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Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon has asked a US court to limit his prison term to five years as he faces a separate case in South Korea.

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Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon has asked a US judge to cap his prison time at five years for his role in the collapse of the Terra ecosystem, which erased about $40 billion from crypto markets in 2022.

In a court filing on Wednesday, Kwon argued that a longer term would be excessive given the punishment he has already served and the penalties he has agreed to accept, according to Bloomberg.

Kwon pleaded guilty in August to two counts of wire fraud and conspiracy to defraud after being extradited from Montenegro, where he had been detained. His lawyers said he has spent nearly three years behind bars, “with more than half that time in brutal conditions in Montenegro,” and that he has already paid a heavy personal and financial price.

Under the plea agreement, US prosecutors agreed not to seek a sentence longer than 12 years. However, the defense urged the court to go further, calling anything beyond five years “far greater than necessary” to achieve justice. Kwon also agreed to forfeit more than $19 million along with several properties as part of the deal.

Kwon to face prison time in South KoreaAfter the US sentencing, Kwon’s legal troubles are not going to be over. Prosecutors in South Korea are pursuing a separate case tied to the same events and are seeking up to 40 years in prison there.

Kwon is scheduled to be sentenced by US District Judge Paul Engelmayer in Manhattan on Dec. 11. Prosecutors are expected to submit their own recommendation in the coming days.

After the 2022 Terra crash, Kwon’s whereabouts were largely unknown until Montenegrin authorities arrested him for using falsified travel documents. He served four months in prison there before US and South Korean officials both petitioned Montenegro for extradition, which was complicated by challenges in the country’s lower courts.

SBF appeals convictionKwon is not the only crypto-related figure that has not gotten off easy. In 2024, a federal judge sentenced former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried to 25 years in prison. Earlier this month, the case headed back to court as the former FTX CEO challenged his conviction and sentence in a US appeals court, where his lawyers argued that he was denied a fair trial.

The defense said the jury never heard evidence suggesting FTX remained solvent and claims an early narrative that customer funds were stolen shaped the case before Bankman-Fried could properly defend himself.

Magazine: 2026 is the year of pragmatic privacy in crypto — Canton, Zcash and more

These top dividend stocks could intrigue a wide range of investors.

Dividend stocks can be a profitable component of a long-term investor's portfolio. Because their payouts provide a fairly reliable flow of cash, such stocks can be particularly appealing for retirees or others seeking passive income that will enable them to meet their liquidity needs without selling shares. 

When reinvested, dividends can contribute significantly to your total returns over time. Shares of companies that pay consistent dividends can also help buffer your portfolio during market downturns and periods of economic uncertainty. Importantly, as companies grow their profits, they often increase their payouts, which can help your income stream keep pace with or even outpace your rising expenses.

With all that in mind, if you have $2,000 available to invest that isn't needed for monthly bills, to pay down short-term debt, or to bolster an emergency fund, here are four top dividend stocks to consider buying and holding for the next five years (at least).

Image source: Getty Images.

1. Pfizer
Pfizer's (PFE 0.04%) streak of consecutive quarterly dividend payments is at 348 and counting. It has also increased its payouts for 16 consecutive years. At the current share price, it offers a substantial forward yield of around 7%, which is significantly higher than the S&P 500 average. The drugmaker's yield has risen during the last couple of years as negative investor sentiment and market pressures have weighed on the stock price.

Prudent financial management and a focus on cost-reduction initiatives (management is targeting over $7 billion in savings by the end of 2027) are expected to boost Pfizer's operating margins and free cash flow in the coming years. Its robust cash flow ensures the company can cover its dividend payments while also reinvesting in the business and paying down debt. Pfizer paid $7.3 billion of cash dividends in the first nine months of 2025 alone.

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To compensate for the upcoming patent expirations of several of its key drugs over the next several years, Pfizer has been aggressively building its pipeline, both via research and development and through strategic acquisitions. Those efforts were in part fueled by the impressive profits it raked in from its COVID-19 products, demand for which has slid markedly.

For example, its acquisition of oncology-focused biotech Seagen significantly strengthened its cancer treatment portfolio with multiple approved drugs and drug candidates, several of which could become blockbusters by 2030. And, through its recent acquisition of Metsera, Pfizer has entered the lucrative weight loss market with promising mid-stage GLP-1 candidates that could also capture significant market share.

Pfizer delivered $9.4 billion in net income on $45 billion in revenue in the first nine months of 2025. That top-line figure was down modestly year over year, but net income was up by 24%. The pharmaceutical industry is generally quite defensive, meaning demand for its products is less vulnerable to macroeconomic downturns. This stability adds a layer of safety to Pfizer stock as a holding for income-focused investors, and it looks like a great dividend stock to consider.

2. Johnson & Johnson
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ +0.43%) has increased its payouts for 63 consecutive years, so it boasts Dividend King status, and has demonstrated its financial stability through various economic cycles. At the current share price, its yield is around 2.6%, which is more than double that of the average S&P 500 stock at the time of this writing. The company boasts one of the healthiest balance sheets in the healthcare sector, including an AAA credit rating and substantial free cash flow (over $20 billion annually) that provides a wide safety margin for continued dividend payouts and business investments.

Johnson & Johnson is well-positioned to withstand economic downturns because demand for its pharmaceuticals and medical devices remains relatively steady regardless of macro conditions. It has a vast research and development budget and an extensive pipeline of new treatment candidates in high-impact areas like oncology, immunology, and neuroscience.

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Some of Johnson & Johnson's top products include: Darzalex, a treatment for multiple myeloma; Stelara, a biologic therapy for conditions like psoriasis and Crohn's disease; Tremfya, an immunology treatment for plaque psoriasis and ulcerative colitis; Erleada, a prostate cancer treatment; and Carvykti, a multiple myeloma medication. In Q3 2025, its sales grew by roughly 7% to $24 billion, and adjusted earnings per share (EPS) were $2.80, a 16% increase year-over-year.

J&J is managing a couple of headwinds currently related to long-standing lawsuits involving its talc products, some patent cliff issues, and tariff issues related to China, but it is managing the issues without greatly affecting the bottom line so far. With a healthy dividend payout ratio of around 50%, Johnson & Johnson is able to retain sufficient earnings to manage any added costs and also reinvestment in growth opportunities and potential acquisitions while still consistently increasing its dividend.

3. Home Depot
Home Depot (HD +1.25%) is the largest home improvement retailer in the world, and has increased its dividend annually for 16 consecutive years. The company has paid regular dividends since the 1980s, and at the current share price, its distribution yields 2.7%.

Home Depot's customers are broadly divided into two main groups: homeowners who need supplies for their own home improvement projects, and professional customers like contractors, builders, and tradespeople who rely on its products for large-scale projects. Home Depot's recent $5.5 billion acquisition of GMS in 2025 (made through its subsidiary, SRS Distribution) is expected to significantly expand the company's specialty building products business.

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In the third quarter, Home Depot's sales rose 2.8% year over year to $41.4 billion. That included about $900 million from just eight weeks of sales from its newly integrated GMS business. Comparable sales rose by 0.2%. Net earnings were down slightly from a year earlier, but still totaled $3.6 billion.

Even during a difficult housing market, Home Depot is maintaining a high operating margin and a sustainable payout ratio of around 62%. Most economists anticipate that the housing market will loosen up in the next few years as factors like lower interest rates and generational shifts in home ownership take hold. This would likely lead to increased sales and operating income for Home Depot. In the meantime, long-term investors can reap the rewards of its reliable dividend.

