Key News Overnight and This Morning (Nov 11–Nov 12)

Former White House Adviser: Trump Still Intends to Add Bitcoin to US Strategic Reserve, but Faces Legal Issues

Former White House crypto adviser Patrick Witt said US President Donald Trump still intends to buy bitcoin for the US Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, but open-market purchases face legal problems. Witt said that because Congress controls federal spending, direct open-market purchases are "of questionable legality," and Congress has added a provision to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) barring such purchases.

The US government established the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve by executive order in March 2025, with initial assets drawn mainly from bitcoin the government had previously seized, and required the Treasury and Commerce Departments to explore budget-neutral ways to acquire more BTC, but it has not published a specific plan or announced an open-market purchase program. Witt also said that making the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve permanent through a standalone bill would, with a divided Congress, prove very difficult. Without legislative backing, the reserve still rests on an executive order, and a future president could rescind it through a new executive order.

Abraxas Capital's Two Addresses Hold $34.98 Million in Unrealized Gains on ZEC Shorts

As the ZEC price plunged sharply below $1,000, two addresses held by asset manager or hedge fund Abraxas Capital that have ZEC short positions on Hyperliquid are sitting on $34.98 million in unrealized gains on their ZEC positions alone; the two addresses' total unrealized gains on open positions now reach $118 million.

Report: ByteDance Pushes into the Agent Race, Plans AI Assistant Similar to Meta Muse

ByteDance plans to launch an AI assistant similar to Meta Muse in the coming weeks, to consolidate its lead in AI video generation and speed up its pursuit of top US AI labs, with the goal of closing the gap in about three years. People familiar with the matter said ByteDance co-founder Zhang Yiming introduced the plan at a recent all-hands meeting for AI teams. Zhang believes ByteDance is capable of competing with companies such as Anthropic and OpenAI at the AI frontier, but reminded the team that truly reaching the level of those companies will take until at least 2029 or 2030.

The AI agent ByteDance plans to launch will play a role similar to Muse, which Meta released in September this year. Muse packages Meta's long-accumulated AI research into a voice-interaction assistant with an animated avatar that can help users complete various tasks. It is not yet clear whether ByteDance plans to develop companion hardware for the assistant.

Survey: Average Digital Asset Allocation Among Fund Managers Rises to 1.3%

CoinShares' October digital asset fund manager survey shows that the average digital asset allocation in respondents' portfolios rose to 1.3% from 1.2% in July, with investors shifting from equities and bonds into alternative assets such as commodities and digital assets rather than into cash. Diversification has become the primary motivation for investing in digital assets, accounting for 40% of all responses, while speculation fell to fifth place at less than 9%. Bitcoin remains the asset with the most favored growth outlook, with bitcoin and ether together accounting for 47% of holdings responses; altcoin preferences shifted toward newer tokens such as SUI, NEAR, AAVE, HYPE, UNI and LINK, and views on ether and Solana also improved slightly. For those who have not yet invested, regulatory concerns and internal company restrictions remain the main obstacles.

Nasdaq Futures Gains Widen to 2%, S&P 500 Futures Up 0.9%

Binance market data shows Nasdaq futures gains widened to 2%, S&P 500 futures rose 0.9% and Dow futures rose 0.19%.

OKXICE Tokenized Stock Platform to Launch November 23, Some Assets Not Tradable on Day One

OKXICE, the tokenized stock platform jointly owned by OKX and Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), plans to launch on November 23 and will list more than 70 digital assets linked to stocks and ETFs, though not all will be tradable on the first day, including 59 ETFs from leveraged and inverse ETF issuer Direxion. Companies including McDonald's, Coca-Cola and JPMorgan have already objected to their shares being tokenized and traded on the platform. Of the 62 companies OKXICE initially selected, 56 objected; only six, including Coinbase, Strategy and Robinhood, did not disclose objections, and all are crypto-related. The total number of objecting companies now stands at 67. OKXICE co-chair and former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said the market is evolving toward 7×24 trading and consumer demand will push companies to adapt to the new market structure.

Hong Kong Police Dismantle Crypto Money-Laundering Ring, Arrest 22; HK$150 Million Involved in Three Months

Hong Kong police have dismantled a cross-border criminal group that laundered money through virtual currency over-the-counter (OTC) channels, arresting 22 people — 21 men and one woman aged between 21 and 54. Police investigations found the group had been active since August this year, recruiting mainland residents to come to Hong Kong to open puppet bank accounts and withdraw criminal proceeds in cash, then moving the funds to virtual currency OTC shops run by the group, where the money was laundered through buying and selling virtual currencies and other means. Police estimate the group laundered more than HK$150 million between August and October this year alone.

