Market Overview 📉
Bitcoin (BTC) surged upwards to end the week up 9.62%, while Ethereum (ETH) outperformed, closing up 14.21% in the same period. Total crypto market cap climbed 11.24% to end the week at $4.245T, up from $3.816T in the week before.
This week’s liquidations fell back to its usual muted levels, with short liquidations outpacing long liquidations, amidst surprising market strength. Funding rates rose in general as well, as risk appetite increased with renewed bullish sentiment.
📌 Metaplanet has acquired 5,268 BTC at an average price of $116,870 per Bitcoin, bringing their total holdings to 30,823 BTC. - Link
📌 The SEC has instructed issuers of XRP, ADA, SOL, DOGE, and LTC ETFs to withdraw their 19b-4 filings after the approval of the general listing standards. - Link
📌 The SEC has issued a rare no-action letter to DoubleZero, meaning that distributions of the 2Z token will not be considered as security transactions, possibly indicating a softening stance from the SEC towards crypto tokens. - Link
Why does it matter?
Markets showed surprising strength this week as Bitcoin surged over $10,000 in this week alone, bringing renewed bullish momentum to crypto majors and trending tokens. Traditional finance also reversed their losses this week, with the S&P 500 rising 1.51% this week, while the Nasdaq climbed 1.97% in the same period.
Notable altcoin outperformers this week included Zcash (ZEC), Dash (DASH), Synthetix Network (SNX), Kaito (KAITO) and Pump.fun (PUMP).
Narrative of the Week 📰
Zcash goes on a surprising run this week, after a series of shills from notable influencers after discussions on privacy surrounding the EU’s “Chat Control” regulations.
📌 Vitalik takes a public stance against the EU’s latest “Chat Control” regulation, which proposes the scanning of users’ messages for the purpose of protecting against the sharing of illegal material. - Link
📌 Sacha makes the case for an allocation Zcash, with real privacy becoming an increasingly important concern. - Link
📌 Solana KOL and Helius Labs CEO, Mert, shills Zcash, noting its importance in a world of centralized stablecoins and incoming technological improvements. - Link
📌 Grayscale opens their Grayscale Zcash Trust for private placement for eligible accredited investors. - Link
Why does it matter?
Zcash currently sits at the center of institutional inflows, revived privacy narratives and strong bullish trading activity, placing it as the core narrative for the week, against a backdrop of global privacy concerns.
Major Project Updates 🗓️
📌 ConsenSys and Linea partner up with SWIFT to support the addition a blockchain-based digital ledger layer to their technology stack. - Link
📌 Chainlink announces a milestone between Chainlink and some of the world’s largest financial institutions, including Swift, DTCC, and Euroclear, on a unified standard on corporate actions, leveraging Chainlink infrastructure. - Link
📌 Hyperliquid deploys the Hypurr NFT collection on HyperEVM. Early users on Hyperliquid had the option to opt in to receive the Hypurr NFT alongside their HYPE token airdrop in 2024. - Link
📌 EigenLayer launches EigenCompute and EigenAI on EigenCloud, enable verifiable LLM inference and verifiable off-chain execution to support the development and use of AI agents. - Link
Why does it matter?
Institutional collaboration and integrations continue to drive the cycle forward with Chainlink and ConsenSys making waves with traditional finance giants like Swift and the DTCC.
DeFi Brief 🏦
Source: https://coinmarketcap.com/chain-ranking/
📌 Perp DEX, Lighter, announces the launch of their public mainnet, after eight months in private beta, closing out the first season of their points program as well. - Link
📌 Injective launches pre-IPO futures, allowing traders to speculate on private companies such as OpenAI, SpaceX, Anthropic, and more. - Link
📌 1inch rebrands to 1”, rolling out a new set of logos and visuals for the DEX aggregator project. - Link
Why does it matter?
Perp DEX meta continues to run hot as Lighter moves into public launch from private beta, after a hot week with Hyperliquid and Aster making headlines earlier in the week.
Meme Coins 🚀
📌 Memecoin launchpad, Pump.fun, introduces Easy Onramp, enabling users to onramp in seconds via Apple Pay, Phantom, Robinhood and other providers. - Link
Fundraises 💰
📌 Andre Cronje’s new project, Flying Tulip, raises $200M at a $1B valuation from investors including Brevan Howard Digital, FalconX, DWF Labs, Selini and more. - Link
📌 Bitcoin lending protocol, Lava, raises $17.5M in a Series A extension round with angel investors including, Bijan Tehrani of Stake, Peter Jurdjevic of Qatar Investment Authority, and more. - Link
📌 USDe issuer, Ethena Labs, raises $30M from MEXC Ventures, bringing their total investment into the Ethena ecosystem to $66M. - Link
📌 Crypto payment gateway, xMoney, raises $21.5M in a strategic round led by the Sui Foundation, with support from MultiversX. - Link
Airdrops Abound 🎁
📌 RWA tokenization platform, OpenEden, opens claims for the EDEN token airdrop, which will remain open until January 2026. - Link
📌 Stablecoin protocol, Falcon Finance, opens their FF token airdrop, opening claims until 28 December 2025. - Link
Tweet of the Week 📝
Source: @cecilia_hsueh
We are most definitely a very serious industry…