Market Signal Briefing

39 minutes ago

Analysts called the Chainlink ETF’s debut a “solid” launch, but the development has yet to attract enough liquidity to reverse the LINK token’s 39% decline over the past year.

Grayscale’s launch of the first US spot Chainlink exchange-traded fund (ETF) drew strong interest on its first day of trading, suggesting investors still have an appetite for regulated altcoin products despite a broader crypto market slump.

Grayscale’s Chainlink (LINK) ETF debuted with $41 million in cumulative net inflows and $13 million worth of “solid” trading volume during the first day, said Eric Balchunas, Bloomberg’s senior ETF analyst, in a Wednesday X post. “$41m in first day flows. Another insta-hit from the crypto world, only dud so far was Doge, but it’s still early.”

The debut adds to signs that institutional and professional investors are waiting on the sidelines for more regulated ways to gain exposure to altcoins that can be integrated into corporate or fund strategies.

Source: Eric BalchunasIn comparison, the Solana (SOL) ETF debuted with just $8.2 million in first-day volume, according to Farside Investors data.

The spot XRP (XRP) ETF continues to lead altcoin ETF debuts this year, with $243 million in first-day inflows, according to SosoValue.

Spot XRP ETF inflows, daily, all-time chart. Source: SosoValue.comLink ETF debut was successful but not a “blockbuster,” says ETF analystWhile the Chainlink ETF's debut was not a “blockbuster success,” the fund is already holding $64 million worth of total assets, with the initial $18 million seed allocation, wrote ETF analyst James Seyffart, in a Wednesday X post. “Chainlink showing that longer tail assets can find success in the ETF wrapper too.”

In finance, long-tail assets refer to less popular and less liquid assets, associated with higher risk and reward profiles.

While the LINK token’s price rose 9.8% over the past week, the ETF's debut was unable to reverse the token’s 39% decline over the past year, Cointelegraph data shows.

LINK/USD, one-year chart. Source: CointelegraphLINK is the native utility token of the Chainlink network, used to reward validator node operators and pay for the protocol’s oracle data feed services.

Chainlink provides decentralized applications and asset tokenization protocols with reliable real-world data feeds for secure and accurate smart contract execution. 

Chainlink’s decentralized oracle and crosschain interoperability services are foundational for developers building more complex decentralized finance (DeFi) projects.

Magazine: Solana vs Ethereum ETFs, Facebook’s influence on Bitwise — Hunter Horsley

Dogecoin is trading at its lowest price in a year, but could a year-end rally be in store?

While the S&P 500 (^GSPC +0.30%) and Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC +0.17%) have each posted double-digit gains so far this year, cryptocurrency seems to have lost its momentum. As of this writing (Dec. 2), prices across Bitcoin, Ethereum, and XRP have underperformed the broader stock market in 2025.

Adding to the list of crypto laggards is Dogecoin (DOGE +0.17%), whose price has plummeted by 54% this year. At just $0.15 per token, Dogecoin is now trading at its lowest price in a year.

But as 2026 draws close, could Dogecoin become a darling of a Santa Claus rally and ride the wave to a $1 price point?

Let's dig into how Dogecoin works and what makes it different from other popular cryptocurrencies. From there, I'll explore what it would take for the meme coin to reach $1 and whether such a price target is realistic.

Image source: Getty Images.

What is Dogecoin and how does it work?
Dogecoin was created by a pair of software engineers from IBM and Adobe named Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer. The coin's origins are rooted in satire -- poking fun at the rise of digital assets.

Dogecoin's fun and charming mascot -- a Shiba Inu dog -- combined with enthusiasm for crypto-based peer-to-peer payments helped fuel some interest in the altcoin.

Nevertheless, Dogecoin remains largely niche. Beyond microtransactions, Dogecoin lacks deeper utility in the world of decentralized finance (DeFi) when compared to more established cryptocurrencies or blockchain networks.

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Moreover, 5 billion new coins enter circulation each year. This structure makes Dogecoin fundamentally different from Bitcoin, which has a fixed supply of 21 million coins.

Although a growing supply base theoretically makes Dogecoin more accessible to investors, it also makes it harder for the coin to sustain price appreciation. Unlike Bitcoin, Dogecoin is the opposite of a store of value -- lacking a true value proposition and serving as more of a speculative opportunity.

What is Dogecoin's all-time high price?
Back in 2021, Dogecoin reached an all-time high of roughly $0.70. Since then, the token has lost about 80% of its value.

Dogecoin Price data by YCharts

Dogecoin's rise from a few years ago can be boiled down to a few factors. A number of celebrities, including Elon Musk and Mark Cuban, frequently took to social media and spoke highly of Dogecoin.

Although these endorsements shouldn't have carried much weight, bored retail investors stuck at home were intrigued by Dogecoin's virality and began dumping their COVID-19 stimulus checks into the crypto. This buying frenzy overlapped with the rise of meme stock trading in GameStop and AMC.

In essence, there was an unprecedented amount of liquidity flowing through the capital markets that gave rise to inflated prices in alternative asset classes such as cryptocurrency.

Could Dogecoin reach $1 before 2026?
Although Dogecoin has never reached its prior highs from 2021, investors should note that the coin experienced a brief spike about a year ago.

The main catalyst behind this surge was the creation of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) -- led by none other than Elon Musk. Some investors bought into a narrative that Musk's inclusion in the Trump administration and his deliberate usage of the "DOGE" moniker gave Dogecoin some extra legitimacy. In reality, the creation of the DOGE did nothing to explicitly enhance Dogecoin's developer network or utility.

I bring all of these details up to drive home one main theme: Dogecoin's price does not follow business fundamentals or even technical analysis trends. Rather, the token is highly sensitive to hype-driven narratives that are drummed up on social media.

Looking at Dogecoin through the lens of its recent price and convincing yourself it could reach $1 isn't how valuation really works. If Dogecoin reached a price of $1, its market cap would be north of $120 billion -- making it more valuable than cryptocurrency stocks like Robinhood Markets or Coinbase.

In my eyes, this is unrealistic given how limited Dogecoin's usage is compared to these diversified trading platforms. Smart investors know that buying into unit bias is ultimately a losing proposition.

Given the token has never surpassed prior highs and is meaningfully lower since its last rally about a year ago, in combination with the structure of Dogecoin's growing supply and its lack of utility, I feel confident in saying it will not reach $1 by the end of December.

Adam Spatacco has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Adobe, Bitcoin, Ethereum, International Business Machines, and XRP. The Motley Fool recommends Coinbase Global and recommends the following options: long January 2028 $330 calls on Adobe and short January 2028 $340 calls on Adobe. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

With more ETF approvals in the pipeline, existing Ripple ETFs are locking in $1 billion in just a few weeks.

Market Sentiment:

Bullish

Bearish

Neutral

Published:
December 4, 2025 │ 10:00 AM GMT

Created by Kornelija Poderskytė from DailyCoin

All active Ripple-based exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have continued to grow for the past two weeks, now closely nearing the $1 billion mark. Just $94 million below this crucial milestone, XRP’s trading on Wall Street portrays a stable stream of inflows. Grayscale’s ETF is currently the fastest-growing.

The #XRP #ETF story is just getting started.

  5 spot XRP ETFs now trading with $909M+ AUM combined:
  • Canary Capital (XRPC): $351M – leading the pack
  • Bitwise (XRP): $188M
  • Grayscale (GXRP): $139M
  • Franklin Templeton (XRPZ): $123M
  • REX-Osprey (XRPR): $108M…

— Neil (@NeilTolbert) December 4, 2025
In general, Canary Capital is leading the pack, accounting for $351 million of the ETF inflows. Bitwise inked $188 million, while the newer & bigger counterparts are trying to catch up. To illustrate, Franklin Templeton’s XRPZ has  breached $123 million, despite just a few days of trading.

Ripple ETF Display Stability Upon XRP’s Price BounceThe XRP Spot market-price tracking ETFs gained over $50 million each time for the past three days on the NYSE Arca & NASDAQ, with investor confidence returning right after XRP’s price reclaimed the $2 price tag, now standing at the $2.20 mid-point level in the campaign to reclaim $2.50.

Out of the four trading Ripple ETFs, Grayscale’s GXRP stands out from the regular crowd with $39.26 million inflows in a single day. As of yesterday, Grayscale’s Ripple ETF was also the only one trading with a discount of -0.26%, meaning the digital fund is under-valued against the ETF’s net asset value (NAV).

As the institutional build-up continues, the OG altcoin edges Solana (SOL) by roughly $250 million in terms of ETF outflows. While both of these altcoins are institutional darlings, XRP’s billions in daily trading volume could be the trump card every institutional player’s looking for.

Read DailyCoin’s hottest crypto news today:
ETH Hits $3,100 as Fusaka Upgrade Looms. BitMine Accumulates
Good Time To Mine Pi? Boosted Rate Lure Pioneers Back In

People Also Ask:What’s fueling Wall Street’s rush into XRP?

Spot XRP ETFs launched November 13, 2025, and notched 12 straight inflow days, hitting $909M cumulative by December 3—faster than early BTC/ETH ramps, thanks to clearer regs and XRP’s payment utility.

How much XRP do ETFs hold now, and what’s the latest flow?

By December 3, 2025, five spot ETFs hold 366M XRP worth $788M AUM (at ~$2.15/XRP), with $67M inflows on December 2 pushing toward $1B; daily volume nears $43M.

Which big firms are powering this XRP ETF surge?

Invesco, Franklin Templeton, Bitwise, Canary, Grayscale, and 21Shares (launched December 1) lead the charge, with Vanguard unlocking access for millions of clients on December 3.

Why is $1B AUM a pivotal win for XRP?

It triggers a “flywheel” of pension/quant inflows, speeds SEC approvals for pending apps (e.g., WisdomTree), and cements XRP in portfolios amid Ripple’s global nods like Abu Dhabi.

Why no big price spike yet amid ETF frenzy?

XRP’s price trades ~$2.20 as institutions accumulate stealthily sans retail hype, amid BTC pauses and macro rotations—but whale buys (150M+ XRP) and rate cuts eye $2.50+ soon.

DailyCoin's Vibe Check: Which way are you leaning towards after reading this article?

Market Sentiment

100% Bullish

This article is for information purposes only and should not be considered trading or investment advice. Nothing herein shall be construed as financial, legal, or tax advice. Trading forex, cryptocurrencies, and CFDs pose a considerable risk of loss.

Plume Brings Institutional RWA Yield to Solana With Debut of Nest VaultsPlume is bringing real-world yield to Solana with the rollout of its Nest vaults, giving the network’s users direct access to on-chain credit, Treasuries and receivables. Dec 4, 2025, 11:00 a.m.

Plume, a real world asset (RWA)-focused blockchain project, has debuted its Nest yield vaults directly on Solana, giving the network’s users native access to institutional-grade real-world assets for the first time.