4. Realty Income
Realty Income (O +0.74%) has a flawless record of paying monthly dividends and has increased its payments 132 times since it went public in 1994. The real estate investment trust (REIT) has raised its dividend for 112 consecutive quarters. Moreover, it has been rewarding its investors for even longer than it has been a public company: It just paid its 665th consecutive monthly dividend. Its current dividend yield is in the ballpark of 5.7%.

Most of Realty Income's properties -- which run the gamut from retail to data centers, gaming, and agricultural assets -- are single-tenant, freestanding commercial properties leased under long-term, triple-net leases. This means the tenants are responsible for most of the costs associated with the property, which creates a more asset-light and profitable structure for Realty Income. More than 90% of its rental income comes from tenants in businesses that are resilient to economic downturns, such as grocery stores, dollar stores, and industrial and distribution facilities.

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No single tenant represents more than 3.3% of its annualized rent. Realty Income's Q3 revenue was $1.47 billion, up about 11% from a year prior, and adjusted funds from operations (FFO) per share were $1.08, up from $1.05 in Q3 2024.

During the quarter, the company invested $1.4 billion globally and maintained a strong portfolio with 98.7% occupancy. Realty Income pays out about 75% of its adjusted funds from operations (FFO), so it has a cushion to reinvest in new properties while continuing to grow its dividend. A conservative payout ratio and a fortress balance sheet provide the financial flexibility for Realty Income to pursue growth opportunities, and long-term investors can reap the rewards.

One day, you might see this company's nuclear reactor pass you on the highway.

Nuclear energy stocks have had a monster year so far in 2025. The Global X Uranium ETF (URA +2.00%) -- which has positions in some of the industry's biggest gainers, like Oklo , Cameco, and Centrus Energy -- is up over 62% on the year, a huge gain for an exchange-traded fund (ETF).

One nuclear stock that's gotten a lot of press this year is Nano Nuclear Energy (NNE +1.92%). It's not hard to see why. The company is designing a small nuclear reactor that can be transported by truck. If you've ever seen a nuclear power plant in real life -- with its huge cooling towers -- you can how game-changing Nano's microreactor could be.

Emphasize there on "could." Nano is pre-revenue and still seeking regulatory approval for its designs. The nuclear energy stock has also been in free fall since the end of October, trading almost 50% lower than its October highs.

For aggressive investors looking for a window, the sell-off might offer you one. Before you bite, let's take a closer look at the company.

Image source: Getty Images.

Why Nano is worth watching
Nano is at the center of a trifecta of megatrends: the global nuclear energy resurgence, a push for clean energy, and the growth of artificial intelligence (AI).

The company's pitch is pretty simple: Build small reactors and send them where power is scarce or unreliable. In practice, that could mean supplying electricity to data centers, mining sites, military camps, off-grid communities, and even outer space.

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On the balance sheet, Nano looks pretty fortified. It had about $210 million in cash at the end of June, and it recently sold $400 million worth of stock to private investors.

Its trailing-12-month cash burn is about $30 million, which gives it more than enough runway.

NNE Cash and Short Term Investments (Quarterly) data by YCharts

Still, the big question is when Nano will pass the regulatory process. Until it does, the company's revenue will be essentially zilch.

Because of that uncertainty, this stock will likely be volatile. Conservative investors may be better served by a nuclear energy ETF.

Boohoo Group PLC (AIM:DEBS) shares strutted 23% higher to 14.3p after the online marketplace reported underlying profits ahead of expectations and gave higher guidance than analysts had forecast.  

The company, which trades as Debenhams, reported adjusted EBITDA of £20 million for the half-year to 31 August, 5% ahead of the prior year and beating average analyst forecasts.

EBITDA guidance for the full year of £45 million is also ahead of consensus expectations of £33 million.

Analyst John Stevenson at Peel Hunt said: "There was strong progress at Debenhams (boohoo), with the Debenhams platform performing well (+20% GMV, +50% EBITDA YoY), delivering an EBITDA margin of 15%."

However, he noted that the Youth Brand segment, including PrettyLittleThing, boohooMAN, and Nasty Gal, saw significant continued declines, down 41% in revenue, though all brands were now said to be adjusted EBITDA-positive as the turnaround process continues.

"There is still a lot of heavy lifting going on, with significant reduction in stock, fixed costs, and PLT still up for sale," Stevenson noted. 

"The group is not yet FCF positive, although there remains significant headroom to see the process through, along with the sale of the Burnley freehold," he said, maintaining his 'hold' recommendation. 

Aarin Chiekrie, analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, felt it was "another disappointing set of results", with the previously announced strategy change "failing to have the desired effect so far".

He said the rebranding as Debenhams to tap into the heritage of the iconic British brand has "done little to revive customer numbers and stem its falling sales".

He feels breathing life back into its younger brands "needs to be the focus, given that sales here are falling at an even faster pace, and the segment used to account for the majority of the group’s sales".

While first-half losses have slimmed thanks to a significant streamlining of the business, Chiekrie said "the bottom line is that the fast-fashion group remains loss-making, and while CEO Dan Finley probably needs to be given more time to properly execute his strategy change, the near-term sales outlook doesn’t seem to be improving much".

The shares' bounce came after falling over 54% since May. 

A couple of seemingly little things are actually becoming pretty big deals.

Obviously the two companies are different; Coca-Cola (KO +0.37%) is a family of several popular beverage brands, while Walmart (WMT +2.06%) is a consumer goods retailer.

Their fortunes, however, are ultimately tethered to the same market dynamics -- both companies must offer value to value-conscious consumers, and both companies must constantly promote themselves. And, both organizations have typically done a great job on both fronts, similarly rewarding shareholders as a result.

If you've only got room in your portfolio for one of these names right now though, it's Walmart -- probably.

Image source: Getty Images.

Walmart and Coca-Cola, up close and personal
Coca-Cola is the world's biggest and best-known beverage company, while Walmart is the world's biggest and best-known brick-and-mortar retailer. The beverage giant has been around since 1886, and has woven itself into the fabric of our culture. Indeed, it's not unusual to see the Coca-Cola name and familiar red and white logo on home décor, clothing, or Christmas ornaments.

Walmart hasn't been around nearly as long, only opening its first store in 1962, and not becoming prolific until the 1980s. In a way it's also woven itself into the same fabric of our culture, though, operating almost 10,800 stores, nearly half of which are located within the United States. If you live in the United States, there's a 90% chance you live within 10 miles of a Walmart store (when including its Sam's Club warehouses). Roughly 150 million people living in the U.S. buy something from Walmart every week, contributing to its annual revenue on the order of $700 billion.

Both companies continue to improve their top and bottom lines, too, leveraging their reach and established brand names. Notably, Walmart continues to attract higher-income shoppers it didn't prior to the pandemic.

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One of these organizations isn't quite what it seems to be on the surface, however. That's Coca-Cola.

And it matters.

Coca-Cola isn't actually much of a bottler anymore, here or abroad. It instead punts most of its bottling work to third-party partners who handle production as well as distribution. Also bear in mind that while you prominently see its branded sodas on store shelves, that's far from being its only business. Roughly two-thirds of last quarter's $12.5 billion in revenue came from the sale of concentrated flavor syrups to restaurants and similar venues, which mix and serve these beverages in a cup. The Coca-Cola Company is also parent to non-soda brands like Gold Peak tea, Powerade sports drink, Minute Maid juices, Dasani water, and more.

