Good morning Asia. This is what is making news in the markets:
Welcome to Asia Morning Briefing, a daily summary of top news during US time and an overview of market movements and analysis. For a detailed overview of the US markets, see CoinDesk’s Crypto Daybook Americas.
BTC is trading around $106,500 as Hong Kong works into the second business day of November. The world’s largest digital asset is holding steady after a week-long drop that erased nearly 13% over the past month. Ethereum traded around $3,620, still almost 20% lower than the same period.
The debate among trading desks this week centers on what is driving cryptocurrency weakness: macro or micro.
Enflux, the Singapore-based market maker, wrote in a note to CoinDesk that “the real story today was the rotation,” with liquidity moving out of cryptocurrencies and back into stock markets led by AI and fintech.
“Wall Street is preparing for another leg higher, driven by liquidity and infrastructure bets, while cryptocurrencies continue to test where their bottom truly lies,” the firm said in its note.
QCP Capital took a different view in its daily update, arguing that the recent reductions have little to do with macro.
Instead, QCP wrote, legacy holders, the “OGs” of Bitcoin, are profiting after a long rally, sending large transfers of BTC to exchanges like Kraken. On-chain data shows that approximately 405,000 BTC in long-standing supply moved over the last month, but prices have remained above the $100,000 threshold.
“The market has absorbed legacy supply without breaking key support,” QCP said, noting that leverage remains low and funding rates remain stable.
Despite divergent explanations, both sides agree that the consolidation phase of cryptocurrencies is not over.
The market is caught between profit-taking by early holders and the broader rotation of venture capital into traditional assets. For now, BTC’s ability to stay above $100,000 suggests structural resilience, even as it struggles to compete with the liquidity narrative driving global stocks.
Market movement
BTC: Bitcoin fell to around $106,500 during Asian trading, extending its recent downtrend as selling by long-term holders offset a slight rally in broader risk assets.
ETH: Ether held near $3,620, underperforming Bitcoin as traders continued to exit alternative exposure amid waning DeFi activity and weak risk appetite.
Gold: Gold stabilized above $4,000 an ounce on Monday, rising 0.6% as traders weighed China’s decision to end a long-running tax rebate on gold, a policy that could curb local demand but lift global prices by tightening supply and increasing replacement costs across the market.
Elsewhere in Crypto
- Ripple Acquires Cryptocurrency Company Palisade to Expand Institutional Payments Business (CoinDesk)
- Nasdaq Rebukes TON Treasury for $558 Million Stock Sale, Cryptocurrency Purchase (Decrypt)
- Ferrari to launch crypto token to allow wealthy fans to participate in 499P auction (Fortune)