The group is said to have had a clear division of labor: it first arranged for mainland residents holding two-way permits to come to Hong Kong and open online bank accounts to receive criminal proceeds; it then recruited cash withdrawers, who used bank cards distributed by the group to withdraw cash from ATMs at different locations and different banks, after which runners collected the cash and transported it to OTC shops to complete the laundering.

Anthropic's Mega IPO Said to Be Multiple Times Oversubscribed

Market news: Anthropic's mega IPO is said to be multiple times oversubscribed.

F2Pool Co-Founder Wang Chun Withdraws 3,996 ETH and Stakes It with Lido

F2Pool co-founder Wang Chun withdrew 3,996 ETH, worth about $8.23 million, four hours ago. The ETH was then staked with Lido, and the wstETH received was deposited into the Spark protocol.

Anthropic Pre-Market Perpetual Trades at About 36% Premium to IPO Price Range Top

On-chain data from Hyperliquid shows that the Anthropic pre-market perpetual contract (xyz:ANT) launched by Trade.xyz is now trading at about $106, a premium of about 36% to the $78 top of Anthropic's indicative IPO price range, corresponding to a fully diluted valuation of about $1.9 trillion — above the roughly $1.4 trillion valuation implied by the top of the prospectus range. The contract rose about 9.8% over the past 24 hours, with 24-hour volume of about $64.8 million. Earlier reports said Anthropic is expected to set its IPO issue price next Wednesday.

Scroll Completes Emergency Mainnet Upgrade to Fix Proof Verification Contract Vulnerability

Ethereum Layer 2 network Scroll said in a report on its governance forum that it received a bug bounty report on November 3 concerning the bundle proof verification contract on Ethereum mainnet, and registered a fixed verification contract for batch version 10 on November 10. The vulnerability could allow an old valid proof to be used with new public inputs, potentially enabling finalization of arbitrary state roots and withdrawal roots, but exploiting it required the permissioned prover role, or the forced batch mode that opens after 7 days without finalization. Scroll said it verified that the vulnerability was not exploited on mainnet, that all 748 finalizations while the vulnerable verification contract was active used normal proofs, that forced mode was never enabled, and that earlier versions of the verification contract were unaffected.

Russia's Central Bank: Exchanges Could Start Crypto Trading as Early as November 22

The Bank of Russia said Russian exchanges could start crypto trading from November 22, 2026, provided they first agree trading rules with regulators. Russia's Ministry of Justice has registered the central bank's directive on requirements for organized trading in digital currencies and digital rights. Under the rules, exchanges must register crypto trading participants such as brokers, trustees and central counterparties, keep order and trade records and monitor trading, calculate price indicators such as the current price, weighted average price, market price and closing price, and report trading information to the central bank in the same way as for other existing assets. The central bank previously finalized rules for retail crypto trading, to take effect from November 17.

Philadelphia Semiconductor Index Rises 4.7%, Recovering Entire 12% Plunge Since November 5

The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index rose 4.7%, recovering the entire 12% plunge since November 5. Among individual stocks, SK Hynix rose 7.42%, Micron Technology 6.98%, Intel 6.77%, Seagate Technology 8.39%, Lumentum 10.39%, Broadcom 5.19%, TSMC 4.19% and Nvidia 2.72%. The triple-leveraged long semiconductor ETF (SOXL) rose 14.06%.

SanDisk (SNDK) Up 10.08% Intraday, Now at $944.41

According to Binance market data, SanDisk (SNDK) shares rose as much as 10.08% intraday and are now at $944.41.

ByteDance AI Chip Head Departs After In-House Chip Falls Short of Performance Expectations Post-Tapeout

Shi Yunfeng, head of ByteDance's AI chip and DPU team, has submitted his resignation and is now in the handover period. Shi joined ByteDance in 2018, previously worked at MediaTek, Marvell and Huaxintong, and reported to Yang Zhenyuan, who heads the Volcano Engine business. Reports said the relevant ByteDance AI chip completed tapeout in 2026, but actual performance fell short of expectations and it has not yet been deployed at scale in internal businesses; the team is pushing ahead with next-generation chip development. Ada, aimed at Doubao, and SeedChip, aimed at Seedance, are both progressing on operator adaptation, but with limited progress. ByteDance has not yet responded.