And this is where and why things are starting to get tricky for Coca-Cola, while Walmart just keeps chugging along.

The seemingly little things aren't always little
Coca-Cola isn't built to thrive in the future like it has in the past, for a couple of key reasons.

One of these reasons is changing consumer preference. Although sugary sodas are certainly still marketable, more and more consumers are looking for healthier options. The company is responding to this shift, launching a line of prebiotic sodas -- called Simply Pop -- in February of this year. But Coca-Cola may find it isn't easy to meaningfully break into a new sliver of the market when other, smaller players like Olipop, Zevia, and Poppi have already been around a while and established their own customer bases.

Adding to this challenge is consumers' growing support for smaller brands that offer the authenticity they crave. Although Coca-Cola's marketing approach worked well for decades, well-informed consumers can now recognize a product like Simply (or any of the company's other efforts to remain relevant) are merely corporate-manufactured responses to trends. The Coca-Cola Company's mass-marketing apparatus may not be ready for the next era of marketing, which focuses heavily on social media and word-of-mouth recommendations from real people.

And the other change quietly working against Coca-Cola? Inflation in an environment where consumers as well as bottlers have alternatives.

It's not blatantly obvious, but there are more beverage brands now than there have been in the past. Credit the internet, mostly, which has allowed these small brands to not only connect with consumers, but also sell directly to them, further fragmenting the beverage market. Even restaurants are getting creative, coming up with their own concoctions to compete with the Coca-Cola products they're also serving. It's not clear to what extent -- if any -- these innovations have chipped away at Coca-Cola's dominance. They've certainly not helped.

As for bottlers, when Coke and Pepsi were the only two viable options, partnering with one or the other made sense. These aren't bottlers' only options anymore, however. While they're still two of the best, pressured by ever-rising costs and a Coca-Cola name that doesn't quite have the marketing cache it did in the past, it's conceivable that more and more bottlers could begin pushing back on Coke, questioning the value and cost of these partnerships.

Meanwhile, Walmart continues to sail forward, with no competitors that can match the power of its sheer scale. For perspective, whereas Walmart's same-stores sales in the U.S. last quarter were up 5.3% year over year, rival Target's fell 3.8%, while Coca-Cola's unit volume sales improved a scant 1% for the same three-month stretch.

These seemingly small disparities arguably point to much bigger -- and longer-lived -- underpinnings.

Not a warning -- just a risk/reward-minded choice
Coca-Cola is hardly doomed. And if you need dividend income, this Dividend King is a good one to own, yielding 2.8% based on a dividend that's now been raised for 63 consecutive years. This streak isn't likely to end anytime soon, either.

If you're looking for reliable growth and value-building profits -- and don't need immediate investment income -- Walmart is the better option here and now. Unlike Coca-Cola, consumers as well as its suppliers/partners still have every reason and desire to continue doing business with the retailing behemoth.

Hedge fund billionaire Peter Thiel sold his entire stake in Nvidia and started a position in Microsoft during the third quarter.

Billionaire Peter Thiel is best known for his role in cofounding Palantir Technologies. But he also runs hedge fund Thiel Macro, which sold its entire stake in Nvidia (NVDA +1.37%) during the third quarter and reinvested the proceeds into Microsoft (MSFT +1.78%), a stock that has advanced 476,900% since its IPO in March 1986.

I think Thiel's hedge fund abandoned Nvidia too early, but Microsoft is well positioned to benefit from the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution, even after achieving phenomenal gains over the last four decades. Here's what investors should know.

Image source: Getty Images.

Nvidia: The stock Peter Thiel sold
Nvidia's graphics processing units (GPUs) are the most coveted chips on the planet. They are used to accelerate demanding data center workloads, particularly those involving AI. Nvidia has an over 80% revenue share in AI accelerators, but increasingly stiff competition may have persuaded Peter Thiel to exit his position.

While Advanced Micro Devices trails Nvidia in terms of GPU performance, its MI350 chips achieved reasonably good results at the latest MLPerf benchmark event, standardized tests that measure the performance of AI systems. AMD could narrow the performance gap next year with the launch of its MI400 GPUs. Indeed, OpenAI plans to deploy MI450 chips in late 2026.

The market is particularly concerned about custom AI accelerators. Several hyperscalers (i.e., companies with massive data center footprints) have already designed and deployed custom chips to mitigate their dependence on Nvidia. That includes Alphabet's Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Meta Platforms, and OpenAI. But custom chips have a major drawback in that they lack prebuilt software tools.

Nvidia has spent nearly two decades building its CUDA platform, an unparalleled ecosystem of pretrained models, application frameworks, and code libraries that support developers. Nothing of the sort exists for custom chips, which means developers must build the necessary tools from scratch. When those adjacent costs are included, custom chips are often more expensive than Nvidia GPUs.

As a result, numerous analysts think Nvidia will maintain 70% to 90% revenue share in AI accelerators, a market forecast to expand at 29% annually through 2033. In turn, the Wall Street consensus says Nvidia's earnings will increase at 37% annually over the next three years, which makes the current valuation of 44 times earnings look relatively cheap.

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Microsoft: The stock Peter Thiel bought
Microsoft is the largest enterprise software company and the second-largest public cloud, and the company is exploiting its strong presence in those markets to monetize artificial intelligence. Its strategy includes integrating generative AI copilots into popular software products like Microsoft 365, and providing a broad range of cloud AI services

"Customers continue to adopt Microsoft 365 Copilot at a faster rate than any other new Microsoft 365 suite," CEO Satya Nadella told analysts on the recent earnings call. He also said 90% of Fortune 500 companies use the AI assistant. In cloud computing, sales growth decelerated to 28%, and Microsoft's market share remained unchanged. But the company was capacity constrained, so it could gain share as its data center footprint doubles in the next two years.

With that in mind, Wall Street expects Microsoft's earnings to increase at 14% annually during the next three years. That consensus estimate may be conservative, given that enterprise software and cloud spending are projected to increase at 12% and 20% annually, respectively, through 2030. However, assuming Wall Street is correct, the current valuation of 34 times earnings is tolerable.

To be clear, those numbers give Microsoft a price-to-earnings-to-growth (PEG) ratio of 2.4, with values above 2 generally considered expensive. But that multiple is lower than the three-year average of 2.6 and the five-year average of 2.5, so I think it creates a reasonable entry point. Investors will still pay a premium to buy the stock, but the premium is a little bit smaller than usual right now.

Trevor Jennewine has positions in Amazon, Nvidia, and Palantir Technologies. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Advanced Micro Devices, Alphabet, Amazon, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Palantir Technologies. 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.

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Prior to Proactive, Ian helped lead the business output at the Daily... Read more

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Is it better to go with a larger, more diversified REIT or one more narrowly focused?

Investors looking for dividends might want to consider real estate investment trusts (REITs). That's because a REIT's tax structure requires it to pay out at least 90% of its taxable income as dividends.

REITs tend to specialize in owning different types of properties, leasing the properties out, and collecting rent. One of the popular property types is retail, but it can cause REITs headaches in tough economic times if not properly managed. For instance, many REITs struggled during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. For retail, the struggle was out of concern that e-commerce would cause physical stores to struggle. They also took a hit in 2022 and 2023 as interest rates rose to combat inflation. Higher interest rates mean it costs more for REITs to buy properties to rent out.

Many REITs managed to navigate those lean years and have fully recovered. For the first nine months of 2025, REITs specializing in retail properties returned 6.9% on average, according to the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (Nareit).

