Weekly: Polymarket Launches in the US, Upbit Hack, DOGE Liquidation, and AI Taxes
The Incrypted editorial team has prepared for you a new weekly digest of the main events in the Web3 and AI sphere. In it we will tell you about the hack of Upbit, the largest exchange in South Korea, Polymarket’s entry into the US market, the situation around the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates’ proposal to tax robots and AI.
Bitcoin News
- How did the price of the asset change?
The asset continues to recover from the largest wave of liquidations and subsequent fluctuations. At the beginning of the week there were several small jumps, but already on the night of November 27, 2025 bitcoin broke through the level of $91,000 and approached $92,000.
Analysts attribute this rebound to the oversold nature of the asset and a sharp rise in expectations that the Fed may cut rates as early as December. The estimate of the probability of such a scenario, according to the CME, rose from 40% to almost 85%.
At the time of preparation of the material bitcoin is trading at $91,258:
BTC/USDT rate on the Binance exchange. Source: TradingView.
Bitcoin BTC
- CryptoFunds
Selling pressure also affected the spot cryptocurrency ETF sector. Net capital outflows from November 17 to November 21, 2025 totaled $1.72 billion, with IBIT accounting for most of that, which was an anti-record for the product.
On a week-to-week basis, the negative trend has continued for a month in a row. During this time, $4.35 billion was withdrawn from spot bitcoin-ETFs.
- Experts’ opinions and the market situation
According to a report from crypto exchange Bybit and Block Scholes, bitcoin’s fall from $105,000 to $82,000 and below has completely offset the asset’s growth since the beginning of 2025, and has left “the average ETF investor now firmly underwater.”
At the same time, short volatility rose sharply, and premiums for bearish put options reached one of the highest levels of the year. Open interest in futures almost halved relative to levels before the collapse on October 10 — from $16 billion to $9 billion, indicating the closure of risky positions and cooling speculative demand.
CryptoQuant experts said that futures positions were the catalyst for the fall. According to their report, the largest holders, with balances ranging from 1,000 BTC to 10,000 BTC or more, continue to reduce portfolios, locking in profits.
Retail investors holding between 0 and 10 BTC are also reducing positions. In contrast to them, holders with portfolios of 10 BTC-100 BTC and 100 BTC-1000 BTC have moved to accumulate, but their volumes are not enough to turn the tide. Experts believe that the market is close to or has reached the bottom.
There is also caution in the assessment of the situation from major institutions. Robert Mitchnik, head of digital assets at BlackRock, called bitcoin primarily a means of preserving value rather than a payment network, for which it lacks scale at the second level.
BitMine chairman and Fundstrat co-founder Tom Lee has revised his assessment regarding the price of bitcoin. He previously stated that the asset would break the $250,000 mark by the end of 2025. Now, he believes that the first cryptocurrency will be able to consolidate above $100,000, but hardly reach new heights.
- A lull in the Treasuries (DAT) sector
There was almost no major buying in this segment this week. However, the bitcoin community and Strategy supporters increased pressure on JPMorgan Chase after news that index company MSCI (formerly Morgan Stanley Capital International) may exclude DATs from its indexes in January 2026.
We also covered the opinion of Bitwise’s CIO Matt Hougan. He predicted that most DATs will trade in the discount zone due to a number of risks, including limited liquidity.
- China is back among the top three largest miners
In Q4 2025, China’s share of the global hashrate surpassed 14%. The surge in miner activity is driven by a number of factors, including affordable electricity in some provinces, as well as large investments in computing capacity by the authorities. Equipment is idle, leased or sold at a reduced price.
Against this backdrop, the People’s Bank of China held a coordination meeting during which it emphasized that the authorities will continue to maintain a prohibitive policy regarding the sector.
