Crypto

Bitcoin’s record-breaking price streak to nearly $90,000 has positioned the top crypto asset ahead of silver and gold in key market metrics.

Data tracked by TradingView showed that gold is on a downward slope. The price of one kilogram of gold dropped to $83,439 as spot gold declined by 1.8% to $2,636 per ounce as of press time. This fall marks the steepest time for the precious metal since early May.

In stark contrast, Bitcoin has surged by nearly 27% over the past week to a new all-time high of $89,956, boosted by optimism around Donald Trump’s ascension to the White House. Unsurprisingly, Bitcoin’s rapid climb has pushed its market capitalization past silver’s, a notable achievement for an asset often called “digital gold.”

Now valued at approximately $1.73 trillion, Bitcoin is the world’s eighth-largest asset, edging silver with a $1.71 trillion market cap. Meanwhile, gold remains the leading global asset, with a commanding market cap of $17.4 trillion.

Ethereum Foundation researcher Justin Drake has introduced a transformative proposal for a new consensus layer upgrade called the “Beam Chain” during his Nov. 12 presentation at DevCon in Bangkok.

The Beam Chain is a complete overhaul of Ethereum’s consensus layer, which would move the blockchain network closer to its final architecture.

Drake pointed out that the current Beacon Chain, which has been in place for five years, is outdated. During this time, research and technology have advanced significantly, opening up new opportunities for improvement in critical areas, including MEV (maximal extractable value), advancing SNARK technologies, and tackling technical debt.

Beam Chain

Drake explained that his proposal builds on the advancements made during this period and aims to bring Ethereum’s consensus layer up to date with the latest developments in blockchain technology.

So, the Beam Chain will prioritize faster finality and higher throughput, allowing quicker transaction finalization within three slots.

The staking requirements will also be reduced, allowing participants to stake with just 1 ETH instead of the current 32 ETH. This reduction will make Ethereum staking more accessible to a broader range of participants.

Further, Drake also outlined plans to bolster censorship resistance in block production by introducing attestor-proposer separation.

On the cryptographic side, the proposal aims to “SNARKify” the consensus layer, boosting security and performance while preparing the network for future quantum threats.

Although the Beam Chain will involve significant changes, Drake emphasized that it won’t alter the roadmap. Instead, it bundles various planned improvements into one comprehensive package. The goal is to eliminate technical debt from the pre-merge period and set the stage for substantial performance gains.

So, the Beam Chain will maintain Ethereum’s security and help improve the network.

If the Beam Chain receives sufficient community support, developers could start drafting specifications next year, followed by development in 2026 and testing in 2027 before it is safe to deploy on the Ethereum mainnet.

Bitcoin’s current market cycle indicates a potential peak in about 200 days, coinciding with forecasts of a possible US recession by mid-2025. According to recent research from Copper.co, this alignment emerges as Bitcoin reaches day 554 of its cycle.

Historically, Bitcoin’s market cycles average 756 days from the point when the annual average growth of its market capitalization turns positive until it hits a price peak. Copper.co assesses that the present cycle began around mid-2023, shortly before BlackRock filed for a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund. Bitcoin could peak around mid-2025, approximately 200 days from now, if the pattern holds.

Copper.co uses JPMorgan’s estimate of a 45% chance of a US recession occurring in the second half of 2025 to showcase a potential overlap of Bitcoin’s peak with economic downturn predictions, adding a layer of complexity to market expectations. Investors may find this intersection significant when considering portfolio strategies amid macroeconomic uncertainties.

Realized volatility for Bitcoin currently stands at 50%, reflecting the standard deviation of returns from the market’s mean return. Implied volatility, which gauges market expectations for future volatility, recently hit its highest level of the year. This suggests ongoing market turbulence as 2025 approaches, with a possible bullish undertone influencing trading behaviors.

Bitcoin’s Relative Strength Index (RSI) is at 60, significantly lower than previous bull market highs. Copper.co’s report highlights that by extending the RSI’s look-back period to four years—a timeframe that reduces short-term noise—the indicator shows substantial room for growth. This metric implies that Bitcoin could build momentum into the new year, potentially reaching higher valuation levels.

Inactive Bitcoin supply, representing coins held without movement for extended periods, is increasing amid record prices. This trend indicates that long-term holders maintain their positions, but vigilance is advised. Should these investors begin to move assets, it could signal shifts in market forces or profit-taking activities.

Per Copper.co’s analysis, combining these factors paints a nuanced picture of Bitcoin’s trajectory. The interplay between market cycles, volatility measures, and macroeconomic forecasts illustrates the importance of monitoring multiple indicators.