Realty Income (O +0.74%) and NNN REIT (NNN +0.20%) are two REIT leaders, and both own thousands of retail properties. Each has great qualities and issues they are managing. If you had to choose one to invest in, which one offers the better long-term investment opportunity?

Image source: Getty Images.

The case for Realty Income
Realty Income owns 15,540-plus properties, receiving roughly 80% of its annual rent from retail properties. Grocery stores represent nearly 11% of its portfolio, and convenience stores another 10%. It also has exposure to many other kinds of retailers, such as home improvement and dollar stores. Roughly 15% of its rent comes from industrial properties, with the remaining derived from gaming and other properties.

Its biggest tenants include Dollar Genera , Walgreens, Home Depot, and Walmart. While renting to retailers can prove perilous, Realty Income had a 98.7% occupancy rate. And it renewed leases at a 3.5% higher rental rate. Realty Income's adjusted funds from operations (AFFO) increased 2.9% year over year to $1.09 per diluted share. AFFO is a key metric for REITs since it measures cash available for distribution.

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The board of directors has increased dividends quarterly for over three decades (it IPO'd in 1994). Paid out monthly, the dividend is typically raised several times a year. Most recently, Realty Income hiked the monthly per-share payout in October from $0.269 to $0.2695. The company projects this year's AFFO per share will come in at $4.25 to $4.27, which will easily cover the annualized $3.23 in per-share dividends. Realty Income's stock has a dividend yield of 5.7%.

If there was any drawback to this company from an investor's standpoint, it could be argued that Realty Income's huge size makes it harder for it to buy properties that will register as strong growth. It would take a sizeable property investment to generate strong growth when you already own 15,000-plus. Investors might just have to be satisfied with slow, steady growth.

NNN REIT
NNN REIT leases its nearly 3,700 properties to retailers across industries. These include convenience stores, automotive services, restaurants, and family entertainment center properties, among other types of retailers.

NNN REIT appears to have done a good job managing tenants, with an occupancy rate that remained high. In the third quarter, it had a rate of 97.5%. Looking at its results, the company's quarterly AFFO per share rose from $0.84 to $0.86.

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NNN REIT also has an impressive dividend history. It ran its streak to 36 years with an increase after hiking its August payment by 3.4% to $0.60 a share. With management projecting AFFO to come in at $3.41 to $3.45 a share, NNN REIT should have plenty of coverage to pay the higher rate. The dividend yields 5.9%.

NNN does benefit from its relatively smaller size to Realty Income. Investments it makes in new property can still significantly move the growth needle at this point in its development.

Making the choice
It's a difficult investment choice. Both continue to have success in a challenging retail environment because they invest in properties for businesses that are relatively immune to normal economic volatility. They have also built impressive dividend histories, with each raising payouts annually for more than three straight decades. And they have similar dividend yields.

It comes down to whether you prefer Realty Income as the larger, more established REIT or NNN REIT's smaller, more narrowly focused U.S. retail properties. Personally, I'd choose NNN REIT given it may have greater growth prospects, albeit with less diversification.

Intesa Sanpaolo CEO Carlo Messina urged Italy's government not to single out banks with excessive tax rises on Thursday, stressing the support they provide in buying public debt.

Analysis by

Brent D. Griffiths

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Nvidia and its CEO, Jensen Huang, increasingly found themselves playing defense as November progressed.

Kim Soo-hyeon/Reuters

2025-11-27T09:30:01.627Z

Nvidia looked poised to have a great month on the heels of hitting an all-time high and another blockbuster earnings.
Instead, the AI chipmaker has faced ongoing concerns about a possible AI bubble and increased competition from Google.
News of a potential big Google chip deal sent Nvidia shares tumbling further, though they've regained some of the losses.

Nvidia's sterling armor was dented this month.

After years of meteoric success, the chipmaker and its CEO Jensen Huang have increasingly found themselves playing defense — an unusual position for the company.

Nvidia headed into the month with its stock price at an all-time high, bolstered by increasing AI spending from some of its major Big Tech customers like Meta, Microsoft, and Google.

Huang was hot off of Nvidia's GTC conference in Washington, where he dismissed any concerns of an AI bubble and sounded jubilant.

But over the course of the month, which saw Nvidia shed 11% of its value, the chipmaker has gone from smashing earnings and alleviating Wall Street's AI bubble fears to becoming the poster boy of what some analysts view as a company on an unsustainable path.

Nvidia has also had to fend off short-sellers and the growing threat of Google, picking up some bruises along the way.

Big names, including SoftBank and Peter Thiel, cashed out on the Wall Street darling that had became the world's first $4 trillion market cap company mere months ago. SoftBank announced it fully exited its Nvidia position, selling $5.8 billion in shares to bet on OpenAI. And while its CFO stressed it had "nothing to do with Nvidia itself," the move didn't exactly dispel the ongoing AI bubble talk.

Nvidia defiantly pushed back on any investor skittishness when it released its third-quarter earnings on November 19, surpassing analysts' already lofty expectations — no small feat — at a time when concerns about the AI bubble were once again creeping up.

"There's been a lot of talk about an AI bubble," Huang told analysts on a call following the results. "From our vantage point, we see something very different."

But while shares rallied in after-hours trading following the results, markets did a U-turn the following day as hand-wringing over ballooning tech valuations and spending continued.

Behind closed doors, Huang privately told employees in remarks first reported by Business Insider that "the market did not appreciate" Nvidia's "incredible" quarter.

Facing sky-high expectations and the position of being a bellwether for the AI industry, Huang described the chipmaker as being in a somewhat no-win situation.

"If we delivered a bad quarter, it is evidence there's an AI bubble. If we delivered a great quarter, we are fueling the AI bubble," Huang said during an all-hands meeting.

New pressure from Google It didn't take long for things to get a bit choppy for the chipmaker.

Shares of Nvidia fell after The Information reported that Google was engaged in talks with Meta to provide the social network billions worth of the tech giant's own advanced chips.

While Nvidia's chips have long been the gold standard in the AI race, a hot commodity used by tech giants and startups to train and run LLMs and chatbots, the news suggested that the chipmaker's market share might be under threat. With Google now eyeing Nvidia's lunch, the market digested a possible future where Nvidia may no longer be the star attraction.

Nvidia's market losses following the news appeared to be Google's gain, with its parent company Alphabet now positioned to join the $4 trillion club that Nvidia started.

And in a move that raised some eyebrows, Nvidia released a mostly defiant statement that praised Google's success but said Nvidia's chips are "a generation ahead of the industry."

Burry proves to be a thorn in Nvidia's sideThe developments acted as fuel for Michael Burry of "The Big Short" fame, who has become increasingly vocal about voicing his doubts about Nvidia.

Burry, who has a particularly dour view of the AI industry, spent much of the month questioning the longevity of Nvidia's chips, its stock dilution, and its circular, "give-and-take deals" in AI.

The investor recently leaned into online writing and labeled Nvidia as the Cisco of the AI bubble era in one of his first Substack posts.

"And once again there is a Cisco at the center of it all, with the picks and shovels for all and the expansive vision to go with it," Burry wrote. "Its name is Nvidia."

The chipmaker didn't take the criticism lying down. In a note to Wall Street sell-side analysts, a copy of which was obtained by Business Insider, Nvidia took exception to Burry's claims, stating that he appeared to have "incorrectly" made some of his calculations.

The memo also pushed back against views that Nvidia is too entangled in circular financial arrangements with some of its customers.

