The United Kingdom will require domestic crypto platforms to report all transactions from UK-resident users starting in 2026, expanding the scope of the Cryptoasset Reporting Framework (CARF).
The change will give His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) — the UK’s tax authority — automatic access to both domestic and cross-border crypto data for the first time, tightening tax compliance ahead of CARF’s first global information exchange in 2027.
CARF, designed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), is a framework for the automatic cross-border exchange of crypto transaction data between tax authorities worldwide. Its rules require crypto asset service providers to perform due diligence, verify user identities, and report detailed transaction information on an annual basis.
The framework primarily focuses on cross-border activity, meaning that crypto transactions occurring entirely within the United Kingdom would fall outside automatic reporting channels, according to a policy paper shared by HMRC on Wednesday.
By expanding the framework to cover domestic users, the government aims to prevent crypto from becoming an “off-CRS” asset class, one that escapes the visibility applied to traditional financial accounts under the Common Reporting Standard.
UK officials say the unified approach will streamline reporting for crypto companies while giving tax authorities a more complete data set to identify noncompliance and assess taxpayer obligations.
The UK also proposed a “no gain, no loss” tax framework on Wednesday that would defer capital gains liabilities for decentralized finance (DeFi) users until they sell the underlying tokens, a shift the local industry has broadly welcomed.
Governments step up crypto tax oversight worldwide
As crypto moves further into the financial mainstream, governments worldwide are updating their tax codes to capture digital asset activity more clearly and consistently.
In South Korea, the National Tax Service announced in October that it will seize cryptocurrency held in cold wallets and conduct home searches for hardware devices if it suspects taxpayers are hiding digital assets to evade obligations.
More recently, Spain’s Sumar parliamentary group proposed raising the top tax rate on crypto gains to 47%, according to local reports. The amendments would shift crypto profits into the general income bracket and set a 30% flat rate for corporate holders.
On Thursday, Switzerland announced that it had postponed the start of automatic crypto information exchange with foreign tax authorities until 2027, as it determines which countries it will share data with. CARF rules will still enter Swiss law on Jan. 1, but their rollout has been delayed, with transitional measures planned to ease compliance for domestic crypto firms.
Meanwhile, in the United States, Representative Warren Davidson introduced a bill in November that would allow Americans to pay for federal taxes in Bitcoin, with the contributions routed into a strategic national BTC reserve.
The proposal, known as the Bitcoin for America Act, would exempt these payments from capital gains taxes by treating the transferred Bitcoin as neither a gain nor a loss for the taxpayer.
Bitcoin (BTC) failed to reclaim $93,000 despite positive momentum in the US stock market and rising gold prices. With the S&P 500 trading just 1% below its all-time high, traders are evaluating what could spark sustainable bullish momentum for Bitcoin.
Key takeaways:
Demand for BTC put (sell) options and stagnant ETF inflows kept momentum capped despite easing macroeconomic conditions.
AI-driven tech relief has cut market stress, but BTC strength relies on holding $90k as investors bet on liquidity support amid softer job market data.
Fed target rate expectations for Dec. 10. Source: CME Group FedWatch Tool
Bond market futures data from CME Group shows traders assigning 87% odds to an interest rate cut on Dec. 10, up from 71% the prior week.
Signs of weakness US the US job market prompted investors to expect a more expansionary monetary policy. The US Labor Department noted that continuing claims climbed to 1.96 million in the week ending Nov. 15.
Meanwhile, the sentiment in BTC derivatives was not significantly altered by the recent price weakness, yet demand for bullish positioning remains notably cautious.
Bitcoin monthly futures held a 4% premium over spot markets on Saturday, unchanged from the previous week.
Under neutral conditions, this basis typically ranges from 5% to 10% to reflect carrying costs. The lack of appetite for leveraged long positions may indicate lingering concerns after Bitcoin’s 18% pullback over the past 30 days.
BTC options markets can help evaluate whether whales and market makers fear additional downside. Bearish phases are often marked by increased demand for put (sell) options.
