Из жизни альткоинов
Tether Pauses Bitcoin Purchases: World’s Largest Gold Buyer In Q3 With Over 120 Tons In Reserves
Tether, the issuer of the world’s most widely used stablecoin, USDT, has evolved over the years into one of the most profitable and resilient firms within the crypto space.
Under the leadership of CEO Paolo Ardoino, Tether has broadened its focus beyond digital assets, becoming a significant player in the commodity market, particularly with substantial gold reserves.
Tether’s Gold AmbitionRecent reports from the Financial Times reveal that Tether has stirred the gold markets this year by becoming the largest holder of the precious metal outside of central banks.
According to Bryce Elder’s analysis, the crypto firm’s stockpile is comparable to that of smaller central banks, such as those in Korea, Hungary, and Greece. Last quarter, the company’s gold acquisitions accounted for nearly 2% of total gold demand, equating to almost 12% of central bank purchases.
Sources indicate that Tether’s investments in gold reflect the belief among its insiders that the commodity serves as “a superior store of value” and a “better hedge against inflation” compared to digital currencies.
Although Tether has significant holdings in Bitcoin, its investment in gold has surpassed its exposure to the leading cryptocurrency. Throughout the year, Tether purchased 26 tons of gold, bringing its total gold stockpile to over 116 tons.
However, Tether’s ambitions in the gold sector extend beyond mere accumulation; the firm is actively pursuing deals related to gold royalty companies, which finance mining operations in exchange for a percentage of future revenues.
Plans To Dominate The Gold Royalty SpaceIn June, Tether Investments—responsible for managing the company’s profits—acquired a minority stake in Toronto-listed Elemental Altus for $105 million. An additional $100 million was invested in September amid Elemental’s merger with rival EMX, resulting in Tether holding a controlling stake in the company.
Insiders suggest that the crypto giant has broader plans, aiming to consolidate small to mid-cap gold royalty firms to strengthen its position in the market. “Their goal is to keep consolidating the small to mid-cap gold royalty space,” said an insider familiar with Tether’s strategy.
However, while some view this approach as savvy, others are skeptical, with one commodity industry executive labeling Tether as “the weirdest company I have ever dealt with.”
Gold royalties offer the company a unique advantage over traditional bullion; they provide fixed exposure to gold, insulating the stablecoin issuer from fluctuations in gold prices. Yet, amid these ventures, Tether has faced scrutiny regarding its financials.
NewsBTC reported on Wednesday that S&P Global downgraded Tether’s assets to its lowest rating, “weak,” citing concerns over the firm’s rising exposure to high-risk reserve assets, which could undermine the collateral backing its stablecoin during a financial crisis.
According to a research note from S&P Global, this downgrade was part of a new assessment system introduced in 2023, which classifies stablecoins on a scale from 1 to 5 based on risk.
The firm’s USDT stablecoin received a rating of “5 (weak),” reflecting a decline from its previous score of “4 (constrained).” Analysts expressed concerns regarding Tether’s limited transparency concerning the creditworthiness of its custodians and counterparties.
In response to the downgrade, the firm’s CEO, Paolo Ardoino, took to social media platform X (formerly Twitter) to address the concerns, stating, “We wear your loathing with pride.”
He contended that traditional credit rating methodologies used by agencies like S&P stem from “outdated systems that have proven unreliable,” leading to renewed regulatory scrutiny of these legacy models.
Featured image from DALL-E, chart from TradingView.com
Власти Южной Кореи ужесточили меры борьбы с отмыванием денег через криптоактивы
В ARK Invest назвали два главных фактора возобновления роста биткоина в декабре
Эксперты Ведомостей обсудят конкуренцию для фондового рынка со стороны ЦФА
Bitcoin Extreme Fear Streak Extends To 16 Days—Longest Since 2022
The Bitcoin Fear & Greed Index has been in the extreme fear territory for two weeks now, showcasing the effect of the crash on investor sentiment.