The rollout introduces three products — nBASIS, nOPAL and nTBILL — each offering exposure to on-chain credit, U.S. Treasuries and short-term receivables.

STORY CONTINUES BELOW

Users can deposit stablecoins into Nest and receive a yield-accruing token that can move freely through Solana’s DeFi stack, from automated market makers (AMMs) to lending markets. Tokens can be redeemed at any time, positioning them as composable building blocks for a new “real-world yield economy” on the high-throughput chain.

Plume CBO and co-founder Teddy Pornprinya said crypto is “moving beyond synthetic yield” toward returns anchored in traditional financial activity.

“Stablecoins brought millions into crypto, but yieldcoins will keep them here,” he said.

Plume claims to support more than half of the industry’s RWA volume today, and its expansion to Solana taps into a rapidly growing corner of the chain: real-world asset value on Solana is approaching $1 billion, according to Nick Ducoff, head of Institutional Growth at the Solana Foundation.

The vaults plug directly into Solana-native platforms Loopscale and Jupiter, enabling “leveraged RWA looping” — a mechanism that lets users rehypothecate deposited assets through recursive borrowing to amplify returns while keeping positions collateralized.

Nest deposits also feed into the Plume Nest Points Program, which rewards users for holding and deploying vault tokens as part of an ongoing Season One campaign.

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Protocol Research: GoPlus Security

Nov 14, 2025

What to know:

As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.View Full Report

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Bitcoin-Focused Firm Twenty One Sees Public NYSE Listing on Dec. 9

11 minutes ago

The firm offers public equity exposure to bitcoin, focusing on "capital-efficient bitcoin accumulation" and Bitcoin ecosystem services.

What to know:

Twenty One Capital said it expects to start trading on the NYSE under the "XXI" ticker on Dec. 9, after merging with Cantor Equity Partners.The firm offers public equity exposure to bitcoin, focusing on "capital-efficient bitcoin accumulation" and Bitcoin ecosystem services.Twenty One Capital holds 43,514 BTC ($4 billion) and plans to introduce a "Bitcoin Per Share" metric, with Tether and Bitfinex as majority owners.Read full story

No, Strategy is not going to sell its bitcoin, Bitwise CIO believesMarkets
• December 4, 2025, 6:00AM EST

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Quick Take
Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan said there is no mechanism that would force Strategy to sell its bitcoin, despite market concerns.
MSCI’s index review may remove Strategy from benchmarks, but Hougan argued any impact is likely already priced in.
Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan pushed back against a growing narrative that Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) could be compelled to sell its bitcoin holdings, calling the premise "just flat wrong" and arguing that neither index changes nor market pressure creates any such requirement.

In a note to clients late Wednesday titled "No, Virginia, Strategy Is Not Going To Sell Its Bitcoin," Hougan addressed two questions he says have flooded his inbox: whether Strategy will be removed from MSCI indexes, and whether such a move could force the firm to unwind its multi-billion-dollar bitcoin position.

Hougan acknowledged that MSCI is actively considering excluding digital asset treasury companies from its investable indexes, with a decision due Jan. 15. JPMorgan recently estimated that such a removal could trigger up to $2.8 billion of passive selling of Strategy stock. Hougan estimated a 75% chance that Strategy gets booted.

Still, Hougan said history suggests index inclusions and deletions have far less impact than investors fear, noting that Strategy's addition to the Nasdaq-100 last year required funds to buy $2.1 billion of shares and "its price barely moved." He added that Strategy's recent decline since Oct. 10 is likely the market pricing in the possibility of removal and that he does not expect "substantial swings either way."

The larger concern among investors, Houdan said, is that a removal could spark a downward spiral: MSCI exclusion drives the stock lower, the share price drops well below net asset value, and Strategy is forced to sell bitcoin to stabilize its financial position.

Hougan argued this chain of reasoning is unfounded. Even if the stock trades below NAV, "there is nothing about MSTR's price dropping below NAV that will force it to sell." The company faces two obligations on its debt — interest payments of roughly $800 million a year and the need to handle maturities as they arise — but neither creates imminent pressure.

Strategy's $1.44 billion USD reserveOn Monday, Strategy disclosed it had purchased another 130 BTC for approximately $11.7 million at an average price of $89,960 per bitcoin — taking its total holdings to 650,000 BTC.

Perhaps more interestingly, the firm also announced a new U.S. dollar reserve of $1.44 billion to support the payment of dividends on its preferred stocks and interest on its existing debt, funded by at-the-market sales of its MSTR common stock.

"Strategy's current intention is to maintain a USD Reserve in an amount sufficient to fund at least twelve months of dividends, and Strategy intends to strengthen the USD Reserve over time, with the goal of ultimately covering 24 months or more of its dividends," the firm said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

While Strategy has always referenced the possibility of bitcoin sales in its regulatory filings, co-founder Michael Saylor was more explicit during the firm's latest investor call about the scenario, if challenging market conditions persist further into the future. "There are skeptics and cynics that have been of the opinion that we couldn't, or wouldn't, or don't have the will to sell bitcoin in order to finance the dividends, and that sometimes becomes a negative short narrative. I think it's important for us to dispel this notion," Saylor said.

"Not only can the company sell bitcoin in order to pay the dividends, the company can actually sell highly appreciated bitcoin, pay the dividends, and then continuously increase its bitcoin holdings in bitcoin every quarter, forever," Saylor added.

However, Strategy's dividend and interest payments are not a near-term concern, Hougan said, with $1.4 billion in cash enough to easily cover its commitments for a year and a half. Meanwhile, its first debt maturity does not arrive until February 2027 and totals about $1 billion, which he characterized as "chump change" relative to the firm's roughly $60 billion bitcoin holdings. These factors, he said, eliminate the premise that Strategy is anywhere close to needing to liquidate its bitcoin to meet obligations right now.

Insider pressureHougan also dismissed the idea that insiders might push the company to sell its bitcoin should its stock — down 59% from its summer DAT craze peak — continue to slide. Saylor controls 42% of Strategy's voting shares and, he wrote, is unlikely to abandon his long-held conviction. Saylor "didn't sell the last time MSTR stock traded at a discount, in 2022," Hougan said. "You'd be hard pressed to find a human being with more conviction on bitcoin's long-term value."

With bitcoin trading around $93,000 — about 25% above Strategy's average acquisition price of $74,436 — he said the bears' "doom loop" scenario collapses under scrutiny.

In closing, Hougan said crypto investors have legitimate issues to worry about, from slow progress on market-structure legislation to the health of smaller digital asset treasury companies. But Strategy's bitcoin stack, he argued, should not be one of them. The MSCI outcome, in his view, is already largely reflected in the share price, and "there's no plausible near-term mechanism that would force it to sell its bitcoin."

Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.

© 2025 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

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AUTHOR James Hunt is a Senior Reporter at The Block and writer of The Daily newsletter, keeping you up to speed on the latest crypto news every weekday. Prior to joining The Block in 2022, James spent four years as a freelance writer in the industry, contributing to both publications and crypto project content. You can get in touch with James on Telegram or 𝕏 via @humanjets or email him at [email protected]. See More

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Quick Facts:

➡️ $XRP trades at a key inflection point, with traders split between a breakout toward $3 or a deeper corrective move toward $1.20.
➡️ AI-focused and creator-economy tokens are emerging as a distinct sector, driven by demand for generative tools and more equitable monetization models.
➡️ Web2 creator platforms still capture up to 70% of revenue and can ban accounts arbitrarily, pushing talent to seek censorship-resistant and geographically open alternatives.
➡️ SUBBD Token merges Web3 payments with AI assistants, voice cloning, and token-gated access to help creators keep more earnings and streamline fan engagement.

XRP ($XRP) is back in the spotlight as traders debate whether the token’s next decisive move is a clean breakout toward $3 or a rejection that sends it tumbling toward the $1.20 region.

According to crypto analyst Ali Charts, it’s crucial for $XRP to retain its key support level at $2, otherwise, it could sink to $1.20.

After a strong year for large-cap altcoins, $XRP now sits at a technical crossroads watched by every chart-driven desk in crypto.

Macro conditions aren’t making the decision any easier. Bitcoin’s consolidation near cycle highs and a rotation into high-beta altcoins has kept liquidity in play, but it has also amplified volatility.

When majors like XRP coil in tight ranges, capital often starts hunting narrative-driven mid-caps with clearer upside stories and product-market fit.

That’s where AI and creator-economy tokens have quietly carved out their own corner of the market. It’s not at all surprising, given the growing investments in AI, along with the huge chunk that platforms charge (up to 70%) from creators.

SUBBD Token ($SUBBD) enters that gap, pitching itself as an AI-powered content creation and monetization stack built on Ethereum.

Instead of surrendering control and fees to a centralized platform, creators can route subscriptions, pay-per-view content, AI-driven experiences, and tips through Web3 rails, while fans pay in crypto and unlock token-gated benefits.

If you’re watching $XRP’s next move but want exposure to a very different thesis, this is the emerging narrative to track.

AI Content Tokens Compete for Creator Loyalty
The core problem is simple: creators generate billions in value, but platforms capture a disproportionate share.

Major subscription and fan platforms can charge combined fees of 20%–70% once payment processors and platform cuts stack up, and their opaque moderation can instantly erase a creator’s income stream.

That model is being challenged on several fronts, with some AI-native creator platforming layer chatbots, generative avatars, and voice tools on top.

A handful of tokens already target AI-assisted fan engagement, letting users chat with AI personas or buy AI-crafted media via NFTs.

The SUBBD platform, with its native $SUBBD token, sits in this competitive field as one of several AI-powered content platforms trying to win actual creator loyalty rather than speculative flows.

It takes the familiar playbook, including subscriptions, pay-per-view, NFT sales, and tipping, and aligns it with Web3 economics and integrated AI tools, rather than forcing creators to juggle separate subscriptions and payment providers.

How SUBBD Token Tries to Fix Web2 Creator Economics
Where many rivals bolt a token onto an existing Web2 business, the SUBBD platform is designed around Web3 from the start.

On Ethereum, creators can accept crypto from anywhere, bypass card-based geographic restrictions, and rely on transparent smart contracts for payouts.

The pitch is straightforward: reduce effective fees, cut out arbitrary bans, and keep content rights under creator control.

The platform’s AI stack is meant to make that economic layer feel less technical for both sides. An AI Personal Assistant can automate replies, DMs, and fan interactions, smoothing the experience without forcing creators to be always on.

Voice cloning and AI influencer creation tools enable new content formats entirely, such as AI co-hosts, synthetic collabs, or 24/7 virtual streams that still route value back to the human owner.

Under the hood, its $SUBBD token functions as the access and rewards layer. You can stake tokens for VIP benefits, platform discounts, and XP multipliers.