Bitcoin options put-to-call premium volumes at Deribit, USD. Source: laevitas.ch
Volumes on put options far exceeded call (buy) instruments on Thursday and Friday, signaling elevated uncertainty. A more neutral market would require put-to-call premium volumes at 1.3x or below. While still well off the 5x peak level favoring downside protection seen on Nov. 21, overall sentiment in Bitcoin derivatives remains cautious.
Part of this hesitation stems from stagnant flows into Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETF), which added only $70 million in net assets during the week ending Nov. 28.
Additionally, none of the companies that use Bitcoin as a primary reserve asset have expanded their holdings over the past two weeks, according to CoinGlass data.
Top companies holding BTC reserves. Source: CoinGlass
Strategy last added Bitcoin on Nov. 17. More concerningly, holdings attributed to SpaceX moved 1,163 BTC to two new addresses on Thursday, fueling speculation about a potential sale.
It remains unclear whether Elon Musk’s privately held aerospace company changed custodians, as no official statements have been issued.
Trump’s tax-cut plans boosted scarce assets
During the US holiday, President Donald Trump reiterated plans to substantially cut income taxes, citing revenue expected from import tariffs.
Investors grew more willing to take risks as it became clear that government debt would remain under heavy upward pressure, a backdrop typically supportive of scarce assets. Gold gained 3.8% during the week, while silver surged to a new all-time high.
Concerns around the artificial intelligence sector eased after Google’s custom TPU chip enabled Gemini to top benchmarks in coding, math, science and multimodal reasoning.
The breakthrough boosted investor confidence, as the technology uses far less energy than GPU-based processing. Alphabet (GOOG US) gained 6.8% on the week, helping reduce fears about Nvidia’s (NVDA US) growth outlook.
S&P 500 Index (left) vs. Bitcoin/USD (right). Source: TradingView / Cointelegraph
Bitcoin’s path to $100,000 appears increasingly independent of broad macro trends, however, as its correlation with tech stocks continues to fade.
The longer BTC holds above $90,000, the more confident bulls become, supported by the return of ETF inflows, less risk aversion in BTC derivatives, and the likelihood of liquidity injections from the central bank.
This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as legal or investment advice. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed here are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.
Bitcoin may have significant upside from here as its current price appears to be out of step with the forward macroeconomic outlook, according to a crypto researcher.
“The last time I saw such an asymmetric risk-reward was during COVID,” Bitwise Europe head of research André Dragosch said in an X post on Friday, referring to March 2020 when global pandemic fears sent Bitcoin’s (BTC) price tumbling from around $8,000 to below $5,000.
Dragosch said that while Bitcoin’s current setup mirrors the extreme risk-reward conditions seen during the COVID pandemic, it is also “pricing in the most bearish global growth outlook since 2022,” pointing to a period marked by aggressive quantitative tightening from the US Federal Reserve and the collapse of crypto exchange FTX.
Bitcoin is “pricing in” a recessionary environment
“Bitcoin is essentially pricing in a recessionary growth environment,” Dragosch said, arguing that the asset has already priced in “a lot of the bad news.” On Sunday, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reassured US citizens that the nation was not at risk of entering a recession in 2026.
Bitcoin is down 17.33% over the past 30 days. Source: CoinMarketCap
However, Bitcoin’s price has not performed as many market participants had hoped this time of year. After Bitcoin reached new all-time highs of $125,100 on Oct. 5, it entered a downtrend following a $19 billion liquidation event on Oct. 10, which came shortly after US President Donald Trump announced 100% tariffs on Chinese goods.
Crypto market sentiment deteriorated further when Bitcoin fell below the psychological $100,000 level on Nov. 13 and has yet to reclaim it. While it briefly dipped below $90,000 on Nov. 20, some hope was restored when Bitcoin quickly rebounded above the level a few days later.
Dragosch said global growth is likely to pick up from here, driven by the impact of “preceding monetary stimulus,” which he believes could support growth well into 2026, similar to how it did after the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I genuinely think we’re staring at a similar macro setup right now,” Dragosch said.
Bitcoiners are not convinced of a bear market
Other crypto market participants are anticipating a similar rebound.
Crypto trader Alessio Rastani recently told Cointelegraph that the recent drop may not signal the start of a prolonged bear cycle.
