Bitcoin Flash-Crashes Below $82,000 As UBS Says A "Flush" Is Needed Before "Turning More Constructive" 

As we joked earlier this week about the overnight Bitcoin dump - the "Korean Krypto Kamikazes" - the selling has continued with no clear catalyst. The largest crypto asset briefly plunged to $81,569 and is now on track for its worst month since 2022. 

BTC dropped as much as 6% early Friday to $81,569, while Ether and smaller tokens plunged into the abyss as risk-off sentiment hit both crypto and equity futures (market wrap). Bitcoin is now down roughly 25% for the month.

Nearly $1 billion in positions were liquidated during the overnight flush, stoking fears that the bear market could deepen. This forced selling comes despite a pro-crypto White House and rising institutional adoption. 

Testing weekly 100sma

IG Australia analyst Tony Sycamore wrote in a note that the market "may also be seeking to test Strategy's pain threshold," referring to Michael Saylor's Bitcoin hoarding firm.

A JPMorgan analyst pointed out to clients the potential exclusion of MSTR from upcoming MSCI and Nasdaq reviews. 

Overall, the crypto market is certaintly gripped by forced selling, thin liquidity, and extreme fear - a market environment very similar to the last crypto meltdown in June 2022. 

Related:

• What's Behind Today's Brutal Selloff: Goldman's "Technical Checklist"

• Bitcoin: Store of Value? More Like You’re Shorting Volatility Without Knowing It

• Fractured Fed Feeds Hawkish Flows; Bitcoin, Bullion, & Big-Tech Pump'n'Dump

• ZH On X: The last time bitcoin was here, global liquidity was $7 trillion lower

• So, WTF Happened Today!?

"The risk now is that continued downside forces retail investors to sell favorites, sidelining dip buyers and triggering systematic supply," UBS analyst George Redma told clients. He warned that the crypto slump "may amplify risk-off sentiment into year-end." 

Redma continued, "The desk may need to see this flush before turning more constructive into year-end. Given the attention on CTA levels, a meaningful washout could set up a better risk backdrop heading into next year as stimulus returns to focus."

"For now, uncertainty around this overhang seems to be preventing re-risking despite traditionally strong seasonality," he concluded in a brief note to clients. 

Goldman Sachs trader John Flood told clients, "Sharp reversals in NVDA and Crypto suggestive that an NVDA beat was not the "all clear" for risk that we were hoping for (after what has already been a very difficult 2 week stretch). Plenty of scar tissue out there right now. We remain eerily quiet on our trading desk."

Goldman analyst Jack McFerran commented on the crypto bear market, saying, "I don't pretend to be a crypto expert and admittedly the 'why' is harder, but the confluence of whale selling seems to be leading risk." 

The question now is whether the slide to $81,569 was the full flush, or if more panic selling lies ahead as we head into the Thanksgiving holiday week.

Tyler Durden Fri, 11/21/2025 - 07:00

My end-of-week morning train WFH reads:

• Why the Time Has Finally Come for Geothermal Energy: It used to be that drawing heat from deep in the Earth was practical only in geyser-filled places such as Iceland. But new approaches may have us on the cusp of an energy revolution. (New Yorker)

• The Offshoring of America’s Retirement Savings: As Apollo reinvents how Wall Street handles insurance and pension funds, firms are shepherding hundreds of billions of dollars to Bermuda entities that lose US protections while making opaque, complex bets. (Bloomberg) see also Americans’ Nest Eggs Built a Private Equity Loan Revolution: Private equity managers are desperate for cash. Insurers are lending it out for higher returns, and exposing themselves to potentially hard-to-sell assets. (Bloomberg)

• Max Out Your 401k: The good news is there has never been a better time to be a saver-turned-investor. Technology makes it easy to automate your savings into any number of different investment accounts and platforms. Just turn on automatic contributions to your 401k, IRA, brokerage account, HSA, 529 or high yield savings account. (A Wealth of Common Sense)

• Are the Benefits of AI Worth the Risk of ‘White-Collar Bloodbath’? If AI is powerful enough to produce abundance and reduce scarcity, will worrying about unemployment make sense at all? (The Daily Economy)

• The Business of Beauty: How an $11 Billion Beauty Company Built a Suburban Empire: Ulta found success by acting more like Home Depot than like Sephora. (Businessweek)

• A Climate ‘Shock’ Is Eroding Some Home Values. New Data Shows: How Much. Since 2018, a financial shock in the home insurance market has meant that homes in the ZIP codes most exposed to hurricanes and wildfires would sell for an average of $43,900 less than they would otherwise, the research found. They include coastal towns in Louisiana and low-lying areas in Florida. (New York Times) but see Iowa City Made Its Buses Free. Traffic Cleared, and So Did the Air. Ridership jumped, people cut back on driving and, over the summer, the city extended the program another year. (New York Times)

• Homicides have fallen sharply in these five cities — and across the U.S. The rate of homicides has plummeted nationwide and, in 2025, is trending toward its lowest level in decades. The steady decline has reversed the surge of slayings seen during the peak of the covid-19 pandemic. (Washington Post)