Its token presale also offers a fixed 20% APY in the first year, plus access to exclusive livestreams, in-house content, and daily BTS drops before the model shifts toward broader platform-benefit staking.

The presale has already raised more than $1.38M at a token price of $0.0571, signaling early demand for the thesis rather than just the ticker.

With the project’s potential to transform the digital creator landscape, its token could reach a high of $0.48 by the end of next year. That’s a 740.63% increase from its current price.

If you think $XRP’s next leg higher depends on macro flows, but AI plus creator equity is a more durable structural theme, it may be worth watching whether $SUBBD can convert presale momentum into real creator adoption.

Join the $SUBBD presale today.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial, investment, or trading advice of any kind.

Authored by Bogdan Patru, Bitcoinist — https://bitcoinist.com/xrp-price-outlook-as-subbd-token-presale-continues-to-pump

Editorial Process for bitcoinist is centered on delivering thoroughly researched, accurate, and unbiased content. We uphold strict sourcing standards, and each page undergoes diligent review by our team of top technology experts and seasoned editors. This process ensures the integrity, relevance, and value of our content for our readers.

ETH returned to a higher price range, boosted by accumulation in mid-range wallets. Despite the slowdown in whale buying, shark wallets became a major factor for ETH in the past year. 

ETH shifted to a higher price range, accelerating its recovery based on more active derivative trading. Token accumulation was also a major factor behind the recent rally, especially driven by wallets with 1K-10K ETH. Based on Santiment data, shark wallets were important for ETH support in all of 2025. 

The recovery of ETH extended to $3,207.23, boosted by the overall positive market direction. ETH still held at 0.034 BTC, and remained the top gainer among the top 10 coins and tokens. For the past day, ETH reclaimed 5% on its price. 

As the driver of DeFi and mainstream ETF adoption, ETH recovered faster compared to altcoins, trading in its own category. Traders also regained confidence in an ETH recovery, recently pushing leverage on Binance to an all-time high.

Accumulation wallets also hold the highest balance of ETH, with over 25.9M tokens sent to self-custodial holder wallets. ETH accumulation turned vertical since June, as the token expected a breakout to a higher range.

During the accumulation stage, whales were greedier and confident compared to retail, which were mostly selling and turning bearish on ETH.

ETH buying for treasuries has gone flat since October
During previous market rallies, buying from treasury companies added to the hype for ETH. Since October, those buyers have diminished, with only Bitmine (BMNR) making regular additions. 

In the past 30 days, Bitmine was practically the sole DAT buyer, expanding its treasury by 9.8%. However, the past month saw a few other whales move in, and treasury buyers only retained their holdings. Most companies now rely on staking rewards for a regular weekly passive income. 

Despite the slowdown of the DAT narrative, ETH finds other factors for growth. At the same time, DAT company shares remain near their lows, with mNAV ratios below 1. The low ratio signals a low enthusiasm for applying Strategy’s playbook to ETH. 

ETH open interest keeps rising
ETH open interest kept rising, and is back to around $18B, up by $3B in the past week. After a period of relative calm and smaller long liquidations, traders started returning. 

ETH long liquidations diminished in the past month, allowing traders to rebuild positions with more confidence. | Source: Cryptoquant
Based on the currently available liquidity, ETH may see a short squeeze to over $3,300. Long positions also established a support price for ETH at just above $3,000, where most of the liquidity is concentrated. 

The derivative and perpetual futures market is becoming more important for ETH, after a brief switch to spot trading. However, derivative positions also inform spot buyers and accumulating wallets. 

ETH is also showing a return to buying demand, as the taker buy/sell ratio rose, signaling a rush to buy at the current market price.

Join a premium crypto trading community free for 30 days - normally $100/mo.

A senior Kremlin adviser wants Russia’s crypto mining classified as an export, arguing tens of thousands of Bitcoins and import payments must be reflected in trade data.

Summary

Kremlin aide Maxim Oreshkin says mined crypto effectively flows abroad and should be recorded as an export impacting Russia’s balance of payments and FX market.​
Industry leaders estimate Russian miners produced about 55,000 BTC in 2023 and roughly 35,000 BTC in 2024, with daily income near 1 billion rubles.​
Russia’s legal mining regime includes registration, tax rates up to 25% for firms, but widespread illegal operations and power theft are costing the state billions of rubles.

A senior Kremlin official has proposed treating cryptocurrency mining as a form of export in Russia’s official trade accounts, arguing that large volumes of mined digital assets effectively flow abroad even without crossing physical borders.

Kremlin hopes to make Bitcoin mining
Maxim Oreshkin stated the industry generates substantial sums that remain outside formal statistics despite influencing the foreign-exchange market and the balance of payments, according to reports.

Russia legalized cryptocurrency mining on Nov. 1, 2024. Oreshkin described the sector as a “new export item” that the country “doesn’t value very well,” according to the reports. He argued that because cryptocurrency can be used to pay for imports through alternative channels, those transactions should be counted when the state measures trade flows and currency dynamics.

Industry figures indicate the scale has become material. Oleg Ogienko, chief executive of Via Numeri Group, estimated that Russia’s output of proof-of-work assets this year could equal “tens of thousands” of Bitcoins. Sergey Bezdelov, head of the Industrial Mining Association, estimated production at approximately 55,000 Bitcoins in 2023 and roughly 35,000 Bitcoins in 2024, citing the network’s halving as a factor reducing miner rewards.

The revenue impact is also substantial, according to industry participants. Mikhail Brezhnev, co-founder of mining supplier 51ASIC, estimated daily mining income across the country at around 1 billion rubles, a figure he linked to Russia’s share of global computing power and Bitcoin’s (BTC) price. Brezhnev stated that because mined coins can be used directly to settle import bills, the case for recording those flows in official statistics is clear.

Regulators have implemented oversight measures. Legal entities and sole proprietors must register with the Federal Tax Service to mine, and hosting providers are listed in a separate registry. Household miners are exempt from registration only if they consume less than 6,000 kWh per month, though all income must be reported. Corporate mining is taxed at 25 percent, while individuals face progressive rates of 13 to 22 percent; non-residents pay 30 percent.

A recent Russian media investigation revealed that illegal and semi-legal crypto mining is costing the country millions of dollars annually through stolen electricity and unpaid taxes. Broadcaster Ren TV reported that many miners avoid registering their operations to escape high power tariffs and tax obligations, pushing large parts of the industry underground and creating billion-ruble losses for the state budget.

Although Russia now permits industrial crypto mining and offers legal status to registered operators, smaller miners are reportedly refusing to comply. While major firms such as BitRiver and Intelion operate within the legal framework, many independent operators are accused of resorting to meter manipulation, bribery, and secret agreements with utility workers. Households and legitimate businesses are reportedly absorbing the cost of stolen electricity as a result.

Analysts appear to be right about this $3.6 trillion quantum computing stock.

The sizzle has largely fizzled for IonQ (IONQ +3.67%). This once-hot stock was up nearly 90% year-to-date by early October. However, since then, IonQ's shares have plunged.

Such a steep sell-off could prompt some investors to seek a better quantum computing stock to buy. If you're in that group, Wall Street loves one alternative, in particular.

Image source: Getty Images.

A quantum computing game changer?
Microsoft (MSFT 2.33%) is best known for its Windows operating system, productivity software such as Excel and Word, and Xbox gaming system. But the company is also a giant in the quantum computing space.

Like the two other largest cloud providers, Amazon's (AMZN 0.87%) AWS and Alphabet's (GOOG +1.44%) (GOOGL +1.21%) Google Cloud, Microsoft's Azure platform offers tools to quantum computing developers. Azure also has a "Quantum Ready" program that helps organizations prepare for the impact of quantum computing on their operations.

However, the most important quantum computing development to watch with Microsoft is the company's Majorana 1 Quantum Processing Unit (QPU). Majorana 1 is the first quantum computing chip to use a topological superconductor, also known as a topoconductor. For a long time, topoconductors – a new type of matter that is neither solid, liquid, nor gas – were only theoretical. Microsoft figured out a way to make them a reality.

Topoconductors enable Microsoft to create and control qubits, the basic units of information in quantum computers. Thanks to the novel approach, the company has now achieved two major milestones on its quantum computing roadmap. It has four more to go to fulfill the goal of building a large-scale quantum supercomputer that can address real-world commercial and scientific challenges.

Microsoft believes that it will deploy practical quantum computers in years, not decades. Topoconductors just might be as much of a game-changing technology for quantum computers as silicon was for personal computers.

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Wall Street's favorite
It would be an understatement to say that Wall Street loves Microsoft. I'd even argue that Microsoft is analysts' favorite quantum computing stock.

Of the 56 analysts surveyed by S&P Global (SPGI +1.76%) this month who cover Microsoft, 12 (roughly 21%) rated the stock as a "strong buy." Another 43 analysts (77%) rated it as a "buy." The lone outlier recommended holding Microsoft.

Wall Street's consensus 12-month price target for Microsoft reflects a potential upside of 28%. Several analysts are even more bullish, with one projecting the stock could soar another 49%.

Granted, Wall Street also has positive outlooks for several other quantum computing stocks. For example, six of the nine analysts surveyed recently by S&P Global rated IonQ as a "buy" or "strong buy." However, I haven't seen any leader in the quantum computing arena with more broad-based enthusiasm on Wall Street as Microsoft.

The best reason to buy Microsoft
Will Microsoft emerge as the most successful company in quantum computing on the back of its revolutionary topoconductor technology? I think it's possible, but there's no guarantee.

More importantly, it doesn't matter all that much in deciding about whether or not to invest in the stock. The best reason to buy Microsoft isn't quantum computing; it's the tech giant's tremendous opportunities in artificial intelligence (AI).

Organizations continue to scramble to develop cloud-based generative AI applications. Microsoft's fiscal 2026 first-quarter results demonstrate how the company is benefiting from this trend. Its Azure and other cloud services revenue soared 40% year-over-year.

I don't expect this growth to slow significantly. The adoption of agentic AI could even accelerate Microsoft's momentum, not just for Azure but also for the company's productivity software business as well.

Microsoft's quantum computing initiative is similar to a billionaire buying a lottery ticket. If it pays off, great. If it doesn't, no worries. That's why Microsoft is the kind of quantum computing stock that Wall Street loves.

Keith Speights has positions in Alphabet, Amazon, and Microsoft. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, IonQ, Microsoft, and S&P Global. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

The successful hedge fund manager doesn't seem to think this stock is as magnificent as it once was.

Billionaire Ken Griffin went on a shopping spree in the third quarter of 2025. His Citadel Advisors hedge fund bought a large number of stocks. In many cases, the transactions involved the purchase of millions of shares.

It probably shouldn't be surprising that Griffin owns all of the so-called "Magnificent Seven" stocks. After all, each member of the group ranks among the top 10 largest stocks in the world based on market cap. Griffin loaded up on every Magnificent Seven stock in Q3 – with one notable exception.

