Good Morning, Asia. Here’s what’s making news in the markets:
Welcome to Asia Morning Briefing, a daily summary of top stories during U.S. hours and an overview of market moves and analysis. For a detailed overview of U.S. markets, see CoinDesk’s Crypto Daybook Americas.
Bitcoin BTC is trading above $105,000 as Asia begins its business day, down 1%.
In a note, Paris-based digital assets trading firm Flowdesk wrote that the world’s largest digital asset was moving into a tactical posture with price consolidation.
“As BTC consolidates near all-time highs, altcoin volumes and liquidity have seen a continued meaningful shift upwards,” Flowdesk wrote.
Flowdesk notes that Bitcoin’s volatility continues to decline despite looming macroeconomic events that typically shake up markets.
With BTC consolidating near its all-time high, there’s a noticeable rise in call overwriting, Flowdesk observed, as traders seek to monetize potential upside without giving up core bitcoin exposure.
“The altcoin rotation continues, ETF inflows are back, and vol positioning reflects a transition to more tactical, yield-generating strategies,” Flowdesk concluded.
Meanwhile, CoinDesk’s Market Insight bot reported that BTC faces downside risks after hitting strong resistance near $108.8K, but ongoing institutional interest may provide support.
House Republicans Unveil New Crypto Bill Giving CFTC Key Oversight Role
U.S. House Republicans officially introduced the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, CoinDesk reported Thursday U.S. time, their latest push to regulate crypto markets.
This 236-page bill, a successor to the earlier FIT21 Act, gives the Commodity Futures Trading Commission primary oversight of digital commodity markets, establishes clear guidelines for crypto exchanges, and exempts certain decentralized finance (DeFi) services from Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) oversight.
Flowing parallel to this, the Senate remains focused on separate bipartisan stablecoin legislation, which is further along procedurally but faces ongoing debate. With committee hearings scheduled for next week, lawmakers will publicly discuss the new House bill, setting the stage for negotiations that could shape U.S. crypto regulation this session.
‘Crypto Mom’ Peirce Says Traders Need to Take Personal Responsibility
Hester Peirce, chief of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s crypto task force, urged crypto investors at Bitcoin 2025 to take personal responsibility for their losses rather than seek government bailouts, CoinDesk reported Thursday from BTC Vegas.
Peirce emphasized consistency among libertarian-minded crypto traders, arguing that those who demand freedom must also accept accountability for their financial outcomes, particularly when engaging in speculative ventures like memecoins.
Peirce highlighted ongoing efforts under Republican leadership to clarify the SEC’s jurisdiction, stating that most crypto tokens aren’t securities and thus don’t require SEC registration unless they are explicitly involved with securities.
She remained neutral on companies holding digital assets on their balance sheets, provided proper disclosure. Despite the current strides in policymaking at the SEC, Peirce noted that establishing a federal crypto regulator for retail trading would necessitate clear legislative action from Congress.
Blockchain Founders Fund Surpasses 200 Investments
Blockchain Founders Fund (BFF), a Singapore-based venture capital firm focused on early-stage Web3 and blockchain startups, is set to announce Friday at Web Summit in Vancouver that it has surpassed 200 investments across more than 160 companies.
Founded in 2018, the firm is known for supporting projects such as Shardeum, an Ethereum-compatible blockchain platform utilizing dynamic state sharding, and Validation Cloud, an infrastructure company merging traditional enterprises with blockchain and AI technologies.
The fund announced in October that it had hit the 150 mark for investments.
Market Movements:
- BTC: Bitcoin is trading at $105,713 as Asia begins its business day, having fluctuated between $105,682 and $108,927 over the last 24 hours, encountering resistance near the upper range and signaling potential bearish momentum.
- ETH: Ethereum is up 6%, peaking at $2,784 before stabilizing near $2,650, as strong trading volumes and institutional optimism outweigh broader economic uncertainties.
- Gold: Gold is up 0.4%, trading at $3,311, as the U.S. economy shrunk 0.2% on weaker spending, tariff impacts.
- Nikei 225: Japan’s Nikkei 225 dropped 1.55% as Asia-Pacific markets fell Friday amid U.S. economic slowdown, inflation concerns
- S&P 500: The S&P 500 closed up 0.4% at 5,912.17 Thursday, boosted by Nvidia but restrained by investor caution amid developments surrounding Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs.
Elsewhere in Crypto:
- SEC Files to Dismiss Long-Running Lawsuit Against Binance (CoinDesk)
- ‘Most-Hated L1’: Arthur Hayes Thinks Ethereum Could Double in Price This Year (Decrypt)
- Tokenized equities will be ‘bigger than stablecoins’: Backed CEO (Blockworks)
- Inside the $400 million Coinbase breach: An Indian call center and teenage hackers (Fortune)
- Russia Says Financial Institutions Can Offer Crypto-Linked Instruments to Qualified Investors (CoinDesk)