Bitcoin Fear & Greed Index Is Still Inside Extreme Fear ZoneThe “Fear & Greed Index” refers to an indicator created by Alternative that tells us about the average sentiment present among traders in the Bitcoin and wider cryptocurrency markets.
The index uses the data of these five factors to determine the investor mentality: trading volume, market cap dominance, volatility, social media sentiment, and Google Trends. It then represents it using a numeric scale that runs from zero to hundred.
All values above 53 on this scale correspond to a net sentiment of greed. Similarly, those below 47 imply that the investors are fearful. The levels lying between the cutoffs correspond to a neutral mentality.
Besides these three main zones, there are also two “extreme” regions called the extreme fear (below 25) and extreme greed (above 75). The market has been in the former of the two territories lately.
The extremely fearful sentiment is a result of the market crash that Bitcoin and other digital assets have gone through in November. The hit on the investor mentality has been so hard that the index has remained inside this zone for 16 days now, as the below chart shows.
The last time that the Bitcoin Fear & Greed Index saw such a long streak of extreme fear was way back during the 2022 bear market. It’s hard to say how long the streak will extend, however, as BTC has enjoyed a rebound during the past couple of days, with its price returning back above $91,000.
The index has already been on the way up as its latest value is 22, nearing the boundary of the extreme fear zone.
Considering this trend, the Bitcoin Fear & Greed Index may be able to escape the extreme fear zone if the cryptocurrency’s recovery continues in the coming days.
As for what the latest streak of extreme fear sentiment could mean for the asset, history may hold the answer. Often, BTC and other digital assets have tended to move in the direction that goes contrary to crowd expectations. This means that investors being overly bullish can result in tops, while an excess of pessimism can lead to a bottom.
The recent rebound in the Bitcoin price could be this contrarian signal once again playing out for the sector. Naturally, the longer investor excitement toward the rally stays subdued, the better may be its chances of being sustainable.
BTC PriceAt the time of writing, Bitcoin is floating around $91,600, up more than 6% over the last week.
В Беларуси созданы реестры криптокошельков с незаконными доходами
Разработчики Shiba Inu пообещали повысить конфиденциальность блокчейна Shibarium
Terra Founder Do Kwon Requests Five-Year Prison Term Ahead Of December 11 Sentencing
The lawyers of Terraform Labs’ co-founder are reportedly seeking a lesser sentence for the South Korean crypto entrepreneur’s role in the multi-billion-dollar collapse, claiming that he has already “suffered substantially” for his crimes.
Terra’s Do Kwon Says Five Years In Prison Will SufficeOn Wednesday, Terraform Labs’ co-founder and former CEO, Do Kwon, requested a maximum five-year prison term for his involvement in the $40 billion collapse of TerraUSD (UST) stablecoin in 2022.
According to the sentencing recommendation reviewed by Bloomberg, Kwon’s legal team affirmed that the Terraform co-founder should receive a five-year sentence, as he has already spent nearly three years locked up, “with more than half that time in brutal conditions in Montenegro.”
The former CEO’s lawyers argued that he had “suffered substantially for his crimes,” and the requested prison term would suffice, adding that the prosecutor’s expected recommendation of a 12-year sentence is “‘far greater than necessary’ to achieve justice.”
Moreover, the court filing reportedly stressed that Kwon had already agreed to forfeit more than $19 million and some properties as part of the August plea deal. As reported by Bitcoinist, Kwon pleaded guilty in August to two of the nine charges indicted by US authorities.
Notably, he initially pleaded not guilty in January to a nine-count indictment that charged him with securities fraud, wire fraud, commodities fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. However, he changed his stance in August, pleading guilty to conspiracy to defraud and wire fraud.
At the time, Kwon also apologized for his actions, affirming that he “made false and misleading statements” about why TerraUSD regained its peg in 2021 by “failing to disclose a trading firm’s role in restoring that peg,” adding, “What I did was wrong.”