Image source: Getty Images.

Magnificent buys
Microsoft (MSFT 2.33%) is Citadel's largest holding. That wasn't the case earlier this year. However, Griffin doubled his hedge fund's position in Microsoft during Q3, buying roughly 2 million additional shares.

That purchase left Nvidia (NVDA 1.04%) in second place. Griffin bought 1.73 million more shares of the GPU maker last quarter, increasing Citadel's stake by 21.4%

One of the billionaire's biggest moves in Q3 involved Meta Platforms (META 1.18%). Griffin increased Citadel's position in the parent company of Facebook and Instagram by a whopping 12,693%. Meta is now the hedge fund's third-largest holding.

Another Magnificent Seven stock comes in fourth. Griffin more than doubled Citadel's stake in Apple (AAPL 0.71%) in Q3.

Additionally, Griffin picked up more shares of two other Magnificent Seven stocks in Q3 that aren't in his hedge fund's top 10 holdings. He bought another 1.1 million shares of Tesla (TSLA +4.17%) and another 1.25 million shares of Google parent Alphabet (GOOG +1.44%) (GOOGL +1.21%).

One glaring exception
That leaves one member of the elite group of stocks that Griffin no longer views as so magnificent. He sold 2.1 million shares of Amazon (AMZN 0.87%) in Q3, reducing Citadel's stake in the e-commerce and cloud services giant by 39%.

The obvious question is: Why did Griffin sour on Amazon? However, there isn't an obvious answer.

Amazon's AWS cloud unit benefits from the same artificial intelligence (AI) tailwinds as fellow cloud providers Microsoft and Alphabet's Google Cloud. Although AWS isn't growing as fast on a percentage basis as its rivals, it's still a strong business.

Griffin didn't sell Amazon in Q3 because the stock had become too expensive. Amazon's share price fell during part of the quarter, with its decline roughly in line with the moves of several other Magnificent Seven stocks.

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Amazon's quarterly update announced during Q3 didn't disappoint investors either. The company handily beat Wall Street's earnings estimate.

Perhaps the best explanation for Griffin's sale of the stock is that he was simply rebalancing Citadel's portfolio. The hedge fund has owned Amazon for years, frequently buying and selling shares with no apparent rhyme or reason.

Should you sell Amazon stock, too?
If we knew exactly why Griffin sold Amazon stock and agreed with the reasoning, following in his footsteps by selling the stock too would make sense. However, that's not the case here.

Even though Amazon reigns as the largest e-commerce company in the world, it still has plenty of room to grow in this market. As CEO Andy Jassy pointed out last year, Amazon's market share of the total global retail market is only around 1%.

Advertising is a key growth driver for Amazon these days. Revenue from advertising services jumped 24% year-over-year in Q3, a faster growth rate than AWS delivered.

Speaking of AWS, the cloud unit continues to have tremendous opportunities. Jassy spoke extensively about the promise of agentic AI during Amazon's latest quarterly earnings call. He noted, "AWS is heavily investing in this area and well-positioned to be a leader." I agree with him that agentic AI should serve as a significant tailwind for AWS.

Don't overlook Amazon's expansion into new markets, though. The company will begin offering satellite internet services in early 2026. Its Zoox robotaxis are now operating in Las Vegas, with Washington, D.C. on the way.

Griffin may or may not like Amazon as much now as he did earlier in the year. However, I think this stock remains a magnificent pick for long-term investors.

Keith Speights has positions in Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta Platforms, and Microsoft. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Tesla. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Press Release

December 4, 2025

Shell plc Announces Final Results of Exchange Offers

Shell plc (“Shell”) (LSE: SHEL) (NYSE: SHEL) (AEX: SHELL) today announces the final results of its previously announced offers to exchange (the “Exchange Offers” and each, an “Exchange Offer”) any and all validly tendered (and not validly withdrawn) and accepted notes of five series issued by Shell International Finance B.V. (“Shell International Finance” and such notes, the “Shell International Finance Notes”) and one series of notes issued by BG Energy Capital plc (“BGEC”) (such notes, the “BGEC Notes” and such BGEC Notes, together with the Shell International Finance Notes, the “Old Notes”) for a combination of cash and a corresponding series of new notes to be issued on a private placement basis by Shell Finance US Inc. (“Shell Finance US”) and fully and unconditionally guaranteed by Shell (the “New Notes”), as described in the Offering Memorandum dated November 3, 2025 (the “Offering Memorandum”).

As announced on November 3, 2025, Shell conducted the Exchange Offers to migrate the existing Old Notes from Shell International Finance and BGEC to Shell Finance US in order to optimize Shell Group’s (as defined below) capital structure and align indebtedness with its U.S. business.

The total aggregate principal amount of Old Notes that were validly tendered (and not validly withdrawn) and accepted for exchange in the Exchange Offers was $6,347,729,000, as set forth in the table below under the heading “Aggregate Principal Amount Tendered and Accepted.” All Old Notes validly tendered (and not validly withdrawn) as of 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on December 3, 2025 satisfied the applicable Minimum Size Condition (as described in the Offering Memorandum) and were accepted for exchange.

The following table, based on information provided by D.F. King & Co., Inc., the exchange agent and information agent for the Exchange Offers, indicates, among other things, the aggregate principal amount of each series of Old Notes validly tendered (and not validly withdrawn) and accepted for exchange in the Exchange Offers.

IssuerSeries of Old Notes Offered for ExchangeOld CUSIP/ISIN
No.Aggregate Principal Amount Outstanding ($MM)Aggregate Principal Amount Tendered and AcceptedCorresponding New Notes to be Issued in ExchangeNew CUSIP/ISIN No.Shell International Finance3.875% Guaranteed Notes due 2028822582CB6/
US822582CB65$        1,500$920,732,000U.S.$ 920,732,000 3.875% Guaranteed Notes due 2028Regulation S: U8209LAA0/ USU8209LAA09Rule 144A: 822905AR6/ US822905AR69

Shell International Finance6.375% Guaranteed Notes due 2038822582AD4/
US822582AD40$        2,750$2,063,148,000U.S.$ 2,063,148,000 6.375% Guaranteed Notes due 2038Regulation S: U8209LAB8/ USU8209LAB81Rule 144A: 822905AT2/ US822905AT26

Shell International Finance5.500% Guaranteed Notes due 2040822582AN2/
US822582AN22$        1,000$802,108,000 U.S.$ 802,108,000 5.500% Guaranteed Notes due 2040Regulation S: U8209LAC6/ USU8209LAC64 Rule 144A: 822905AV7/ US822905AV71

BGEC5.125% Guaranteed Notes due 204105541VAF3/
US05541VAF31 G1163HBA3/ USG1163HBA35$        900$691,199,000U.S.$ 691,199,000 5.125% Guaranteed Notes due 2041Regulation S: U8209LAD4/ USU8209LAD48Rule 144A: 822905AX3/ US822905AX38

Shell International Finance3.125% Guaranteed Notes due 2049822582CE0/
US822582CE05$        1,250$993,714,000U.S.$ 993,714,000 3.125% Guaranteed Notes due 2049Regulation S: U8209LAE2/ USU8209LAE21Rule 144A: 822905AZ8/ US822905AZ85

Shell International Finance3.000% Guaranteed Notes due 2051822582CL4/
US822582CL48$        1,000$876,828,000U.S.$ 876,828,000 3.000% Guaranteed Notes due 2051Regulation S: U8209LAF9/ USU8209LAF95Rule 144A: 822905BB0/ US822905BB09

Settlement and issuance of the New Notes to be issued in exchange for Old Notes validly tendered (and not validly withdrawn) and accepted for exchange is expected to occur on December 8, 2025 (the “Settlement Date”).

The dealer managers for the Exchange Offers were:

BofA Securities, Inc. 620 S Tryon Street, 20th Floor

Charlotte, North Carolina 28255

Attention: Liability Management Group

Telephone: (U.S. Toll-Free): +1 (888) 292-0070

Telephone (U.S. Collect): +1 (980) 387-3907

Telephone (London): +44 207 996 5420

Email: [email protected]

Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. 1 Columbus Circle

New York, New York 10019

Attention: Liability Management Group

Telephone: (U.S. Toll-Free): +1 (866) 627-0391

Telephone (U.S. Collect): +1 (212) 250-2955

Telephone (London): +44 207 545 8011

TD Securities (USA) LLC One Vanderbilt Avenue, 11th Floor

New York, NY 10017

Attention: Liability Management Group

Telephone (U.S. Toll-Free): +1 (866) 584-2096

Telephone (U.S. Collect): +1 (212) 827-2842

Telephone (London): +44 207 997 1993

Email: [email protected]

The exchange agent and information agent for the Exchange Offers was:

D.F. King & Co., Inc.28 Liberty Street, Floor 53

New York, NY 10005

 Banks and Brokers call: (212) 269-5550

Toll-free (U.S. only): (800) 814-2879

Email: [email protected]
Website: www.dfking.com/shell

By Facsimile (for eligible institutions only): (212) 709-3328

Confirmation: (212) 269-5552

Attention: Michael Horthman

The Exchange Offers were only made, and the New Notes were only offered and were issued, and copies of the Offering Memorandum were only made available, to holders of Old Notes (1) either (a) in the United States, that are “qualified institutional buyers,” or “QIBs,” as that term is defined in Rule 144A under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), in a private transaction in reliance upon an exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act or (b) outside the United States, that are persons other than “U.S. persons,” as that term is defined in Rule 902 under the Securities Act, in offshore transactions in reliance upon Regulation S under the Securities Act, or a dealer or other professional fiduciary organized, incorporated or (if an individual) residing in the United States holding a discretionary account or similar account (other than an estate or a trust) for the benefit or account of a non-“U.S. person,” and (2) (a) if located or resident in any Member State of the European Economic Area, who are persons other than “retail investors” (for these purposes, a retail investor means a person who is one (or more) of: (i) a retail client as defined in point (11) of Article 4(1) of Directive 2014/65/EU (as amended, “MiFID II”); or (ii) a customer within the meaning of Directive (EU) 2016/97, where that customer would not qualify as a professional client as defined in point (10) of Article 4(1) of MiFID II; or (iii) not a “qualified investor” as defined in Regulation (EU) 2017/1129), and consequently no key information document required by Regulation (EU) No 1286/2014 (as amended, the “PRIIPs Regulation”) for offering or selling the New Notes or otherwise making them available to retail investors in the European Economic Area has been prepared and therefore offering or selling the New Notes or otherwise making them available to any retail investor in the European Economic Area may be unlawful under the PRIIPs Regulation; or (b) if located or resident in the United Kingdom, who are persons other than “retail investors” (for these purposes, a retail investor means a person who is one (or more) of: (i) a retail client, as defined in point (8) of Article 2 of Regulation (EU) No 2017/565 as it forms part of domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (“EUWA”); or (ii) a customer within the meaning of the provisions of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (the “FSMA”) and any rules or regulations made under the FSMA to implement Directive (EU) 2016/97, where that customer would not qualify as a professional client, as defined in point (8) of Article 2(1) of Regulation (EU) No 600/2014 as it forms part of domestic law by virtue of the EUWA; (iii) a retail client, as defined in the Conduct of Business Sourcebook (“COBS”) of the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) Handbook) or (iv) not a qualified investor as defined in Article 2 of Regulation (EU) 2017/1129 as it forms part of domestic law by virtue of the EUWA), and consequently no key information document required by Regulation (EU) No 1286/2014 as it forms part of domestic law by virtue of the EUWA (the “UK PRIlPs Regulation”) for offering or selling the New Notes or otherwise making them available to retail investors in the United Kingdom has been prepared and therefore offering or selling the New Notes or otherwise making them available to any retail investor in the United Kingdom may be unlawful under the UK PRIIPs Regulation. The Exchange Offers were not made to holders of Old Notes who are located in Canada.

