Crypto faces new sanctions, breaches and taxes, while AI stocks tumble on midterm fears over data centres and Anthropic’s IPO valuation wobbles.
What’s up, Pasar Crew?
This week’s stories show political and security shocks repricing both industries: Treasury sanctions, data breaches, and a Democratic midterm sweep are reshaping crypto’s outlook, while the same election set off a rout in AI stocks and fresh doubts about the data centre buildout.
In crypto, the US Treasury cut MEXC off from the US financial system over US$16B in alleged illicit flows and sanctioned eight Canadian money-service firms. Gnosis Pay disclosed a card data breach, Greece passed a 10% crypto gains tax, and Thailand moved to block Bitget from 5 December.
In AI, US stocks lost about US3trillioninaday,puttingAnthropic’sUS1.5T IPO valuation in doubt. OpenAI vowed neighbours will not pay for its power, Bernie Sanders called for a data centre moratorium, and the DOJ launched a Super Intelligence Task Force to police advanced AI misuse.
Get up to speed with the latest in Web3 and AI with this week’s Pasar Pulse.
Crypto and Web3
US Sanctions Eight Canadian Crypto Firms
The US Treasury sanctioned eight Canadian money-service companies for exchanging Iranian rials and other currencies for digital assets, including dealings with IRGC-linked addresses. Canada’s FINTRAC coordinated the action.
FinCEN Cuts MEXC Off From US Finance
FinCEN accused MEXC of facilitating at least US$16B in transactions linked to sanctions evasion and cybercrime between May 2021 and May 2026, including about US$1.5B tied to Russia. The order takes effect 30 days after Federal Register publication.
Gnosis Pay Discloses Card Data Breach
Gnosis Pay said a 3 November breach of its legacy card system exposed card numbers, CVV codes, names, home addresses and wallet addresses, though customer funds were unaffected. It did not say how many customers were affected.
Greece Passes 10% Crypto Capital Gains Tax
Greece’s parliament approved a 10% tax on crypto gains and 15% on staking, lending and DeFi income, effective 1 January 2027. Investors with annual net gains of €500 or less are exempt.
Bitcoin ETFs Lose US$430.2M as Tech Slides
US spot Bitcoin ETFs saw US$430.2M of net outflows on Thursday, led by Fidelity’s FBTC at US$199.9M and BlackRock’s IBIT at US$105M, about 71% of the day’s withdrawals. No fund recorded positive net flows.
Thai SEC Files Complaint Against Bitget
Thailand’s SEC filed a criminal complaint against Bitget operator BG Limited, alleging it ran an unlicensed exchange for Thai users from 2022 to 2025. It has notified the government to block the platform from 5 December.
Ex-FBI Agent Admits US$2.47M Crypto Theft
Patrick Yaroch pleaded guilty to stealing about US$2.47M in crypto using wallet credentials the FBI collected in 35 investigations. He faces up to 20 years in prison, with sentencing set for 4 March 2027.
Russia Finalises Retail Crypto Trading Rules
Russia’s central bank finalised rules letting exchanges offer BTC, ETH and USDT to retail investors from 17 November, capping non-qualified investors at RUB300,000 (about US$3,700) annually per intermediary. Peer-to-peer trading will be banned from 1 July 2027.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Investors Doubt Anthropic’s US$1.5T IPO
Three major investors told the WSJ that Anthropic’s expected US$1.5T valuation will likely need to fall, with one suggesting about US$1T. The raise could shrink to around US$80B from up to US$100B.
AI Selloff Wipes US$3T From US Stocks
The S&P 500 fell 4.4% and the Nasdaq 100 6.3%, their worst days since April 2025, as the semiconductor index slid 12.3% and Nvidia dropped 9.2%. Investors priced in tougher oversight of AI data centre construction after Democratic gains.
Chainalysis Widens Breach Disclosure
Chainalysis said names, usernames, password hashes and live tokens for all users were exposed, after first saying only non-sensitive data was affected. It still has no evidence attackers accessed investigation data.
Core Scientific to Exit Bitcoin Mining
Core Scientific expects to finish winding down Bitcoin mining in Q4 and enter 2027 as a pure-play colocation provider. Mining brought in US$17.5M, or 7.5%, of its US$232.9M third-quarter revenue.
OpenAI Vows Neighbours Won’t Pay for Power
OpenAI’s National Community Compact promises to pay the full cost of powering its future AI campuses, with water plans, annual progress reports and independent noise studies. It follows voters’ rebuke of data centre expansion at the polls.
DOJ Launches Super Intelligence Task Force
The Justice Department’s DOJ-SITF, led by Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward and Associate Deputy Attorney General Stephen Weiss, will police misuse of advanced AI by foreign actors, criminal groups and fraudsters.
Sanders Urges Data Centre Moratorium
US senator Bernie Sanders and several newly elected Democrats renewed calls for data centre moratoriums, with Rep. Yassamin Ansari urging a pause on advanced AI development. Voters also passed dozens of local ballot measures restricting projects.
European, Asian Stocks Fall on US Tech Rout
London’s FTSE 100 fell as much as 2.35% before closing down 1%, while Germany’s DAX dropped 2% and France’s CAC 40 fell 0.8%. Wall Street’s Nasdaq closed up 1% on Friday after a jobs report showed 165,000 new jobs in October.
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