Bitcoin Rout Pressures Investors Amid Treasury Reckoning: Finance Redefined

Cryptocurrency markets continued their decline for a fourth consecutive week this week, raising concerns over the status of the bull market cycle.

Investor concerns grew on Thursday after a 10X Research report revealed that BitMine Immersion Technologies, the world’s largest corporate Ether (ETH) holder, is sitting on a cumulative unrealized loss of $3.7 billion on its total holdings.

Most digital asset treasuries (DATs) have suffered declines in their net asset value (NAV), making it difficult to raise funds for new investments or to attract new retail investors, leaving existing shareholders “trapped” with growing paper losses, according to 10x Research founder Markus Thiele

DATs are also facing significant pressure from the MSCI stock market index, which is considering excluding corporate crypto treasuries with a balance sheet comprising more than 50% of crypto assets.

The consultation is open until Dec. 31, with the results set to be made public on Jan. 15, 2026. The resulting changes will take effect in February.

Elsewhere, Bitcoin (BTC) sank to a six-month low of $82,000 on Friday, a level last seen in April when the markets were recovering from US President Donald Trump’s Liberation Day tariff announcement, TradingView data shows.

BitMine sits on $3.7 billion loss as DAT “Hotel California” meets BlackRock’s staked ETH ETF

Concerns are mounting over the sustainability of corporate crypto-treasury firms as BlackRock moves forward with a staked Ether fund that analysts say could compete directly with existing digital-asset treasuries.

BitMine Immersion Technologies, the world’s largest corporate Ether holder, is currently down $1,000 per purchased ETH, implying a cumulative unrealized loss of $3.7 billion on its total holdings, according to a Thursday research report from crypto insights company 10x Research.

The decline in net asset value (NAV) across these firms is making it difficult to attract new retail investors while leaving many existing shareholders effectively “trapped” unless they sell at a steep loss, 10x Research founder Markus Thielen wrote in a LinkedIn post.

“When the premium inevitably shrinks to zero, as it is doing now, investors find themselves trapped in the structure, unable to get out without significant damage, a true Hotel California scenario,” he said. He added that, unlike exchange-traded funds (ETFs), digital-asset treasury companies, or DATs, “layer on complex, opaque, and often hedge-fund-like fee structures that can quietly erode returns.”

The mNAV ratio compares a company’s enterprise value to the value of its crypto holdings. An mNAV above 1 allows a company to raise funds by issuing new shares to accumulate digital assets. Values below 1 make it much harder to expand capital and holdings.

BitMine’s basic mNAV stood at 0.77 while its diluted mNAV stood at 0.92, according to data from Bitminetracker.

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SEC to hold privacy and financial surveillance roundtable in December

The US Securities and Exchange Commission’s Crypto Task Force has scheduled a roundtable discussion centered on privacy and financial surveillance for December, as a renewed focus on privacy grips the cryptocurrency industry.

The privacy roundtable is slated for Dec. 15. Like other SEC roundtables, crypto industry executives and SEC officials will discuss common pain points and solutions, but no hard policy proposals will be submitted. 

Privacy has become a hot-button topic following several developments, including the partial guilty verdict in Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm’s trial in June, the Samourai Wallet developer sentencing in November and the privacy token price rally over the last two months.

“Authoritarians thrive when people have no privacy. When those in charge start being hostile to privacy protections, it is a major red flag,” said Naomi Brockwell, founder of the Ludlow Institute, an organization advocating for liberty through technology.

The renewed interest in privacy hearkens back to crypto’s cypherpunk roots, and one of the core reasons the cryptographic technology that underpins crypto was invented — to ensure secure communication channels between parties in hostile environments.

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Coinbase launches ETH-backed loans as onchain lending tops $1.25 billion

Coinbase has launched Ether-backed loans for US users, allowing customers to borrow USDC against their ETH holdings without selling, in a new offering powered by Morpho and running on Base.

The exchange said the product is available across most US states, except New York, with variable rates and liquidation risk tied to market conditions. Users can borrow up to $1 million in USDC (USDC) stablecoin.

Coinbase plans to expand the program to other assets, including loans backed by its staked Ether token, cbETH.

The new product is being launched in collaboration with Morpho, a decentralized finance (DeFi) lending protocol. In September, Coinbase integrated Morpho into the Coinbase app, offering users a yield of up to 10.8% on their USDC holdings.

According to Dune data, Coinbase’s onchain lending markets have processed more than $1.25 billion in loan originations, backed by about $1.37 billion in deposited collateral. Roughly $810 million in loans is outstanding, with more than 13,500 wallets holding active borrow positions. 

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Advocacy group proposes DeFi solutions to address global poverty

The DeFi Education Fund, an advocacy organization focused on decentralized finance, has proposed utilizing the technology to reduce costs, aiming to address poverty in the United States and globally.

In a Wednesday blog post, the group said DeFi infrastructure could potentially save unbanked and underbanked people around the world about $30 billion annually by reducing remittance costs. The organization cited examples of workers sending funds home and paying fees to do so, which could be reduced “by up to 80%” with DeFi.

“The poverty premium [the expenses incurred by low-income households that wealthier individuals are often able to access at a lower cost] persists because the current, layered, antiquated financial infrastructure makes it expensive to serve low-income customers profitably,” said the DeFi Education Fund, adding:

“Nothing is free, and DeFi doesn’t eliminate costs entirely, but by removing intermediaries and leveraging software rather than outdated financial systems, we can dramatically reduce the cost of financial services for everyday people and give them greater control of their finances.”

Many advocates have proposed utilizing various applications of blockchain technology to address factors that contribute to poverty, such as reducing transaction times, eliminating or reducing fees, and increasing access to financial services. The DeFi Education Fund cited the increasing costs in the US associated with cashing paychecks without a bank account, using money orders and owning a home.

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Mastercard taps Polygon to turn clunky crypto addresses into simple usernames

Mastercard is expanding its Crypto Credential program to self-custody wallets, allowing users to send and receive cryptocurrencies using verified, username-style aliases instead of long wallet addresses.

Polygon will be the first blockchain to support the rollout, while payments firm Mercuryo will handle identity verification and issue the aliases to users, according to a Tuesday press release shared with Cointelegraph.

“By streamlining wallet addresses and adding meaningful verification, Mastercard Crypto Credential is building trust in digital token transfers,” said Raj Dhamodharan, executive vice president of blockchain and digital assets at Mastercard.

Once verified by Mercuryo, users can link a human-readable alias to their self-custody wallet or request a soulbound token on Polygon that proves the wallet belongs to a verified individual.

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DeFi market overview

According to data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView, most of the 100 largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization ended the week in the red.

The privacy-centric Canton network’s (CC) token fell 32% marking the week’s biggest decline, followed by the Story (IP) token, down 29% during the past week.

Thanks for reading our summary of this week’s most impactful DeFi developments. Join us next Friday for more stories, insights and education regarding this dynamically advancing space.