• 7 signs Trump is losing his groove: The president has faced a series of brush-offs and brushbacks that threaten his aura of invincibility. (Politico)

• The View From Ninety by Charles Handy — final words from management’s social philosopher: The late thinker who championed the ‘portfolio life’ offers wit, wisdom and gratitude from a lifetime’s lessons on leadership. (Financial Times)

• Timothée Chalamet’s best role yet is your weirdly intense coworker on Zoom: A24 is promoting its new film ‘Marty Supreme’ with an awkward video call. Here’s why it’s genius. (Fast Company)

Be sure to check out our special live episode of Masters in Business Live from the Economic Club of New York, with Nobel laureate Richard Thaler, and his colleague from the Booth School of Business, Alex Imas, Professor of Behavioral Science, Economics and Applied AI; we discuss the new edition of their book “The Winner’s Curse.”

 

Payroll growth rose to 119K in September, exceeding expectations

Source: @SteveRattner

 

Sign up for our reads-only mailing list here.

 

The post 10 Friday AM Reads appeared first on The Big Picture.

"Rigging The News Is Heinous" - FCC Chair Carr Probes BBC 'Corruption'

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has launched a probe into the BBC “intentionally distorting” edit of President Trump’s January 6 2021 speech, demanding U.S. broadcasters NPR and PBS reveal if they aired the fake clip—escalating the scandal that forced BBC brass to quit as Trump threatens a $1 billion+ lawsuit.

Carr’s letter to BBC’s Tim Davie, NPR’s Katherine Maher, and PBS’s Paula Kerger accuses the BBC of splicing Trump’s speech to “depict President Trump voicing a sentence that, in fact, he never uttered.”

“That would appear to meet the very definition of publishing a materially false and damaging statement,” Carr urged.

He noted the edit joined portions “54 minutes apart,” receiving “widespread condemnation.”

Carr demanded transcripts and video to determine if the clip aired in the U.S., citing broadcasters’ “legal obligation to operate in the public interest,” including “prohibitions on news distortion and broadcast hoax.” 

He warned: “The FCC has stated that ‘rigging or slanting the news is a most heinous act against the public interest.’”

Trump has slammed the BBC as “100% fake news,” vowing a $1 billion suit, with lawyers declaring “The BBC is on notice.” 

On the BBC resignations, Trump noted  “The TOP people in the BBC, including TIM DAVIE, the BOSS, are all quitting/FIRED, because they were caught “doctoring” my very good (PERFECT!) speech of January 6th.”

“These are very dishonest people who tried to step on the scales of a Presidential Election,” Trump added, further urging, “On top of everything else, they are from a Foreign Country, one that many consider our Number One Ally. What a terrible thing for Democracy!”

Carr looped in NPR and PBS for distributing BBC content, probing if they aired the distorted speech—emphasizing U.S. broadcasters’ duty to avoid “news distortion.” 

This ties into broader media accountability, as the UK’s Ofcom investigates, but Carr’s FCC move amps up pressure on foreign “fake news” influencing Americans.

Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via Locals or check out our unique merch. Follow us on X @ModernityNews.

Tyler Durden Fri, 11/21/2025 - 06:30

Visualizing The Impact Of Terrorism Around The World

According to the Global Guardian Terror Index 2026, countries in Africa, Asia and some in Latin America and the Middle East are being heavily affected by acts of terrorism.

However, as Statista's Katharina Buchholz details below, in major economies in Europe, the terror threat also continued to be high.

You will find more infographics at Statista

Within Africa and Asia, unstable countries like Sudan, Mali, Somalia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo were classified as extremely impacted by terror, as were the usual suspects like Syria, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

However, the extreme classification was also applied to Nigeria, India, Myanmar, Colombia and Mexico, were armed groups and insurgents continue to carry out violent attacks.

In Europe, Germany, France, Austria and the United Kingdom were classified as subject to a high impact, similar to the situation in the United States, Russia, Australia and much of the Middle East and North Africa.

In the U.S. and Western Europe, lone-wolf attacks made up much of the tally, driven by islamist or other extremist ideologies.

The 2026 index now marks Iraq and Libya only in the "high" category, indicative of a broader trend which saw the epicenter of terrorism shift from the Middle East into Sub-Saharan Africa, with Burkina Faso and Niger also high on the list.

Areas of relative calm were sparse, according to the ranking, but could still be found in Southern-Central Africa, Central American and parts of Central Asia.

The ranking takes into account terror incidents, casualtites, fatalities and hostages by groups, insurgents and individual perpetrators.

Tyler Durden Fri, 11/21/2025 - 05:45

Germans Pay 4 Times More For Electricity Than Hungarians In Capital Cities

Via Remix News,

A report out of the International Energy Agency reveals that the Hungarian capital of Budapest had the lowest electricity prices in the EU in October. Meanwhile, the German capital of Berlin ranked as having the most expensive rate in Europe.

German households paid more than four times higher electricity prices on average than Hungarian households in the second half of 2024, reports Magyar Nemzet, based on the IEA study. 