Instead, he argued that the data points to a historically recurring setup that has preceded strong rallies roughly 75% of the time.
Meanwhile, BitMine chair Tom Lee said on Wednesday that he is confident Bitcoin will reclaim $100,000 by the end of the year and may even reach new all-time highs.
Ether’s price may rise nearly 7% in the near term, as subdued stablecoin yields suggest the crypto market has yet to reach overheated conditions, according to crypto sentiment platform Santiment.
“Currently, yields are low, around 4%. This indicates the market has not reached a major top and could still push higher,” Santiment said in a report on Saturday, forecasting that Ether (ETH) could revisit its $3,200 resistance level soon.
This represents an approximate 6.7% increase from its price of $2,991 at the time of publication according to CoinMarketCap.
Ether is down 21.85% over the past 30 days. Source: CoinMarketCap
Santiment said stablecoin yields in lending protocols offer “a gauge of market health” and are currently low, averaging roughly 3.9% to 4.5% across major platforms. The platform explained that a surge in yields typically indicates an increase in speculative leverage, a pattern that has historically preceded major crypto market tops.
Spot Ether turns positive after the broader market downturn
While Ether’s price has lagged in recent weeks, technical and flow-based signals are beginning to show early signs of recovery. The asset has posted a 21.32% decline over the past 30 days, as part of a broader market downturn that began after the significant $19 billion crypto market liquidation event on Oct. 10. This followed shortly after US President Donald Trump announcement of 100% tariffs on Chinese goods.
Crypto analyst Matthew Hyland pointed out in an X post on Saturday that the “ETH-BTC Weekly is closing in on a bullish ribbon flip for the first time since July 2020.”
Meanwhile, spot Ether ETFs staged a turnaround this week, recording $312.6 million in net weekly inflows after three straight weeks of heavy withdrawals.
Market sentiment is showing signs of improvement
Sentiment across the broader crypto market is also showing signs of improvement. In November, historically Bitcoin’s strongest month, the Crypto Fear & Greed Index spent 18 days in “extreme fear” before moving up to a “fear” reading on Saturday, signaling some stabilization in market sentiment.
Looking ahead, December has historically posted an average return for Ether of 6.85% since 2013, according to CoinGlass.
That said, with October and November typically being strong months for Bitcoin (BTC), which have underperformed this year, many in the broader crypto community are questioning the reliability of seasonal trends.
The US Nasdaq stock exchange is making SEC approval of its proposal to offer tokenized versions of stocks listed on the exchange a top priority, according to the exchange’s crypto chief.
“We’ll just move as fast as we can,” Nasdaq’s head of digital assets strategy, Matt Savarese, said during an interview with CNBC on Thursday, when asked whether the SEC could approve the proposal this year.
“I think what we have to really evaluate where the public comments come back in and then answer and respond to the SEC questions as they come through,” Savarese said. “We hope to kind of work with them as quickly as possible,” Savarese said.
Savarese says Nasdaq isn’t “upending the system”
The proposal, submitted by Nasdaq on Sept. 8, is requesting to allow investors to buy and sell stock tokens — digital representations of shares in publicly traded companies — on the exchange.
Savarese emphasized that Nasdaq is not trying to overhaul the way stocks are invested in when asked whether he expects other major exchanges to follow suit.
Nasdaq’s head of digital assets, Matt Savarese, spoke to CNBC on Thursday. Source: CNBC
“We’re not looking at upending the system; we want everyone to come along for that ride and bring tokenization more into the mainstream,” he said.
“We want to do it in that responsible investor-led way first, under the SEC rules themselves,” he added.
It was only in October that Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev said that tokenization will “eventually eat the whole financial system.”
The crypto industry is divided on tokenized equities
Savarese emphasized that Nasdaq is aiming to be an innovator in the ecosystem, noting that the exchange was the first to transition markets from paper-based trading to electronic systems.
Tokenizing stocks has been one of the most significant talking points in the crypto industry this year.
On Sept. 3, Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz said the company became the first Nasdaq-listed company to tokenize its equity on a major blockchain following its launch on the Solana network.
