Strive urges MSCI to ‘let the market decide’ on Bitcoin treasury companies

Anthony Scaramucci, a renowned crypto investor and SkyBridge founder, has stirred debates across the crypto community after declaring that Bitcoin, Solana, and Avalanche are the future of blockchain infrastructure.

The prominent crypto investor made his claims to CNBC during the latest Squawk Box event, when he expressed belief that the crypto ecosystem is about to step into a new era driven by tokenization, smarter financial infrastructure, and real-world adoption.

Scaramucci praises Solana for its speed

According to Scaramucci, as more assets spanning from real estate to equities to collectibles increasingly move on-chain in the near future, only crypto assets with the necessary infrastructure will be able to lead the market when the time comes.

He explained that Solana is one of the few blockchains that is adequately equipped to meet the demands of the market in the future due to its speed, reliance, and low transaction cost, thereby positioning it as a global standard for tokenized assets.

While he further emphasized Solana’s high throughput and consistency, Scaramucci expressed confidence that Solana is strongly built for lasting relevance rather than short-lived speculation.

According to Scaramucci, the traditional and digital ecosystem is heading toward a world with three or four major blockchain networks which would lead the general space. Thus, he specifically mentioned that Bitcoin, Solana, and Avalanche are the ones he sees rising to such a level as the market matures.

Following his strong faith in the future prospects of Solana, Scaramucci further revealed that Solana makes up one of the largest portions of both SkyBridge’s and his personal portfolio. He noted that the firm invested early, just as it did with Bitcoin years ago.

U.S. prosecutors say Terraform Labs founder Do Kwon should get 12 years in prison for his role in the remarkable $40 billion collapse of the Terra and Luna tokens. 

In a sentencing submission filed on Thursday to the U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer for the Southern District of New York, prosecutors say Kwon's previous misconduct and the sheer size of the fraud are among the reasons for the 12-year prison sentence. 

"The sheer scale and impact of Kwon's yearslong fraud is notable," they said in the filing. "Kwon deprived UST and Terra purchasers of the ability to make fully informed decisions about their purchases, and artificially inflated the value of Terraform's cryptocurrencies, which directly enriched and raised Kwon's profile."

Last week, Kwon's lawyers argued that a prison term of up to five years was sufficient, citing that the crash was partly due to coordinated trades by third-party firms exploiting vulnerabilities, citing academic papers and reports from Chainalysis. 

Kwon was criminally charged in March 2023 with conspiracy to commit fraud, commodities fraud, wire fraud, securities fraud, conspiracy to commit fraud, and engaging in a conspiracy to commit market manipulation and money laundering. He later pleaded guilty in August to wire fraud and conspiracy to defraud. 

The charges were tied to the crumbling of Terra USD — an algorithmic stablecoin that uses market incentives via algorithms to maintain a stable price. Terra was linked to Luna, a governance token, to keep the prices stable. Terra USD's disintegration provoked a contagion event that brought down several crypto entities in 2022. Prosecutors say Kwon lied about the risks and stability associated with the tokens. 

On Thursday, prosecutors said Kwon should forfeit a little over 19 million dollars, adding that they would not be seeking restitution. 

"The cost and time associated with calculating each investor-victim’s loss, determining whether the victim has already been compensated through the pending bankruptcy, and then paying out a percentage of the victim’s losses, will delay payment and diminish the amount of money ultimately paid to victims," they said. 

Kwon's legal proceedings have been tumultuous. He was arrested in Montenegro in March 2023 for traveling with forged travel documents. At the time, both the U.S. and South Korea had issued warrants for his arrest, which led to a back-and-forth over where he would eventually be extradited. Eventually, he was extradited to the U.S. in December 2024. 

Kwon also faced civil charges in a case brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission in February 2023. The trial for Terraform against the SEC started last year, though without Kwon.

In April 2024, a jury found that both Terraform and Kwon misled investors and were found liable for civil fraud. 

The sentencing submission was signed by U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton. Clayton previously served as chair of the SEC under the first Trump administration and was tapped in November 2024 for his U.S. attorney position. 

