CMC Market Pulse delivers actionable market insights, giving you all the key narratives and developments you need in under 5 minutes.
Market Overview 📉
*Data as of 6:45 AM UTC on December 5, 2025.
Bitcoin (BTC) finished the week up 0.79%, while Ethereum (ETH) outperformed this week, up 5.13% in the same period. Total crypto market cap rose 0.594% to end the week at $3.215T, up from $3.196T in the week prior.
The strong sell-off at the beginning of the week took some traders by surprise, pushing liquidations higher with over $800M in longs liquidated in the drop. Funding rates generally rose across the board as markets regained some confidence, but the majority are still hovering at sub-normal levels..
📌 Michael Saylor announces the formation of a $1.44B USD reserve for Strategy, to ensure it has sufficient liquidity to pay out its dividends and interest on its debt. - Link
📌 SEC Chair, Paul Atkins, announces that “Innovation Exemptions” for crypto companies will take effect in January 2026, reducing regulatory hurdles for crypto companies. - Link
📌 US investment giant. Vanguard finally allows crypto ETFs on their platform, shifting from their anti-crypto stance just last year. - Link
Why does it matter?
The crypto market largely drifted upwards this week, recovering from a violent sell-off at the beginning of the week, building bullish sentiment among traders as Bitcoin holds steady at the 92K level, a heavy resistance zone for the asset. Traditional markets fared slightly better, with the S&P 500 up 0.51% over the week and the Nasdaq up 1.07%.
Notable altcoin outperformers this week included Pippin (PIPPIN), Merlin Chain (MERL), Myx Finance (MYX), Compound (COMP) and Sky (SKY).
Narrative of the Week 📰
One year on from their token generation event, Hyperliquid unlocks are hitting the market, taking the spotlight as HYPE token holders make their moves.
📌 Of the 2.6M unstaked HYPE tokens for the November 29th unlock, 1.089M tokens have been restaked, 609K tokens have been sold via OTC and 902K tokens remain untouched. - Link
📌 Sonnet BioTherapeutics, announces a successful shareholder vote to merge with Hyperliquid Strategies Inc, expanding their treasury to fund the acquisition of more HYPE. - Link
📌 Ethena deploys their HIP-3 DEX, HyENA, on HyperEVM, indicating a potential upcoming launch shortly. - Link
Why does it matter?
Hyperliquid has been the token of this cycle, having done exceptionally well over the past year. Despite fears around the team token unlocks, the token and ecosystem continues to see interest from users and investors alike.
Major Project Updates 🗓️
📌 Prediction market, Kalshi, partners with US-based media company, CNN, to integrate prediction markets into the newsroom. - Link
📌 Polymarket rolls out their US app to waitlist users, beginning with sports betting and eventually the rest of the markets. - Link
📌 Ethereum’s latest hard fork, Fusaka, goes live, increasing data throughput for rollups, rolling out UX improvements and setting up the foundation for L1 scaling. - Link
📌 Centralized exchange, Kraken, acquires tokenized stock issuer, Backed Finance, supporting the development and distribution of xStocks. - Link
📌 MetaMask introduces Transaction Shield, protecting users for up to $10,000 on transactions that MetaMask deems as safe. - Link
📌 Near Protocol introduces Near AI Cloud and Private Chat, ensuring users truly own their AI interactions and data. - Link
Why does it matter?
Prediction markets continue to stay relevant as the leading two, Polymarket and Kalshi, fight for dominance via partnerships and rising valuations.
DeFi Brief 🏦
*Data as of 6:45 AM UTC on December 5, 2025.
📌 Hyperliquid liquid staking platform, Kinetiq, unveils Markets, a HIP-3 enabled DEX designed to support a wide range of assets. - Link
📌 Uniswap partners with Revolut, enabling direct fiat on-ramp, to the Uniswap wallet and web app. - Link
📌 Yearn Finance’s yETH suffers a $9M exploit, involving a stableswap pool. At the moment, ~$2.39M has been recovered with the help of Dinero and Plume teams. - Link
📌 Perpetual DEX, Lighter, launches Spot, enabling deposits, transfers and withdrawals of ETH on the platform. Spot trading will be rolled out shortly. - Link
Why does it matter?
Hyperliquid’s HIP-3 continues to attract new builders looking to offer trading on the largest range of assets, including stocks, commodities, and more.
Fundraises 💰
📌 Prediction market, Kalshi, raises $1B at an $11B valuation, led by Paradigm, with support from Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Capital G, and other existing backers. - Link
📌 Perpetual DEX, Ostium, raises an additional $20M in a Series A round led by General Catalyst and Jump Crypto, with participation from Coinbase Ventures, Wintermute, Crucible Capital, and more. - Link
📌 Institutional yield platform, Axis, raises $5M in a funding round led by Galaxy Ventures, with support from FalconX, OKX Ventures, CMT Digital, Maven 11 Capital, and more. - Link
📌 Bitcoin auto-savings app, Bitstack, raises $15M in a Series A funding round led by 13 Books Capital, with other investors including Y Combinator, Plug and Play Tech Center, Stillmark, and more. - Link
Airdrops Abound 🎁
📌 Cross-chain yield aggregator, Superform, opens registration for their UP token airdrop, leading into their token sale. - Link
Tweet of the Week 📝
Source: @boldleonidas
Prediction markets are so hot right now.
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