This press release is not an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities described herein. The Exchange Offers were made solely pursuant to the terms and conditions of the Offering Memorandum, and the other related materials.

The issuance of the New Notes has not been registered under the Securities Act or any state securities laws. Unless a subsequent resale is registered under the Securities Act, the New Notes may only be offered or sold in the United States in a transaction that is exempt from, or in a transaction not subject to, the registration requirements of the Securities Act and other applicable securities laws. On the Settlement Date, Shell Finance US, Shell and the dealer managers expect to enter into a registration rights agreement with respect to the New Notes (the “Registration Rights Agreement”), pursuant to which Shell Finance US and Shell will be obligated to use commercially reasonable efforts to file with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) and cause to become effective a registration statement with respect to an offer to exchange each series of New Notes for new notes fully and unconditionally guaranteed by Shell containing terms substantially identical to those of the New Notes within 365 days from the Settlement Date. In addition, pursuant to the Registration Rights Agreement, Shell Finance US and Shell will agree to use commercially reasonable efforts to file a shelf registration statement to register resales of the New Notes under the Securities Act in the event that a registered exchange offer is not available or may not be completed as soon as practicable after the last date for acceptance of the New Notes for exchange in the registered exchange offer under certain circumstances or if the registered exchange offer is not for any other reason completed prior to the later of 365 days from the Settlement Date and the date on which, under certain circumstances, any dealer manager so requests.

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, nor will there be any sale of these securities in any state or other jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or other jurisdiction.

Non-U.S. Distribution Restrictions

European Economic Area

The New Notes are not intended to be offered, sold or otherwise made available to and should not be offered, sold or otherwise made available to any retail investor in the European Economic Area (“EEA”). For these purposes, a retail investor means a person who is one (or more) of: (i) a retail client as defined in point (11) of Article 4(1) of Directive 2014/65/EU (as amended, “MiFID II”); or (ii) a customer within the meaning of Directive 2002/92/EC (as amended, the “Insurance Mediation Directive”), where that customer would not qualify as a professional client as defined in point (10) of Article 4(1) of MiFID II; or (iii) not a qualified investor as defined in Directive 2003/71/EC (as amended, the “Prospectus Directive”). Consequently no key information document required by Regulation (EU) No 1286/2014 (as amended, the “PRIIPs Regulation”) for offering or selling the New Notes or otherwise making them available to retail investors in the EEA has been prepared and therefore offering or selling the New Notes or otherwise making them available to any retail investor in the EEA may be unlawful under the PRIIPs Regulation. The Offering Memorandum has been prepared on the basis that any offer of New Notes in any Member State of the EEA will be made pursuant to an exemption under the Prospectus Directive from the requirement to publish a prospectus for offers of New Notes. The Offering Memorandum is not a prospectus for the purposes of the Prospectus Directive.

MiFID II product governance / Professional investors and ECPs only target market—In the EEA and solely for the purposes of the product approval process conducted by any dealer manager who is a manufacturer with respect to the New Notes for the purposes of the MiFID II product governance rule under EU Delegated Directive 2017/593 (each, a “manufacturer”), the manufacturers’ target market assessment in respect of the New Notes has led to the conclusion that: (i) the target market for the New Notes is eligible counterparties and professional clients only, each as defined in MiFID II; and (ii) all channels for distribution of the New Notes to eligible counterparties and professional clients are appropriate. Any person subsequently offering, selling or recommending the New Notes (a “distributor”) should take into consideration the manufacturers’ target market assessment; however, a distributor subject to MiFID II is responsible for undertaking its own target market assessment in respect of the New Notes (by either adopting or refining the manufacturers’ target market assessment) and determining appropriate distribution channels.

Belgium

Neither the Offering Memorandum nor any other documents or materials relating to the Exchange Offers have been submitted to or will be submitted for approval or recognition to the Belgian Financial Services and Markets Authority (“Autorité des services et marchés financiers”/”Autoriteit voor Financiële Diensten en Markten”). The Exchange Offers are not being, and may not be, made in Belgium by way of a public offering, as defined in Articles 3, §1, 1° and 6, §1 of the Belgian Law of April 1, 2007 on public takeover bids (“loi relative aux offres publiques d’acquisition”/”wet op de openbare overnamebiedingen”) (the “Belgian Takeover Law”) or as defined in Article 3, §1 of the Belgian Law of June 16, 2006 on the public offer of investment instruments and the admission to trading of investment instruments on a regulated market (“loi relative aux offres publiques d’instruments de placement et aux admissions d’instruments de placement à la négociation sur des marchés réglementés”/”wet op de openbare aanbieding van beleggingsinstrumenten en de toelating van beleggingsinstrumenten tot de verhandeling op een gereglementeerde markt”) (the “Belgian Prospectus Law”), both as amended or replaced from time to time. Accordingly, the Exchange Offers may not be, and are not being, advertised and the Exchange Offers will not be extended, and neither the Offering Memorandum nor any other documents or materials relating to the Exchange Offers (including any memorandum, information circular, brochure or any similar documents) has been or shall be distributed or made available, directly or indirectly, to any person in Belgium other than (i) to persons which are “qualified investors” (“investisseurs qualifiés”/”gekwalificeerde beleggers”) as defined in Article 10, §1 of the Belgian Prospectus Law, acting on their own account, as referred to in Article 6, §3 of the Belgian Takeover Law or (ii) in any other circumstances set out in Article 6, §4 of the Belgian Takeover Law and Article 3, §4 of the Belgian Prospectus Law. The Offering Memorandum has been issued only for the personal use of the above qualified investors and exclusively for the purpose of the Exchange Offers. Accordingly, the information contained in the Offering Memorandum or in any other documents or materials relating to the Exchange Offers may not be used for any other purpose or disclosed or distributed to any other person in Belgium.

France

The Exchange Offers are not being made, directly or indirectly, to the public in the Republic of France. Neither the Offering Memorandum nor any other documents or materials relating to the Exchange Offers have been or shall be distributed to the public in France and only (i) providers of investment services relating to portfolio management for the account of third parties (personnes fournissant le service d’investissement de gestion de portefeuille pour compte de tiers) and/or (ii) qualified investors (investisseurs qualifiés) other than individuals, in each case acting on their own account and all as defined in, and in accordance with, Articles L.411-1, L.411-2, D.321-1 and D.411-1 of the French Code Monétaire et Financier, are eligible to participate in the Exchange Offers. The Offering Memorandum and any other document or material relating to the Exchange Offers have not been and will not be submitted for clearance to nor approved by the Autorité des marchés financiers.

Italy

None of the Exchange Offers, the Offering Memorandum or any other documents or materials relating to the Exchange Offers or the New Notes have been or will be submitted to the clearance procedure of the Commissione Nazionale per le Società e la Borsa (“CONSOB”). The Exchange Offers are being carried out in the Republic of Italy as exempted offers pursuant to article 101-bis, paragraph 3-bis of the Legislative Decree No. 58 of 24 February 1998, as amended (the “Financial Services Act”) and article 35-bis, paragraph 3, of CONSOB Regulation No. 11971 of 14 May 1999, as amended (the “Issuers’ Regulation”) and, therefore, are intended for, and directed only at, qualified investors (investitori qualificati) (the “Italian Qualified Investors”), as defined pursuant to Article 100, paragraph 1, letter (a) of the Financial Services Act and Article 34-ter, paragraph 1, letter (b) of the Issuers’ Regulation. Accordingly, the Exchange Offers cannot be promoted, nor may copies of any document related thereto or to the New Notes be distributed, mailed or otherwise forwarded, or sent, to the public in Italy, whether by mail or by any means or other instrument (including, without limitation, telephonically or electronically) or any facility of a national securities exchange available in Italy, other than to Italian Qualified Investors. Persons receiving the Offering Memorandum must not forward, distribute or send it in or into or from Italy. Noteholders or beneficial owners of the Old Notes that are resident or located in Italy can offer to exchange the notes pursuant to the Exchange Offers through authorized persons (such as investment firms, banks or financial intermediaries permitted to conduct such activities in Italy in accordance with the Financial Services Act, CONSOB Regulation No. 16190 of 29 October 2007, as amended from time to time, and Legislative Decree No. 385 of 1 September 1993, as amended) and in compliance with applicable laws and regulations or with requirements imposed by CONSOB or any other Italian authority. Each intermediary must comply with the applicable laws and regulations concerning information duties vis-à-vis its clients in connection with the Old Notes, the New Notes, the Exchange Offers or the Offering Memorandum.

United Kingdom

Each dealer manager has further represented and agreed that it has complied and will comply with all the applicable provisions of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (“FSMA”) with respect to anything done by it in relation to the New Notes in, from or otherwise involving the United Kingdom (“U.K.”); and it has only communicated or caused to be communicated and will only communicate or cause to be communicated an invitation or inducement to engage in investment activity (within the meaning of Section 21 of the FSMA) received by it in connection with the issue or sale of any New Notes in circumstances in which Section 21(1) of the FSMA does not apply to Shell Finance US or Shell.

The Offering Memorandum is only being distributed to and is only directed at (i) persons who are outside the U.K. or (ii) investment professionals falling within Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (the “Order”) or (iii) high net worth entities, and other persons to whom it may lawfully be communicated, falling within Article 49(2)(a) to (d) of the Order (all such persons together being referred to as “relevant persons”). The New Notes are only available to, and any invitation, offer or agreement to subscribe, purchase or otherwise acquire the New Notes will be engaged in only with, relevant persons. Any person who is not a relevant person should not act or rely on this document or any of its contents.