"First, Nvidia's strategic investments represent a small share of Nvidia's revenue and an even smaller share of approximately $1T raised each year across global private capital markets," the memo said, adding, "The companies in Nvidia's strategic investment portfolio predominantly generate revenue from third-party customers, not from Nvidia."

Burry called Nvidia's response "disappointing" and disclosed that he "continues to own puts" on Nvidia.

Nvidia isn't going anywhereWhile November undoubtedly turned up the heat on Nvidia, the chipmaker continues to be the world's most valuable company by market cap and its shares have slightly rebounded in recent days, closing up 1.37% on Wednesday.

The world's largest tech companies rely on Nvidia's chips and have committed to spend billions and billions on the latest generation. CEO Jensen Huang has said sales of its latest Blackwell chips have been "off the charts."

Nvidia's CFO, Colette Kress, told analysts earlier this month that the company is on track to bring in "half a trillion" in AI chip orders during the combined 2025-2026 period — a number that she said "will grow" as more deals are struck.

While Nvidia's bruising back half of the month is a reminder that even AI royalty can see its crown threatened, Huang had some words for the doubters during the company's earnings call.

"As a reminder, Nvidia is unlike any other accelerator," he said. "We excel at every phase of AI, from pre-training and post-training to inference."

analysis

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PetroChina , and state-owned China Oil and Gas Pipeline Network Corp. (PipeChina) established two gas storage companies this week in China, the Tianyancha company information database showed.

Atlantic Lithium Limited (OTCQX:ALLIF) Shareholder/Analyst Call November 27, 2025 3:00 AM EST

Company Participants

Keith Muller - CEO & Executive Director
Belinda Gethin

Presentation

Keith Muller
CEO & Executive Director

Hello, and welcome to the Annual General Meeting of Atlantic Lithium Limited. My name is Keith Muller and I am the CEO of Atlantic Lithium and will be the Chair for today's AGM. I confirm for the record that this is a properly constituted meeting and that the quorum is present. I therefore declare the meeting open.

This meeting is held as a virtual meeting with shareholders attending online via the Computershare meeting platform, where you can listen to our live webcast and watch our presentation, ask questions and submit votes online. I would like to introduce to you my fellow directors who are in attendance: Amanda Harsas, who's our Finance Director and Company Secretary; Christelle Van Der Merwe; and Kieran Daly. I am advised that Jonathan Henry and Neil Herbert are unable to join today and have sent their apologies. I would also like to introduce Gareth Few, representing our auditor, BDO. Gareth will be available later in the meeting to answer any questions in relation to the audit matters.

Given this is a virtual meeting, online attendees can submit questions at any time by selecting the Q&A icon on your device. Select the topic your question relates to from the drop down box, then type your question and press the send button. Online attendees can also ask verbal questions by following their instructions written below the broadcast window. Although online shareholders can submit questions at any time, I will address those questions only at the relevant time during the meeting. If we receive multiple similar questions on any topic, we will try to group them together. And I will ask Belinda Gethin, who is acting as the moderator for

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Avalanche (AVAX) is showing early signs of recovery after sliding into deeply oversold territory. The asset is currently trading around $14.08, sitting only slightly above its 52-week low of $13.23.

U.S. Bank has launched a new pilot to test a custom stablecoin on the Stellar network. The move marks a clear step by a major American bank toward using blockchain for everyday financial services.
The project is being developed with support from the Stellar Development Foundation and PwC. The U.S. Bank team says the goal is simple. They want to see how a stablecoin could help people move money faster, with more control and lower costs.

Today, bank transfers can take hours or days. With the Stellar network, transfers settle in a few seconds and cost a tiny fraction of a cent.

U.S. Bank leaders say they chose Stellar because it has tools that banks consider important. These include the ability to freeze assets, reverse a transaction, or unwind a mistake. These features help banks follow rules like “know your customer,” protect users, and fix errors when needed.

.@usbank is testing custom stablecoin issuance on the Stellar network.

Real infrastructure testing for regulated deposit tokens — the kind that could reshape how banks move money.

Here’s what’s happening.https://t.co/C7sqTIDJZF pic.twitter.com/ZFXC5Q1a49

— Stellar (@StellarOrg) November 25, 2025

Stellar has also kept its network online with 99.99 percent uptime over the past decade. It processes billions of dollars in payments each year and was built to support asset issuance from day one. This made the blockchain a practical place for a bank to test a programmable form of money.

Why a Stablecoin Pilot Matters
The pilot reflects a bigger trend in the financial world. More banks are exploring tokenized money. A stablecoin from a regulated bank could allow instant cross-border payments, quicker settlement between businesses, and more efficient internal transfers.

Leaders at the Stellar Development Foundation say the project shows that traditional institutions are starting to adopt public blockchain networks for real work, not just experiments. PwC is helping shape the design and oversight of the pilot.

What Comes Next
The U.S. Bank stablecoin pilot is still in its early stage. No launch timeline has been shared. For now, the test helps the bank study how blockchain can fit into regulated services.

The move signals a growing shift. As banks explore blockchain tools, companies and consumers may soon see faster and cheaper ways to move money. The U.S. Bank pilot on the Stellar network is one sign that this next phase is already underway.

PYUSD is coming to @StellarOrg, reaching a broader group of developers and unlocking new opportunities for the stablecoin. More blockchains, greater access – and we’re not stopping now. pic.twitter.com/DDfpb9JBzM

— Alex Chriss (@acce) June 11, 2025

This is also a boost for Stellar. The company already has partnerships with the likes of PayPal. Could this be what pushes XLM further? 

Disclaimer
The information discussed by Altcoin Buzz is not financial advice. This is for educational, entertainment and informational purposes only. Any information or strategies are thoughts and opinions relevant to accepted levels of risk tolerance of the writer/reviewers, and their risk tolerance may be different from yours.

We are not responsible for any losses that you may incur as a result of any investments directly or indirectly related to the information provided. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are high-risk investments, so please do your due diligence. This article has been sponsored by Bluwhale.

Copyright Altcoin Buzz Pte Ltd.

A prominent crypto trader has made a bold move back into Ethereum, stirring attention across digital markets. Reports have disclosed that the account known as “1011short” converted 10 million USDC into Hyperliquid before opening a long position with a five-fold leverage, controlling around $44.15 million in ETH.

Whale Opens A Massive Ethereum Bet
The trade uses 15,000 ETH at an entry price of $2,945, while current market levels sit near $2,896. That puts the position about $38,000 in the red for now.

Based on reports, the liquidation point is $2,326, giving the trader a sizable margin to withstand market swings. With leverage in play, profits and losses are both magnified, making the move high-risk but potentially high-reward.

Market Momentum Shows Mixed Signals
Bitcoin has bounced back to $89,000, gaining 1.37% in the last 24 hours, though it still remains over 20% below last month’s highs.

Some altcoins followed the trend upward. These gains helped trigger a wave of liquidations, catching many traders off guard.

This #BitcoinOG(1011short) is back!

He deposited 10M $USDC into #HyperLiquid 6 hours ago and opened a 5x long on 15,000 $ETH($44.15M)!https://t.co/f54Xo9g6vf pic.twitter.com/wfsyYm5JhS

— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) November 25, 2025

Liquidations Surge As Prices Bounce
In the last day, leveraged positions worth $337 million were liquidated, reports show. About 112,021 accounts were wiped out in total.

