Author: Olumide Adesina

Olumide Adesina is a French-born Nigerian financial writer. He tracks the financial markets with over 15 years of working experience in investment trading.

Gold Charges Toward $4,100 Milestone: Safe-Haven Buying Heats Up Amid NFP Delay Drama

Posted on by Olumide Adesina

Gold attracts new sellers and continues to drop from the weekly high hit the previous day after rising to the $4,110 region during the Asian session on Thursday.

Less dovish Federal Reserve (Fed) expectations push the US dollar (USD) to its highest level since late May despite concerns about the slowing economic momentum following the longest-ever US government shutdown.

The non-yielding yellow metal is therefore believed to be under considerable downward pressure. Additionally, the generally positive sentiment surrounding the equity markets is thought to weaken the demand for safe-haven gold.

However, traders seem apprehensive and decide to wait until later in the North American session for the release of the US Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) report for September. However, given the fundamental backdrop, one should be cautious before positioning for an extension of this week’s bounce from levels below the $4,000 psychological mark.

From a technical perspective, any further price decline is likely to encounter significant support near the 200-period Exponential Moving Average (EMA), currently situated around $4,018. Following that, the weekly swing low, just below the psychological $4,000 level, serves as the next support point.

If this level is tested, the price of gold may accelerate its drop toward the $3,931 support.

The downward trend could continue until reaching the $3,886 area, which corresponds to the swing low from late October.

On the other hand, the peak of the Asian session around $4,110 may act as an immediate resistance level. If there is some follow-through buying beyond the overnight swing high near $4,120, the price of gold could advance to the next significant resistance range of $4,152–$4,155. Bullish traders would see this as a fresh buying opportunity. A subsequent increase could allow for a move towards regaining the round number of $4,200.

 

GPU Gold Rush: Nvidia Blowout Lift Bitfarms, TeraWulf, CleanSpark,—Cipher Jumps 13% on AI Hype

Posted on by Olumide Adesina

Bitcoin and mining stocks saw an uptick late on Wednesday after Nvidia released its Q3 earnings, and guidance exceeded expectations.  Bitfarms, TeraWulf, CleanSpark, and IREN all experienced gains of approximately 10%, while Cipher Mining rose by over 13%. Nvidia helped stabilize the market with a solid quarterly earnings report, even as other markets continued their downward trend.

From Peak to Pullback: NVIDIA’s Rally Stalls as Risks Mount

Nvidia reported third-quarter revenue of $57 billion, which was below the consensus estimate of $61.98 billion, but projected fourth-quarter revenue between $63.7 billion and $66.3 billion. Colette Kress, CFO of Nvidia, mentioned during the earnings call that the useful lives of GPUs are being extended.

This positive announcement caused Nvidia’s stock to rise by 5%, pushing Bitcoin’s price up to about $92,000 after it had dipped below $89,000 earlier in the day.

Several Bitcoin miners have begun shifting portions of their operations to support AI and high-performance computing (HPC) infrastructure amid increasing demand for data center capacity alongside the growth of artificial intelligence. For instance, earlier this month, Cipher Mining announced a $5.5 billion AI hosting agreement with Amazon Web Services, while IREN signed a $9.7 billion AI cloud deal with Microsoft. Concerns regarding a potential AI bubble have led miners to sell off assets on two occasions.

IREN is taking on debt to purchase GPUs, and the supply-demand balance for GPUs is directly (and inversely) correlated with loan interest rates. In a post on X, Matthew Sigel, head of digital asset research at VanEck, remarked, “Falling BTC + widening spreads = double whammy given the capital expenditure needs.”

Although Bitcoin has remained relatively stable, analysts at JPMorgan mentioned last month that Bitcoin mining stocks have decoupled from the price of BTC, with their market capitalizations rising significantly since July.

BlackRock’s Ethereum Evolution: Launching a Staked Trust ETF

Posted on by Olumide Adesina

BlackRock appears to be planning to launch a new staked Ethereum fund. Daniel Schweiger, a managing director at BlackRock, who filed the asset manager’s initial iShares Ethereum fund in late 2023, has also filed the iShares Staked Ethereum Trust ETF.

One of the first indications that a new exchange-traded fund (ETF) is being developed is the registration of the fund’s name in Delaware.

 

According to senior Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas, a filing for the new iShares ETH staking fund is “coming soon.”

Nasdaq submitted an amended 19b-4 to include staking in BlackRock’s existing iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA). Competing cryptocurrency asset managers, such as Grayscale and 21 Shares, have also submitted proposals to update their Ethereum funds. As of November, ETHA, with nearly $11.5 billion in total holdings, is the largest Ethereum ETF by assets under management, according to SoSoValue.