Tether has minted $5 billion worth of the USDT stablecoin over the past week amid Bitcoin’s rally near the $90,000 milestone.

Data from blockchain analytics platform SpotOnChain reveals that Tether began this series of USDT issuances with $1 billion minted on Nov. 6, contributing to Bitcoin’s climb to a record high of $76,200.

The firm then issued another $2 billion USDT across Nov. 9 and 10, propelling Bitcoin past the $80,000 mark. Earlier today, Tether added another $2 billion USDT, bringing the total issuance over five days to $5 billion.

This minting spree has boosted Tether’s market cap to around $124 billion, further cementing its position as the leading stablecoin in the crypto market.

As the dominant dollar-pegged stablecoin, USDT is pivotal in crypto trading, supporting liquidity across centralized and decentralized exchanges. Data from CryptoSlate shows that USDT remains one of the most frequently traded assets, with a 24-hour trading volume approaching $289 billion.

Meanwhile, this recent increase in USDT supply aligns with a broader market upswing, reflecting growing optimism and trader confidence. Historically, a rise in USDT circulation correlates with gains in major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum.

So, as this latest expansion in supply has unfolded, Bitcoin’s price has reached new all-time highs of nearly $90,000, buoyed by market optimism about Donald Trump’s return to the US presidency.

Wallet development kit

USDT’s increasing supply coincides with Tether launching an open-source wallet development kit (WDK) to streamline non-custodial wallet integration for websites and applications.

Tether described the WDK as a modular, open-source toolkit that empowers businesses and developers to integrate non-custodial wallet functionality. This toolkit supports human users and emerging digital entities like AI agents, robots, and autonomous systems.

The WDK is fully self-custodial, enabling developers to create sophisticated mobile, desktop, and web wallets.

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said the product would allow users to control their financial destiny through “programmable, open, and resilient monetary systems that connect people, machines, robots, families, communities, AI agents, societies, and even planets.”

He added:

“WDK by Tether is focusing on open-source, super-modular, highly scalable and battle tested development libraries that are easy to integrate on any platform, from embedded devices to mobile, from laptop apps to websites, from AI agents to robotic brains.”

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Bitcoin’s recent surge toward an all-time high near $90,000 has drawn renewed interest in the broader crypto market. Thanks to its increase to a three-year high, Dogecoin also emerged as a standout performer.

Data from CryptoSlate shows that Dogecoin has jumped by nearly 38% in the past 24 hours, climbing to a year-to-date high of $0.44, before retracing slightly along with Bitcoin. This surge marks Dogecoin’s most robust price performance since Elon Musk—dubbed the “Dogefather”—highlighted it during his Saturday Night Live appearance in May 2021.

Thanks to this rise, Dogecoin is now the sixth largest crypto asset by market cap, with a valuation of more than $53 billion. For context, this market cap places it ahead of well-known corporations like Nasdaq, Cummins, and Ford.

What’s driving Dogecoin’s rally?

Dogecoin’s rally appears to be fueled by current market optimism and Musk’s association with the memecoin.

In October, Musk proposed creating a “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) to optimize government spending under President Donald Trump’s administration. This playful acronym sparked fresh anticipation and attention among traders, driving Dogecoin further into the mainstream spotlight.

On-chain data supports the idea of increased retail activity. Crypto intelligence firm Santiment reports that over the past month, approximately 74,885 new wallets holding less than 100,000 DOGE have been created. It furthered that wallets held by larger investors—known as “sharks” and “whales”—have declined by a net 350 during this period.

Meanwhile, Santiment noted that an uptick of 108 larger wallets in the last few days likely helped propel Dogecoin’s recent price rally.

IntoTheBlock, another blockchain analysis firm, observed similar trends. The firm noted that Dogecoin processed over six million transactions last week—the highest since February. This uptick suggests that retail interest in Dogecoin is reviving, reinforcing the momentum in the memecoin market.

Growing institutional interest

While retail investors may be driving this rally, institutional players are also showing signs of engagement with Dogecoin.

On Nov. 5, Canadian firm Spirit Blockchain Capital acquired Dogecoin Holdings, gaining access to critical assets—including intellectual property, an ETF platform, a Dogecoin payment gateway under development, and a cash reserve of $383,000.

Through this move, Spirit Blockchain aims to launch new products and support the memecoin’s broader adoption, signaling a potential shift in how institutions view the asset.

Additionally, some market analysts speculate that the rising interest in crypto could lead to a DOGE-related exchange-traded fund (ETF) as early as next year, signaling growing institutional recognition of the asset.

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