XRP) had $3.76 million, and Grayscale's GXRP saw $2.04 million. Canary Capital's XRPC also showed a net inflow of $1.34 million. The cumulative net inflows for XRP ETFs were $887.12 million. Solana spot ETFs also received total net inflows of $4.59 million on the same day. Bitwise's BSOL had $0.73 million, Grayscale's GSOL $1.54 million, and Fidelity's FSOL $2.05 million in net inflows, respectively. The cumulative net inflows for Solana ETFs were $623.21 million.