Prosecutors are expected to file their sentencing recommendation soon. As part of the plea deal, they previously agreed not to seek more than 12 years in prison for the Terraform Labs co-founder. The sentencing by US District Judge Paul Engelmayer is scheduled for December 11, 2025, in Manhattan.
South Korea’s Prosecution Pending
In the sentencing recommendation, Kwon’s lawyers stressed that the former CEO still faces trial in his home country, South Korea, for the same conduct, noting that local prosecutors there are seeking a prison term of up to 40 years.
Following the collapse of Terraform Labs, both South Korean and US authorities sought to bring Kwon to justice. Nonetheless, he had been on the run for months, fleeing his home country and Singapore ahead of the company’s downfall.
In March 2023, Montenegrin authorities detained him along with Terraform Lab’s former finance officer, Han Chang-joon, for trying to travel with fake documents at the Podgorica Airport. Notably, Kwon was under Montenegro’s custody for over a year and a half and faced a four-month sentence, later receiving an extra two months at the request of the US and South Korea.
The two countries entered a prolonged battle to bring the crypto entrepreneur to trial in each country. Initially, Montenegrin authorities approved South Korea’s extradition request, but he was ultimately extradited to the US on December 31, 2024, after Montenegro’s interior ministry signed their request.
Tether увеличила свои золотые резервы до 116 тонн
Банк России раскрыл сумму накоплений граждан в биткоинах
US Bank тестирует запуск стейблкоинов на базе блокчейна Stellar
Bitcoin Options Activity Surges As BTC-Denominated OI Breaks Record
Data shows the Bitcoin-denominated Options Open Interest has witnessed a sharp surge recently and set a new all-time high (ATH).
Bitcoin Options Trend Suggests Investors Repositioning Amid DowntrendAccording to the latest weekly report from Glassnode, the recent market volatility has brought with it fresh activity on the options market. Options are one of the ways derivatives traders bet on future Bitcoin price action. An options contract grants the investor the right (but not the obligation) to buy or sell the cryptocurrency at a set price on or before a pre-set date. Bullish options bets are known as “calls,” while bearish ones as “puts.”
In the past, futures trading dominated the BTC derivatives market, but in recent times, options have gained popularity and now rival futures in terms of the Open Interest.
The Open Interest here refers to an indicator that measures the total amount of positions related to a given market that are open on all centralized exchanges. Below is the chart for this metric shared by Glassnode in the report that shows the trend in its BTC-denominated value for the options market over the past year.
As is visible in the graph, the Bitcoin Options Open Interest has shot up recently, indicating that options traders have been opening new positions. This surge in activity has come as BTC’s spot price has gone through some sharp volatility. The rise in the indicator has been so strong that it has pushed its value to a new ATH. Glassnode noted that this is a result of “a combination of volatility-arbitrage strategies and renewed demand for risk management.”
While the Options Open Interest denominated in BTC has spiked, the same hasn’t been true for the USD version, which remains well below the peak witnessed in late-October.
That said, the rise in the BTC-denominated metric is still a sign that investors have been repositioning, even if the overall USD capital involved is lower. “This sets the stage for the upcoming key expiry, which is shaping up to be one of the most significant in the near term,” explained the analytics firm.
Like the USD-denominated Options Open Interest, the indicator for the perpetual futures market has also seen a decline recently.
As displayed in the above chart, the Bitcoin Futures Open Interest has been following a slow and steady decline since the massive deleveraging event in October. The pace of the decline indicates investors themselves have been pulling back on risk, rather than facing forceful liquidations.
The report concluded:
The market now rests on a leaner leverage base, which lowers the odds of sharp, liquidation-driven volatility and reflects a more cautious, defensive positioning across futures markets.
BTC PriceBitcoin has returned to $91,300 following its sharp 5% surge over the past day.
