Crypto Market Update: November 28, 2025

A professional observes cryptocurrency charts on a digital screen, next to the title 'Crypto Market Update' from Klever.

Crypto Market can shift direction in an instant, and this week delivered a clear example of just how quickly momentum can return.

After a period marked by corrections, uncertainty, and cautious sentiment, Bitcoin suddenly accelerated and crossed the $90,000 mark once again, signaling a sharp change in the tone of the market.

Across the board, traders watched rapid liquidations, unexpected resilience in some sectors, weakness in others, and a series of events that shaped everything from large-cap assets to newly launched tokens. 

Sentiment indicators, ETF flows, macro expectations, and ecosystem updates all converged to form a landscape where even small changes triggered meaningful reactions.

With so many forces moving at once, this moment offers a clear snapshot of how interconnected the market has become — and why every shift in liquidity, psychology, and global conditions now carries outsized influence.

This article breaks down the main events of the week, the signals behind them, and what they reveal about the broader market narrative forming beneath the surface.

Bitcoin Surges Past $90,000: The Forces Behind the Latest Rally

Weekly Bitcoin price chart on CoinMarketCap showing a surge to $92,000, with market data, volume, and circulating supply.

Source: CoinMarketCap

Bitcoin surprised the market once again by breaking above $90,000, reaching around $92,200 in a strong move driven by short liquidations, an improved macro backdrop, and a renewed appetite for risk.

What pushed Bitcoin above $90,000?

  • $241 million in short positions liquidated

The main catalyst was the liquidation of short positions, which forced rapid buybacks of BTC.

This mechanism — known as a short squeeze — increases buying pressure and accelerates upward movement.

  • Return of risk appetite in global markets

The rally aligns with improving sentiment in traditional markets.

The S&P 500 saw multiple positive sessions, showing that investors moved back into risk-oriented assets.

  • Expectations of interest rate cuts in the U.S.

With projections that the Federal Reserve could begin cutting rates in the coming months, liquidity-sensitive assets like Bitcoin tend to react positively.

  • Shift in sentiment after weeks of corrections

Following a period of uncertainty, investors started taking long positions again, adding fuel to the rally.

How the macro environment influenced BTC

Bitcoin benefited directly from conditions marked by:

  • More favorable liquidity
  • Price corrections across traditional assets
  • Expectations of a softer monetary policy

Today, BTC behaves increasingly like a global risk asset, reacting to macroeconomic sentiment in a similar way to stocks, tech, and commodities sensitive to interest-rate cycles.

The correlation with the S&P 500 and its impact on BTC

The report highlights that Bitcoin has once again tracked traditional market movements:

  • S&P 500 rising ➝ BTC rising
  • Risk aversion ➝ BTC slows down

This reinforces that Bitcoin, despite its independent value proposition, is still affected by the same capital flows that move large financial markets.

Is the rally sustainable? Key considerations

While breaking above $90,000 is significant, several factors call for caution:

  • The move was driven by short liquidations, not necessarily by on-chain fundamentals
  • Important technical resistance levels are still intact
  • Changes in interest-rate expectations could quickly reverse the move
  • BTC remains exposed to volatility and sharp corrections

Analysts cited expect BTC to face challenges before attempting levels closer to $100,000.

What this rally reveals about the current market phase

For investors, analysts, and content creators, the latest price action shows that:

  • BTC reacts strongly to interest rates, liquidity, and global sentiment
  • Short squeezes remain powerful volatility drivers
  • Traditional markets and crypto are increasingly interconnected
  • Moves above $90,000 may be more technical than fundamental

This moment invites deeper conversations about volatility, macroeconomic trends, institutional flows, and market psychology.

Today´s Fear & Greed Index (11/28/2025)

Crypto Fear and Greed Index dashboard with a fear reading of 20 and a historical chart relating market sentiment to the price of Bitcoin.

Source: CoinMarketCap

Today’s Fear & Greed Index registered 20, showing that the market remains in a Fear zone, even after a slight improvement compared to previous days, when sentiment was in Extreme Fear.

Connection Between the Index and Bitcoin’s Movement

The chart behavior shows a clear relationship between market sentiment and BTC price:

  • When the index was in green zones earlier this year, Bitcoin traded above $120,000.
  • As sentiment cooled into Fear, BTC pulled back into the $70,000–$90,000 range.
  • The entry into Extreme Fear at the end of November brought higher volatility and lower volume.
  • The current reading shows stabilization, but still reflects uncertainty over short-term momentum.

What Today’s Fear Reading Signals for the Market

1. More caution, but no signs of panic
The rise from 11 → 18 → 20 throughout the week suggests that selling pressure has weakened.