Hong Kong

The New Notes may not be offered or sold by means of any document other than (i) in circumstances which do not constitute an offer to the public within the meaning of the Companies Ordinance (Cap.32, Laws of Hong Kong), or (ii) to “professional investors” within the meaning of the Securities and Futures Ordinance (Cap.571, Laws of Hong Kong) and any rules made thereunder, or (iii) in other circumstances which do not result in the document being a “prospectus” within the meaning of the Companies Ordinance (Cap.32, Laws of Hong Kong), and no advertisement, invitation or document relating to the New Notes may be issued or may be in the possession of any person for the purpose of issue (in each case whether in Hong Kong or elsewhere), which is directed at, or the contents of which are likely to be accessed or read by, the public in Hong Kong (except if permitted to do so under the laws of Hong Kong) other than with respect to New Notes which are or are intended to be disposed of only to persons outside Hong Kong or only to “professional investors” within the meaning of the Securities and Futures Ordinance (Cap. 571, Laws of Hong Kong) and any rules made thereunder.

Japan

The New Notes have not been and will not be registered under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Law of Japan (the Financial Instruments and Exchange Law) and each dealer manager has agreed that it will not offer or sell any New Notes, directly or indirectly, in Japan or to, or for the benefit of, any resident of Japan (which term as used herein means any person resident in Japan, including any corporation or other entity organized under the laws of Japan), or to others for re-offering or resale, directly or indirectly, in Japan or to a resident of Japan, except pursuant to an exemption from the registration requirements of, and otherwise in compliance with, the Financial Instruments and Exchange Law and any other applicable laws, regulations and ministerial guidelines of Japan.

Singapore

The Offering Memorandum has not been registered as a prospectus with the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Accordingly, and if the Issuer has not notified the dealer(s) on the classification of the New Notes under and pursuant to Section 309(B)(1) of the Securities and Futures Act, Chapter 289 Singapore (the “SFA”), the Offering Memorandum and any other document or material in connection with the offer or sale, or invitation for subscription or purchase, of the New Notes may not be circulated or distributed, nor may the New Notes be offered or sold, or be made the subject of an invitation for subscription or purchase, whether directly or indirectly, to persons in Singapore other than (i) to an institutional investor under Section 274 of Chapter 289 of the SFA, (ii) to a relevant person, or any person pursuant to Section 275(1A), and in accordance with the conditions, specified in Section 275 of the SFA or (iii) otherwise pursuant to, and in accordance with the conditions of, any other applicable provision of the SFA.

Where the New Notes are subscribed or purchased under Section 275 of the SFA by a relevant person which is: (a) a corporation (which is not an accredited investor) the sole business of which is to hold investments and the entire share capital of which is owned by one or more individuals, each of whom is an accredited investor; or (b) a trust (where the trustee is not an accredited investor) whose sole purpose is to hold investments and each beneficiary is an accredited investor, shares, debentures and units of shares and debentures of that corporation or the beneficiaries’ rights and interest in that trust shall not be transferable for six months after that corporation or that trust has acquired the New Notes under Section 275 except: (1) to an institutional investor under Section 274 of the SFA or to a relevant person, or any person pursuant to Section 275(1A), and in accordance with the conditions, specified in Section 275 of the SFA; (2) where no consideration is given for the transfer; or (3) by operation of law.

Singapore Securities and Futures Act Product Classification—Solely for the purposes of its obligations pursuant to sections 309B(1)(a) and 309B(1)(c) of the SFA, the Issuer has determined, and hereby notifies all relevant persons (as defined in Section 309A of the SFA) that the New Notes are “prescribed capital markets products” (as defined in the Securities and Futures (Capital Markets Products) Regulations 2018) and Excluded Investment Products (as defined in MAS Notice SFA 04-N12: Notice on the Sale of Investment Products and MAS Notice FAA-N16: Notice on Recommendations on Investment Products).

Contacts:

Media: International +44 (0) 207 934 5550; USA +1 832 337 4355

Cautionary Statement

The companies in which Shell plc directly and indirectly owns investments are separate legal entities. In this press release, “Shell” refers to Shell plc; “Shell Group” refers to Shell and its subsidiaries; “Shell Finance US” or “Issuer” refers to Shell Finance US Inc.; “Shell International Finance” refers to Shell International Finance B.V.; BGEC refers to BG Energy Capital plc; the terms “we,” “us,” and “our” refer to Shell or the Shell Group, as the context may require.

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical fact are, or may be deemed to be, forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements of future expectations that are based on management’s current expectations and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in these statements. Forward-looking statements include, among other things, statements concerning the potential exposure of Shell to market risks and statements expressing management’s expectations, beliefs, estimates, forecasts, projections and assumptions. These forward-looking statements are identified by their use of terms and phrases such as “aim”; “ambition”; ‘‘anticipate’’; “aspire”; “aspiration”; ‘‘believe’’; “commit”; “commitment”; ‘‘could’’; “desire”; ‘‘estimate’’; ‘‘expect’’; ‘‘goals’’; ‘‘intend’’; ‘‘may’’; “milestones”; ‘‘objectives’’; ‘‘outlook’’; ‘‘plan’’; ‘‘probably’’; ‘‘project’’; ‘‘risks’’; “schedule”; ‘‘seek’’; ‘‘should’’; ‘‘target’’; “vision”; ‘‘will’’; “would” and similar terms and phrases. There are a number of factors that could affect the future operations of Shell and could cause those results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements included in this announcement, including (without limitation):

price fluctuations in crude oil and natural gas;changes in demand for the Shell Group’s products;currency fluctuations;drilling and production results;reserves estimates;loss of market share and industry competition;environmental and physical risks, including climate change;risks associated with the identification of suitable potential acquisition properties and targets, and successful negotiation and completion of such transactions;the risk of doing business in developing countries and countries subject to international sanctions;legislative, judicial, fiscal and regulatory developments including tariffs and regulatory measures addressing climate change;economic and financial market conditions in various countries and regions;political risks, including the risks of expropriation and renegotiation of the terms of contracts with governmental entities, delays or advancements in the approval of projects and delays in the reimbursement for shared costs;risks associated with the impact of pandemics, regional conflicts, such as the Russia-Ukraine war, and the conflict in the Middle East, and a significant cyber security, data privacy or IT incident; the pace of the energy transition; andchanges in trading conditions. All forward-looking statements contained in this press release are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements contained or referred to in this section. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Additional risk factors that may affect future results are contained in Shell’s Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2024, as amended, and in Exhibit 99.2 to our Report on Form 6-K filed with the SEC on July 31, 2025 (available at www.shell.com/investors/news-and-filings/sec-filings.html and www.sec.gov).

These risk factors also expressly qualify all forward-looking statements contained in this press release and should be considered by the reader. Each forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of this press release, December 4, 2025. Neither Shell nor any of its subsidiaries undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or other information. In light of these risks, results could differ materially from those stated, implied or inferred from the forward-looking statements contained in this press release.

The contents of websites referred to in this press release do not form part of this content.

Readers are urged to consider closely the disclosure in our Form 20-F, as amended, File No. 001-32575, available on the SEC website www.sec.gov.

Aristocrat Leisure Limited (OTCPK:ARLUF) Discusses 2025 Sustainability Strategy and Progress Across Key Governance and Social Pillars December 2, 2025 6:30 PM EST

Company Participants

Harry Ashton
James Coghill - General Manager of Investor Relations

Presentation

Operator

Good day and thank you for standing by. Welcome to Aristocrat's 2025 Sustainability Disclosure Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded.

I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Harry Ashton, Group General Manager of Sustainability. Please go ahead.

Harry Ashton

Everyone, and thank you for joining today's call. My name is Harry Ashton, and I'm the Group General Manager of Sustainability at Aristocrat. Joining me today are Vanessa Shepherd, our Director of Group Sustainability; James Coghill, our General Manager of Investor Relations; and Prashani Veerasamy, our Manager of Investor Relations.

Earlier this week, we published Aristocrat's FY '25 sustainability report on our website. We also published an accompanying sustainability data book, which brings together all of our sustainability metrics in a stand-alone transparent resource. I encourage everyone to explore both documents. These disclosures reflect a further step forward in our maturity of our sustainability journey.

FY '25 marked the first year of executing our refreshed sustainability strategy, underpinned by a comprehensive double materiality assessment completed in FY '24. That process helped us identify the 13 most material sustainability matters to our global business, which we're now managing under 4 strategic pillars: Good Governance and Responsible Business, Empowering Safer Play, which is our most material sustainability matter; Operational Sustainability & Climate; and People & Community. Let me take a few minutes to walk through progress under each of those pillars.

Striving to uphold high governance standards and strong compliance with gaming and other regulations is fundamental to Aristocrat. Under the first pillar, good governance

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Cryptocurrency prices are under pressure at the end of 2025.

Coinbase (COIN +5.19%) stock investors are dizzy after the volatility the stock demonstrated in 2025.

*Stock prices used were the afternoon prices of Dec. 1, 2025. The video was published on Dec. 3, 2025.

Parkev Tatevosian, CFA has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Coinbase Global. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Parkev Tatevosian is an affiliate of The Motley Fool and may be compensated for promoting its services. If you choose to subscribe through his link, he will earn some extra money that supports his channel. His opinions remain his own and are unaffected by The Motley Fool.

Adobe's management team is prudently investing in artificial intelligence.

Adobe (ADBE +1.23%) stock investors are concerned about the impact of innovation from competition.

*Stock prices used were the afternoon prices of Dec. 1, 2025. The video was published on Dec. 3, 2025.

Parkev Tatevosian, CFA has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Adobe. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long January 2028 $330 calls on Adobe and short January 2028 $340 calls on Adobe. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Parkev Tatevosian is an affiliate of The Motley Fool and may be compensated for promoting its services. If you choose to subscribe through his link, he will earn some extra money that supports his channel. His opinions remain his own and are unaffected by The Motley Fool.

Sanofi completes acquisition of Vicebio

Paris, December 4, 2025. Sanofi announces the completion of its acquisition of Vicebio Ltd (“Vicebio”).

This acquisition brings an early-stage combination vaccine candidate for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and human metapneumovirus (HMPV), both respiratory viruses, and expands the capabilities in vaccine design and development with Vicebio’s ‘Molecular Clamp’ technology.

The acquired vaccine candidate complements Sanofi’s position in respiratory vaccines. It enables Sanofi to offer increased physician and patient choice in RSV and HMPV by adding a non-mRNA vaccine to its pipeline.