The conversation around tokenized equities has also drawn skepticism from the crypto industry.
On Oct. 1, Rob Hadick, general partner at crypto venture firm Dragonfly, told Cointelegraph that tokenized equities will be a significant benefit to traditional markets, but may not be a boon to the crypto industry as others have predicted.
Hadick said that if tokenized stocks use layer-2 networks, it creates “leakage” as value and may not flow back to Ethereum or the broader crypto ecosystem as much as hoped.
After 18 days at the bottom of a widely used crypto market sentiment index, the market appears to be showing early signs of improving sentiment.
The Crypto Fear & Greed Index, which measures overall crypto market sentiment, posted a “Fear” score of 28 on Saturday, the first time since Nov. 10 that it hasn’t posted an “Extreme Fear” score.
The prolonged stretch near the index’s most bearish level for the majority of November, historically Bitcoin’s (BTC) best-performing month on average, did not go unnoticed by the broader crypto community.
“Extreme Fear” readings have typically marked bottoms, says trader
On Nov. 15, crypto analyst Matthew Hyland pointed out that the index was at the “most extreme fear level” of the entire cycle. “A path like this for BTC Dominance would now be max pain,” Hyland said at the time. Just days later, on Nov. 23, crypto analyst Crypto Seth said, “Extreme Fear is an understatement.”
However, crypto trader Nicola Duke said that every time extreme fear has been on the index, it has marked a “local bottom” for Bitcoin.
The Crypto Fear & Greed Index posted a “Fear” score of 28 on Saturday. Source: alternative.me
Other indicators have since suggested that sentiment may be recovering. Crypto sentiment platform Santiment said on Wednesday that Bitcoin was showing “generally bullish sentiment” after Bitcoin climbed back to nearly $92,000, citing its social media bullish-to-bearish sentiment indicator.
Crypto market still appears to be in risk-off mode
Santiment said that market discussions surrounding Bitcoin on social media have focused on price volatility, and institutional activity, including ETFs and treasury purchases.
However, crypto market participants still appear to be hesitant and in risk-off mode, according to CoinMarketCap’s Altcoin Season Index, which currently sits firmly in “Bitcoin Season” with a score of 22 out of 100 — a metric that oscillates between Altcoin and Bitcoin season readings.
On Friday, Bitwise Europe’s head of research, André Dragosch, said Bitcoin’s price has been misaligned due to a misreading of the broader macroeconomic outlook, particularly growing expectations of an upcoming recession.
“The last time I saw such an asymmetric risk-reward was during COVID,” Dragosch said.
The team behind the Hyperliquid decentralized exchange (DEX) disclosed a 1.75 million HYPE token unlock for its developers and core contributors on Saturday, valued at over $60.4 million at the time of this writing.
Saturday’s token unlock was previously announced and is part of HYPE’s vesting schedule, according to pseudonymous Hyperliquid developer iliensinc, who celebrated the first anniversary of Hyperliquid’s historic airdrop and token generation event. He said:
“For perspective, about 270 million tokens were fully unlocked on Nov 29, 2024, in the largest airdrop in history, measured in today’s market value at about $9.5 billion. There are no investor unlocks, as Hyperliquid never raised any external capital.”
The unlock sparked fear about potential selling pressure that could impact HYPE’s market price, which declined by about 4.6% at the time of this writing.
Hyperliquid’s airdrop and token generation event was considered a landmark debut in the crypto industry that changed product launches, by touting a community-focused model, rewarding early adopters, developers, and users, as opposed to venture capitalists.
“Even if the team pinky swears to not sell, there is nothing holding them to that,” founder of the BitMEX crypto exchange and market analyst Arthur Hayes said.
HYPE token holders must expect a non-zero chance of daily selling pressure, which has already been priced in by the market, reflected in HYPE’s decline since September, Hayes added.
The price of HYPE has declined by about 42% from its all-time high of about $59.40, reached in September, and is trading well below its 200-day moving average, a critical support level.
HYPE’s price action shows a steady uptrend, culminating in an all-time high in September, followed by a decline. Source: TradingView
HYPE started falling on September 19, before the historic market crash in October that wiped away up to 95% in value from certain altcoins.