- Texas became the first state to invest in bitcoin
Texas Blockchain Council President Lee Bratcher announced that the state has made the nation’s first $10 million bitcoin purchase, acquiring the asset on November 20, 2025 at a price of around $87,000. The proxy solution used for this was BlackRock’s IBIT. However, authorities are working on a direct purchase and storage mechanism.
Ethereum and Other Altcoins
- Pricing
Following bitcoin, other crypto assets were also marked by positive dynamics. However, in their case, the increase was limited. It is worth noting Ethereum, which managed to break through the $3000 level on November 27 and consolidate on it.
Later it partially collapsed. At the time of preparation of the material Ethereum is traded at $3,011:
ETH/USDT rate on the Binance exchange. Source: TradingView.
Ethereum ETH
- Crypto funds
The spot Ethereum-ETF sector has recorded three consecutive weeks of capital outflows. The period from November 17 to November 21, 2025 was no exception — $500.25 million. Among all products, again, BlackRock’s ETHA fund was the hardest hit.
Against this background, the spot Solana-ETF stands out favorably. All the week from November 17 to 21 they continued to attract capital.
We also note that Grayscale Investments has applied to convert its Zcash-based trust (ZEC) into a spot ETF. This is the first such product in the U.S. market. The firm has significantly expanded its basket of crypto asset-based ETFs over the past year, launching funds based on Solana, XRP, Cardano and Dogecoin.
The latter debuted on November 24, 2025. The fund, under the ticker GDOG, ended its first day with trading volume of $1.4 million, a figure Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Eric Balchunas characterized as “normal for an average launch” but low for the first spot ETF of its kind.
- BitMine continued to grow its portfolio
BitMine, the largest corporate holder of Ethereum, bought 14,618 ETH worth $44.3 million. Its share of the total asset supply is about 3%. However, the company’s portfolio is deep in the unrealized loss zone.
- The gas limit in the Ethereum network has been raised
The gas limit on blocks in the Ethereum core network has been raised to 60 million, the highest level in the last four years. The decision was supported by more than 516,000 validators, exceeding the threshold required for the protocol to automatically increase the limit.
- Buterin supported the Session and SimpleX projects
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin supported decentralized messengers Session and SimpleX, sending 128 ETH to each of them. He considers the projects promising, but not without problems.
Regulation of the Sector
- The Ministry of Finance and the Tax Service of Ukraine explained the taxation of crypto assets
This is part of the “Taxes Protect” communication campaign. According to the authorities, traders must already pay personal income tax (18%) and military levy (5%) on capital gains from transactions with crypto assets, as well as file declarations on their own. Otherwise, the army and social services are underfunded, the note emphasizes.
- Japanese regulator obliged crypto exchanges to create a reserve fund
The Financial Agency of Japan (FSA) will oblige cryptocurrency exchanges to create a reserve fund to compensate customers in case of hacking or asset theft. This is an attempt to strengthen consumer protection. Recommendations of the Finance Council are expected soon, based on them the regulator will make a final decision.
- According to the media, the main contender for the position of the next head of the Fed was Kevin Hassett
This is the head of the National Economic Council (NEC) of the White House. Hassett supports President Donald Trump’s desire to influence the Federal Reserve (Fed), but otherwise his views are moderate. Hassett also supports the crypto sphere.
- UAE authorities have extended the central bank’s powers to the Web3 sector
Not only service providers, but also infrastructure providers, software developers, DeFi projects and decentralized exchanges (DEX) have been placed under the regulator’s jurisdiction. The decision has drawn some criticism in the community.
- In South Africa, cryptocurrencies are considered a risk to the financial sector
The corresponding report was published by the Reserve Bank of South Africa. The financial regulator noted that the lack of comprehensive regulation of crypto assets and stablecoins has become a new risk that poses a significant threat to the country’s financial sector.
- In Spain may tighten the taxation of income from crypto assets
With the corresponding initiative was made by the parliamentary group Sumar. The essence of their amendments is to charge with income from transactions with crypto assets PIT, rather than a tax on savings. The former can reach up to 47%, while the latter — from 21% to 30%.