About Sanofi
Sanofi is an R&D driven, AI-powered biopharma company committed to improving people’s lives and delivering compelling growth. We apply our deep understanding of the immune system to invent medicines and vaccines that treat and protect millions of people around the world, with an innovative pipeline that could benefit millions more. Our team is guided by one purpose: we chase the miracles of science to improve people’s lives; this inspires us to drive progress and deliver positive impact for our people and the communities we serve, by addressing the most urgent healthcare, environmental, and societal challenges of our time.
Sanofi is listed on EURONEXT: SAN and NASDAQ: SNY

Media Relations
Sandrine Guendoul | +33 6 25 09 14 25 | [email protected]
Evan Berland | +1 215 432 0234 | [email protected]  
Léo Le Bourhis | +33 6 75 06 43 81 | [email protected]  
Victor Rouault | +33 6 70 93 71 40 | [email protected]
Timothy Gilbert | +1 516 521 2929 | [email protected]
Léa Ubaldi | +33 6 30 19 66 46 | [email protected]

Investor Relations
Thomas Kudsk Larsen | +44 7545 513 693 | [email protected]  
Alizé Kaisserian | +33 6 47 04 12 11 | [email protected]
Felix Lauscher | +1 908 612 7239 | [email protected]  
Keita Browne | +1 781 249 1766 | [email protected]
Nathalie Pham | +33 7 85 93 30 17 | [email protected]
Tarik Elgoutni | +1 617 710 3587 | [email protected]  
Thibaud Châtelet | +33 6 80 80 89 90 | [email protected]
Yun Li | +33 6 84 00 90 72 | [email protected]

Sanofi Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts. These statements include projections and estimates and their underlying assumptions, statements regarding plans, objectives, intentions, and expectations with respect to future financial results, events, operations, services, product development and potential, and statements regarding future performance. Forward-looking statements are generally identified by the words “expects”, “anticipates”, “believes”, “intends”, “estimates”, “plans” and similar expressions. Although Sanofi’s management believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, investors are cautioned that forward-looking information and statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict and generally beyond the control of Sanofi, that could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied or projected by, the forward-looking information and statements. These risks and uncertainties include among other things, the uncertainties inherent in research and development, future clinical data and analysis, including post marketing, decisions by regulatory authorities, such as the FDA or the EMA, regarding whether and when to approve any drug, device or biological application that may be filed for any such product candidates as well as their decisions regarding labelling and other matters that could affect the availability or commercial potential of such product candidates, the fact that product candidates if approved may not be commercially successful, the future approval and commercial success of therapeutic alternatives, Sanofi’s ability to benefit from external growth opportunities, to complete related transactions and/or obtain regulatory clearances, risks associated with intellectual property and any related pending or future litigation and the ultimate outcome of such litigation, trends in exchange rates and prevailing interest rates, volatile economic and market conditions, cost containment initiatives and subsequent changes thereto, and the impact that global crises may have on us, our customers, suppliers, vendors, and other business partners, and the financial condition of any one of them, as well as on our employees and on the global economy as a whole. The risks and uncertainties also include the uncertainties discussed or identified in the public filings with the SEC and the AMF made by Sanofi, including those listed under “Risk Factors” and “Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” in Sanofi’s annual report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2024. Other than as required by applicable law, Sanofi does not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information or statements.

Press_Release

December 04, 2025 05:00 ET

 | Source:

Aben Gold Corp.

Vancouver, BC , Dec. 04, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aben Gold Corp. (TSX-V: ABM) (OTCID: ABNAF) (Frankfurt: ML1) (“Aben” or “the Company”) is pleased to announce that it has entered into an option agreement (the “Agreement”) with Kingfisher Metals Corp. (“Kingfisher” or the “Optionee”) which provides Kingfisher a three-year option to acquire a 100% interest in the Forrest Kerr Project located in the Golden Triangle of British Columbia, Canada (the “Property”). The Property contains fifty (50) mineral claims, comprising approximately 20,197 hectares.

The Agreement provides Kingfisher an opportunity to earn 100% interest in the claims over a three year period by fulfilling combined cash and share issuance commitments of CAD $2.7 million.

The Option Agreement:

Date Cash Payments Value of Shares Issued On the Closing Date $150,000 $500,000(1) On or before the date that is 6 months from the Closing Date $150,000 $500,000(1) On or before the date that is 12 months from the Closing Date $200,000 $500,000(1) On or before the date that is 36 months from the Closing Date $700,000 N/A TOTAL $1,200,000 $1,500,000 (1)Deemed price shall be the higher of a) 5-day VWAP and b) the last closing price of the Optionee Shares, as quoted on the TSXV less the maximum allowable discount under TSXV policy of 25% at the time the Agreement is announced.

All Shares will be subject to a four-month-and-one-day statutory hold period in accordance with applicable securities laws. No finders’ fees or commissions are owing by Aben in connection with entering into the Agreement. Completion of the transactions contemplated by the Agreement, and the issuance of the Shares, remains subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange.

Kingfisher will be the operator of the project during the option period.

President and CEO Riley Trimble states, “This transaction delivers Aben $2.7 million in cash and shares with no further expenditure on Forrest Kerr, sharpens our focus as a pure Yukon gold explorer, and places the project with an excellent team that’s actively consolidating the Golden Triangle. We can now put 100% of our effort and capital behind our flagship Justin Gold Project in Yukon.”

About Kingfisher:

Kingfisher Metals Corp. (https://kingfishermetals.com/) is a Canadian based exploration company focused on copper-gold exploration in the Golden Triangle, British Columbia.  Through outright purchases and option earn in agreements (Orogen Royalties, Golden Ridge Resources and Aben Gold) the Company has quickly consolidated one of the largest land positions in the Golden Triangle region at with the 933 km2 HWY 37 Project and 202 km2 Forrest Kerr Project. Kingfisher also owns (100%) two district-scale orogenic gold projects in British Columbia that total 641 km2.

Qualified Person:

Cornell McDowell, P.Geo., V.P. of Exploration for Aben Gold, has reviewed and approved the technical aspects of this news release and is the Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101.

About Aben Gold:

Aben Gold Corp. is a Canadian gold exploration company with exploration projects in the Yukon Territory and British Columbia. The Company’s flagship, the 7,400-hectare, 100% owned Justin Gold Project is located in the southeast Yukon in the Tintina Gold Belt adjacent to Seabridge Gold’s 3 Aces Project.

The Company’s goal is to increase shareholder value through new discoveries and developing exploration projects in geopolitically favourable jurisdictions.

The Company has 23.2 million shares outstanding.

Twitter
LinkedIn

For further information on Aben Gold Corp. (TSX-V: ABM), visit our Company’s website at www.abengold.com.

ABEN GOLD CORP.

“Riley Trimble”
______________________
Riley Trimble
President & CEO

For further information contact:
Aben Gold Corp.
Riley Trimble, President & CEO
Telephone: 604-639-3852
Facsimile: 604-687-3119
Email: [email protected]

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This release includes certain statements that may be deemed to be "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, that address events or developments that management of the Company expects, are forward-looking statements including obtaining TSX Venture Exchange approval of the Agreement. Although management believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance, and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements if management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements, include market prices, exploration and development successes, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. Please see the public filings of the Company at www.sedarplus.ca for further information.

Analyst’s Disclosure:I/we have no stock, option or similar derivative position in any of the companies mentioned, and no plans to initiate any such positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

Seeking Alpha's Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.

U.S. stock futures rose on Thursday after advancing on Wednesday. Futures of major benchmark indices were slightly higher.

Meanwhile, as Wall Street chatter about a December rate cut and a new Federal Reserve Chair took center stage, President Donald Trump was reportedly contemplating appointing U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent as his chief economic adviser if incumbent Kevin Hassett is chosen as the next Chairman of the Federal Reserve.

The ADP report on Wednesday indicated that U.S. private employers shed 32,000 jobs in November, missing the forecast for a 5,000 gain and reversing October’s 42,000 additions; this reinforced views of a cooling labor market.

The 10-year Treasury bond yielded 4.09% and the two-year bond was at 3.51%. The CME Group's FedWatch tool‘s projections show markets pricing an 87% likelihood of the Federal Reserve cutting the current interest rates during its December meeting.

FuturesChange (+/-)Dow Jones0.13%S&P 5000.11%Nasdaq 1000.13%Russell 20000.01%The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) and Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (NASDAQ:QQQ), which track the S&P 500 index and Nasdaq 100 index, respectively, were higher in premarket on Thursday. The SPY was up 0.095% at $684.54, while the QQQ advanced 0.12% to $624.26, according to Benzinga Pro data.

Stocks In Focus
UiPath Inc. (NYSE:PATH) jumped 9.02% in premarket on Thursday after reporting upbeat third-quarter financial results and issuing fourth-quarter sales guidance with its midpoint above estimates.

Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that MRVL maintains a stronger price trend over the short, medium, and long terms, with a moderate growth ranking. Additional performance details are available here.

Salesforce
Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) rose 2.02% after reporting better-than-expected third-quarter earnings and raising its FY26 guidance.

It maintains a weaker price trend over the short, medium, and long terms, with a poor value ranking. Additional performance details, as per Benzinga's Edge Stock Rankings, are available here.

Snowflake
Snowflake Inc. (NYSE:SNOW) tumbled 8.87% despite reporting better-than-expected third-quarter results, as its operating margin guidance appears to be weighing on shares. It said that it expects an adjusted operating margin of 7% in the fourth quarter, down from 11% in the third quarter

Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings shows that SNOW maintains a stronger price trend over the medium and long terms but a weak trend in the short term, with a poor growth score. Additional information is available here.

Lululemon Athletica
Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ:LULU) was up 0.0055% as analysts expect it to post quarterly earnings at $2.21 per share on revenue of $2.48 billion after the closing bell.

It maintains a stronger price trend over the short term but a weak trend in the medium and long terms, with a moderate value ranking. Additional performance details, as per Benzinga's Edge Stock Rankings, are available here.

Nauticus Robotics
Nauticus Robotics Inc. (NASDAQ:KITT) soared 31.41% after reports that Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has been meeting with robotics industry CEOs and supports efforts to accelerate growth in the sector.

KITT maintained a weaker price trend over the short, medium, and long terms. Additional performance details, as per Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings, are available here.

Cues From Last SessionFinancial, energy, and industrial stocks recorded the biggest gains on Wednesday, though utilities and information technology issues bucked the trend to close lower.

Broadly, U.S. stocks settled higher, with the Dow Jones index rising more than 400 points as weak private employment data cemented expectations for a rate cut next week.

IndexPerformance (+/-)ValueNasdaq Composite0.17%23,454.09S&P 5000.30%6,849.72Dow Jones0.86%47,882.90Russell 20001.19%2,512.14Insights From AnalystsProfessor Jeremy Siegel has identified a critical turning point for the U.S. economy as the 10-year Treasury yield falls. Siegel argues this market movement is a leading indicator, “telling us far more about the next phase of Fed policy than most of the stale backward-looking data.”

Consequently, he believes the Federal Reserve has ample room to maneuver, predicting that “a 25-basis-point cut is very much in play” for the upcoming meeting.

Siegel describes the current labor market as a “no-fire, no-hire” environment—neither overheating nor collapsing—which supports continued consumer spending despite gloomy sentiment surveys.