Micron (MU) Up 10.01% Intraday, Now at $797.27

According to Binance market data, Micron (MU) shares rose as much as 10.01% intraday and are now at $797.27.

Strobe Fund Liquidates Its 142.9 Million ENA, Cashing Out About $32.95 Million

Crypto VC Strobe Fund (@strobefund) transferred its last 50 million ENA (about $7.54 million) to Coinbase an hour ago, completing the liquidation. The firm moved a total of 101.95 million ENA, worth about $15.6 million, to Coinbase in a single day. Strobe Fund received an allocation of 142.9 million ENA about two years ago through an investment, and has now sold the entire position for about $32.95 million in total, at an average price of about $0.23.

Google DeepMind Releases Gene Prediction Model AlphaGenome 2

According to Google DeepMind's official blog, Google DeepMind has released AlphaGenome 2, a gene prediction model. The model can predict DNA function under specified conditions based on a DNA sequence of about 1 million bases plus a specified tissue, cell type or state, with readouts covering gene expression, histone modifications and chromatin accessibility, and newly adding DNA methylation. Unlike the previous generation, which predicted multiple tissues in parallel, the new model predicts for a single condition at a time, can distinguish similar cell types, and generalizes to new single-cell data without retraining. DeepMind said it identified nearly twice as many variants affecting cellular gene expression as the previous state-of-the-art model. AlphaGenome 2 is now available for non-commercial research through the AlphaGenome API, with commercial research in private testing, and related Skills will launch soon on Google's agent development platform Antigravity.

OKXICE Tokenized Stock Platform Initially Open Only to US Users Who Pass Identity and Eligibility Checks

OKXICE's first listed stocks include Coinbase, Circle, Robinhood, BitGo, Better.com, Securitize and Strategy, as well as Strategy's preferred stock. The tokenization infrastructure is provided by Securitize, and the tokens are securities entitlements backed 1:1 by the underlying US shares, with holders enjoying the same rights as the underlying securities, including dividends and voting rights. Eligible US users can trade through the OKX App after completing identity and eligibility checks. An OKXICE spokesperson said more issuers and assets will be announced in the coming weeks.

Earlier reports said the OKXICE tokenized stock platform will launch on November 23, with some assets not open on the first day.

Nasdaq 100 Rises 2.1%, Intel Gains Widen to 8%

Binance market data shows the Nasdaq 100 rose 2.1%, touching an intraday high. Intel (INTC.O) gains widened to 8%.

Sui Ecosystem Wallet Suiet to End Service After November 14, Users Must Back Up and Migrate

Sui ecosystem wallet Suiet will stop development and maintenance. Its API service will run until November 14 and then cease, and the Suiet extension in the Chrome Web Store will also be taken down soon. The announcement said that after the API goes offline, balance display, transactions and app connections may stop working properly, but assets remain on the Sui chain and will not be transferred or deleted as a result. Suiet reminded users to back up the mnemonic phrases or private keys of all accounts, import them into other Sui-compatible wallets, and confirm addresses and assets (including staking positions) are correct before uninstalling Suiet.

Google Launches Tabletop, an Experimental AI Group Collaboration Product That Generates Itineraries, Polls and More

According to Google's official blog, Google Labs has launched Tabletop, an experimental AI collaboration product for groups to plan and use together. Users can add links, files and ideas to a shared space, issue instructions via @tabletop or choose templates to generate interactive travel itineraries, dinner polls, expense-splitting sheets and match brackets, and share them to group chats via invite links for real-time collaboration among multiple people. Tabletop is being rolled out in batches to US users aged 18 and over, with applications through a waitlist.

UAE-Linked Prediction Market Removes USD1 References; On-Chain Analysis Shows It Actually Uses USDC

After repeated inquiries from Bloomberg, ADI PredictStreet, an official prediction market partner of the World Cup, has deleted from its website statements that it operates using USD1, the stablecoin of the Trump family's crypto project World Liberty Financial (WLFI), changing them to USDC and saying the original information was outdated. On-chain analysis commissioned by Bloomberg and conducted by TickerTracker found no evidence of the platform transacting with USD1; it actually uses USDC issued by Circle. PredictStreet's operator was once listed as a subsidiary of International Holding Company (IHC), owned by UAE National Security Adviser Tahnoon; an IHC spokesperson said it is no longer a subsidiary. Separately, according to Arkham data, about 64% of USD1's circulating supply sits on Binance, and no other exchange holds more than 5%.