The token fell by about 54% in a single day during the October 10 market crash but rebounded to the $40 level within two days of the crash.
Analysts and crypto industry executives have praised Hyperliquid for its revenue generation and the platform’s ability to handle $330 billion in monthly trading volume with a small development team.
Before 2021, China controlled a large share of global Bitcoin (BTC) mining. Data from the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index shows that Chinese miners produced about 65% of the world’s Bitcoin computing power in 2020.
In 2021, the Chinese government moved to stop mining activity. Authorities cited concerns about financial risks, capital outflows and the high electricity use required for mining. In September 2021, the People’s Bank of China declared all cryptocurrency transactions illegal and confirmed the nationwide ban on mining.
The immediate result was a sharp drop in global hashrate as many Chinese mining facilities closed or moved their equipment to countries such as the US, Kazakhstan and Russia.
Even though China banned crypto mining, global electricity use by BTC miners kept rising. The decline in the nation was offset by rapid growth in other countries. Yearly electricity use for Bitcoin mining increased from 89 terawatt-hours (TWh) in 2021 to about 121.13 TWh in 2023.
Total Bitcoin electricity consumption
The 2024-2025 recovery of mining operations
Mining operations have resumed in various parts of China, though they are smaller and less visible than the large farms that operated in the past.
According to Hashrate Index data reported in October 2025, China now accounts for about 14% of global Bitcoin mining, making it the third-largest mining country after the US and Kazakhstan. Analysts at the onchain research firm CryptoQuant go further, estimating that the real share of Bitcoin mining in China is between 15% and 20%.
Fast-rebounding sales of rig maker Canaan, one of the largest manufacturers of Bitcoin mining machines, also point to a resurgence in Bitcoin mining in China. China accounted for only 2.8% of Canaan’s revenue in 2022. By 2023, the figure had risen to 30%, and industry sources say it exceeded 50% in the second quarter of 2025.
Did you know? Bitcoin’s network is secured by miners competing to solve cryptographic puzzles, yet no single entity has ever controlled it long-term. Geographic shifts from China to the US to Central Asia show its resilience against political and economic disruptions.
Reasons behind the resurgence of mining operations in China
According to a Reuters report, mining operations have restarted in Xinjiang and Sichuan over the past two years or so. Xinjiang is an energy-abundant province that has supported mining activity. Since much of its surplus energy cannot be transmitted out of the region, it is often used for crypto mining.
Many inland regions of China produce more electricity than they can efficiently transmit to coastal cities. In provinces such as Xinjiang and Sichuan, surplus power drawn mainly from coal would otherwise go unused. Using this low-cost or stranded electricity to run mining machines has become a profitable option.
Local governments have also built large data centers in recent years. When regular demand for these facilities is lower than expected, owners can rent space and power to Bitcoin miners. Rising Bitcoin prices since 2024 have further boosted the profits of these miners.
Excessive data center capacity combined with rising Bitcoin prices may have created an optimal environment for the resurgence of cryptocurrency mining.
The underlying factors behind the increase in Bitcoin mining activity include the following:
Availability of inexpensive or underutilized power: When provinces such as Xinjiang and Sichuan have more than enough power, the surplus can be used for mining.
Surplus computing infrastructure: Overdeveloped data center facilities are actively seeking clients to make use of their capacity.
Elevated Bitcoin price environment: A high Bitcoin price, supported in part by favorable cryptocurrency policy changes in the US, improves mining profitability.
The resurgent mining activity is concentrated in power-abundant regions:
Xinjiang with plentiful coal and wind power, along with established industrial facilities.
Sichuan, known for low-cost hydropower during the rainy season.
Other western provinces with surplus energy and favorable local conditions.
Did you know? Every four years, Bitcoin undergoes a halving that cuts miner rewards by 50%. This built-in scarcity mechanism mimics gold extraction and often triggers major market cycles while shaping long-term supply dynamics.
Changing attitude of China toward digital assets
China’s policy toward digital assets is moving away from outright rejection and shifting toward selective, strategic acceptance. Beijing is showing greater openness to carefully regulated digital asset infrastructure.
