Bitcoin climbed above $91,000 again
Bitcoin surpassed the $91,000 mark. According to CryptoQuant, major players intensified transfers to exchanges on November 21st, with 9,000 BTC arriving in one day, almost half of which were deposits over 100 BTC. Analysts called this atypical activity. Long-term investors added further pressure to the market, moving over 700,000 BTC in two days—one of the largest distribution surges in history. At press time, BTC is trading around $90,800.
Cardano experienced a "blockchain split"
On November 21, a technical glitch occurred on the Cardano mainnet: an invalid transaction caused the blockchain to split into two chains—a "healthy" chain and a "poisoned" chain. The incident occurred due to a bug in the core library that wasn't detected by the validation system, according to Intersect.
The error was caused by a delegation transaction; a similar glitch had previously been attempted on the Preview testnet. This time, the experiment was successful—the network split. The issue was fixed with an emergency update. User balances were unaffected, but a long pause occurred between blocks.
A staking pool operator using the pseudonym Homer J later claimed responsibility. He claimed to have acted out of curiosity and consulted with an AI. Cardano co-founder Charles Hoskinson called the incident a deliberate attack and reported that the FBI had already taken an interest in the case. Despite the high-profile incident, the ADA price remained stable and followed the overall market trend.
Zcash's growing popularity raises concerns
Aggressive promotion of Zcash could cause discord within the crypto community, at a time when Bitcoin especially needs unified support, according to Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas. Zcash supporters pointed out that Zerocash technology was originally developed as a complement to Bitcoin but was rejected by its developers, which is why Zcash became a separate project. The standoff between Bitcoin maximalists and privacy advocates has intensified amid the rapid growth of ZEC and increased interest in the coin.
Chainlink founder predicts mass adoption of DeFi by 2030
Decentralized finance (DeFi) is already about a third of the way to mass adoption, Chainlink's co-founder stated in an interview. He believes the industry will be able to achieve half of global adoption once clear and robust regulations are established in key jurisdictions, particularly the US.
When a clear and secure mechanism for institutional players to participate, including capital allocation and client funds, is established, the DeFi integration rate will increase to 70%, the expert noted.
The key turning point will be reaching a sector capitalization comparable to traditional financial markets. Then, a full comparison of the two systems—classical and decentralized—will be possible.
USDe stablecoin market cap fell by 50%
The market capitalization of USDe, the synthetic stablecoin from the Ethena project, fell from $14.8 billion to $7.2 billion in a month—a decline of almost 50%. Meanwhile, user activity continues to grow: on-chain transaction volume reached $50 billion during the same period. USDe remains one of the top three largest stablecoins.
The collapse is due to a drop in yield—from double-digit levels at the beginning of the year to the current 5.1% per annum. Analysts at The Block attribute this to the mass closure of leveraged strategies in DeFi protocols like Aave. While yields exceeded the cost of borrowing USDC (5.4%), the scheme worked. But the decline in income triggered capital flight.
The situation was further complicated by risks in the DeFi infrastructure itself—the instability of farming programs involving stablecoins led to their closure. The sharp drop in TVL has highlighted how vulnerable yield-producing stablecoins are to liquidity outflows when conditions worsen.
Tether holds 116 tons of gold
According to Fortune and Jefferies analysts, by the end of September, Tether had accumulated 116 tons of gold—a volume comparable to the reserves of countries such as South Korea, Hungary, and Greece. The USDT issuer has become the largest non-government holder of the precious metal. Last quarter, Tether accounted for almost 2% of global gold demand, or more than 12% of the combined purchases of all central banks.
Analysts believe that the company's active purchases may have contributed to the rise in gold prices. Jefferies forecasts that Tether may acquire approximately 100 more tons in 2025. This plan is supported by robust financial results: the issuer's expected profit this year could reach $15 billion.
