Top Stories of The Week
Trader who made $190M shorting crash also apparently bet on CZ’s pardon
The anonymous crypto trader who supposedly made millions shorting the crypto market before US President Donald Trump’s tariff announcement appears to have profited again by betting that Trump would pardon the founder of Binance.
Onchain sleuth Euan pointed to Etherscan data to make the connection between the trader and the Polymarket account. The crypto wallet reportedly made $56,522 on Polymarket by betting that Trump would pardon Changpeng “CZ” Zhao sometime in 2025.
The crypto trader had already been suspected in crypto circles of having access to insider knowledge after their tightly timed Bitcoin and Ethereum shorts, just hours before Trump’s tariff announcement sent prices falling.
Rumble partners with Tether to add Bitcoin tips for content creators
Video-sharing platform Rumble is preparing to roll out Bitcoin tipping for its more than 51 million monthly active users, the company’s CEO Chris Pavlovski announced on Friday.
Rumble has teamed up with stablecoin issuer Tether to enable Bitcoin tipping, Pavlovski said onstage at the Plan ₿ Forum in Lugano, Switzerland.
“Right now, we’re in the testing phase [but] we’re going to start rolling that out alongside Tether here in the coming weeks,” he added.
Also onstage was Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino, who expects a full rollout by early to mid-December once small bugs are fixed and the UX is finessed.
‘Crazy stuff’ needed for Bitcoin to reach $250K this year: Novogratz
Planets would almost need to align for Bitcoin to reach $250,000 by the end of the year, according to Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz.
Several crypto executives have recently doubled down on their $250,000 Bitcoin predictions by year-end.
“The end of the year is only two and a half months away,” Novogratz said during an interview with CNBC on Wednesday, adding: “There would have to be a heck of a lot of crazy stuff to really get that kind of momentum.”
Arthur Hayes calls for $1M Bitcoin as new Japan PM orders economic stimulus
Japan’s new Prime Minister, Sanae Takaichi, announced a package of economic stimulus measures on Tuesday to ease the impact of inflation on households. The move, some crypto observers said, may drive more capital into Bitcoin.
The stimulus measures include subsidies for electricity and gas charges, as well as regional grants to ease price pressure and encourage small to medium-sized businesses to raise wages.
BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes viewed the development as a precursor to more fiat money printing by Japan’s central bank, which may catalyze Bitcoin’s rise to $1 million.
“Translation: let’s print money to hand out to folks to help with food and energy costs,” said Hayes in a Tuesday X post, adding that this dynamic may see Bitcoin rise to $1 million, while triggering a rise in the Japanese yen.
Prediction markets hit new high as Polymarket enters Sam Altman’s World
World co-founder and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s digital identity project, formerly known as Worldcoin, is expanding into prediction markets by integrating Polymarket.
World App, a mobile application that combines a digital wallet with World’s decentralized identity tool, World ID, has integrated the Polymarket App, the company announced on Tuesday.
“World App users can download and access the new Mini App today in countries where Polymarket’s services are permitted,” the announcement said.
Winners and Losers
At the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is at $111,265 Ether (ETH) at $3,932 and XRP at $2.60. The total market cap is at $3.61 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap.
Among the biggest 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin gainers of the week are Humanity Protocol (H) at 224.39%, Virtuals Protocol (VIRTUAL) at 80.72% and ZCash (ZEC) at 28.45%.
The top three altcoin losers of the week are Plasma (XPL) at 7.93%, PancakeSwap (CAKE) at 5.91% and TRON (TRX) at 5.03%.
For more info on crypto prices, make sure to read Coinpectra’s market analysis.
Most Memorable Quotations
“If Congress does not stop this kind of corruption, it owns it.”
Elizabeth Warren, US senator
“So the most likely outlook is we’re rangy between 100 and 120 or 125, unless we take out the top side.”
Mike Novogratz, CEO of Galaxy Digital
“Bitcoin is forming a rare broadening top on the charts. This pattern is famous for tops.”
Peter Brandt, veteran trader
“Sometimes we’re literally selling 50 million an hour or 100 million an hour and buying the $100 million of Bitcoin the same hour.”