Turning to the technology sector, Siegel highlights the intensifying race between major AI platforms like Gemini and OpenAI.

While he cautions investors to be realistic about the fierce competition and depreciation costs of AI hardware, his long-term outlook remains positive.

He concludes that “over the long run, AI will significantly boost productivity and earnings, and that supports equities.”

See Also: How to Trade Futures

Upcoming Economic DataHere's what investors will be keeping an eye on Thursday;

Initial jobless claims data for the week ending Nov. 29 will be released by 8:30 a.m. ET.
Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman will speak at 12:00 p.m. ET.
Commodities, Gold, Crypto, And Global Equity MarketsCrude oil futures were trading higher in the early New York session by 0.54% to hover around $59.27 per barrel.

Gold Spot US Dollar fell 0.21% to hover around $4,194.40 per ounce. Its last record high stood at $4,381.6 per ounce. The U.S. Dollar Index spot was 0.02% lower at the 98.8300 level.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) was trading 0.54% higher at $93,446.51 per coin.

Asian markets closed higher on Thursday, except South Korea's Kospi index. India’s NIFTY 50, Hong Kong's Hang Seng, China’s CSI 300, Japan's Nikkei 225, and Australia's ASX 200 indices rose. European markets were mostly higher in early trade.

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Martin Shkreli Takes Position In QCLS, Leveraging Microsoft’s Optical Computing Roadmap For Bull Case: ‘$100 Is My Near-Term Target’
Photo courtesy: godongphoto / Shutterstock.com

Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

© 2025 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

Amazon is preparing to expand its nationwide delivery network and give up its long-standing partnership with the U.S. Postal Service, the Washington Post reported on Thursday, citing three people with knowledge of the matter.

HomeStock IdeasLong IdeasBasic Materials

SummarySantacruz Silver Mining Ltd (SCZMF) is upgraded to Buy, driven by momentum, Nasdaq listing plans, and a strong silver price environment.SCZMF experienced a temporary operational setback at Bolivar, but maintained revenue, improved margins, and eliminated a major acquisition liability, thus strengthening its financial position.Valuation remains attractive with a 43% discount to sector median on EV/EBITDA; Atrium Research sets a C$3.10 price target, implying 29% upside.Risks include short mine lives and limited production visibility; this is a high-beta, catalyst-driven trade requiring disciplined risk management. MariuszSzczygiel/iStock via Getty Images

Since I last covered Santacruz Silver Mining Ltd (OTCPK:SCZMF) with a Hold rating, shares are up 13.25% versus 5.17% for the S&P 500.

I am upgrading my rating to a Buy, but make no mistake—this is a catalyst and momentum driven

Analyst’s Disclosure:I/we have no stock, option or similar derivative position in any of the companies mentioned, but may initiate a beneficial Long position through a purchase of the stock, or the purchase of call options or similar derivatives in SCZMF over the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

Seeking Alpha's Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.

Quick Insights

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Meta has been hit with an EU antitrust investigation over its use of AI features in WhatsApp, as the European bloc continues to ramp up challenges to US big tech giants.

The probe will examine whether Meta's new policy on allowing AI providers' access to WhatsApp may breach EU competition rules, Brussels said in a statement Thursday morning.

"The claims are baseless," a WhatsApp spokesperson told CNBC in a statement, adding that the app's application programming interface (API) was not designed to support AI chatbots and "puts a strain on our systems."

"The AI space is highly competitive and people have access to the services of their choice in any number of ways, including app stores, search engines, email services, partnership integrations and operating systems," the company added.

This is a breaking news story. Please refresh for updates.

The spouses and children of billionaires inherited more wealth in 2025 than in any previous year since reporting began in 2015, according to UBS's Billionaire Ambitions Report published on Thursday.

By contrast, the ISM Services PMI edged up to 52.6, modestly outperforming expectations and signaling continued expansion in the country’s largest economic sector.

Rate-Cut Expectations Rise but Caution Prevails
Markets now assign an 89% probability of a 25-basis-point rate cut at next week’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, according to the CME FedWatch Tool, up sharply from 71% just one week earlier. Lower interest rates typically support precious metals by reducing the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets, but sentiment remains fragile as investors await additional data.

“Traders are positioning for a dovish pivot, but the Fed has left itself room to react to inflation surprises,” said one London-based metals strategist.

The September PCE inflation report, delayed due to government data disruption and expected Friday, is now viewed as the critical release guiding near-term policy expectations.

Jobless Claims and Volatility Risks in Focus
Weekly Initial Jobless Claims, due later today, could add further clarity on whether labor-market conditions are weakening enough to justify easier monetary policy. Economists expect only a modest uptick, but any deviation could spark short-lived volatility across precious metals.

Silver, which has outperformed gold in recent sessions due to solid industrial demand and tightening supply dynamics, is also sensitive to macro shifts. Analysts note that continued economic slowdown in the United States or Europe could temper physical demand, even as monetary easing offers support.

PDF Solutions, Inc. (PDFS) Analyst/Investor Day December 3, 2025 6:15 PM EST

Company Participants

John Kibarian - Co-Founder, President, CEO & Director
Adnan Raza - Executive VP of Finance & CFO
Kimon Michaels - Co-Founder, Executive VP of Products & Solutions and Director

Conference Call Participants

Clark Wright - D.A. Davidson & Co., Research Division

Presentation

Unknown Executive

So for those on the broadcast, just letting you guys know we are now live in session.

John Kibarian
Co-Founder, President, CEO & Director

Okay. So we're live. So I want to thank everyone for either attending on the webcast or coming in person. We do really appreciate that. And also for those of you that flew in from out of town or from -- drove down from the city or whatever, we do really appreciate any level of commute that you made. It's not easy to get around these days. And I think some of you came from the East Coast and maybe you -- [indiscernible], so that's a positive side of that.

We're going to go through our Analyst Day briefing. We do this every 2 years. So the last one was 2023. And I will start it off. Adnan will pick it up, probably go over the parts of the slides that you really want to see anyway. And then we'll get back into Q&A, and Kimon, Adnan and I will answer.

So basically, themes for today. Hopefully, you thought if you're attending here this morning, and I think it's relevant to both our investors and our customers. The semiconductor industry is evolving into this 3D era, I call it. I mean -- and we are looking to be a $1.1 trillion industry by 2030, if you look at the semi numbers or handheld numbers of IDMs. And we think when you look at that, that means the industry does need a

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Meta's aggressive AI infrastructure plans could reshape its earnings profile in ways investors might not like.

Meta Platforms (META 1.16%) dropped sharply after its late-October earnings report, even though the social media and digital advertising giant posted another quarter of strong growth. Investors instead zeroed in on management's latest comments about capital spending, which paint a much heavier investment cycle than the market had been expecting.

Meta's third-quarter revenue growth was impressive, powered by higher ad impressions and ad prices across its social media properties. Operating income also grew at a double-digit rate, and the core business continues to generate substantial cash. Yet alongside those healthy results, management raised its 2025 capital expenditures outlook again and outlined a 2026 spending plan that looks borderline egregious.

Massive capital expenditures don't change Meta's dominance in social media, but they do change how investors should think about its earnings power over the next several years. The scale of this build-out is large enough that it has become increasingly challenging to treat Meta as the asset-light compounder it once was.

Image source: Getty Images.

Soaring capital expenditures
Meta finished 2024 with $39.2 billion in capital expenditures, including principal payments on finance leases. This measures up to total 2024 revenue of $164.5 billion, which was up 22% year over year. With capital expenditures coming in at 7% of revenue, this was already a sizable investment program. But when the company reported those 2024 results in January, management guided 2025 capital expenditures to a range of $60 billion to $65 billion, largely to support AI (artificial intelligence) and data center investments.

Moving forward to the second quarter of 2025, management nudged its capex forecast for the year up to $66 billion to $72 billion, and the company noted that the midpoint implied roughly $30 billion of year-over-year capex growth. And then the third-quarter 2025 release went further, lifting the range again to $70 billion to $72 billion. At the midpoint, Meta is now planning to spend around $71 billion on capital expenditures this year -- close to an 80% increase compared with 2024.

In the third quarter alone, Meta's capital expenditures reached $19.4 billion, while free cash flow fell to $10.6 billion from $15.5 billion a year earlier, even as revenue grew 26% year over year. Meta is still generating plenty of cash, but increasingly more of its cash is now being recycled into servers, data centers, and related infrastructure. This is real capital that could be used for incremental share repurchases and dividends.

It gets worse
What really changes the story, though, is management's language about what comes next.

"[O]ur current expectation is that capital expenditures dollar growth will be notably larger in 2026 than 2025," said Meta CFO Susan Li's during the company's third-quarter earnings call. "We also anticipate total expenses will grow at a significantly faster percentage rate in 2026 than 2025, with growth driven primarily by infrastructure costs, including incremental cloud expenses and depreciation."

It's clear, therefore, that management expects a steep step up in capex once again.

What level of capital expenditures in 2026 does Li's commentary imply? Using 2024's $39.2 billion in capital expenditures as a starting point and the midpoint of the 2025 guidance range at about $71 billion, dollar growth in 2025 is roughly $32 billion. If 2026 capex dollar growth is "notably larger" than that figure and lands somewhere in the upper $30 billions or low $40 billions, total capital expenditures in 2026 could reasonably reach the neighborhood of $110 billion. That would be close to triple the 2024 level in just two years.

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The investment thesis isn't as certain
The resulting change in the company's operating model is already occurring. Depreciation and amortization in the third quarter of 2025 already ran higher as a percentage of revenue than the year-ago period, and the company is telling investors that infrastructure costs and depreciation will be major drivers of expense growth in 2026. This combination suggests earnings growth could slow materially once the full cost of today's capex surge flows through the income statement.

Meta's investment case historically rested on a very different profile. The company transformed a set of social platforms with enormous user bases into a highly profitable ad business, achieving an operating margin of 42% for the full year 2024, up from 35% in 2023. That margin expansion came as the company was cutting costs and refocusing on what CEO Mark Zuckerberg called the "year of efficiency."

Today's capital plan, on the other hand, resembles the profile of a capital-intensive infrastructure provider. Meta is building data centers and buying specialized chips to ensure enough compute capacity for its AI ambitions.

None of this means Meta is suddenly a weak business. The ad platform is performing well, with third-quarter advertising revenue up 26% year over year. The company also continues to generate substantial free cash flow even after heavy investment -- and AI advancements and integrations could unlock more ad revenue over time.

But with the stock trading around 29 times earnings, the current valuation assumes that Meta can sustain robust profit growth despite much heavier depreciation. When capital expenditures are marching toward an estimated $110 billion in 2026, and a meaningful share of that spending may go into infrastructure that looks more commodity-like than Meta's core ad products, it becomes harder to view the stock as an obvious buy at this price.