Kwon's sentencing date is set for Dec. 11. 

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The lower house of Poland’s parliament failed to secure the required three-fifths majority to override President Karol Nawrocki’s veto of the Crypto-Asset Market Act, pushing the country further away from regulating its digital-asset sector at a moment when lawmakers argue that oversight is increasingly urgent.

As Bloomberg reported Friday, the legislation — advanced by Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s government — was intended to align Poland with the European Union’s MiCA framework for crypto markets. The bill was introduced in June but did not survive the president’s veto.

Nawrocki blocked the measure last week, arguing it would “threaten the freedoms of Poles, their property, and the stability of the state,” as Cointelegraph previously reported.

With the president’s veto upheld, the bill will not move forward, forcing the government to restart its crypto lawmaking process.

Welcome to the US Crypto News Morning Briefing—your essential rundown of the most important developments in crypto for the day ahead.

Grab a coffee as global markets quietly shift with Japan’s bond yields surging and the BoJ hinting at a rate hike. The decades-long yen carry trade, which fueled stocks, crypto, and risk assets, could be unraveling faster than anyone expects.

Crypto News of the Day: Bitcoin Braces as BoJ May End Decades of Cheap Money

Global markets are bracing for a potential macro shock as the Bank of Japan (BoJ) prepares for its December 18–19 monetary policy meeting.

Traders now price a 90% chance of a 25 basis point rate hike, following signals from BoJ Governor Kazuo Ueda and persistent inflation above 2%.

Japan’s 2-year government bond yield has climbed above 1%, its highest since the 2008 Global Financial Crisis, while the 10-year JGB hit a 17-year high, highlighting rising borrowing costs.

Why the Yen Carry Trade Matters

For nearly three decades, the yen carry trade fueled global risk-taking. Investors borrowed yen at ultra-low rates, converted it to dollars, and deployed capital into higher-yielding assets, including US stocks, bonds, and cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.

When Japan raises rates or the yen strengthens, this trade unwinds violently, forcing rapid asset sales.

The consequences are not hypothetical: in August 2024, a BoJ hike triggered a $600 billion crypto market wipe, including Bitcoin falling to $49,000 and $1.14 billion in liquidations. Analysts warn that a similar scenario could repeat if Japanese yields rise further.

Besides Paul Barron, analyst Great Martis also calls the BoJ hike a potential “canary in the coal mine” for crypto and global markets.

Meanwhile, early signs of stress are emerging, as hedge funds and institutional investors closely monitor the simultaneous tightening of liquidity in Japan, the US, and China. This rare convergence could accelerate deleveraging.

Nonetheless, counterpoints exist. Analyst Negentropic notes that most leverage has already been flushed since October. In the same tone, Bob Elliot argues the yen carry trade is largely muted.

Yet even modest unwinding could pressure highly leveraged crypto positions and risk assets globally.

If QE Is Not the Immediate Solution, What’s Next for Bitcoin and Global Risk Assets?

Nic Puckrin, co-founder of Coin Bureau, emphasizes that quantitative easing (QE) historically follows a crisis, not routine rate adjustments.

The current tightening in Japan, the US, and China suggests that markets may face further drawdowns before any liquidity support arrives. Investors betting on easy money could face sharper-than-expected volatility.

Crypto markets are often the first to absorb funding shocks, making Bitcoin and Ethereum bellwethers for liquidity stress.

With the BoJ’s rate decision looming, traders should monitor:

• JGB yields,
• USD/JPY levels, and
• Leveraged positions.

If Japan continues tightening, global deleveraging could persist into 2026, testing the resilience of both crypto and traditional markets.

The era of free Japanese money appears to be coming to an end. Markets now face a higher-volatility environment, where fundamental value may replace cheap leverage as the main driver of asset prices.