OKXICE's First Tokenized Issuers Include Strategy, Coinbase

OKXICE TSV, the tokenized securities trading platform jointly owned by OKX and Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), will offer round-the-clock digital securities trading to eligible US users from November 23, with more than 70 assets expected at launch. The first batch of issuers includes Better.com, BitGo, Circle, Coinbase, Robinhood, Securitize and Strategy, along with 59 ETFs from Direxion; Strategy will also list its preferred stock. Trading will take place through Uniswap v4-based AMM liquidity pools on X Layer, OKX's Ethereum L2 network. Strategy founder Michael Saylor said in a post on X that bringing STRC and MSTR on-chain is another step toward a capital market that never closes.

Nomura Weighs Sale of Crypto Subsidiary Laser Digital; Marex Evaluating the Deal

People familiar with the matter said Nomura Holdings, Japan's largest brokerage, is considering selling its crypto business subsidiary Laser Digital Holdings AG and is in talks with potential buyers including Marex Group, which is evaluating the deal. The people said Nomura has not made a final decision and may ultimately sell to another party or keep the business. Spokespeople for Nomura and Marex both declined to comment. Reports said Zurich-based Laser Digital posted a loss last year amid severe volatility in crypto markets, dragging Nomura's European business into an overall loss.

RUM Group Discloses Q3 Sale of 198.46 BTC, Holdings Fall to 94.68 BTC

US-listed AI infrastructure and video platform company RUM Group (formerly Rumble) disclosed that it reduced its bitcoin holdings by 198.46 BTC in the third quarter and held 94.68 BTC, worth about $7.9 million, as of September 30.

Earlier reports said Rumble's third-quarter revenue rose 290% year over year, achieving adjusted EBITDA profitability for the first time.

MSCI Indexes to Remove Strategy, Metaplanet and Others; SharpLink Placed on Watchlist

Index operator MSCI will remove Strategy and other companies from its global indexes, determining that they are closer to investment funds, a move that could curb passive investment flowing into these stocks. Tokyo-listed Metaplanet and British uranium-buying company Yellow Cake are also on the removal list; these companies will be removed from the MSCI USA and MSCI World indexes on December 1. Companies including Ethereum treasury platform SharpLink are also on MSCI's watchlist.

MSCI proposed last year excluding digital asset treasury companies whose digital asset holdings account for 50% or more of total assets, and then launched a broader review of so-called "non-operating companies." Strategy warned last year that its removal would trigger $2.8 billion in stock selling and hit industry confidence. JPMorgan previously estimated that if other index providers follow suit, MSCI's changes could lead to outflows of up to $8.8 billion from Strategy shares.

US SEC Files Court Brief Backing CFTC in Fight Over Regulation of Single-Stock Perpetual Derivatives

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed a court brief on the dispute over which agency regulates single-stock perpetual derivatives, backing the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Industry group Capital Markets Alliance had sued the CFTC, seeking to overturn its approval of such products. In its brief, the SEC rebutted CMA's claim that the CFTC "overstepped," saying the CFTC's new rule changes must also be reviewed by the SEC, and that the SEC and CFTC often cooperate, which is crucial for regulating equity perpetuals.

After CMA's lawsuit, crypto companies including Coinbase, Kraken parent Payward and Kalshi filed a joint brief opposing CMA; three of them have filed applications to list equity perpetuals and were deemed approved on November 2. Others such as Better Markets argue such products should be regulated by the SEC.

Websea's Official X Account Appears to Post Then Delete Tweet From Employees Demanding Unpaid Wages

According to screenshots circulating on X, the official X account of digital asset trading platform Websea posted a complaint publicly accusing the company's boss and CEO of owing employees wages and reimbursements, and the tweet was later deleted. The screenshots show the poster saying that employees gave their time and energy to the company but could not get basic salary or work reimbursements, and alleging that the company appears to have stopped normal operations while management has yet to provide a clear payment arrangement. The poster demanded that Websea's boss and CEO respond directly to the unpaid wages and reimbursements, publish a clear and credible payment timetable, settle all outstanding employee payments as soon as possible, and called on the Web3 industry to pay attention to the matter.

