Crypto Market Slides as Fed Uncertainty and Token Unlocks Drive Volatility

I. Crypto Market Overview

Key Takeaways

Macro Environment

Rumors of Fed Chair Powell's resignation and an imminent new nominee have heightened policy uncertainty, impacting USD liquidity and crypto volatility. China's central bank reaffirmed its crypto ban and announced a stricter crackdown on stablecoins, increasing regulatory risk in Asia. The stablecoin market rebounded to $306 billion, led by USDC, reflecting renewed investor confidence and improved DeFi liquidity.

Crypto Market

The crypto market saw broad declines over the past 12 hours, with BTC down 4.4% to $97,474 and ETH dropping 9.3% to $3,144.86, pressured by ETF outflows and weak risk sentiment. Most major altcoins fell, with MYX Finance plunging 13.6%, SOL down 8.7%, and XMR losing 2.5%. HYPE dropped 3.6% after a major token unlock, while M remained flat. The sell-off was driven by macro uncertainty and regulatory tightening.

Today's Outlook

The Federal Reserve's quantitative tightening policy ends today, potentially increasing market liquidity and impacting Bitcoin price action. Ontology MainNet v3.0.0 upgrade is scheduled, which may affect ONT ecosystem activity. Hyperliquid DEX unlocks 1.75 million HYPE tokens for core contributors, raising concerns about short-term selling pressure.

Fear and Greed Index

64.00% Annual Percentile

20 Fear

Total Crypto Market Cap

$2.96T

4.09%

Total Market Trading Volume

$97.66B

17.36%

Altcoin Season Index

25.00%

Quarterly Percentile

23 / 100

Total Futures Market Open Interest

3.65B

2.07%

Futures

746.85B

0.66%

Perpetuals

II. Industry Updates

Macro-economic Policies

Rumors of Federal Reserve Chair Powell's resignation have emerged ahead of his scheduled speech, creating uncertainty in monetary policy direction. This speculation has increased volatility in crypto markets, as leadership changes could impact USD liquidity and Bitcoin price action.

President Trump has finalized his nominee for the next Federal Reserve Chair, with an official announcement expected soon. Market participants anticipate that a new chair favoring lower interest rates could boost risk appetite and support upward momentum in digital assets like BTC and ETH.

The stablecoin market has rebounded to a $306 billion market cap, led by a $2.68 billion surge in USDC. This expansion enhances DeFi liquidity and supports trading volumes across major crypto platforms, reflecting renewed investor confidence amid shifting macroeconomic conditions.

Foreign investors have set a record by purchasing $646.8 billion in US equities over the past year, signaling strong global capital inflows. This persistent demand for US assets underpins dollar strength and indirectly supports Bitcoin's role as a macro hedge in diversified portfolios.

Japanese government bond yields have reached multi-year highs, with the 2-year yield at 1% and the 20-year at 2.855%. Rising yields may prompt capital rotation and influence global risk sentiment, potentially affecting crypto market flows and DeFi borrowing costs.

Cryptocurrency Regulatory Trends

China's central bank reaffirmed its ban on cryptocurrency activities and announced a stricter crackdown on stablecoins, increasing regulatory pressure and potentially reducing market participation in the region.

The stablecoin market rebounded to $306 billion, with USDC leading growth, reflecting increased regulatory clarity and renewed investor confidence in compliant stablecoin products.

South Korea implemented enhanced foreign-exchange oversight, including tighter monitoring of overseas investment flows, which may impact crypto trading and capital movement regulations.

BASE network's total value locked rose 3.55% to $4.45 billion, indicating growing adoption amid evolving compliance requirements for DeFi platforms in response to global regulatory trends.

Tether Gold's TVL in the tokenized real-world asset sector exceeded $2.2 billion, highlighting the increasing integration of compliant tokenized assets within regulated DeFi ecosystems.

MYX Finance (MYX): Surged 8.4% in 24h to $2.84 with $34.8M volume, driven by strong adoption of its cross-chain derivatives platform and liquidity pool upgrades.

MemeCore (M): Rose 7.4% in 24h to $1.38 with $26.7M volume, fueled by increased user engagement in its Layer 1 meme ecosystem and Proof of Meme rewards.

Monero (XMR): Gained 4.4% in 24h to $431.9 with $181.6M volume, supported by rising demand for privacy coins amid market volatility and robust network activity.

Smart Money Movements

A whale deposited $3 million USDC into HyperLiquid and opened a 10x leveraged long position on HYPE, which reached a $19 million valuation.

A trader named pension-usdt.eth realized a $1 million profit in one hour by shorting 6,358 ETH (about $18 million) with 2x leverage before a market drop.

The USDC Treasury burned 60 million USDC tokens worth $59.99 million on Ethereum, reflecting ongoing supply adjustments by the stablecoin issuer.

BitMine Immersion accumulated 3.5 million ETH valued at $11.2 billion, aiming to control 5% of Ethereum's supply, with Ark Invest purchasing $260 million in BMNR shares.

Strategy executives increased holdings in STRC preferred shares, with Jane Dietze buying 1,100 shares at $95.28 each, as Bitcoin and company stock prices declined.

Events to Watch

Dec 1 (Mon)

Federal Reserve's quantitative tightening policy ends; Ontology MainNet v3.0.0 upgrade; Hyperliquid DEX unlocks 1.75M HYPE tokens for core contributors.

Dec 2 (Tue)

India Blockchain Week (IBW) Conference opens in Bangalore; Flare mainnet upgrade inspired by Cancun/Dencun goes live; EUR CPI Flash Estimate y/y released; FED Chair Powell to deliver a speech.

Dec 3 (Wed)

Ethereum Fusaka hard fork upgrade; Pandu Ethereum ETF lists on Hong Kong Stock Exchange; Australia Q3 GDP figures released; US ADP Nonfarm Payrolls Change data published; EarnPark PARK AD Finance Token Sale Tier 4; SecantX AI SECA Analytics IDO.

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