- Australia has introduced a bill to regulate digital assets
The Australian Government has presented a bill that provides for the introduction of a legal framework for custodians. This was announced by the Assistant Minister of Finance of the country Daniel Molino.
The Bill introduces two new types of financial products: digital asset platforms and tokenized asset custody platforms. Such services must now hold an Australian Financial Services License (AFSL).
- Switzerland has postponed the implementation of rules on the exchange of information on crypto assets between tax authorities
At issue is the CARF system. It was developed by the Commonwealth Organization for Economic Commonwealth and Development in 2022 to ensure automatic exchange of information on crypto assets between tax authorities from different jurisdictions. Seventy-five countries have joined the initiative.
Legislatively, CARF integration will be approved from January 1, 2026, but implementation will be postponed for a year because the authorities have not decided on the list of partners for data exchange.
- Turkmenistan legalized cryptosphere
President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov signed the “Law on Virtual Assets”, which legalizes the activities of crypto exchanges and miners in the country. The document introduces the definition of crypto assets, responsibilities of service providers and miners, and forms rules for advancement in this sphere.
AI Sector
- OpenAI has responded to a lawsuit filed by the family of a teenager who committed suicide
OpenAI has filed an official response to a lawsuit filed by the family of 16-year-old Adam Rein, who took his own life after communicating with ChatGPT. The company said the teen violated the service’s terms of use.
According to OpenAI, the correspondence logs show a broader context than the plaintiffs cite. At the same time, ChatGPT advised him more than a hundred times to consult specialists, and the teenager received instructions for suicide on third-party sites and another AI platform.
The family’s lawyer calls OpenAI’s stance “disturbing” and claims the model encouraged the teen in his final hours.
- US launches national AI platform Genesis Mission
Trump signed an executive order to this effect on November 24, 2025. The initiative aims to accelerate scientific discovery and technological development through artificial intelligence (AI). Its ultimate goal is to create a single platform to aggregate data, automate research and accelerate innovation.
- Anthropic unveiled Claude Opus 4.5
Anthropic has launched its new flagship Claude Opus 4.5, the most powerful model the company has ever created. According to the developers, it is significantly better at writing code, more stable in agent-based scenarios and withstands prompt injections.
The model showed record results in a series of technical benchmarks and learned to perform tasks that previous versions could not cope with. Opus 4.5 is already available through APIs and cloud platforms, and its $5/$25 per million tokens cost makes it the most affordable top-tier AI in Anthropic’s lineup.
- Bill Gates has proposed taxing robots
American entrepreneur and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has proposed taxing robots and AI that replace regular workers. He believes that this is necessary to maintain the stability of the economy. Read more in our Telegram channel.
- Google’s capitalization approached $4 trillion amid talks with Meta on the sale of AI chips
Technology giant Meta is discussing a multi-billion dollar deal with Google to acquire TPU AI chips. The company plans to use them in its data centers and is also considering leasing the processors from Google Cloud as early as 2026. Amid the talks, the capitalization of Alphabet, Google’s parent company, approached $4 trillion.
A civil suit has been filed against Changpeng Zhao over the Hamas payments
A group of American citizens filed a civil suit against former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ), claiming that the company allegedly facilitated the transfer of millions of dollars to the Hamas terrorist group during the events of October 7, 2023.
The plaintiffs are referring to the period when CZ headed the exchange. The Financial Times notes that the allegations are based on speculation about the role of Binance’s infrastructure in processing suspicious transactions.
Crypto exchange Upbit has experienced a hack
The exchange’s hot wallet was compromised. The damage is initially estimated at around $36 million, but the company later reduced it. Upbit intends to compensate for the losses at the expense of its own assets.
Later, the press reported that the North Korean group Lazarus Group may be behind the attack, as the incident is similar to the hacking of the exchange in 2019.