Hong Kong’s stablecoin licensing framework, which took effect in August 2025, reflects this broader approach. Hong Kong is part of China, though designated as a Special Administrative Region.
On the mainland, authorities are exploring yuan-backed stablecoins as a way to increase the international use of the renminbi, China’s currency. China is also rapidly advancing its central bank digital currency, the e-CNY, and integrating it into public services, cross-border pilot programs and everyday retail payments.
These developments show that China’s approach is shifting from comprehensive bans to controlled experimentation. Digital assets that support financial stability and advance national economic goals may be allowed to operate.
Crypto’s chronic insider trading problem is expanding from token launches to digital asset treasuries (DATs), as investors exploit early knowledge of upcoming corporate coin purchases.
The issue runs deeper than a few bad actors, according to Shane Molidor, founder and CEO of the blockchain advisory firm Forgd. He described insider-style behavior as a structural feature of crypto markets, where prices often detach from fair value.
A veteran of both Western and Asian trading desks, Molidor told Cointelegraph that many of crypto’s early institutions still treat regulation as an afterthought. “In the West, it’s ask permission rather than forgiveness,” he said. “In the East, it’s move fast, make as much money as possible and deal with the consequences later.”
Molidor previously held leadership roles at crypto exchanges AscendEX and the Winklevoss twins’ Gemini. He led trading at market maker FBG Capital in China before launching Forgd. The company, which calls itself a Web3 investment bank, advises on tokenomics design, market maker relationships and exchange listings.
DATs rotate to Ether and Solana as Bitcoin treasuries saturate. Source: Standard Chartered
As DATs gain traction, the same market dynamics driving insider behavior in token trading are now surfacing in institutional products, Molidor warned.
“Even a small amount of buy-side demand can have a huge market impact when the assets are illiquid,” he said. “It’s a virtuous loop — until it isn’t.”
The mechanics behind crypto’s engineered launches
In crypto, new token listings prioritize spectacle over fair market discovery, according to Molidor, who explained that stakeholders in the listing process — exchanges, market makers and token issuers — are “self-interested and profit-motivated.” That dynamic, he said, shapes how new assets are introduced to retail traders.
Exchanges can underprice tokens and keep liquidity thin at launch, so even small bursts of buying from retail users push prices higher. “They’re incentivized to curate prices to go up and to the right,” Molidor said. “They can accomplish this through lesser-known tactics, like purposefully underpricing a token launch at TGE or layering thin liquidity.”
Retail traders interpret the early green candles as signs of strength and rush to buy in, unaware that their own orders are what’s driving the surge. “Everyone thinks they’re getting a fair and reasonable cost basis, but they’re not,” he said. “They’re buying all-time highs and then catalyzing a very poor user experience thereafter.”
Analysis finds tokens on Binance surge after listing. Source: Ren & Heinrich
According to Molidor, this cycle benefits exchanges most. Each listing creates a new round of volume, headlines and user activity, even if prices collapse soon after.
“It’s just a marketing ploy,” he said. “They like to say, ‘The new asset we gave you early access to is now trading at a 10- or 20-times premium,’ but there wasn’t fair and efficient price discovery at the open.”
Throughout Molidor’s career, he observed a clear regional divide in listing processes. Western exchanges like Coinbase follow a slower and more traditional route using auction-based listings that aim for fair pricing but delay trading. By contrast, Asian exchanges favor faster launches designed to capture speculative momentum.
“Coinbase’s approach is more efficient,” Molidor said, “but it doesn’t resonate with speculative retail demographics.”
Crypto’s market tricks are appearing in crypto treasuries
The same behaviors are now emerging in DATs, or companies that buy cryptocurrencies to add to their balance sheets. Molidor said the trend has expanded from early insider-style trading in tokens through institutional products.
He explained that DATs began by accumulating large-cap coins like Bitcoin (BTC), where liquidity is deep and price discovery is efficient. But as competition increased, many of these vehicles are targeting smaller and less liquid tokens in search of higher upside.
That shift makes DATs more vulnerable to manipulation.
