In today’s edition of the weekly recap: the crypto market witnessed a correction spearheaded by Bitcoin, while TRON founder Justin Sun came to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s aid.
Market correction
As Bitcoin (BTC) slumped below the $98,000 mark days after breaching $99,000, altcoins collapsed. The global crypto market cap dropped 2.3%, with liquidations hitting $494 million as of Nov. 25.
The following day, liquidations had surged to a 24-hour peak of $553 million, with long liquidations dominating amid a BTC drop to $92,000. On-chain data confirmed that the pullback was due to profit-taking trades.
Bitcoin ETFs began the week with a net outflow of $435 million, breaking a five-day inflow streak. These funds saw an additional $122 million net outflow before recouping $103 million on Nov. 27 and $320 million on Nov. 28.
WLFI taps Sun as advisor
Last week, TRON founder Justin Sun pumped an investment of $30 million into U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s floundering crypto project, World Liberty Financial.
Shortly after, the project announced that Sun had joined its ranks as an advisor. Trump and his sons had been promoting its cryptocurrency for weeks, saying it would “make finance great again,” but the industry “largely rejected it,” according to Bloomberg. Sales plummeted so badly that Trump couldn’t secure a payout.
On Nov. 25, Sun’s investment pushed the project over the threshold, and the Trumps are expected to collect at least $15 million from the Tron entrepreneur’s coin purchase.
XRP takes center stage
Leading asset manager WisdomTree registered a trust in the state of Delaware, declaring its intentions to file for an XRP (XRP) ETF.
Following the market-wide correction, XRP positioned itself as one of the biggest beneficiaries of the ensuing recovery, spiking to a top of $1.95 on Nov. 30, as it retested the 2021 peak.
Amid the run, XRP flipped Binance Coin (BNB) to become the fifth-largest crypto asset, hitting a $100 billion market cap for the first time since January 2018. XRP closed the week with a 33% gain.
Traditional firms courting Bitcoin
Traditional companies warmed up to Bitcoin last week. MicroStrategy built on its existing buying spree with a purchase of 55,000 more BTC for $5.4 billion. This brought total holdings to 386,700.
On Nov. 25, Rumble, a video-sharing platform, confirmed plans to cop $20 million worth of Bitcoin. Bitcoin mining firm Marathon procured $67 million in BTC, bringing its holdings to 34,794 worth $3.3 billion.
Reports confirmed that leading publicly traded company Metaplanet is looking to secure $62 million in funding to purchase Bitcoin.
Global regulatory efforts
Countries are pushing to regulate the crypto market. Last week, Bloomberg reported that the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority plans to complete crypto regulations by 2026.
North African country Morocco is also looking to enact proper crypto regulations to bolster the growth of the local industry after banning the asset class seven years ago.
While the U.S. debated the possibility of a national Bitcoin reserve, Brazilian lawmakers proposed the idea last week, suggesting the South American country allocate 5% of its treasury to procure BTC.
Russia introduced a federal law that will impose taxes on cryptocurrencies in the country, essentially recognizing the asset class as taxable property.
A U.S. court of appeals overturned the Treasury’s sanction of Tornado Cash, noting that it exceeded the department’s authority.
Reports suggested former SEC Commissioner Paul Atkins was the favorite to become the next SEC chair under Donald Trump.
Pump.fun’s live stream dilemma
Pump.fun’s live stream feature was abused by multiple token deployers, including threats of suicide and other heinous acts.
The platform released a statement on the growing issue, noting efforts at regulating the live stream feature. Pump.fun eventually suspended live stream indefinitely to curb the issue.
Despite the recent predicament, Pump.fun’s monthly revenue reached a new all-time peak of $82.7 million last month, representing a 207% rise from October’s figures.
Read more: It’s time for a crypto-funding reboot
