Today's top news highlights:
1. Macroeconomic Outlook for Next Week: A Week of Fed Setting the Tone, and a Dump of Data.
2. Beijing Business Daily: The chaotic practice of diverting traffic from cryptocurrency trading has infiltrated platforms such as Xiaohongshu, Taobao, and Xianyu.
3. Arthur Hayes claims "MON is a high-risk VC coin and could plummet by 99%," while the founder of Monad suggests trying the mainnet.
4. Santiment: The market is showing signs of fatigue and needs to wait for clearer signals.
5. Aster announces Season 3 airdrop schedule: Inspector opens on December 1st, tokens can be claimed on December 15th.
6. Sahara AI responds to unusual market fluctuations: An internal investigation has been launched, and no security risks or product issues have been found.
Macro
An article titled "Cryptocurrency Speculators Swarm Social Media Platforms," published by the Beijing Business Daily's financial investigation team, points out that the chaotic practice of directing cryptocurrency speculation to platforms like Xiaohongshu, Taobao, and Xianyu has infiltrated these platforms. What appear to be lifestyle sharing, new user benefits, or product links are actually ways to drive traffic to cryptocurrency trading, brewing a carefully crafted trap for ordinary people. In terms of traffic generation methods, these generally fall into several categories, including creating topics and building personal brands, and setting up advertising links on the platforms. Industry insiders believe that a "counter-hunting" battle against the chaos of cryptocurrency speculation is underway, but completely ending this game requires a concerted effort from regulators, platforms, and users.
Not long ago, Pan Gongsheng, Governor of the People's Bank of China (PBOC), publicly stated that the PBOC will continue to crack down on the operation and speculation of virtual currencies within China. Since 2017, the PBOC, together with relevant departments, has successively issued a number of policy documents to prevent and address the risks of virtual currency trading and speculation within China, and these policy documents remain in effect. Going forward, the PBOC will work with law enforcement agencies to continue cracking down on the operation and speculation of virtual currencies within China, maintaining economic and financial order, while closely monitoring and dynamically assessing the development of stable currencies overseas.
Macroeconomic Outlook for Next Week: A Week of Fed Setting the Tone, and a Drain of Data
Gold and silver prices fluctuated wildly this week due to a data center outage at the CME Group on Friday, and continued to rise after futures prices resumed trading. Gold prices rose nearly $150 this week, returning above $4,200; silver's gains were even more dramatic, briefly surging to $56, a new all-time high. Next week, the Federal Reserve will enter its customary "blackout" period before its December meeting, and numerous economic data releases are imminent. Furthermore, with major traders returning from vacation, market volatility is likely to be high next week. Here are the key points the market will be focusing on in the coming week:
At 22:45 on Monday, the final reading of the US S&P Global Manufacturing PMI for November will be released.
At 09:00 on Tuesday, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell will speak at a memorial event;
At 11:00 PM on Tuesday, Federal Reserve Governor Bowman will testify before a House committee.
At 21:15 on Wednesday, the US November ADP employment figures will be released.
At 22:45 on Wednesday, the final reading of the US S&P Global Services PMI for November will be released.
Thursday at 8:30 PM, US Challenger job cuts for November;
At 21:30 on Thursday, the number of initial jobless claims in the United States for the week ending November 29 will be released.
At 23:00 on Friday, the US will release the preliminary readings of the one-year inflation rate for December, the preliminary reading of the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index for December, the year-on-year rate of the core PCE price index for September, the month-on-month rate of personal spending for September, and the month-on-month rate of the core PCE price index for September.
Following a series of hawkish comments from several Federal Reserve spokespeople, doves have made a comeback over the past 10 days, bringing a rate cut at the December meeting back to the negotiating table. This dramatic reversal has caused the probability of a 25 basis point rate cut by the Fed on December 10 to surge from about 25% to nearly 80%, a move that has resonated in financial markets. Fed officials typically guide Wall Street toward their final decision before the meeting to avoid surprises. In the past two years (covering a total of 20 Fed meetings), traders have only failed to fully priced in the outcome three times just before the policy decision.
The UK's Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has launched an investigation into the cryptocurrency scam Basis Markets, which raised approximately $28 million in late 2021 through NFT sales and cryptocurrency hedge funds. With support from the Metropolitan Police and West Yorkshire Police, the SFO has arrested two men, aged in their 30s and 40s, on multiple charges of fraud and money laundering. Investigators are appealing to informed investors to come forward and assist with the investigation.
Opinion
BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes commented on the Tether audit report on the X platform, stating, "The Tether team is in the early stages of large-scale interest rate trading. They believe the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates, which will significantly reduce interest income. To counter this, they are buying gold and Bitcoin, and theoretically, as currency prices fall, the prices of these assets should surge. If their gold and Bitcoin holdings fall by about 30%, their equity will vanish, and USDT will theoretically go bankrupt. I believe some large holders and exchanges will demand to see their balance sheets in real time to assess Tether's solvency risk."
Arthur Hayes warned Monad that the recently launched L1 blockchain could plummet by 99%, ultimately becoming yet another failed experiment driven by venture capital hype rather than genuine applications. Hayes described the project as "just another high FDV, low circulating supply VC coin," pointing out that its token structure itself exposes retail investors to risk. Hayes stated that most new L1 networks eventually fail, with only a few likely to maintain long-term relevance, such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and Zcash.