Chart of the Day

Byte-Sized Alpha

Here’s a summary of more US crypto news to follow today:

• Why XRP price refuses to rise despite Ripple’s mega moves.
• Polymarket trader makes $1 million on Google search bets, sparking insider trading fears.
• Bitcoin exchange supply nears 5-year low after $2 billion buy this week.
• IMF warns stablecoins pose financial stability risks as cross-border flows surpass Bitcoin and Ethereum.
• Four reasons December could be the best time to start DCA into altcoins.
• Wolfe Research identifies ‘maximum disagreement’ as key Bitcoin market signal: What this means.
• Yi He to women: “No one goes easy on you in business.”

Crypto Equities Pre-Market Overview

Crypto equities market open race: Google Finance

Bitcoin’s derivatives market experienced an extreme turnaround today as a sudden drop in price coincided with mounting macroeconomic tensions, resulting in a staggering 11,588% liquidation imbalance that took the trading community by surprise, according to CoinGlass. 

The downturn began the moment Hassett stated that even 3% growth in the first and second quarters would be disappointing. BTC was trading around $90,500 before sliding down, revealing how crowded the long side had become before the macro hit.

The imbalance number shows how one-sided the wipeout was. For every $1 liquidated from shorts, more than $115 was lost from longs. This only happens when leverage is heavily stacked in one direction and confidence wanes suddenly. CoinGlass">

More than $20 million in BTC long liquidations occurred in minutes, while shorts barely moved. Ethereum and other major cryptocurrencies followed with softer hits, but Bitcoin dominated every time frame on the heatmap.

Fear, uncertainty and doubts

The deeper driver was the macro backdrop. Markets are facing rising economic uncertainty at the same time that a potential new Fed head is signaling rate cuts. Rate cuts are normally bullish, in common sense, which is why traders often try to front-run them. 

However, when the path to cuts is tied to uncertain data, shifting growth expectations and unclear demand strength, the bullish outlook is accompanied by anxiety rather than conviction. This makes leveraged players exit early, not because rate cuts are bad, but because the environment surrounding them is uncertain.

Morgan Stanley's prediction of a 25-basis-point cut in December only intensified the tension. With liquidity low and longs stacked, the market did not wait for confirmation. This imbalance occurred because positioning cleared out the moment uncertainty outweighed comfort, not because of a failure in Bitcoin’s price structure.

Michael Saylor, popular Bitcoin advocate and chairman of leading Bitcoin-focused investment firm Strategy, has expressed delight while issuing appraisals after meeting with Binance’s founder, Changpeng Zhao, for the first time ever.

The meeting, which happened in Dubai during the Binance Blockchain Week event, has made headlines in the crypto ecosystem, as it had brought together many high-profile personalities in the industry.

Saylor praises world's largest exchange 

Shortly after the conclusion of the event, Michael Saylor took to X, issuing a brief remark on his meeting with Binance’s CZ, with the tag “Great Bitcoin Exchange.”

Michael Saylor made the post, adding a photo featuring him alongside the Binance founder at Binance Blockchain Week. The post had immediately drawn the attention of the crypto community, with many users celebrating the symbolism behind the notable convergence of the crypto icons.

Notably, the meeting had earlier been publicly acknowledged by CZ himself shortly after Saylor delivered his speech at the event on December 4.

While both Saylor and CZ have been prominent figures within the cryptocurrency community for years, commentators have praised their meeting as a clear representation of the opposite ends of the crypto market dynamics. This is so because one is a renowned buyer of the leading cryptocurrency, while the other is publicly known for selling, describing their meeting as the “Great Exchange” Saylor was talking about.

Saylor describes Bitcoin's role in the evolving world economy 

During his presentation at the event hosted by Binance, Saylor emphasized the role of Bitcoin in the world economy, noting that it has only just begun.

While it is not a surprise that Saylor’s belief is firmly rooted in Bitcoin’s long-term prospect, he explained that Bitcoin is the foundation of economic markets. As such, leading tech giants like Google, Microsoft, and even the Navy’s spending power is no match for the Bitcoin trading power.

Furthermore, Saylor also gave a few highlights on Strategy’s ongoing Bitcoin strategy and has confirmed the firm’s resilience in continuing to accumulate Bitcoin regardless of the market conditions.