2. Traders remain defensive
Fear phases are typically associated with:

  • Reduced exposure
  • Increased positions in stablecoins
  • Lower leverage
  • Stronger reactions to news

3. Long-term investors look for entry points
Historically, readings between 10 and 25 tend to appear during:

  • Discounted price levels
  • Early accumulation phases
  • Closer monitoring of crypto whale activity
The Monad blockchain logo is prominently displayed on a blue and purple background, emphasizing its proposition of high performance and parallelization in smart contracts.

Source: The Block

Monad activated its mainnet on November 24, 2025 and released an airdrop that drew attention due to its size and the chosen distribution model.

The MON token entered the market with high expectations — but also with criticism surrounding its supply and team allocation.

What Is Monad?

Monad is an EVM-compatible layer-1 blockchain designed to deliver high performance, low latency, and robust support for DeFi applications.
Its main appeal is the promise of combining scalability with full compatibility with the Ethereum ecosystem — without requiring new languages or tooling from developers.

Monad’s $105 Million Airdrop Disappoints the Market

Monad executed one of the largest airdrops of the year — worth around $105 million in MON — yet the launch left many participants and traders disappointed.

Despite strong anticipation, the token debuted with weaker performance than expected, reviving concerns about tokenomics, incentives, and the sustainability of new projects.

Why Did the Airdrop Disappoint?

1. No price jump at launch

Users expected MON to appreciate quickly after listing.
That didn’t happen.
The token debuted close to its prior public-sale valuation, without momentum.

2. Lower rewards than expected

Posts on social platforms show that many participants received smaller allocations than anticipated, even after months of testing and engagement with Monad programs.

3. Immediate token selling

A portion of recipients sold their MON as soon as tokens became unlocked.
This increased sell pressure and capped price movement.

4. Unfavorable market conditions

With risk appetite lower and liquidity declining across crypto, recent token launches have struggled — which also affected MON’s debut.

Structural Factors Behind the Frustration

Beyond the initial reaction, several tokenomic elements raised concerns:

  • Very large total supply (100 billion)
  • Only 10.8% unlocked at launch
  • Large allocation for the team (27%) and investors (19.7%)
  • Unlock schedules that may create future sell pressure

These points have left parts of the community uncertain about the token’s ability to maintain price stability in the medium term.

Monad Token (MON) Drops Sharply Amid Profit-Taking and Fake Transactions: What’s Going On

The Monad blockchain logo is prominently displayed on a blue and purple background, emphasizing its proposition of high performance and parallelization in smart contracts.

Source: The Block

The MON token from the Monad blockchain continues to fall sharply following its launch and initial airdrop.

The recent decline isn’t driven only by natural sell pressure — it’s also tied to a growing wave of fake transactions and scams involving counterfeit contracts, which is damaging market confidence.

Why Is the MON Token Falling?

Two main factors explain the drop:

1. Profit-taking after the airdrop

Many airdrop participants sold their tokens as soon as they received MON, pushing the price downward.
This behavior is common in new projects, but in Monad’s case, the pressure was stronger due to the large number of recipients and the high initial supply.

2. Fake transactions creating panic in the market

Scammers created fake tokens mimicking MON and are sending fraudulent transfers that appear to come from legitimate wallets.
These fake transactions:

  • confuse investors
  • create distrust
  • trigger fears of exploits
  • lead to panic selling

The Monad team had to issue alerts stating that the suspicious transfers did not come from the official team.

What This Situation Reveals About Monad and Its Ecosystem

Risks of a recent launch
New projects attract attention — and also scammers.

Sensitive tokenomics
High supply + early unlocks + airdrop selling = strong volatility.

Lack of user education
Many investors don’t know how to verify:

  • the official contract address
  • the legitimacy of transfers
  • official communication channels

This creates fertile ground for scams.

Bitcoin ETFs Lose $1.2 Billion: Understanding the Drop and What It Means for the Market

Bitcoin ETFs just recorded one of their worst weeks since spot funds were launched in the United States.

The main products saw a combined $1.2 billion in outflows in just seven days, reflecting a sharp withdrawal of capital by investors.

The decline also set a new negative monthly record, with more than $3.79 billion pulled out in November alone.

Below is a direct summary of the report, an explanation of what’s driving the drop, and the broader market implications.

What Happened to Bitcoin ETFs?

  • The 11 U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs had one of the most negative weeks on record, with nearly $1.2 billion in combined losses.
  • November ended with a record $3.79 billion in outflows, signaling a major reduction in investor exposure.
  • The outflows coincided with Bitcoin’s fall from its peak above $126,000 to the $81,000–$86,000 range — its lowest level since April.
  • Even BlackRock’s IBIT, the largest Bitcoin ETF in the world, saw significant redemptions.
  • The movement reflects a global environment of caution, high interest rates, and a preference for safer assets — conditions that reduce appetite for volatile investments.

