Bitcoin falls to 12-week low, Strategy and Metaplanet to lose MSCI index membership, and more

The following article is adapted from The Block's newsletter, The Daily, which comes out on weekday afternoons.

Happy Thursday! Bitcoin fell to a 12-week low as Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's exit rattled markets, adding to pressure on crypto prices.

Also in today's newsletter, Strategy and Metaplanet lose MSCI index membership, Ethlabs proposes moving Ethereum's post-quantum timeline to 2027, the SEC enters the debate over stock perpetual derivatives, and more.

Meanwhile, crypto exchange Unocoin's 'login suspension' continues, DTCC plans to bring tokenized securities to Solana, and NYDFS sets new advertising standards for crypto firms.

P.S. Don't forget to check out The Latent, our sister website covering AI. Get The Latent Daily here and all other The Block newsletters here. Also, follow The Block and The Latent on X for more updates.

Bitcoin falls to 12-week low as Jensen Huang's exit from Nvidia rattles markets

Bitcoin fell to its lowest level in nearly 12 weeks on Thursday, dropping to $71,200 as markets reacted to Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's abrupt departure and concerns over potential selling pressure from MSCI's removal of Strategy from its indexes.

• Bitcoin was down 3.4% at around $71,600 at the time of reporting. Ether, Solana and XRP also fell more than 3.5% over the previous 24 hours, while crypto liquidations exceeded $750 million, including more than $634 million in long positions, according to CoinGlass.
• Huang resigned as Nvidia's president, CEO and board member with immediate effect following reports about his personal conduct. Nvidia named CFO Colette Kress as interim CEO, while its shares opened Thursday down 12%. Nvidia perpetual futures on Hyperliquid recorded $2.34 billion in 24-hour trading volume.
• "We remain cautious on BTC as it tests $73k, the level we flagged as first potential support, with no convincing signs of size stepping in at these prices," Wintermute OTC trader Jasper De Maere said.

Strategy, Metaplanet to lose MSCI index membership on Nov. 30

MSCI will remove bitcoin treasury companies Strategy and Metaplanet from its USA Index and Japan Small Cap Index, respectively, at the close of Nov. 30, according to filings published Wednesday.

• The changes follow MSCI's new eligibility rules for non-operating companies, which examine operating assets and five financial measures. The rules replaced earlier restrictions on companies holding at least half their assets in crypto. Ethereum treasury company Sharplink was not listed among the November small-cap deletions.
• Strategy previously criticized the proposed rules as "discriminatory." MSCI did not provide company-specific reasons for the removals.

Ethlabs proposes moving Ethereum's post-quantum upgrade to 2027

Ethereum research group Ethlabs has proposed bringing forward the network's post-quantum upgrade to 2027 from the Ethereum Foundation's previous December 2029 target, citing faster advances in AI and growing uncertainty around quantum computing risks.

• The proposal, called "pqai27," aims to make Ethereum resistant to both quantum threats and AI-driven security risks. Ethlabs outlined two levels of readiness for 2027: a network with post-quantum consensus and account protection, followed by full-capacity support for post-quantum transactions and data availability.
• To meet the earlier timeline, Ethlabs wants Ethereum to reconsider upgrades that are not essential to post-quantum readiness, including changes planned for the Hegotá hard fork. The group said it would withdraw its own quick slots proposal from Hegotá and redirect resources toward pqai27.

SEC backs CFTC in dispute over stock perpetual derivatives

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has filed a court brief supporting the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in a legal dispute over whether the CFTC can approve perpetual derivatives tied to individual U.S. stocks.

• The Capital Markets Alliance, whose members include Cboe and Citadel Securities, sued the CFTC last week, arguing that these products fall under SEC jurisdiction and asking a court to overturn their approvals.
• The SEC rejected claims that the CFTC had acted without its involvement, saying the two agencies regularly coordinate on oversight.

Tron, Tether and Chainalysis launch alliance to fight AI-powered crypto crime

Tron, Tether and Chainalysis have formed a new Digital Crime Task Force to identify and disrupt illicit activity involving USDT on the Tron blockchain.

• The initiative aims to work with law enforcement to detect suspicious activity and freeze assets before criminals can move funds. It follows the dissolution of the T3 Financial Crime Unit, a previous alliance between Tron, Tether and TRM Labs formed in 2024.

In the next 24 hours

• The U.S. will release October producer price index (PPI) data, including core PPI, on Friday. Fed officials Mary Daly and Philip Jefferson are also scheduled to speak.
• The eurozone will release its second estimate of third-quarter GDP growth, preliminary employment figures and September trade balance data. ECB President Christine Lagarde is also scheduled to speak.
• Token unlocks include Aztec (AZTEC) and Wormhole (W).

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