Bitcoin Hits 12-Week Low as MSCI Ousts Strategy and Metaplanet

Bitcoin fell to a 12-week low of $71,200 on Thursday as Nvidia's abrupt leadership change rattled broad markets and MSCI prepared to drop two bitcoin treasury companies from its indexes.

The largest cryptocurrency traded down 3.4% at around $71,600 at the time of reporting, according to The Block's daily newsletter. Ether, Solana and XRP each lost more than 3.5% over the previous 24 hours. Crypto liquidations exceeded $750 million, including more than $634 million in long positions, per CoinGlass data.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang resigned as president, CEO and board member with immediate effect following reports about his personal conduct. The chipmaker named CFO Colette Kress as interim CEO, and its shares opened Thursday down 12%. Nvidia perpetual futures on Hyperliquid recorded $2.34 billion in 24-hour trading volume.

"We remain cautious on BTC as it tests $73k, the level we flagged as first potential support, with no convincing signs of size stepping in at these prices," Wintermute OTC trader Jasper De Maere said.

Why are Strategy and Metaplanet leaving MSCI indexes?

MSCI will remove bitcoin treasury companies Strategy and Metaplanet from its USA Index and Japan Small Cap Index, respectively, at the close of Nov. 30, according to filings published Wednesday.

The deletions follow MSCI's new eligibility rules for non-operating companies, which examine operating assets and five financial measures. Those rules replaced earlier restrictions that targeted companies holding at least half their assets in crypto. Ethereum treasury company Sharplink was not among the November small-cap deletions.

Strategy had previously criticized the proposed rules as "discriminatory." MSCI did not provide company-specific reasons for the removals. For passive funds tracking the indexes, the change forces redemptions of the affected holdings by the effective date.

What does Ethlabs want from Ethereum's roadmap?

Ethereum research group Ethlabs has proposed moving the network's post-quantum upgrade to 2027, two years ahead of the Ethereum Foundation's previous December 2029 target. The group cited faster advances in AI and growing uncertainty around quantum computing risks.

The proposal, called "pqai27," aims to make Ethereum resistant to both quantum threats and AI-driven security risks. Ethlabs outlined two readiness levels for 2027: a network with post-quantum consensus and account protection first, followed by full-capacity support for post-quantum transactions and data availability.

To hit the earlier timeline, Ethlabs wants Ethereum to defer upgrades not essential to post-quantum readiness, including changes planned for the Hegotá hard fork. The group said it would withdraw its own quick slots proposal from Hegotá and redirect those resources toward pqai27.

Where do regulators stand on stock perpetuals?

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has filed a court brief supporting the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in a dispute over whether the CFTC can approve perpetual derivatives tied to individual U.S. stocks.

The Capital Markets Alliance, whose members include Cboe and Citadel Securities, sued the CFTC last week, arguing the products fall under SEC jurisdiction and asking a court to overturn their approvals. The SEC rejected claims that the CFTC acted without its involvement, saying the two agencies regularly coordinate on oversight.

What's new in crypto crime enforcement?

Tron, Tether and Chainalysis have formed a Digital Crime Task Force to identify and disrupt illicit activity involving USDT on the Tron blockchain. The initiative will work with law enforcement to detect suspicious activity and freeze assets before criminals can move funds. It replaces the T3 Financial Crime Unit, the previous alliance between Tron, Tether and TRM Labs formed in 2024.

Elsewhere, Indian crypto exchange Unocoin's "login suspension" continues, the DTCC plans to bring tokenized securities to Solana, and the New York Department of Financial Services has set new advertising standards for crypto firms.

Friday brings U.S. October producer price index data, including core PPI, plus speeches from Fed officials Mary Daly and Philip Jefferson. The eurozone releases its second estimate of third-quarter GDP growth, preliminary employment figures and September trade data. Token unlocks include Aztec (AZTEC) and Wormhole (W).

The MSCI deletions take effect at the close of Nov. 30, giving index funds roughly two weeks to adjust their positions.