Why Are Bitcoin ETFs Facing Such Large Outflows?

1. Bitcoin price correction

A drop of more than 30% from the peak triggered automatic selling, profit-taking, and deleveraging.

2. Macroeconomic pressure

Uncertainty around interest rates, inflation, and global liquidity pushed investors to scale back risk exposure.

3. Perception of trend exhaustion

After months of heavy inflows, ETFs entered a cycle of outflows just as the market turned bearish.

4. Institutional impact

Because many of these funds are used by asset managers and financial advisors, a change in institutional sentiment results in large-scale exits very quickly.

What Does This Mean for the Bitcoin Market?

Reduced institutional buy-side liquidity
When ETFs experience consecutive outflows, less capital enters to support price during downturns.

Higher volatility
Large withdrawals put added pressure on Bitcoin, contributing to sharper declines.

Shift in investor profile
Short-term participants step away, while long-term-focused investors become more prominent.

Reassessment of the “strong institutional adoption” narrative
ETFs brought billions into the market — but they also showed that institutions can exit just as quickly as they enter.

What Investors and Analysts Should Watch Going Forward

  • Daily ETF flows (inflows/outflows)
  • Recovery or continued decline of IBIT (BlackRock) and FBTC (Fidelity)
  • Behavior of long-term holders
  • Relationship between Bitcoin’s price and global liquidity
  • Stablecoin flows — a key signal of market strength or weakness

These indicators help determine whether selling pressure is easing or if more challenging weeks may be ahead.

Altcoin ETFs (XRP and Solana) Close in the Green Despite Uncertainty in the Crypto Market

Even with selling pressure dominating the crypto market, altcoin ETFs showed strength and posted significant net inflows.

According to the report, funds linked to XRP and Solana (SOL) ended in positive territory and drew attention for the volume they captured at a time when Bitcoin and Ethereum faced heightened volatility.

How Much Capital Flowed Into the Solana and XRP ETFs?

The numbers show that institutional demand for altcoins remains strong:

Solana (SOL)

  • $843.81 million accumulated in ETFs since launch
  • $57.99 million in inflows in a single day (Monday)

• XRP

  • $628.82 million in total net assets
  • $164.04 million in inflows on the same day

This positive flow contrasts sharply with the drop seen in the spot market, signaling growing interest from traditional investors seeking exposure to higher-liquidity altcoins.

Why Are Altcoin ETFs Attracting Capital Even in an Uncertain Market?

1. Regulated, safer entry for traditional investors

ETFs offer exposure without the need to use crypto exchanges or manage wallets, lowering barriers and attracting institutional profiles.

2. Diversification movement

With BTC and ETH under pressure, part of the capital rotates into alternatives viewed as having higher return potential, such as Solana and XRP.

3. Risk rotation

Investors adjust positions toward assets that may rebound faster once the market stabilizes. Altcoins often have more aggressive recovery cycles.

4. Signal of institutional adoption

The arrival of new altcoin ETFs reinforces that the market is expanding options beyond Bitcoin — which brings new capital flows.

Points of Caution: Positive Flows Don’t Guarantee Upside

Even with strong inflows, some risks remain:

  • Altcoins remain more volatile than Bitcoin
  • ETF inflows don’t guarantee price appreciation
  • Some capital may be short-term, increasing volatility
  • Performance depends on real adoption in each ecosystem

Still, the current landscape shows consistent institutional demand for assets like Solana and XRP.

What This Movement Reveals About the Crypto Market

For analysts, on-chain researchers, and tokenomics writers:

  • Demand for altcoin ETFs shows the market is maturing
  • Positive flows reinforce investor interest beyond BTC/ETH
  • XRP and Solana continue to establish themselves as the leading altcoins for institutional products
  • ETF behavior has become a relevant sentiment indicator

This topic offers excellent material for content about diversification, liquidity, portfolio construction, and comparisons between ETFs and self-custody.

Vitalik Buterin Reveals What to Expect from Ethereum in 2026: Scalability, Gas, and Network Optimization

Vitalik Buterin outlined Ethereum’s priorities for 2026, highlighting a major shift: moving away from a “scale everything at once” phase and entering a cycle of targeted optimization.

The proposal focuses on raising the network’s gas limit, rebalancing the cost of heavy operations, and preparing the ecosystem for higher demand.