The majority of liquidations came from short trades ($233 million), while the total for long trades was ($104 million). One of the largest orders liquidated was on Hyperliquid at $8.61 million BTC-USD.

At the end of the day, Bitcoin and Ethereum made up the majority of the liquidations: about $119 million in BTC and about $73.34 million in ETH.

This indicates the continued high levels of leverage employed in trades on both of the two largest digital currencies by market capitalization, despite large price fluctuations that have been observed recently.

The larger the move in either direction, the more uncertain the trader will be with respect to the timing and extent of their exposure, and thus the potential for loss exists for both bears and bulls.

Ether trading at $2,935 on the 24-hour chart: TradingView
Institutional Accumulation Continues
Meanwhle, Nasdaq-listed BitMine Immersion Technologies expanded its ETH holdings last week by 69,822 coins, bringing its total to 3.63 million ETH — about 3% of circulating supply.

The company also reported 192 BTC, $38 million in Worldcoin, and $800 million in cash. CryptoQuant data indicate unrealized losses of roughly $3.4 billion on its ETH treasury, reflecting market dips.

A Clear Picture Of Caution And Opportunity
Large wallets and corporate treasuries buying ETH suggest cautious optimism among big players. Recent rebounds did not go well for many short positions, showing that volatility can strike quickly.

Traders will likely watch key levels closely, as moves near large whales’ entry and liquidation points can spark fresh swings.

Featured image from Gemini, chart from TradingView

9h05 ▪
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Luc Jose A.

Summarize this article with:

S&P Global Ratings has just downgraded USDT to its lowest stability level. A rare decision targeting the world’s most used stablecoin and raising doubts about its ability to maintain its peg to the dollar. At a time when regulators are tightening the noose around cryptos, this evaluation revives debates on the solidity of Tether’s reserves and the systemic risks stablecoins pose to the entire market.

In brief

S&P Global Ratings assigns USDT the lowest stability rating on its scale, a first for a stablecoin of this scale.
The agency questions the composition of Tether’s reserves, seen as too exposed to volatile assets like Bitcoin, gold, or loans.
The lack of independent audits and the permissive regulatory framework in El Salvador reinforce doubts on Tether’s model robustness.
In response, Tether rejects the report, defends the robustness of its reserves, and criticizes the relevance of criteria used by S&P.

The stability of USDT questioned
S&P Global Ratings has assigned USDT, a stablecoin issued by Tether, the lowest rating on its stability scale, highlighting risks deemed structural in the company’s reserve model, while the issuer aims for a $500 billion valuation.

The agency questions Tether’s ability to maintain parity with the dollar under certain market conditions, especially during stress periods. It states that the reserve portfolio includes a proportion deemed too high of volatile or illiquid assets.

“A decline in bitcoin price or the value of other risky assets could reduce collateral coverage,” the report specifies. This statement particularly targets Tether’s exposure to certain assets whose stability is uncertain.

Here are the main factors challenged in S&P’s analysis :

5.6 % of reserves are invested in bitcoin, which exceeds the estimated margin of 3.9 %, in a model with 103.9 % collateralization ;

The presence of risky assets in the reserves: gold, loans, corporate bonds, all more volatile than US Treasury bills ;

A lack of comprehensive independent audits, considered problematic for an asset of this scale ;

Lenient regulation : Tether is regulated in El Salvador via the National Commission of Digital Assets (CNAD), whose standards are viewed as permissive by S&P.

Despite this, the report acknowledges that 75 % of USDT reserves are invested in US Treasury bills and other short-term instruments considered low risk.

However, this is not enough to offset the vulnerabilities mentioned, especially in a context of market instability or liquidity crisis. This decision marks a first in the public assessment of the robustness of a stablecoin of this size by a major financial rating agency.

Tether defends its model and rejects traditional rating criteria
In response to this symbolic setback, Tether reacted strongly, calling the S&P report “misleading.” In a statement, the company asserts that it “categorically rejects the characterization presented in the report,” adding that it “does not reflect the nature, the scale, nor the macroeconomic significance of native digital money.”

CEO Paolo Ardoino also criticized the relevance of evaluation models used by traditional agencies, recalling that these same methods had given favorable ratings to institutions that later went bankrupt: “classic models built for traditional financial institutions have historically led investors to put money in companies which, despite their ratings, collapsed,” he said.

Tether highlights massive figures to justify its solidity : over $112 billion in US Treasury bills, making the stablecoin issuer the 17th largest global holder of US sovereign debt, ahead of economic powers like Germany or South Korea.

The company also holds 116 tons of gold, which, combined with its ability to issue and redeem digital dollars globally, brings its operation closer to that of a real central bank, according to some analysts. These data, although partially acknowledged in the S&P report, are according to Tether largely underestimated in the analysis of its ability to maintain parity with the dollar.

The downgrade of USDT by S&P exposes tensions between the promise of stability and the reality of reserves. In an increasingly monitored market, stablecoins will henceforth need to combine transparency, robustness, and credibility to stay at the heart of digital exchanges.

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Luc Jose A.

Diplômé de Sciences Po Toulouse et titulaire d'une certification consultant blockchain délivrée par Alyra, j'ai rejoint l'aventure Cointribune en 2019.
Convaincu du potentiel de la blockchain pour transformer de nombreux secteurs de l'économie, j'ai pris l'engagement de sensibiliser et d'informer le grand public sur cet écosystème en constante évolution. Mon objectif est de permettre à chacun de mieux comprendre la blockchain et de saisir les opportunités qu'elle offre. Je m'efforce chaque jour de fournir une analyse objective de l'actualité, de décrypter les tendances du marché, de relayer les dernières innovations technologiques et de mettre en perspective les enjeux économiques et sociétaux de cette révolution en marche.

DISCLAIMER

The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this article belong solely to the author, and should not be taken as investment advice. Do your own research before taking any investment decisions.

Digital assets performed well on Thursday as the global crypto market cap increased by 3% the previous day to $3.1 trillion. Bitcoin tops $91,000 as several tokens record intraday gains. This article evaluated the current ETFs' performance, which has been vital in determining institutional appetite for cryptocurrency offerings.

Journalist

Posted: November 27, 2025

Key Takeaways
Which assets were affected in the hack?
SOL, USDC, and several DeFi and meme tokens, including BONK, JUP, RAY, RENDER, ORCA, and PYTH.

How did Upbit respond?
The exchange froze Solana-related services, launched a security audit, and pledged to fully compensate all user losses.

Upbit, South Korea’s largest crypto exchange, has been hit by a major security scare after detecting unauthorized withdrawals worth roughly 54 billion KRW ($36–38 million) in Solana-based assets.

‘We will cover the entire loss’
The funds moved to an unidentified external wallet, prompting an immediate freeze on all Solana deposits and withdrawals.

The incident, confirmed by Upbit on the 27th of November, marks one of the most significant wallet compromises the platform has faced. Of course, it raises new questions about security across one of the country’s biggest trading hubs.

Remarking on which the team noted,

“We immediately identified the extent of the digital asset outflow caused by the abnormal withdrawals and will cover the entire amount with Upbit assets to ensure no damage to members’ assets.”

Upbit’s immediate response to the breach was swift and defensive.

The exchange suspended all deposits and withdrawals across the Solana [SOL] network to prevent further outflows while it carried out a full security audit.

On top of that, investigators began tracing the stolen assets across Solana-based tokens.

Tokens affected across Solana ecosystem
Alongside SOL and USDC, the attackers also drained popular DeFi and meme tokens such as Bonk [BONK], Jupiter [JUP], Raydium [RAY], Render [RENDER], Orca [ORCA], and Pyth Network [PYTH].