Relatively few funds offering staking rewards have been approved despite a more lenient approach by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to allow additional cryptocurrency-related exchange-traded products to enter the market during the second Trump administration.

Grayscale recently became the first spot-market funds registered under the Securities Act of 1933 to permit staking rewards for holders, receiving approval in October for its U.S. Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHE) and Ethereum Mini Trust ETF (ETH) products.

REX-Osprey introduced a staking Solana ETF using the less common Investment Company Act of 1940. In September, REX-Osprey also launched an ETH staking fund under the 1940 Act ETF structure. Robert Mitchnick, Head of Digital Assets at BlackRock, has previously expressed his expectation that the SEC will approve ETH ETF staking as “a next phase.”

Bitwise Ignites Altcoin ETF Boom: Spot XRP Fund Goes Live Today on NYSE

Posted on by Olumide Adesina

Bitwise’s spot XRP ETF will begin trading under the ticker XRP. New altcoin ETFs have proliferated in the United States. SEC revised its guidelines to clarify the process for companies looking to launch cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds.

Bitwise Asset Management has announced the launch of its spot XRP exchange-traded fund on the New York Stock Exchange.

 

The ETF, which has a management fee of 0.34 percent that is waived for the first month on the first $500 million in assets, will begin trading on Thursday under the ticker XRP. “XRP is a really intriguing asset for several reasons,” stated Matt Hougan, CIO at Bitwise.

It processes large volumes of transactions, has a very robust and active community of supporters, and has been operating successfully for a very long time at incredibly low costs. With a market valuation of $127.3 billion, XRP is currently the third-largest non-stablecoin cryptocurrency in the world. Having enabled more than 4 billion transactions, XRP is posing a threat to the cross-border payments industry.

Canary Capital’s XRPC will be the top XRP product, followed by Bitwise’s fund. Since its launch last week, Canary’s fund has amassed net inflows totaling $276.8 million.

The Bitwise Physical XRP ETP (GXRP), which offers investors direct, physically backed exposure to the cryptocurrency, was previously introduced by Bitwise in Europe. After declaring earlier on Wednesday that its GXRP fund would soon launch, Grayscale is expected to be the next. James Seyffart, a Bloomberg analyst, stated on X that Grayscale’s Dogecoin ETF and spot XRP ETP are expected to launch next Monday, marking a first. Additionally, I believe that on Monday, the 24th, Franklin Templeton’s XRP ETF may also launch. Next week will be filled with events,” Seyffart wrote.

MSTR Meltdown: Strategy Crashes 8%+ to 1-Year Low as Bitcoin Breaches $90K

Posted on by Olumide Adesina

MicroStrategy, now known as Strategy, the enterprise analytics company turned aggressive Bitcoin treasury vehicle (ticker: MSTR), experienced a sharp sell-off, dropping approximately 10% to close at $185 per share, the lowest level since late 2024 and a new one-year low.

This continues a severe multi-week correction that has wiped out over 40% of the stock’s value since its early 2025 highs, aligning closely with the 8% + decline you mentioned.

Bitcoin’s Correction: BTC dropped 25–30% from its October 2025 all-time high of around $ 126,000 to the $ 90, 000 s range. Most of 2025’s gains have been erased by this’ sharp reset,’ driven by broader market anxiety and macroeconomic challenges like potential tariffs and slowing global growth. As’ Bitcoin on steroids,” MSTR declined even more.

Debt and Leverage Issues: To fund Bitcoin acquisitions, the company issues convertible debt and equity; it recently added 8,178 BTC for $835 million at a price of about $ 102,000 each. Rising yields and dilution risks have caused investors to doubt the sustainability of the more than $ 4 billion in debt maturing between 2027 and 2030. Critics have likened it to a Ponzi scheme due to its heavy reliance on capital raises, including analysts from Kobbeissi Letter.

The latest decline underscores ongoing risk aversion. After Bitcoin neared a record close to $ 126,000 in early October, the market struggled to stabilize, as shown by the Crypto Fear and Greed Index, which remained stuck in’ Extreme Fear.’ “Bitcoin has no future”: The cryptocurrency’s price has fallen nearly 30% since its peak, breaking key benchmarks and unsettling both long-term holders and ETF investors.

Traders hoping for a rebound are now facing increasing losses with the largest cryptocurrency in the world hovering around $ 89 500. Peter Schiff, a longtime critic of Bitcoin, reaffirmed his view that the cryptocurrency has fundamental flaws. Schiff posted on social media that “Bitcoin has no future,” claiming that stablecoins and tokenized gold are better options and that cryptocurrency is ineffective as a medium of exchange. Fund flows clearly indicate investor caution, especially on the US list.