Nvidia Said to Be Working With Outside Firm to Find CEO Candidates

People familiar with the matter said Nvidia's board is working with an outside firm to identify potential successors to CEO Jensen Huang. The people said the board is considering appointing an interim leader first while searching for a permanent candidate.

Earlier, The Wall Street Journal reported that Nvidia's board was preparing to remove CEO Jensen Huang, and Nvidia fell more than 7% after hours.

Grayscale: Zcash Active Developer Count Doubles in Two Years; Strong Community Growth Could Lift ZEC Valuation

Grayscale research head Zach Pandl wrote that Zcash's monthly active developer count has roughly doubled over the past two years, while the broader crypto developer pool has retreated from its peak over the same period. The article said about 70% of Zcash's active developers have more than a year of crypto development experience, above the industry-wide 58%, and these developers combine zero-knowledge proof expertise with post-quantum cryptography research. The article argued that sustained developer participation shows the network's capacity for continuous improvement, and that Zcash's growing developer community combines a strong privacy ethos with the goal of making private digital money more accessible; this momentum will continue to support protocol innovation and could ultimately translate into a higher ZEC valuation.

Jensen Huang Reportedly Involved in a Second Extramarital Affair, With a Subordinate Executive

Five people who previously worked at Nvidia said that Nvidia chief Jensen Huang had an extramarital affair with an executive who reported to him. The previously unreported relationship was with Kimberly Powell, Nvidia's vice president of healthcare. According to two people familiar with the matter, Huang, 63, and Powell, 48, were photographed in an intimate encounter at a hotel in San Jose, California, during an Nvidia conference in March. Both Huang and Powell are married.

This month, after Huang acknowledged the affair, Nvidia's board opened an investigation into the matter. Earlier today, reports said Nvidia's board was preparing to remove CEO Jensen Huang and was said to be working with an outside firm to find CEO candidates.

Wallet Linked to Anchorage Digital Sent 100 Million ENA Worth Over $15 Million to Coinbase in the Past Two Days

A wallet linked to Anchorage Digital has transferred a total of 100 million ENA, worth about $15.29 million, to Coinbase over the past two days.

The wallet also still holds other crypto assets including about $12.75 million of MORPHO and about $7.74 million of SKY. Monitoring data shows that about eight months ago, an address tagged as Anchorage Digital sent 2.5 million USDC to the wallet, apparently for token purchases.

SlowMist: New Telegram Message-Embedded "Apps" Lack Sandbox Protection, Posing Malicious Code Execution Risk

SlowMist founder Cos posted that the new version of Telegram supports embedding "apps" directly in messages but provides no sandbox protection, and the QuickJS it uses could become a vector for triggering malicious code execution. He said Telegram's design easily introduces unnecessary risk, and noted that AI's current ability to find and exploit vulnerabilities far exceeds that of the past. He advised users to hold off on updating Telegram.

Two Whales/Institutions Holding for Over a Year Move 1,929.5 BTC to CEXs, Worth About $143.6 Million

Two whales or institutions that had held for more than a year moved 1,929.5 BTC ($143.6 million) to centralized exchanges four hours ago. Of that, 1,000 BTC accumulated five years ago at $46,700 was transferred to Binance six hours ago, realizing a profit of $27.73 million; 929.5 BTC accumulated a year ago at $107,125 was transferred to Kraken four hours ago, realizing a loss of $30.36 million.

After Jensen Huang's Two Extramarital Affairs Come to Light, Nvidia Has Lost About $700 Billion in Market Value

Market data shows that since the two extramarital affairs of Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang came to light, Nvidia's market value has fallen by about $700 billion.

A Whale Bought 396,800 HYPE Over the Past Three Days and Staked It All, Worth About $29.29 Million

After HYPE pulled back 26% this month from $96 to $71, a whale or institution bought 396,811 HYPE ($29.29 million) through multiple centralized exchanges over the past three days and deposited all of it into staking six hours ago.

DEX Volume on Elysium's First Full Trading Day After Mainnet Launch Reaches $122 Million

According to data shared by analyst Adam, decentralized exchange (DEX) volume on Elysium, a Layer 2 network in the Hyperliquid ecosystem, reached $122 million on its first full trading day after mainnet launch, involving about 58,700 wallets. Of that, 33.2% of volume (about $40.5 million) came from Launchpad tokens. Montra currently leads the Launchpad token market with a 71.1% share.