Cryptomarket at a crossroads: banking licenses for crypto firms, the return of Strategy, and a new SEC direction
Key events overnight: OCC head advocates for banking licenses for crypto companies, Strategy announces resumption of bitcoin purchases, and the SEC prepares a surprise for the tokenized stocks market.
Market dynamics: bitcoin held its level
As of 08:45 Moscow time, bitcoin (BTC) was trading around $63,794. The night session saw a dip to $63,200 followed by a rebound to $64,450, after which the asset returned to the consolidation zone near $63,800. This suggests that "bulls" continue to defend key levels, but a confident breakout upward is not yet visible.
Ethereum (ETH) showed a similar picture, stabilizing around $1,890. After a midnight drop to $1,853, the coin recovered, indicating reduced selling pressure.
In the top 10 by market cap, Dogecoin (DOGE) showed moderate volatility with a gain of 2.91%, and BNB (+2.19%). The laggard was Hyperliquid (HYPE), losing 1.47%. Among the top 100 assets, the growth leader was Canton (CC) with a rise of 5.52%, while NEAR Protocol and Curve DAO Token gained 4.48% and 4.07%, respectively. The worst result of the day was Audiera (BEAT) — down 10.7%.
ETFs and liquidations
Flows into spot ETFs were mixed. Bitcoin funds attracted $4.89 million, Solana products — $1.43 million, while Ethereum ETFs lost $1.76 million. Over the day, exchanges liquidated positions of 76,376 traders totaling $175.22 million. The largest liquidation order was recorded on Binance for the BTCUSDT pair — $2.46 million.
Regulatory shift in the US
The head of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Jonathan Gould, made an important statement: crypto companies should have access to obtaining a US banking license. According to him, access to the national license should be opened to everyone engaged in legitimate activities, including working with digital assets. Gould emphasized that "America and the OCC are open for business again." Over the past 18 months, the agency has received 40 applications to create new banks, and decisions on many complete applications are made within 120 days.
Meanwhile, Strategy CEO Fong Le said the company will resume bitcoin purchases before the end of the year. This statement removes questions that arose after recent sales of part of its reserves. Le clarified that since the start of the year, Strategy has acquired about 175,000 BTC and sold approximately 7,000 — meaning purchases exceeded sales by 25 times. The proceeds went to dividends on preferred shares, share buybacks, and dollar reserves, and by the end of the year the organization will return to increasing its holdings of the flagship cryptocurrency.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) may present an exemption for trading tokenized stocks as early as Friday. The regulator will hold an open meeting and consider a special regime for certain crypto-asset contracts. This exemption could pave the way for 24/7 trading of tokenized stocks on the blockchain. Public companies will be able to object to third-party digitalization of their securities, and platforms will be required to adopt stricter anti-money laundering rules, including a possible requirement to register in the US.
My view: The OCC statement is not just rhetoric, but a signal toward real institutional integration. If the SEC indeed makes concessions for tokenized stocks, we will witness the formation of a new asset class that could radically change the landscape of traditional finance. Combined with Strategy's return to BTC accumulation, the market receives a powerful fundamental impetus that could take bitcoin out of its current consolidation.