Market Overview
Data as of 6:45 AM UTC on November 21, 2025.
Bitcoin (BTC) ended the week down 11.6%, while Ethereum (ETH) showed continued weakness, down 11.51% in the same period. The total crypto market cap collapsed 11.12% to close the week at $3.053T, down from $3.435T in the week prior.
Despite the strong downward moves this week, liquidations have been growing smaller in magnitude over the weeks following the October 10th crash, with this week’s peak at $695M in longs liquidated in a single day. Funding rates show little to no change, continuing to hover around already low levels.
Centralized exchange, Kraken, announced its confidential submission of a draft registration statement for a proposed initial public offering (IPO).
Michael Saylor’s Strategy acquired 8,178 BTC, bringing their total holdings to 649,870 BTC.
Fintech giant, Revolut, partnered with Polygon to support stablecoin payments.
Why does it matter?
The crypto market extends its losses, with Bitcoin down more than 30% from its all-time highs earlier this quarter, alongside traditional equities weakness and constant selling from Bitcoin OGs, institutions, and miners. Traditional finance did not fare much better, with the market showing weakness despite an earnings beat from Mag7 darling, Nvidia. The S&P 500 is down 2% over the week, while the Nasdaq is down 2.45%.
Notable altcoin outperformers this week included Grass (GRASS), Zcash (ZEC), StarkNet (STRK), Aster (ASTER), and Gnosis (GNO).
Narrative of the Week
Bitcoin weakness continues into the week, breaking new lows amidst speculation on the future of Bitcoin and the state of the market.
Analysts suggest that investors are moving on from Bitcoin after underperformance against gold and stocks.
Risks surrounding quantum computing and the longevity of Bitcoin rise again following Vitalik’s comments at DevConnect, warning that quantum computing could break elliptic curve cryptography before 2028.
Bitcoin OG, Owen Gunden, sold his remaining 2.5K BTC ($228M) via Kraken. He has been selling BTC since late October, having already sent $1.3B worth to Kraken.
Why does it matter?
Bitcoin weakens under consistent selling pressure across the board, with new risk vectors to the asset, amidst a backdrop of traditional equity weakness.
Major Project Updates
Ethereum introduces the Ethereum Interop Layer (EIL), designed to make the Ethereum ecosystem feel like one chain again, across all of the L2s.
MegaETH unveils Frontier, the official launch of MegaETH Mainnet Beta which will kick off in one month. Pre-deposits will open on November 25th with a cap of $250M.
ConsenSys’ Infura launches DIN on EigenCloud as an AVS, decentralizing Web3 RPC infrastructure with permissionless onboarding for node providers and restakers.
Privacy project, Aztec, launches Ignition Chain, the first fully decentralized L2 on Ethereum. Anyone can now stake, earn block rewards, and coordinate block production.
Why does it matter?
Interoperability has always been the greatest obstacle for Ethereum’s fragmented L2 ecosystem. The upcoming plans for the EIL may finally pave the way for full-scale adoption.
DeFi Brief
Data as of 6:45 AM UTC on November 21, 2025.
Aave introduces Aave App, a consumer app allowing users to earn up to 9% on their stablecoins, with deposit protection of up to $1M.
DEX aggregator, 1inch, introduces Aqua, enabling deposited assets to be shared across multiple strategies without being locked, unlocking deeper capital efficiency for users.
Multichain wallet, Phantom, launches Phantom Terminal, enabling advanced charts, real-time data, and fast execution, all within their mobile app.
Why does it matter?
Consumer apps continue to be the way forward for leading crypto applications, with Aave taking the move forward with Aave App.
Fundraises
AI-native social engineering defense platform, Doppel, raises $70M in a Series C funding round led by Bessemer Venture Partners, with participation from a16z, South Park Commons, Sozo Ventures, and more.
Crypto card and wallet project, Deblock, raises €30M in a Series A funding round led by Speedinvest, alongside Commerz Ventures and Latitude, among others.
RWA-stablecoin incubator, Obex, raises $37M in a funding round led by Framework Ventures, LayerZero, and Sky.
MegaETH global leverage trading platform, HelloTrade, raises $4.6M in a seed round led by Dragonfly Capital, with support from Mirana Ventures and angel investors.
Airdrops Abound
Debridge opens claims for Season 2 of the DBR token airdrop, which distributes 3% of the total token supply to eligible users.
Hyperbeat announces their upcoming airdrop, for which the snapshot has been taken on November 12th. Users must sign the terms and conditions on Hyperbeat by December 5th to receive their airdrop.
Tweet of the Week
Source: @cobie
Ah shit, here we go again…