The breadth of affected tokens suggested direct exposure of Upbit’s hot-wallet infrastructure, which manages real-time withdrawals and active trading liquidity.

However, the exchange said it successfully froze some assets, including a tranche of Solayer during on-chain response efforts.

Solana price action
Despite the scale of the hack, Solana’s price remained surprisingly stable.

The asset continued to climb, trading at $143.67 after a 3.11% gain in the past 24 hours, according to CoinMarketCap.

This resilience indicated that the market viewed the attack as an Upbit-specific vulnerability rather than a systemic issue within the Solana ecosystem.

More such incidents
This incident arrived exactly six years after Upbit lost 342,000 Ethereum [ETH] – worth roughly $50 million at the time – in a major hacking incident.

And, by October 2024, investigators recovered only 4.8 Bitcoin [BTC] with help from Swiss authorities.

South Korea’s crypto exchanges: winners and losers
This followed a recent analysis by AMBCrypto wherein South Korea’s crypto market was found to be clearly drifting toward a two-tier system.

Giants like Upbit and Bithumb continue to surge toward IPOs and higher valuations, while smaller players such as Coinone are forced to sell assets just to stay operational.

Ishika Kumari is a Crypto Analyst and Content Strategist at AMBCrypto, specializing in the analysis of cryptocurrency regulations, market trends, and the socio-political impact of blockchain technology.
Her expertise is grounded in her academic background as a graduate of Political Science from the renowned University of Delhi. This discipline has equipped her with a sophisticated framework for analyzing complex governance models, international regulatory landscapes, and the economic principles that underpin decentralized systems.
At AMBCrypto, Ishika applies this unique analytical lens to her work. She excels at breaking down intricate subjects—from the technicalities of new protocols to the nuances of global crypto legislation—into clear, accessible, and insightful content. Her primary mission is to bridge the gap between the complexity of the digital asset industry and the everyday reader, ensuring that AMBCrypto's audience is not just informed, but truly understands the forces shaping the future of finance.

Lee still argues that Bitcoin’s biggest gains often come in just a handful of trading days, which means that sharp upside could still be possible. At the same time, several major technical indicators—including the 200-day trend and a recent death cross—have flipped bearish, prompting analysts like Crypto₿irb and Markus Thielen to warn that Bitcoin may already be in a bear market. 

Tom Lee Scales Back Bitcoin ForecastBitcoin’s end-of-year outlook took a big turn after BitMine chair Tom Lee softened one of the most bullish forecasts circulating in the market. After spending most of 2025 holding on to his call for a $250,000 Bitcoin price by year-end, Lee is now suggesting only a “maybe” that the cryptocurrency can even reclaim its October all-time high of around $125,000 before 2025 arrives. In an interview with CNBC, Lee said that Bitcoin could still climb above $100,000 in the coming weeks but stopped short of repeating his earlier target.

The shift  is the first public moderation of Lee’s previously unwavering stance. Even in early October, he maintained the $250,000 forecast despite skepticism from other industry heavyweights. Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz warned at the time that Bitcoin reaching such a level will require “crazy stuff” to unfold. Still, Lee insists that Bitcoin’s best days may not be behind it and could arrive before the close of 2025.

One of Lee’s core arguments hinges on Bitcoin’s historical tendency to generate the bulk of its annual gains in a handful of trading sessions, which could be as few as ten days. He pointed out that investors often underestimate how much of Bitcoin’s long-term performance comes from extremely limited windows of rapid movement. 

Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley agreed with this view earlier in the year by mentioning that in 2024, Bitcoin’s top ten trading days delivered a combined 52% return. The other 355 days collectively saw an average negative return of 15%. Missing those moments, both executives argue, means missing almost all of Bitcoin’s upside.

Bitcoin struggled to regain momentum since Oct. 10, when a $19 billion market-wide liquidation followed President Donald Trump’s announcement of a 100% tariff on Chinese goods. The market shock helped push Bitcoin into a multi-week downtrend, where the asset spent almost a week below $90,000 before finally reclaiming the level. That downturn came despite historical seasonality. November has been Bitcoin’s strongest month on average since 2013, according to CoinGlass.

BTC’s price action over the past month (Source: CoinMarketCap)

Some analysts believe the worst may already be over. Economist Timothy Peterson suggested this week that Bitcoin’s bottom may have already formed or will form soon. But investors familiar with Lee’s track record know that his predictions have been mixed. 

In 2018, he forecast Bitcoin hitting $125,000 by 2022, a milestone that did not arrive until October of 2025. On the other hand, Lee has also made strikingly accurate calls. In 2017, he projected a base-case scenario of $20,000 by 2022 and a more bullish outlook of $55,000—targets Bitcoin ultimately met in December 2020 and March 2021.

Bitcoin Flashing Bear Signals…Despite Lee’s bullishness, a key long-term technical indicator for Bitcoin shifted decisively bearish, which pushed some analysts to warn that the bull market may already be over. Crypto analyst “Crypto₿irb” said that Bitcoin is showing a “persistent trend shift” marked by weakening momentum, rising volatility, increased selling pressure and an extended period trading below the 200-day trend. He argued that these factors collectively signal the end of the bull cycle and predicted 2026 could be a year of continued declines.

Most of the concern centers around two widely watched long-term indicators: the 200-day trendline and the 200-day moving average. According to the analysis, the 200-day trend has rolled over, reflecting a loss of structural strength in Bitcoin’s movement. Meanwhile, the 200-day moving average turned downward in mid-November, shortly after forming a bearish “death cross” when it fell below the 50-day moving average. These events are typically interpreted as signals that market sentiment flipped and that long-term buyers are losing control.

Other analysts share similar views. Markus Thielen of 10x Research said in an interview that “there is no debate” that Bitcoin is currently in a bear market, though he characterized the recent rebound as a “bear market reversal rally.” Despite this, not everyone agrees that Bitcoin has fully entered bearish territory. 

Apollo Capital CIO Henrik Andersson believes that although the strong buying from digital asset treasuries seen in the first half of the year has cooled, it does not necessarily mean the asset is in a formal bear phase. He believes broader risk-asset trends will ultimately determine Bitcoin’s direction from here.

On shorter time frames, some analysts see potential for bullish relief. Crypto trader “Skew” said that the four-hour chart looks more constructive, with momentum pointing upward so long as buyers can continue defending key levels. A drop below $88,000, however, will signal weakening momentum. He identified the $90,000–$92,000 range as the first major battleground for market structure.

Cover image via U.Today

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed by our writers are their own and do not represent the views of U.Today. The financial and market information provided on U.Today is intended for informational purposes only. U.Today is not liable for any financial losses incurred while trading cryptocurrencies. Conduct your own research by contacting financial experts before making any investment decisions. We believe that all content is accurate as of the date of publication, but certain offers mentioned may no longer be available.

Although most assets are still reacting violently to recent volatility, Shiba Inu’s market behavior over the past 24 hours has been remarkably flat, with price movement essentially registering as zero-change candles, as shown on TradingView. This type of dead-flat trading may initially appear to be a sign of fatigue or disinterest, but in SHIB's case, the chart and volume data indicate something more subtle and possibly significant.

How bad is it?The volume is still at about 258 billion, which is neither high nor dead, and the price is sitting at $0.00000859, hardly moving intraday. When you combine that with the 30-day average volume of 1.38 trillion, it is evident that the market is pausing rather than SHIB experiencing a liquidity freeze.

