Bitcoin Holds Steady Above $90K

Bitcoin remains stable at the psychological threshold of $90,000, indicating consolidation following a previous market recovery. Investor sentiment has shifted slightly towards a “fearful” outlook, moving from 20 to 25 on the CoinMarketCap Fear & Greed index.

Ethereum Acquisitions Drop

In the Ethereum space, monthly acquisitions by Digital Asset Treasuries (DATs) plummeted by 81% from August’s peak. Notably, major holders like BitMine Immersion Technologies continue to buy significant amounts of Ether, reinforcing their investment strategies despite the downturn.

Fear & Greed index, all-time chart. Source: CoinMarketCap

Investors are maintaining a keen eye on the upcoming U.S. Federal Reserve meeting, anticipating a potential 25 basis point interest rate cut, as indicated by the CME Group’s FedWatch tool.

Key Developments in Ethereum Trading

Acquisitions made by Ethereum DATs have dropped from nearly 1.97 million ETH in August to 370,000 ETH in November, a clear sign of the tightening market. As articulated by Max Shennon from Bitwise, the trend indicates continued challenges within the market.

Interest rate cut probabilities. Source: CMEgroup.com

BitMine has successfully acquired approximately 679,000 ETH worth around $2.13 billion in the recent months, approaching its goal of holding 5% of the total ETH supply.

Citadel’s Call for Stricter DeFi Regulations

In a separate development, Citadel has urged the SEC to impose stricter regulations on tokenized stocks in the decentralized finance (DeFi) space, provoking a backlash from crypto advocates.

“Granting broad exemptive relief to facilitate the trading of a tokenized share via DeFi protocols would create two separate regulatory regimes for the trading of the same security,” Citadel argued.

Arthur Hayes’ Warning on Monad

Veteran crypto trader Arthur Hayes has voiced concerns regarding the new Monad blockchain, suggesting it might face a crash of up to 99% due to its design and investor speculation.

Emerging Trends in Crypto Lending

The crypto lending market has seen a swell of interest, now led by transparent players like Tether and Galaxy, boasting a loan book of nearly $25 billion. According to Galaxy Research, this reflects a substantial growth of over 200% since early 2024.

Portal to Bitcoin Secures Funding

Lastly, Portal to Bitcoin has raised $25 million to advance its atomic OTC trading desk, enhancing the infrastructure for seamless Bitcoin transactions across networks. Their initiative aims to position Bitcoin as a key settlement layer in global asset markets.

Crypto lending landscape has seen many new platforms in past three years. Source: Alex Thorn

Thank you for reading our summary of this week’s pivotal DeFi developments. Stay tuned for more updates!