Bullish Bet? BitMine Scoops More ETH While Price Clings to Crucial $3,000 Support

Posted on by Olumide Adesina

Ethereum failed to reach the $3,100 support level after losing 4% of its value over the previous day. The coin is currently trading at about $3,054 per coin after briefly falling below $3k.

 

ETH is still performing poorly despite BitMine Immersion Technologies, an Ethereum treasury company, announcing on Monday that it purchased 54,156 ETH last week, increasing its holdings to 3.56 million ETH. The company also stated that it had cut its $61 million investment in Worldcoin (WLD) Treasury Eightco Holdings (ORBS) to $37 million.

BitMine has made fewer acquisitions than this one since launching its ETH treasury in July.

This coincides with the recent weeks of bearish price movement in the larger cryptocurrency market. Thomas Lee, the chairman of BitMine, claims that the market’s current weakness is a sign that a major market maker’s balance sheet is deteriorating.

He went on to say that when a market maker has a “hole” in their balance sheet, they are trying to raise money and cutting back on their market liquidity functions. This has the effect of dampening prices and is the crypto equivalent of quantitative tightening, or QT. This QT effect persisted for six to eight weeks in 2022. And this is most likely taking place right now. Lee, however, thinks that cryptocurrency prices haven’t reached their peak for this cycle and that the market may continue to rise for another 12 to 36 months.

According to CryptoQuant’s on-chain data, BitMine currently has an unrealized loss of $3 billion because of ETH’s recent, steady decline.

Maartunn, a contributor to CryptoQuant, noted that MicroStrategy’s unrealized loss peaked at $1.9 billion during the worst of the bear market. BitMine continues to hold the largest ETH treasury, surpassing both The Ether Machine (ETHM) and SharpLink Gaming (SBET). Additionally, US spot Ethereum exchange-traded funds are revealed by data from SoSoValue.

Ripple’s XRP Dives Deep into Oversold – Buying Opportunity Just Flashed Green!

Posted on by Olumide Adesina

XRP is now priced at $2.20 after losing over 10% this week. The market’s focus has shifted to whether this situation may signal a brief recovery. The asset is now near technical levels that have previously triggered rebounds, and trading volume remains high. According to the Stochastic RSI, recent charts indicate that XRP is entering oversold territory, with the current weekly reading at 2.73, which is within the lower range.

Historically, sharp upward movements—such as gains of 53%, 216%, and 591%—have often followed previous dips to this level. Traders are watching to see if the price structure can change in favor of a bounce, even though the current reading suggests less downward momentum. A bullish divergence has appeared on the daily chart, as the RSI shows higher lows while the asset makes lower lows. This signal, shared by EGRAG CRYPTO, often emerges when downward pressure begins to ease. However, for confirmation, XRP would need to rise and regain its previous strength.

 

Data from CryptoQuant shows that XRP experienced significant inflows to Binance over the past month. Exchange wallets saw substantial increases in deposits on October 25 and November 15, with the largest one exceeding 70 million tokens. These occurrences took place during a period of steady price decline, raising concerns about potential additional selling pressure. Typically, increased inflows to exchanges can bring about heightened selling pressure. The timing of the largest inflow suggests that some holders may have decided to sell their positions, contributing to the current correction.

 

Ripple CTO David “JoelKatz” Schwartz has recently made remarks indicating that the network’s next phase might require reevaluating how value flows across its infrastructure. This discussion has drawn fresh attention to the long-established design of the XRP Ledger. It began as developers and community members examined the growing role of the XRP Ledger (XRPL), fueled by new tokenization use cases and the ongoing expansion of decentralized finance applications.

Tech Titans Tumble: Microsoft Slashed to $500, Amazon Holds at $250 in AI Spending Storm

Posted on by Olumide Adesina

Alexander Haissl of Rothschild and Co. Redburn downgraded Microsoft and Amazon.com from a “buy” to a “neutral” rating for the first time since he began coverage in June 2022. Following this announcement, shares of both companies fell by more than 2% in New York

Microsoft Azure doing well in Q1

Haissl stated that the underlying economics are “far weaker than assumed,” and he believes that the industry’s narrative claiming “Gen-AI is just like early cloud 1.0” is becoming “increasingly misplaced.”

Haissl’s downgrades come in the wake of a selloff in the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100, which has seen a decline of nearly $1.8 trillion since its peak in late October, dropping 5.1% as of Monday’s close. Concerns over stretched valuations have led investors to pull out of AI-related stocks.