The process behind treasury fundraising also opens the door to front-running. During outreach to potential backers, insiders can access early information on which tokens will be purchased. This opens up chances to front-run and simply purchase the asset on the secondary market in anticipation of future price appreciation.
“Now that we’re getting into lower-valuation, lower-liquidity assets, front-running is becoming much more evident,” he added.
“What we’ve found with DATs is that the unspoken goal is often to trigger enough market impact in the underlying spot asset to drive noticeable price appreciation. That, in turn, fuels fear of missing out among speculative buyers, who then push prices even higher.”
But this feedback loop cuts both ways. Once buying pressure slows, the same thin liquidity that pushed prices up can send them collapsing. With few disclosure requirements and little connection to fundamentals, price becomes the only measure of value — and that price can be easily distorted.
“If the price becomes our only proxy for fair value and price can be heavily influenced and manipulated by even a small amount of buying and selling, then you can have runaway capitulation,” Molidor added.
Early examples of how corporate crypto purchases can move markets were seen in 2020 and 2021, when Tesla and MicroStrategy first added Bitcoin to their balance sheets. Back then, the market was thinner and more sentiment-driven, so even modest announcements sparked sharp rallies.
Today, Bitcoin trades with much deeper liquidity and broader institutional participation, so such news barely moves the needle. Molidor said the “virtuous loop” is now more visible in smaller, less liquid assets that still react sharply to treasury or fund purchases.
How Bitcoin’s price reacted to Tesla’s purchase on Feb. 8, 2021. Source: CoinGecko
Insider dynamics still define how crypto moves
The blurred line between token markets and institutional products shows how deeply speculation and information asymmetry remain woven into crypto’s core.
As Molidor sees it, the path forward is about better alignment between blockchain founders, exchanges and the institutions now flooding in. Most token projects still launch with “brilliant tech and terrible market strategy,” he said, while many institutional entrants fail to grasp the mechanics of crypto’s capital markets.
“The problem is that both sides misunderstand each other,” he said. “Founders don’t know how to operate within financial systems, and institutions don’t understand how crypto markets really function.”
The influx of institutional money may legitimize crypto in the eyes of traditional finance, but it also imports new risks from a structure that still lacks transparency.
The next phase of the market will test whether participants can evolve beyond that model.
“You’re giving exposure to something that many investors don’t truly understand,” Molidor said. “When prices reconverge with fair value, that misunderstanding becomes very real.”
Blockchain data shows the Royal Government of Bhutan has staked 320 Ether (ETH) worth roughly $970,000 through Figment, marking the latest onchain activity from the Himalayan state as it expands its crypto holdings and validator operations.
Figment is a staking provider that helps large investors and institutions stake digital assets across multiple blockchains and earn rewards for securing proof-of-stake networks.
The move adds to a growing wave of Ethereum-focused activity from Bhutan. In October, the South Asian nation of roughly 800,000 people began migrating its self-sovereign digital ID system from Polygon to Ethereum, allowing residents to verify their identities and access government services on the network.
The Ethereum integration is already live, with all resident credentials expected to be fully migrated by early 2026, said Ethereum Foundation president Aya Miyaguchi at the event launch alongside Vitalik Buterin and Bhutan’s prime minister, Tshering Tobgay.
Bhutan has been leaning into digital assets for years. In 2019, the country quietly began accumulating Bitcoin by tapping its hydropower resources to mine the cryptocurrency. It holds about 6,154 BTC worth over $562 million at current prices, according to Arkham data.
In July, Bhutan announced plans to boost its tourism industry and attract younger travelers by integrating cryptocurrency payments across the country. Officials said the move, supported by Binance, has nearly 1,000 onboarded merchants and is meant to modernize wire transfers and reduce friction for tourists.
Bhutan’s growing activity mirrors broader trends in institutional and corporate Bitcoin accumulation, where large holders have become increasingly influential in the market.
Among corporate BTC treasury holders, Michael Saylor’s Strategy dominates with 649,870 BTC, while Marathon Holdings ranks a distant second with 53,250 BTC.
The world’s largest known Bitcoin stash still belongs to Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of the network, who is estimated to control about 1.1 million BTC.