In response, Monad founder Keone Hon posted on the X platform: “I greatly admire your contributions to the industry. Perps is a remarkable innovation, and I believe it will continue to grow rapidly. You have had a tremendous impact on the industry. I’ve noticed you’ve been commenting on Monad frequently in recent days. While I know some of your comments may have been taken out of context, I think you might want to understand what makes Monad unique and why it’s more than just another L1 framework. I’m sure you faced a lot of negative comments and skepticism at the beginning of your innovations at BitMEX, but you always faced them head-on and persevered. I would like to emulate your approach.” Keone Hon listed several reasons why Monad is different and concluded, “If you would like to get some MON to experience the network, please let me know, and I’d be happy to send it to you. Thank you again for your contributions to this field, see you on the blockchain.”
Santiment: The market is showing signs of fatigue and needs to wait for clearer signals.
A report from crypto sentiment analysis platform Santiment indicates that the market is showing signs of fatigue after a slight rebound, with last week's clear buy signals disappearing. Ethereum is approaching a strong resistance zone between $3,200 and $3,250. This price level will be a key test of market strength. Furthermore, the social trend of "buying on dips" has ended, replaced by panic and potential liquidation risks, indicating fragile market sentiment. On-chain data shows that large Bitcoin wallets are slowing their buying pace, while smaller retail wallets are starting to accumulate – a pattern that typically foreshadows an impending market decline. In conclusion, caution is paramount; the market currently faces numerous challenges after the slight rebound, and the confidence of major participants is waning. Data suggests that waiting for clearer signals is the wisest course of action.
Project Updates
Sahara AI tweeted that it has noticed the unusual market volatility and is closely monitoring the situation in real time. The team has launched an internal investigation to analyze market activity in depth to better understand the driving factors behind the volatility. Currently, there are no security risks or product-level issues on the Sahara platform.
Previously, it was reported that SAHARA fell below 0.035 USDT, a drop of 55.45% in 24 hours.
Wyoming Stablecoin Council Releases FRNT Testnet Tap
The Wyoming Stablecoin Council has launched a testnet "tap" for its stablecoin Frontier Stable Token (FRNT). Anyone with a digital wallet can now connect to their website and choose one of eight testnets. Up to 1,000 "tFRNT" tokens can then be claimed every 24 hours from its public address. tFRNT is not backed by any reserves; it is simply a token on a testnet (i.e., development) blockchain designed to "simulate smart contracts deployed on its seven supported mainnet blockchains."
Previously, it was reported that the Wyoming stablecoin FRNT was still unavailable for purchase after its mainnet launch last month.
Aster has updated the Stage 3 airdrop schedule on the X platform. The S3 airdrop checker will open on December 1st at 20:00, and the airdrop token claim period is from December 15th at 20:00 to January 15th, 2026 at 20:00.
Binance: Users holding at least 245 Alpha Credits can claim an airdrop of 500 SQD tokens.
Binance has announced that users holding at least 245 Binance Alpha Points can claim a token airdrop. Claim 500 SQD tokens on the Alpha event page. If the rewards are not fully distributed, the points threshold will automatically decrease by 5 points every five minutes. Please note that claiming the airdrop will consume 15 Binance Alpha Points. Users must confirm their claim within 24 hours on the Alpha event page; otherwise, they will be considered to have forfeited their airdrop.
Important data
According to on-chain data monitoring, the HyperLiquid team previously disclosed that 2.6 million HYPE tokens were unlocked on November 22. Since the unfreezing period is seven days, this means the team only received the HYPE tokens today, November 29. On-chain data monitoring shows that a total of 1,745,746 HYPE tokens have been distributed to 29 new wallets. Of these, 10 wallets sent approximately 609,100 HYPE tokens to Flowdesk, which are expected to be sold on the over-the-counter market; another 4 wallets re-staking approximately 234,600 HYPE tokens; and approximately 902,000 HYPE tokens in 15 wallets remain unchanged. The HyperLiquid team wallet re-staking approximately 854,254 HYPE tokens.
According to on-chain analyst Yu Jin, an address that participated in the Ethereum ICO in 2015 and received 40,000 ETH (ETH's ICO price was $0.311) and had not been active since, ended its ten-year dormancy 20 minutes ago and test-transferred 5 ETH ($15,000). At the time, the 40,000 ETH from the ICO only cost $12,440; now it is worth $120 million, an increase of 9,646 times.
According to Onchain Lens monitoring, a newly created wallet received 16,693 ETH from FalconX, worth $50.11 million, which likely belongs to Bitmine.
According to on-chain analyst Ai Yi, a "2016 ETH ancient whale with a cost as low as $203.22" has allegedly sold 7,000 ETH via Wintertermute in the past month, with an average transfer price of $3,024. If sold, it would have made a profit of $19.745 million. The most recent alleged sale occurred one hour ago, when 1,000 ETH (worth $3.01 million) were deposited into Wintertermute. Currently, the whale still holds 26,992.67 ETH, with a total value of approximately $80.99 million.
According to data disclosed by Stacy Muur on the X platform, November has been the month with the most token sales raised in the past two years, reaching $14.47 billion.
Institutional holdings
Nasdaq-listed Prenetics' total Bitcoin holdings increased to 504.
Nasdaq-listed Prenetics disclosed on the X platform that it has added 6 Bitcoins this week, bringing its total Bitcoin holdings to 504, with a year-to-date Bitcoin return of 435%. According to CEO Danny Yeung, the company's management team has invested $1.45 million to repurchase approximately 60,000 shares of the company from the open market.