Additionally, Haissl mentioned that both companies are more likely to overbuild, citing that “cloud 1.0 scaled only after achieving efficiency, while Gen-AI scales on a bloated, inefficient stack.” Rothschild and Co. Redburn has maintained Amazon’s price target at $250 while lowering Microsoft’s target from $560 to $500. According to analysts monitored by Bloomberg, Microsoft has 71 buy-equivalent ratings, two holds, and no sell ratings, while Amazon has 80 buys, five holds, and no sells.

Haissl also covers three additional stocks. He recently assigned a sell rating to Oracle Corp., which has seen its stock drop by about 25% since then. Conversely, his recommendation to downgrade Snowflake Inc. has proven timely, as its stock has increased by approximately 60% since being moved from neutral in March 2024. He currently holds a neutral rating on MongoDB Inc.

Tens of billions of dollars are being invested by tech companies to develop their AI infrastructure. In recent weeks, concerns have heightened over the rate at which depreciating assets like servers and graphics processing units lose their value. Haissl pointed out that “Gen-AI margins already assume longer depreciation schedules of 5-6 years, compared to just three years during the early cloud era.” This suggests that while pricing power is significantly weaker, capital intensity for Gen-AI is much higher on a like-for-like basis. Michael Burry, a hedge fund manager best known for his bet against the US housing market before the 2008 global financial crisis, has commented cryptically on the depreciation of assets at major tech companies.

Meta’s Breakup Bullet Dodged: Declining Share Saves the Day, $1000 Target in Sight

Posted on by Olumide Adesina

Meta achieved a significant victory in federal antitrust court when a judge ruled that the company is not required to dismantle its acquisitions of WhatsApp and Instagram, as they do not constitute monopolies. However, the judge’s reasoning may be a bit uncomfortable.

Judge James Boasberg sided with Meta, stating that since the company’s market share is already declining, it can remain intact. He noted that while Meta is expanding, the range of online activities is also growing, making the company increasingly similar to its competitors.

 

The judge stressed that competition in the artificial intelligence sector will continue to intensify. He noted that various developments over the past decade,  advancements in technology, and changes in social attitudes have reduced Meta’s distinct advantages. According to Boasberg, “Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube have all evolved to feature nearly identical main functionalities.”

**Bull Case:** Overall, digital audio spending is supported by Meta’s strong ecosystem and the stability of the advertising market following the election. The merger synergies between Sirius and XM could enhance buybacks and dividends, potentially adding $200 million in annual EBITDA. If subscriber growth increases through exclusive podcasts, shares could reach $1,000 next year.

The company has managed to fend off potential competitors for years by leveraging its most valuable asset: the “social graph,” or the network of friends and family that users interact with on Facebook and Instagram.

Owning the social graph has been seen as Meta’s competitive advantage, creating a network effect that makes it difficult for users to leave the platform. To replicate this experience on another platform, one would have to rebuild relationships with friends and family.

Over time, however, the balance of power has shifted, and Meta hasn’t always reaped the benefits. Boasberg has often stated his belief that Meta’s role as a network of friends and family has diminished over time. Where else can users go to get updates from everyone in their lives in one location?

 

Meanwhile, TikTok and YouTube have emerged as major players in the social video market. Both platforms have developed advanced recommendation algorithms to tailor content to users’ preferences and boast extensive video libraries that can be shared based on individual tastes. Reports indicate that AI firms like OpenAI are also developing their own social media feeds for users to explore, suggesting that other AI competitors may not be far behind.

Cloudflare Bounces Back: Global Outage Fixed After Crippling ChatGPT and X

Posted on by Olumide Adesina

A significant outage on Cloudflare affected websites globally, including X and ChatGPT, for several hours on Tuesday. The websites for the chief U.S. energy regulator and the New Jersey transit authority were also impacted. Many services were operational again by 10 a.m. in New York

Cloudflare detected a “spike in unusual traffic” to one of its services, which resulted in errors for some traffic passing through its network, according to a company spokesperson. Jackie Dutton, a spokesperson for Cloudflare, stated that it was resolved in four hours.

The issue stemmed from a configuration file that is automatically generated to manage threat traffic; it grew beyond the expected size of entries and caused a crash in the software system managing traffic for several Cloudflare services. Dutton noted that there was no evidence of malicious activity or a cyberattack.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s website, which oversees utilities, power traders, and U.S. electricity markets, was also unavailable. This website provides access to regulatory cases and filings relevant to various businesses, lawyers, and regulators. Additionally, the websites of major international food and agricultural companies, such as Cargill Inc. and Louis Dreyfus Co., went down

According to a representative from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), Cloudflare’s outage also impacted New York City’s transit system. Due to the issue affecting multiple websites, the MTA advised riders to use its apps, MTAapp or TrainTime, for real-time transit status and trip planning. The MTA operates the city’s buses, commuter rails, and subways, making it the largest public transportation system in the United States.