Michael Saylor, executive chairman of Strategy
“So what happens there is the AI analyzes where you are, looks at the geography of what retailer [is nearby] and determines that that’s the one, and then uses a blockchain to actually do a digital payment system for the tall low-fat latte.”
Kevin O’Leary, multimillionaire
“I’ve been saying for the past two years that the influence of @paradigm within Ethereum could become a relevant tail risk for the ecosystem. I believe this will become increasingly clear to everyone in the months ahead.”
Federico Carrone, Ethereum developer
Top Prediction of The Week
XRP price eyes rally to $3.45 after Ripple CEO tells investors to ‘lock in’
XRP flashes signs of a potential 35% breakout as bullish technicals align with fresh fundamentals, including Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse’s renewed push for the blockchain company’s “internet of value” vision.
XRP’s price chart technicals indicate that it has bounced from the lower trendline of its prevailing ascending triangle pattern. That support has historically marked the start of powerful rebound moves, including 70-80% jumps earlier in 2025.
Top FUD of The Week
Spot Ether ETFs see outflows for second consecutive week amid ‘cooling demand’
Spot Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have logged two straight weeks of outflows amid cooling investor sentiment after months of strong inflows.
According to data from SoSoValue, Ether products collectively posted $243.9 million in net redemptions for the week ending on Friday, following the previous week’s $311 million outflow.
The latest data brings cumulative inflows across all Ether spot ETFs to $14.35 billion, with total net assets standing at $26.39 billion, representing about 5.55% of Ethereum’s market cap.
On Friday, the funds also $93.6 million in outflows. BlackRock’s ETHA ETF led withdrawals with $100.99 million in outflows, while Grayscale’s ETHE and Bitwise’s ETHW posted minor inflows.
Young Australians’ biggest financial regret: Ignoring Bitcoin at $400
Over 40% of Australian Gen Z and Millennials say they regret not investing in cryptocurrency a decade ago, with a new survey from Australian crypto broker Swyftx suggesting they see it as one of the biggest missed opportunities of the last 10 years.
The study, conducted by YouGov and released on Thursday, surveyed 3,009 people, finding that almost half of the under-35s surveyed regret missing the crypto boat.
This was followed by regret for not buying property and not buying shares in big technology companies such as Apple and Amazon.
Part of the FOMO is likely because of the structural buying of Bitcoin and Ether by corporations, sovereigns and US pension funds, according to Swyftx.
Bitcoin chart is echoing the 1970s soybean bubble: Peter Brandt
Bitcoin’s price chart has started to show similarities to the soybean market around 50 years ago, which saw prices top before plummeting 50% as global supply began to outweigh demand, warns veteran trader Peter Brandt.
However, other Bitcoin analysts are confident that the charts are signaling further upside ahead.
“Bitcoin is forming a rare broadening top on the charts. This pattern is famous for tops,” Brandt told Coinpectra. “In the 1970s, Soybeans formed such a top, then declined 50% in value.”
Top Magazine Stories of The Week
Mysterious Mr Nakamoto author: Finding Satoshi would hurt Bitcoin
The Mysterious Mr Nakamoto author chased suspects across the globe. He’s now open to the idea Satoshi might be an ex-cypherpunk working for the NSA.
Most wealthy Hong Kong investors plan to buy crypto, Japan’s Bitcoin plan: Asia Express
Hong Kong’s rich investors are planning to enter crypto this year, South Korea to ban stablecoin yields, and more.
Cliff bought 2 homes with Bitcoin mortgages: Clever… or insane?
Buy a house on credit and keep your Bitcoin — Bitcoin-backed mortgages sound great, but what are the drawbacks?
Editorial Staff
OpenAI’s Sam Altman ousted, BlackRock and Fidelity seek Ether ETF, and more: Hodler’s Digest, Nov. 12-18
Sam Altman is ousted from OpenAI, BlackRock and Fidelity seek Ether ETF approval and Australia to tax gains from wrapped tokens.
Read more
Crypto regulation: Does SEC Chair Gary Gensler have the final say?
The chairman of the SEC recently said that almost all cryptocurrencies will be regulated as securities. Questions remain whether that’s an accurate statement and if the agency is regulating tokens by enforcement.
Read moreGaming giants in talks with Immutable to launch token: Web3 Gamer