Crypto Morning Brief: US Initial Jobless Claims Drop Sharply, Base Launches Solana Cross-Chain Bridge

Author: TechFlow

Yesterday's Market Dynamics

U.S. initial jobless claims for the week ending November 29: 191,000, compared to an expected 220,000 and a prior revised figure of 218,000 (originally reported as 216,000)

According to Jin10 News, U.S. initial jobless claims for the week ending November 29 came in at 191,000, below the expected 220,000. The previous week’s figure was revised up from 216,000 to 218,000.

Reuters Survey: Over 80% of economists expect the Fed to cut rates by 25 basis points in December

According to Jin10 News, a Reuters survey indicates the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates by 25 basis points at its December meeting to support a cooling labor market. Among the 108 economists surveyed, 82%—or 89 individuals—hold this view. This strong consensus aligns with the results from the November survey and matches closely with the nearly 85% probability of a rate cut priced into futures markets. However, it contrasts sharply with growing divisions among policymakers regarding whether further monetary easing will be necessary next year. Predictions for 2026 reflect this lack of consensus. While the median forecast suggests two additional rate cuts, bringing the federal funds rate to 3.00–3.25% by year-end, no clear majority emerges for any quarter.

Ethereum L2 network Base launches Solana cross-chain bridge

According to The Block, Coinbase-backed Ethereum Layer 2 network Base announced on Thursday the official launch of its cross-chain bridge connecting to Solana, powered by Chainlink’s Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP).

This integration enables developers on Base to natively support Solana’s SPL tokens within their applications and allows users to transfer assets from Base to the Solana network. The Base team stated this marks a significant step toward achieving its vision of becoming the “economic center of everything,” aiming to let users move assets across chains at “internet speed,” regardless of which blockchain they are on.

Blockaid: Meme coin Pepe's official website attacked, links redirected to malicious URLs

According to Cointelegraph, cybersecurity firm Blockaid discovered that the official website of meme coin Pepe suffered a front-end attack, with links being redirected to malicious URLs.

Blockaid’s system detected Inferno Drainer code on the site. Inferno Drainer is a scam toolkit used by threat actors for phishing templates, wallet drainers, and social engineering tools.

Lighter announces launch of spot trading functionality

According to decentralized exchange Lighter, it is preparing to roll out spot trading features. Users can now deposit, withdraw, and transfer ETH on the platform.

HSBC: Current tokenized deposit private chain standard is now compatible with Ethereum and aligned with ERC-20

According to Caixin, Sun Lei, Global Head of Local and Innovative Payment Products at HSBC Global Payments, said in an interview that HSBC has long invested resources in advancing tokenized deposits. Even if only 5%–10% of commercial bank deposits become tokenized in the future, the scale would far exceed that of any cryptocurrency currently in the market. He added that HSBC’s current private chain adheres to technical standards compatible with Ethereum’s EVM and ERC-20, and the bank does not rule out adopting public chain technology in certain user scenarios in the future. Regarding whether tokenized loans will follow, HSBC is already discussing relevant programmable applications with clients.

Twenty One Capital expected to list on NYSE on December 9

According to BUSINESS WIRE, Bitcoin investment firm Twenty One Capital and special purpose acquisition company Cantor Equity Partners (Nasdaq: CEP) announced that CEP shareholders approved the business combination proposal at a special general meeting.

The merger is expected to close on December 8. The combined entity will operate under the name Twenty One Capital, with its Class A common stock expected to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange on December 9 under the ticker symbol "XXI".

TD Cowen cuts Strategy target price to $500

According to Decrypt, investment bank TD Cowen on Wednesday lowered its price target for Strategy—the world’s largest holder of Bitcoin—from $535 to $500, citing increased stock volatility and worsening shareholder dilution. Strategy recently announced it raised $1.44 billion in cash reserves, primarily to pay preferred stock dividends, and indicated it may sell part of its Bitcoin holdings if necessary.

Strategy has issued $7.7 billion in preferred shares this year. However, its stock price has fallen approximately 24% over the past month, hovering near a 13-month low, leading to greater-than-expected dilution. TD Cowen analysts believe that while building liquidity reserves is prudent, the company’s high volatility warrants reducing its earnings multiple from 9x to 5x.

Meanwhile, investment bank Benchmark remains bullish on Strategy, raising its 2026 price target to $705, calling the stock “one of the most asymmetric investment opportunities in global markets” due to its unmatched fundraising capacity and upside potential from rising Bitcoin prices.

BlackRock CEO: Multiple sovereign wealth funds are accumulating BTC during price declines

According to Forbes, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink revealed that several sovereign wealth funds are increasing their Bitcoin holdings amid falling prices. Fink said, “There are many sovereign funds watching,” who have been “gradually buying” as Bitcoin pulled back from its peak of $126,000. He confirmed these funds are “buying more” in the $80,000 range, building long-term positions.

Recently, sovereign wealth funds from Abu Dhabi and Luxembourg have disclosed purchases of shares in BlackRock’s IBIT Bitcoin fund. Speaking at an event with Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, Fink warned that if the U.S. does not accelerate digitalization and tokenization, other countries will surpass it.

Digital Asset announces $50 million funding round, with BNY Mellon, Nasdaq among investors

According to PRNewswire, blockchain technology firm Digital Asset announced strategic investments from BNY Mellon (BNY), iCapital, Nasdaq, and S&P Global (reportedly amounting to $50 million, per Bloomberg). These investments reflect the accelerating convergence between traditional finance (TradFi) and decentralized finance (DeFi).

Digital Asset is the creator of the Canton Network, which currently supports over $6 trillion in on-chain assets, including bonds, equities, money market funds, alternative investment funds, and commodities. More than 600 institutions are already participating in its ecosystem. CEO Yuval Rooz stated that this institutional involvement reinforces the need to build blockchain infrastructure for regulated markets. All investors expressed intentions to deepen collaboration with Digital Asset to advance next-generation financial market infrastructure.

Bitcoin-native interoperability protocol Portal to Bitcoin raises $25 million, led by JTSA Global

According to Cointelegraph, Bitcoin-native interoperability protocol Portal to Bitcoin has completed a $25 million funding round and launched an atomic OTC platform based on Hashed Time-Lock Contracts (HTLC).

The round was led by digital asset lending firm JTSA Global. Previous investors include Coinbase Ventures, OKX Ventures, and Arrington Capital.

Portal to Bitcoin founder and CEO Chandra Duggirala said the protocol aims to “make Bitcoin the settlement layer for global asset markets—without bridges, custodianship, or wrapped assets.” Built on BitScaler’s Layer 3 network, the platform uses an architecture similar to the Lightning Network, operating with a validator consortium as central nodes and liquidity providers as peripheral nodes.

Market Movements

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