Ethereum Founder Buterin Donates 256 ETH To Two Privacy Messaging Projects
Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin has quietly redirected part of his growing on-chain privacy activity toward the encrypted-messaging space, donating a total of 256 ETH to SimpleX Chat and Session via the Railgun privacy protocol.
Onchain analytics firm Arkham first flagged the move, noting “VITALIK JUST SENT $2.9M $ETH TO RAILGUN. Vitalik holds over $700 MILLION of ETH, and just sent $2.9M into Railgun. What is he cooking?”
VITALIK JUST SENT $2.9M $ETH TO RAILGUN
Vitalik holds over $700 MILLION of ETH, and just sent $2.9M into Railgun.
What is he cooking? pic.twitter.com/2HvDFRDqi2
— Arkham (@arkham) November 26, 2025
Buterin Backs SimpleX And SessionShortly after, Buterin confirmed the donations from his vitalik.eth account and framed them explicitly as a bet on the next frontier of privacy: permissionless and metadata-hardened messaging. “Encrypted messaging, like @signalapp, is critical for preserving our digital privacy,” he wrote. “Two important next steps for the space are (i) permissionless account creation and (ii) metadata privacy.” He then named Session and SimpleX as “two messaging apps pushing these directions forward.”
Buterin specified that he had “donated 128 ETH to each” project, providing their official websites for anyone wishing to “follow on,” and then pivoted from philanthropy to adoption: “But also, actually download and use them!”
The transactions to SimpleX and Session were executed via Railgun, a zero-knowledge privacy system on Ethereum that obscures the sender, recipient, token type and amount when interacting with smart contracts and DeFi protocols.
While Buterin has used Railgun and other privacy-preserving systems repeatedly over the past two years, he has often explained that such transfers typically represent “some donation to a charitable, non-profit, or other project,” rather than personal cash-outs.The latest pattern fits that narrative: funds routed into Railgun and then out to privacy-focused infrastructure and applications, this time in the messaging domain.
In his post, Buterin positions encrypted messengers as a crucial layer in the broader privacy stack alongside financial anonymity. He explicitly ties the importance of Signal-style end-to-end encryption to new requirements that go beyond content secrecy: “permissionless account creation” and “metadata privacy.” The first is about removing reliance on centralized, real-world identifiers such as phone numbers or email addresses in order to create an account. The second targets the far less visible but equally revealing exhaust of digital communication: who talks to whom, when, and from where.
Why The Ethereum Founder Supports Both ProjectsBoth SimpleX and Session are trying to address those problems in ways that diverge sharply from the mainstream model of phone-number-based, cloud-synced messengers. SimpleX’s own documentation emphasizes “complete privacy of your identity, profile, contacts and metadata,” stressing that the platform “has no identifiers assigned to the users – not even random numbers.”
Instead, users establish connections via QR codes or links, and communication routing is designed so that the service itself cannot reconstruct the social graph. Session, originally forked from Signal but rebuilt around onion routing and decentralized service nodes, is pushing a similar line: no phone numbers, Tor-like network-level obfuscation, and attention to metadata minimization.
Buterin is clear that his endorsement is not a claim that these apps are already finished products. “Neither of the two are perfect pieces of software, they have a way to go to get to truly optimal user experience and security,” he cautioned. He then sketched the core engineering problems that still need to be solved if “strong metadata privacy” is to coexist with the kind of convenience users now expect from mainstream messengers.
“Strong metadata privacy requires decentralization, decentralization is hard, users expecting multi-device support makes everything harder,” he wrote. He also flagged Sybil and denial-of-service resistance as a still-open design space: developers must harden “both in the message routing network and on the user side (without forcing phone number dependence).”
The latest donations also underline how Buterin increasingly uses his personal holdings to nudge the ecosystem toward specific priorities: privacy-preserving DeFi, open-source infrastructure, and now, metadata-resistant communication tools. In this case, he explicitly calls for more developer attention: “These problems need more eyes on them. I wish all teams working on these important problems best of luck.”
At press time, Ethereum (ETH) traded at $3,007.
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