Where is the cryptocurrency market heading now in the face of a $13,000 loss

Major news shaking the market is pouring in. From the news that AI trading systems only suffered a $13,000 loss while human traders incurred a $225,000 loss, to regulatory opening policies, large-scale asset acquisitions by listed companies, and market security threats—all happening simultaneously. Let’s take a look at the direction these signals are pointing to.

AI beats humans, but reveals a $13,000 limit

The “Human vs. AI” live trading competition at Astro Exchange has officially concluded. The results are surprising yet ironic.

The AI team’s loss was around $13,000, with an investment return (ROI) of -4.48%. The best performance of Claude Sonnet 4.5 Aggressive strategy kept the account balance at about $18,000. Meanwhile, human traders suffered a massive loss of $225,000, with an ROI of -32.21%.

Interestingly, most of the 70 human traders, except for the top performers, were pushed close to margin calls. The winner, ProMint, made a profit of $13,600 (account balance of $23,650) and received a $100,000 prize. Some participants like Xiaoxia and Romanson also recorded positive returns, but Tippy, who had the best performance until yesterday, saw their account balance plummet. This demonstrates how vulnerable human emotional trading can be in the face of cryptocurrency market volatility.

Regulatory opening and investment differentiation: changing global environment

Cryptocurrency policies are shifting at the national level. Russia’s central bank has taken a groundbreaking step.

Under the new regulatory framework, non-qualified investors can purchase highly liquid cryptocurrencies worth up to 300,000 rubles (approximately $3,800) through a single intermediary after passing an exam. Qualified investors who pass risk assessments will be able to invest in all cryptocurrencies except anonymous ones without any amount restrictions. This system ensures that cryptocurrency trading is only conducted through authorized institutions, with legislation expected to be enacted by July 2026, and legal responsibilities for illegal intermediaries starting from July 2027.

The US Treasury is also signaling. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen expressed support for reviewing the Fed’s 2% inflation target. The discussion is likely to move toward adjustments within the 1.5~2.5% or 1~3% range, indicating a shift in monetary policy direction, which could also impact the cryptocurrency market.

Corporate crypto strategies: focus on Solana and Ethereum

Institutional capital is flowing into the cryptocurrency market.

Companies betting on Solana

Upexi, NASDAQ: UPXI(, has submitted an application to the SEC to raise up to $1 billion to expand its Solana-related business. It currently holds over 2 million SOL tokens )worth about $248 million(, ranking 4th among listed companies in Solana holdings. The raised funds will be used for working capital, R&D, mergers and acquisitions, and debt repayment. However, Upexi’s stock has fallen about 50% this year, and SOL tokens are down 34%.

Major players buying Ethereum in bulk

Multiple players are active in Ethereum )ETH( purchases. Trend Research has added another 46,379 ETH )worth about $137 million(, increasing total holdings to over 580,000 ETH. Since early November, they have invested roughly $1.72 billion, with an average purchase price of about $3,208, and currently face an unrealized loss of approximately $141 million. They borrowed about $887 million in USDT from Aave, with a leverage ratio close to 2x.

A new wallet recently bought about 40,975 ETH )worth about $121 million( on Binance, then deposited it into Aave V3 and borrowed about $63 million USDT. Bitmain, owned by Tom Lee, added 67,886 ETH within 24 hours, investing roughly $210 million.

NASDAQ-listed e-commerce platform iPower )announced a $30 million convertible bond issuance to start its digital asset finance (DAT) strategy. Of the initial $9 million investment, $4.4 million will be used to buy Bitcoin and Ethereum, with 80% of future funds allocated to additional digital asset purchases.

Emergence of new trading platforms and market changes

Brett Harrison, former head of FTX US, founded Architect Financial Technologies (Architect Financial Technologies), which has raised $35 million. The company’s valuation is about $187 million. Its exchange, AX, focuses more on traditional assets like stocks and forex rather than crypto perpetual contracts, and is regulated in Bermuda. Since perpetual futures are not yet approved in the US, it is only open to non-US institutional investors.

Fraud incidents threatening market confidence

The SEC has filed lawsuits against three fake crypto trading platforms and four investment clubs. Companies like Morocoin (Morocoin), Berge (, and Cirkor ) are accused of recruiting individual investors via social media ads into WhatsApp groups, then providing AI-based stock recommendations on fake platforms, issuing forged security tokens, and embezzling over $14 million. Their scams include forging government licenses, manipulating trading records, and imposing false withdrawal fees. The SEC seeks permanent injunctions, civil penalties, and disgorgement of ill-gotten gains.

Macro environment: asset price movements and market signals

New records in precious metals

Gold spot prices have surpassed $4,500 for the first time ever. Silver spot prices also exceeded $72 per ounce, with a year-to-date increase of over $43. London copper prices broke $12,000 per ton, reaching an all-time high. These reflect inflation concerns and geopolitical uncertainties.

Focus in the options market

$23.7 billion worth of Bitcoin options are approaching expiration, with major positions concentrated near strike prices of $85,000 and $100,000. This is an important signal of market participants’ price expectations.

VC valuation vs. current market cap: bubble stagnation

According to CryptoRank, many projects’ market caps are drastically lower than their VC valuations.

Humanity Protocol, Fuel Network, and BubbleMaps all received $1 billion valuations from VCs, but their current market caps are $285 million, $11 million, and $6 million respectively. Projects like Plasma, ICNT, DoubleZero, Camp Network, and Treehouse have also lost significant portions of their VC valuations. This reflects rapid shifts in market sentiment and initial overvaluation adjustments.

Binance Futures expansion: launch of LIT perpetual contracts

Binance Futures has launched perpetual contracts for the LIT token. Leverage up to 5x is available. The LIT protocol, based on the Ethereum network, uses zero-knowledge aggregation technology to minimize delays and provide instant confirmation. Total supply is 1 billion tokens, settled in USDT, with funding fees settled every 4 hours.

Intersection of US politics and financial markets

The US Department of Justice has released about 30,000 pages of documents related to the Jeffrey Epstein case, including false allegations against Trump submitted to the FBI before the 2020 election. The DOJ clarified that these allegations are baseless lies and would have been used as political tools long ago if credible. Such political uncertainties also influence safe-haven assets like gold and the volatility of the crypto market.

The US economy grew at 4.3% in Q3, the fastest pace in two years, sending positive signals to the crypto market as well.

Combining all these signals, the cryptocurrency market is in a complex situation where regulatory clarity, institutional capital inflows, growth of AI trading, and ongoing fraud threats coexist. The fact that AI only suffered a $13,000 loss demonstrates technological superiority but also reveals the limits under extreme market conditions. Investors should consider both macro signals and micro risks when managing their positions at this time.