This stabilization can indicate one of two things after weeks of nonstop selling and a brief attempt at recovery.

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SHIB/USDT Chart by TradingViewOne: The momentum of the bears has run out. The absence of downward continuation is noteworthy. Throughout October and the first part of November, sellers pounded SHIB, but the returns from each wave of sales are now declining. RSI is no longer oversold but is still far from overheated, having risen slightly into the mid-40s. That makes sense when a market is attempting to establish a base.

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Two: Instead of committing, bulls are probing. Although there is not any aggressive buying that would result in a V-shaped recovery, there is enough support to stop the decline from getting worse. Because SHIB is still below the 50, 100 and 200 EMA cluster, any upward move will encounter layered resistance around $0.00000990-$0.00001050, indicating that the EMA structure is still bearish. No significant trend reversal is verified until these levels are broken.

Implications behind low volatilityBe prepared for compression prior to expansion. A breakout move is typically preceded by flat days following a strong trend.

Although the direction is still unclear, the probability of an upside test is slightly shifted due to the stalling of downside pressure.

The short-term reality is range trading. SHIB may fluctuate between $0.00000800 and $0.00000900 prior to selecting a direction.

Volume above the 30-day average is necessary for a true shift, anything below that is noise.

Cover image via U.Today

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed by our writers are their own and do not represent the views of U.Today. The financial and market information provided on U.Today is intended for informational purposes only. U.Today is not liable for any financial losses incurred while trading cryptocurrencies. Conduct your own research by contacting financial experts before making any investment decisions. We believe that all content is accurate as of the date of publication, but certain offers mentioned may no longer be available.

Legendary commodity trader Peter Brandt has predicted that XRP could do "quite well" in the months to come. 

Even though Brandt did not explicitly mention the Ripple-affiliated token, some sleuths were quick to figure out what specific chart he was referring to.

I see the XRP chart there Peter 👀

HOT Stories

— Tony Edward (Thinking Crypto Podcast) (@ThinkingCrypto1) November 27, 2025 XRP is currently trading at $2.20, according to the most recent data provided by CoinGecko. 

No ETF-fueled rally So far, the Ripple-linked token has been struggling to revive its momentum even during the ongoing ETF hype. 

As reported by U.Today, Canary Capital, as well as some other issuers, recently had successful XRP launches. 

However, the token’s price action has been rather underwhelming due to the performance of the broader cryptocurrency market. 

Will the bulls be back in the driver’s seat? Now, it seems like the bulls might find themselves back in the driver’s seat, with Bitcoin reclaiming $91,000 and lifting other tokens, including XRP. 

Brandt’s pattern shows that the dominant pattern on the chart is a large symmetrical triangle formed over several years. 

The price action clearly shows a bullish breakout from this triangle pattern. 

After the initial impulsive breakout, the price is currently consolidating in a tight range near the highs. 

This specific formation looks like a bull flag, which is considered to be a bullish continuation pattern. 

The XRP price is so far down nearly 40% from its all-time high, which was logged on July 18. 

The cryptocurrency market has been bullish over the past few hours, with Bitcoin briefly reclaiming the $91k level. Ether is also trading above $3k, while XRP has reclaimed the $2.2 resistance level. However, ZEC, the native coin of the Zcash blockchain, is down 1% in the last 24 hours.

Grayscale’s spot dogecoin ETF opened on NYSE Arca with about $1.4m in first-day volume, lagging analyst forecasts and trailing recent crypto ETF launches.

Summary

The ETF started trading on NYSE Arca with roughly $1.4 million in debut volume and about 94,700 shares outstanding.​
Grayscale set a 0.35% management fee but temporarily waived it, resulting in a zero expense ratio until assets hit a threshold or three months pass.​
The fund’s muted launch trails XRP and Solana ETF debuts, as analysts watch fee incentives, dogecoin’s price, and upcoming rival products like Bitwise’s ETF

Grayscale’s spot Dogecoin exchange-traded fund commenced trading on NYSE Arca with modest volume, attracting approximately $1.4 million on its debut, according to market data.

The launch fell short of earlier projections by market analysts. A Bloomberg analyst had forecast significantly higher opening-day volume, though the fund’s actual trading figures did not reach those levels, according to reports.

Grayscale Dogecoin ETF begins trading
Grayscale‘s regulatory filings indicate the ETF began trading with Dogecoin (DOGE) holdings and approximately 94,700 shares outstanding. The fund carries a management fee of 0.35 percent, though the sponsor has waived that charge, resulting in a zero expense ratio until the fund reaches a specified asset threshold or for the first three months, whichever occurs first.

The Dogecoin ETF’s debut volume trailed that of other recently launched cryptocurrency ETFs, according to market tracking data. Exchange-traded funds holding XRP (XRP) and Solana (SOL) attracted stronger initial inflows during their respective launches, the data showed.

Several factors will determine the fund’s trajectory in coming weeks, according to market observers. These include the impact of the fee waiver on asset gathering, Dogecoin’s price movement as additional products enter the market, and potential flow changes when competing Dogecoin ETFs launch, including a planned product from Bitwise.

Analysts are monitoring creation and redemption activity as well as order book data to assess actual demand for the product, according to industry reports.

Dogecoin’s spot market showed limited price movement following the ETF listing, according to trading data. The fund’s subdued debut occurs during a period of multiple cryptocurrency ETF launches, with additional competing products expected in the near term.

Strategy’s Bitcoin-treasury edge is eroding as JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley roll out leveraged Bitcoin products, tightening margins and pressuring MSTR’s downtrending stock.

Summary

JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley launched leveraged Bitcoin-linked structured products tied to ETFs, giving institutions upside with downside buffers.​
Strategy’s stock has trended lower since mid-October after higher margin requirements, short trades, and scrutiny of peers like Metaplanet.​
The entry of major banks into Bitcoin products challenges Strategy’s role as the primary corporate Bitcoin proxy for institutional investors.

Strategy Inc. is confronting increased competition as JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley introduce Bitcoin-linked investment products, according to market analysts tracking the corporate cryptocurrency sector.

The two major banks have launched leveraged products tied to Bitcoin, including structured notes linked to the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF, according to product filings. The offerings provide institutional investors exposure to Bitcoin with upside participation while incorporating downside risk management features through capped returns and downside buffers.

The new products represent competition for Strategy‘s business model of accumulating Bitcoin on its corporate balance sheet. The company has positioned itself as a leader in holding Bitcoin as a corporate treasury asset.

Strategy stocks face duress from major banks
Several developments in recent months have affected Strategy’s market position. In May, short-seller Jim Chanos announced a trade described as long Bitcoin (BTC) and short Strategy, according to public statements. In July, JPMorgan raised margin requirements for trading Strategy stock, a move market observers characterized as limiting leverage and creating potential selling pressure.

Following those events, Metaplanet, a company that has adopted a Bitcoin-holding strategy similar to MicroStrategy’s approach, announced a capital raise that drew scrutiny from MSCI, according to company disclosures. The timing of these developments, combined with the banks’ product launches, has led some market participants to question whether the actions represent a coordinated effort.

Strategy’s stock has been in a downtrend since mid-October, according to trading data, breaking through key support levels. The stock has exhibited lower highs and bearish momentum in recent months.

The entry of major financial institutions into Bitcoin-linked products marks a shift in the landscape for corporate Bitcoin holdings and institutional cryptocurrency investment vehicles.