Cryptocurrency markets continued their decline for a fourth consecutive week this week, raising concerns over the status of the bull market cycle.
Investor concerns grew on Thursday after a 10X Research report revealed that BitMine Immersion Technologies, the world’s largest corporate Ether (ETH) holder, is sitting on a cumulative unrealized loss of $3.7 billion on its total holdings.
Most digital asset treasuries (DATs) have suffered declines in their net asset value (NAV), making it difficult to raise funds for new investments or to attract new retail investors, leaving existing shareholders “trapped” with growing paper losses, according to 10x Research founder Markus Thiele
DATs are also facing significant pressure from the MSCI stock market index, which is considering excluding corporate crypto treasuries with a balance sheet comprising more than 50% of crypto assets.
The consultation is open until Dec. 31, with the results set to be made public on Jan. 15, 2026. The resulting changes will take effect in February.
Elsewhere, Bitcoin (BTC) sank to a six-month low of $82,000 on Friday, a level last seen in April when the markets were recovering from US President Donald Trump’s Liberation Day tariff announcement, TradingView data shows.
BitMine sits on $3.7 billion loss as DAT “Hotel California” meets BlackRock’s staked ETH ETF
Concerns are mounting over the sustainability of corporate crypto-treasury firms as BlackRock moves forward with a staked Ether fund that analysts say could compete directly with existing digital-asset treasuries.
BitMine Immersion Technologies, the world’s largest corporate Ether holder, is currently down $1,000 per purchased ETH, implying a cumulative unrealized loss of $3.7 billion on its total holdings, according to a Thursday research report from crypto insights company 10x Research.
The decline in net asset value (NAV) across these firms is making it difficult to attract new retail investors while leaving many existing shareholders effectively “trapped” unless they sell at a steep loss, 10x Research founder Markus Thielen wrote in a LinkedIn post.
“When the premium inevitably shrinks to zero, as it is doing now, investors find themselves trapped in the structure, unable to get out without significant damage, a true Hotel California scenario,” he said. He added that, unlike exchange-traded funds (ETFs), digital-asset treasury companies, or DATs, “layer on complex, opaque, and often hedge-fund-like fee structures that can quietly erode returns.”
The mNAV ratio compares a company’s enterprise value to the value of its crypto holdings. An mNAV above 1 allows a company to raise funds by issuing new shares to accumulate digital assets. Values below 1 make it much harder to expand capital and holdings.
BitMine’s basic mNAV stood at 0.77 while its diluted mNAV stood at 0.92, according to data from Bitminetracker.
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SEC to hold privacy and financial surveillance roundtable in December
The US Securities and Exchange Commission’s Crypto Task Force has scheduled a roundtable discussion centered on privacy and financial surveillance for December, as a renewed focus on privacy grips the cryptocurrency industry.
The privacy roundtable is slated for Dec. 15. Like other SEC roundtables, crypto industry executives and SEC officials will discuss common pain points and solutions, but no hard policy proposals will be submitted.
Privacy has become a hot-button topic following several developments, including the partial guilty verdict in Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm’s trial in June, the Samourai Wallet developer sentencing in November and the privacy token price rally over the last two months.
“Authoritarians thrive when people have no privacy. When those in charge start being hostile to privacy protections, it is a major red flag,” said Naomi Brockwell, founder of the Ludlow Institute, an organization advocating for liberty through technology.
The renewed interest in privacy hearkens back to crypto’s cypherpunk roots, and one of the core reasons the cryptographic technology that underpins crypto was invented — to ensure secure communication channels between parties in hostile environments.
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Coinbase launches ETH-backed loans as onchain lending tops $1.25 billion
Coinbase has launched Ether-backed loans for US users, allowing customers to borrow USDC against their ETH holdings without selling, in a new offering powered by Morpho and running on Base.
The exchange said the product is available across most US states, except New York, with variable rates and liquidation risk tied to market conditions. Users can borrow up to $1 million in USDC (USDC) stablecoin.
Coinbase plans to…
cointelegraph.com