The Key Point: Increasing the Gas Limit by Up to 5x

Vitalik proposes raising Ethereum’s gas limit to enable:

  • More transactions per block
  • Greater capacity for rollups
  • Improved efficiency for complex dApps

However, this increase would come with higher costs for heavy operations such as:

  • On-chain storage (SSTORE)
  • Very large contracts
  • Complex inter-contract calls
  • Intensive calldata usage

The goal is to prevent the network from becoming overloaded and to protect validators, while encouraging better development practices.

Why This Shift Matters for Ethereum

Vitalik’s plan targets one of the network’s biggest challenges: increasing scalability without compromising security or decentralization.

With this adjustment, Ethereum gains:

  • More throughput
    The network would be able to process far more activity without bottlenecks.
  • Higher efficiency
    Poorly optimized contracts would become more expensive, incentivizing lighter and safer code.
  • Readiness for broader adoption
    As DeFi, tokens, DAOs, gaming, and rollups grow, Ethereum needs stable capacity to absorb the volume.
  • Competitiveness against new L1/L2 networks
    Other chains offer high performance, but Ethereum balances scalability with a well-established ecosystem, strong security, and maturity.

How This Affects Developers and dApps

For developers:

  • Heavy contracts may need adjustments to reduce costs
  • Older projects may require refactoring to remain affordable
  • Code efficiency becomes a competitive advantage

For end users:

  • Potentially lower fees during high-demand periods
  • More room for simultaneous transactions
  • Smoother experiences in popular dApps

What Remains Challenging for 2026?

  • Raising the gas limit requires validator consensus
  • Changes may impact existing dApps
  • Structural updates must be well tested to avoid security risks
  • Effectiveness depends on developer adoption — without optimization, gains are limited

Vitalik stresses that 2026 will be a year of fine-tuning rather than large-scale overhauls — but this fine-tuning can create significant improvements in network performance.

Why This Matters for Anyone Following Crypto

For investors, analysts, and content creators:

  • Ethereum remains the backbone of DeFi, NFTs, gaming, and smart contracts
  • Efficiency improvements directly affect user costs and experience
  • Gas-limit changes influence rollups, L2s, exchanges, wallets, and infrastructure
  • Ethereum’s technical evolution impacts prices, liquidity, and global adoption

As the network prepares for a new chapter, tracking these changes is essential to understanding the future of blockchain infrastructure.

China Returns as a Bitcoin Mining Giant Despite the Ban: What Changed

A golden Bitcoin is prominently displayed against the Chinese flag, symbolizing Chinese regulatory impacts on the global crypto market.

A new report indicates that China has regained a prominent role in Bitcoin mining, even after the official ban imposed in 2021.

With an estimated 14% to 20% share of the global hash rate, the country is once again a key player alongside the United States and Russia.

Is China Mining Bitcoin Again?

According to the data cited in the report:

  • China already accounts for 14% of the global hash rate, making it the third-largest producer.
  • On-chain analytics firms suggest the real figure may be closer to 15%–20%.
  • ASIC manufacturers such as Canaan Inc. confirm that the Chinese market is growing again — 30% of the company’s sales in 2024 went to China, compared to just 2.8% in 2022.

In other words, this is not marginal activity — it’s a significant resurgence.

Why Has Mining Returned Despite the Ban?

1. Cheap energy and local infrastructure

Regions with abundant electricity continue to attract miners. Lower costs make operations profitable even with regulatory risk.

2. Recent appreciation of Bitcoin

Higher BTC prices improve mining profitability and encourage the restart of operations that were shut down in 2021.

3. Implicit tolerance in some regions

While the ban remains official, part of the mining activity occurs quietly in areas with lighter enforcement.

4. Rising demand for ASICs

The surge in hardware sales confirms that mining is being reactivated at scale.

What Are the Impacts of China’s Return to Bitcoin Mining?

  • Shift in global hash rate distribution
    China’s participation reshapes the global mining landscape, reducing the absolute dominance of the United States.
  • Potential sell pressure
    More miners mean more newly minted BTC entering the market, which may influence supply during periods of weak demand.
  • Debates about decentralization
    China’s return reignites discussions about geographic concentration and regulatory risk.
  • Signal for the energy sector and industrial regions
    The comeback of miners shows that cheap energy infrastructure remains a decisive competitive advantage.

What Does This Scenario Mean for Investors and Analysts?

For those who track Bitcoin strategically:

  • Monitoring hash rate origin helps assess geopolitical risk and the distribution of computational power.
  • China’s return highlights how crucial energy dynamics are for the future of mining.
  • This development may also influence global debates about regulation, sustainability, and network security.

For content creators, this topic offers strong material for analysis on mining, energy, geopolitics, decentralization, and Bitcoin’s price impact.