Coinbase Ventures named key trends for 2026
The venture capital arm of the eponymous crypto exchange has shared the most promising Web3 and AI trends from the firm’s experts’ point of view. These include open-ended futures on tokenized real-world assets (RWAs), trading terminals for prediction markets, derivatives exchanges with proprietary market makers, unsecured loans and data aggregation layers for robots.
Polymarket has been authorized by the CFTC to operate in the US
The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has issued an amended order that allows the company to operate in the country as an indirect trading platform.
This will enable Polymarket to directly connect brokerage firms and their clients by providing access to trading through the custodial and reporting channels of the U.S. market infrastructure.
Information about the liquidation of DOGE appeared in the press
The corresponding article was published by Reuters with reference to a source in the White House. According to him, the unit ceased to resemble a centralized infrastructure, as some employees were transferred to other positions.
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was created by Trump immediately after his victory. The body was headed by billionaire Ilon Musk, who later retired from politics.
The DOGE team later denied the news of the shutdown.
Gold reserves of Tether equaled the reserves of Hungary and South Korea
This conclusion was reached by experts of the bank Jefferies. According to the attestation at the end of September 2025, the issuer of the USDT steiblcoin owns 116 tons of metal. This volume is comparable to the reserves of countries like South Korea, Hungary and Greece, the analysts noted.
At the same time, the company’s steiblcoin rating, USDT, has fallen to its lowest rating, according to S&P Global Ratings. Tether criticized the company’s conclusions, noting that they have no confirmation in practice.
The following events also occurred this week:
- CEO VanEck expressed doubts about bitcoin’s cryptographic stability
- Buterin criticized the new feature of social network X with the disclosure of the user’s country
- Enlivex will invest $212 million in Rain token-based cryptocurrency
- Monad network deployed in mainnet amid subdued interest in the project’s tokenization
- 160 New Yorkers will each receive $12,000 in cryptocurrency
- experts said a second wave of attacks on the npm registry
- Elon Musk estimated the likelihood of reaching AGI with Grok 5
- Paxos acquired crypto wallet developer Fordefi for more than $100 million
- Robinhood to launch new derivatives exchange as part of expansion into prediction markets
- naver and operator Upbit will create a crypto and fintech giant worth more than $13 billion
- Securitize became the first regulated digital securities company in the U.S. and EU
- alt5 Sigma, a partner company of crypto project World Liberty Financial, fired top executives
- Do Kwon asked to have his sentence reduced to 5 years
- Balancer DAO to consider compensation plan for victims after $110 million exploit
- Tether suspended mining operations in Uruguay
- Kalshi accused of illegal activity and defrauding customers
Articles and Interviews
On Monday, November 24, we published a new article within the Not Financial Advice column. In it we talked about the continuation of the correction in the crypto market and the problems in the DAT sector.
Earlier we covered the release of Google’s new Nano Banana Pro. In a separate piece we collected the most effective prompts for working with this solution.
In a separate material, you will find an overview of the CeDeFi solution from OKX Exchange. The feature, available in the platform’s app, gives traders access to decentralized markets while maintaining the benefits of a centralized infrastructure.
A piece on the synergy between blockchain and AI was released for readers with an Incrypted Plus subscription.
Also out this week is a new essay by crypto expert Arthur Hayes. You can read a text excerpt of it below.
The CryptoBase section this week released an extensive review of BitMEX, one of the largest and oldest trading platforms in the segment.
Also, we would like to remind you that the Black Friday promotion started this week . It includes discounts on Incrypted Plus subscriptions of up to 50%.
Airdrops
Guides and Activities:
- Doma Protocol.
Updates:
- Jumper — Monad NFT Mania;
- T-REX Quest System;
- Polymarket — Trading Strategies.
- Gathered the key blockchain and crypto asset investments of the last week for you in one piece.
- We regularly update the Incrypted cryptocurrency calendar, where you will find a lot of interesting events and announcements.
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