Good morning, Asia. Here’s what’s making news in the markets:
Welcome to the Asia Morning Briefing, a daily overview of top stories in US hours and an overview of market movements and analysis. For a detailed overview of US markets, see CoinDesk’s Crypto Daybook Americas.
BTC is trading hands around $106,500 as Hong Kong works through the second business day of November. The world’s largest digital asset is steady after a weeklong slide that erased nearly 13% over the past month. Ethereum was trading around $3,620, still down nearly 20% over the same period.
The debate among trading desks this week centers on what’s driving crypto’s weakness: macro or micro.
Singapore-based market maker Enflux wrote in a note to CoinDesk that the “real story today was rotation,” with liquidity flowing out of crypto and back into equity markets led by AI and fintech.
“Wall Street is preparing for another leg higher, fueled by liquidity and infrastructure bets, as crypto continues to test where its bottom really lies,” the firm said in its note.
QCP Capital took a different view in its daily update, arguing that the recent moves have little to do with macro.
Instead, QCP wrote, legacy holders, the “OGs” of Bitcoin, are taking profits after a long rally and sending large BTC transfers to exchanges like Kraken. On-chain data shows that around 405,000 BTC in long-term supply have moved over the past 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 flat.
Despite divergent explanations, both sides agree that crypto’s consolidation phase is not over.
The market is caught between profit taking from early owners and the broader rotation of venture capital into traditional assets. So far, 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 trade in Asia, extending its recent downtrend as selling by long-term holders offset a mild rebound in broader risk assets.
ETH: Ether hovered near $3,620 and underperformed Bitcoin as traders continued to rotate out of alt exposure amid fading DeFi activity and weak risk appetite.
Gold: Gold stabilized above $4,000 per ounce. ounce on Monday and rose 0.6% as traders weighed China’s move to end a long-running gold tax rebate, a policy that could dampen local demand but lift global prices by tightening supply and raising replacement costs across the market.
Elsewhere in Crypto
- Ripple Acquires Crypto Wallet Firm Palisade to Expand Institutional Payments Business (CoinDesk)
- Nasdaq reprimands TON Treasury for $558M stock sale, crypto buy (decrypt)
- Ferrari Releases Crypto Token To Let Wealthy Fans Participate In 499P Auction (Fortune)
