Weekly Update: 5th of December
What happened between the 28th of November and the 5th of December?
- The market turned cautiously higher, but investors remain defensive; Bitcoin must still break its downtrend, largely depending on macro conditions and upcoming rate decisions. Read more
- Vanguard and Bank of America marked a turning point by opening crypto access, expanding institutional distribution channels and immediately boosting sentiment around Bitcoin exposure. Read more
- Ten major European banks are building a euro stablecoin that, under MiCAR rules, could become a core pillar of European digital payments and capital markets. Read more
- Fresh concerns over Tether’s USDT followed an S&P downgrade tied to Bitcoin and gold reserves, despite strong buffers, profitability and diversification in its balance sheet. Read more
Market turns cautiously, investors remain defensive
The crypto market saw a modest turn higher this week, but overall sentiment remains clearly defensive. Bitcoin has recovered somewhat, yet still trades below levels needed to decisively break the prevailing downtrend. Whether that happens will largely depend on the macro backdrop, in particular the timing and scale of any potential rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.
Altcoins also enjoyed some relief, but gains were concentrated in higher-quality projects with strong fundamentals, sufficient liquidity and clear use cases. For institutional investors this phase is primarily about risk management, liquidity and quality rather than aggressive risk-taking. We continue to track macro data and central bank communication very closely.
Vanguard and Bank of America signal an institutional shift
After years of reluctance, this week marked a clear inflection point in institutional adoption of digital assets. Vanguard, the world’s second-largest asset manager, has opened its brokerage platform to crypto-focused ETFs and mutual funds. At the same time, Bank of America announced that its wealth and private banking clients can, for the first time, be formally advised to allocate to regulated spot bitcoin ETFs.
Combined, these steps significantly broaden access to crypto for large pools of long-term and pension-style capital. Notably, the bitcoin price recovered meaningfully on the same day, suggesting that the market views this as further validation of the asset class. For institutional investors, crypto is increasingly less a fringe exposure and more a mainstream building block within diversified portfolios.
European banking consortium Qivalis develops euro stablecoin
A consortium of ten major European banks, including ING, BNP Paribas, KBC and UniCredit, is developing a euro-pegged stablecoin under a new vehicle called Qivalis. The project aims to launch in the second half of 2026, subject to an e-money license from the Dutch central bank and full MiCAR compliance. The initiative is designed to provide a European alternative to dollar-dominated stablecoins and cross-border payment rails. Strategically, a regulated euro stablecoin could strengthen the euro’s role in digital payments and tokenised asset settlement.
For European institutions and corporates, it may become an attractive liquidity and settlement instrument, especially if banks integrate it directly into their payment, treasury and custody infrastructure. This underlines a broader shift in which traditional banks are no longer bystanders but increasingly design and operate core digital-finance infrastructure.
Tether under scrutiny: rating pressure, but strong buffers
Tether’s USDT stablecoin faced renewed scrutiny last week after S&P Global downgraded its stability assessment to the lowest tier, highlighting the growing share of bitcoin and gold in reserves. This raised concerns that sharp drawdowns in risk assets could strain USDT’s collateralisation. Tether’s CEO responded quickly, emphasising the company’s sizeable capital cushion.
By the end of Q3 2025, total assets stood at roughly 215 billion dollars against about 184.5 billion dollars of outstanding stablecoins. On top of that, Tether reported around 7 billion dollars in excess equity, 23 billion dollars of retained earnings and an estimated 500 million dollars in monthly baseline income, primarily from US Treasuries. Together with substantial gold holdings, this points to a robustly capitalised issuer. Historically, such controversies have often coincided with, or slightly lagged, market bottoms. Let’s see if it is this time.
In other digital assets news
- Michael Saylor’s company Strategy established a 1.44 billion dollar cash reserve to support future dividend payments and weather extended periods of depressed bitcoin prices.
- Tom Lee’s BitMine bought nearly 100,000 additional ETH this week, lifting its holdings to about 3.7 million ETH and reinforcing its long-term Ethereum strategy.
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