In one section of its report, the agency noted the importance of investments in renewables and efforts to make electricity affordable, adding that prices can vary greatly between countries.

Világgazdaság recently wrote on the latest Eurostat figures from October, which show that Germany had the highest household electricity unit price of 41.08 euro cents, while Hungary’s was 9.34 euro cents per kilowatt hour. The EU and slightly lower European averages were about 2.8 times higher than the Budapest tariff, based on a report by the Finnish VaasaETT analysis company. In addition to Germany, electricity was more expensive than 30 euro cents in eight other capitals.

Hungary has maintained such a low level due to its government’s policy of keeping a cap on utility prices. The Hungarian price regulation has been two-tiered since August 2022: The “classic” reduced utility price (36 forints per kilowatt-hour) is valid up to 2,523 kWh of electricity per year, after which a higher, but still reduced, and non-market-based, official price comes into effect. This 70.10 forint tariff was 10.76 euro cents in October, which is the second lowest among the capitals examined.

It is also worth comparing how much the tariffs, whether low or high in absolute terms, burden households. Based on the October figures, the Hungarian Energy and Public Utilities Regulatory Office calculated that the average amount of electricity and gas consumed by a two-earner household with an average income among the capitals examined. 

Among the households modeled in this way, a Budapest resident spent 1.7 percent of their income on utilities, while a Brussels resident spent 2.2 percent. Lisbon had the worst figure at 6.1 percent. Berlin came in seventh place with 2.5 percent.

An earlier Eurostat calculation from October showed that in the first half of 2025, the Czech Republic had the highest electricity prices (39.16) in classical purchasing power parity (PPS), followed by Poland (34.96) and Italy (34.40).

Hungary once again performed excellently in this comparison with a value of 15.01, which put it in second place after Malta (13.68).

Opposition parties in Hungary have repeatedly called for the Hungarian caps to be cancelled, arguing that the cost is too great. 

Brussels has also shown little sympathy for Hungary’s reliance on Russian gas.

The EU has called for the government to drop this energy, but if Hungary were to stop importing Russian gas, heating prices for Hungarians would spike, as the caps would no longer be sustainable. 

Despite the United States exempting Hungary from its own ban on Russian energy, EU commission head Ursula von der Leyen has been clear that Brussels still expects Budapest to submit a plan to divest itself of Russian energy sources. 

Government calculations show that if Hungary were forced by the EU to forego Russian natural gas and oil, tariffs would increase threefold, directly hurting Hungarian citizens. In addition, the price of energy used by businesses would also rise, which, even if they survived, would be passed on to consumers.

The question may arise as to why Brussels has an interest in weakening the economy of a member state and worsening the financial situation of its population, and why politicians who want to take over the government of Hungary support these efforts, Magyar Nemzet asks. ​​

Read more here

Tyler Durden Fri, 11/21/2025 - 05:00

Inflation Watch: Countries Losing The Most Purchasing Power In 2025

Imagine earning $100 in January, only to have it buy less than $80 worth of goods or services by December. That’s how fast inflation is eating away at purchasing power in some countries.

This graphic, created by Visual Capitalist's Jenna Ross in partnership with Plasma, highlights countries with the highest inflation rates and what $100 could be worth by the end of 2025. It’s part of our Money 2.0 series, where we highlight how finance is evolving into its next era. 

The Declining Value of $100 Due to Inflation

Some countries are facing high inflation rates, which means that prices are rising very quickly. As prices rise, money you already hold will buy you less than it did before.

What does this look like in dollar terms? Using projected 2025 inflation rates from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), we estimated what the equivalent of $100 at the start of the year will be worth by the end of 2025.

Source: IMF World Economic Outlook, Oct. 2025.

The IMF expects Venezuela will have an inflation rate of nearly 549% in 2025. In practical terms, this means $100 saved at the start of the year would only buy goods worth $15 by December. Economic sanctions from the U.S. have worsened the financial crisis in the country. 

Even outside this extreme example, many countries are on track to see the local currency lose about a quarter of its purchasing power over the course of the year. This means wages and savings lose value quickly, making everyday essentials like food and rent harder to afford.

How to Protect Purchasing Power

When local money is rapidly losing purchasing power, residents can move their savings into a currency experiencing much lower inflation and more stability.

For instance, stablecoins are primarily pegged to the U.S. dollar and can help people preserve the value of their money. With Plasma One, a global U.S. dollar card, people can quickly sign up on their phone and use their stablecoin balance in more than 150 countries.

Tyler Durden Fri, 11/21/2025 - 04:15

Netanyahu Visits Israeli Troops Inside Southern Syria In Provocative First

Via Middle East Eye

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Israeli soldiers in occupied Syria on Wednesday, where the faces of the troops were blurred out in photos and videos to protect them from the risk of legal action over allegations of involvement in war crimes.

Netanyahu, Defense Minister Israel Katz, Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, Eyal Zamir, the Israeli military chief of staff, and several other security officials toured military positions in the buffer zone area unilaterally seized by Israel in December. 

PM Benjamin Netanyahu meets Israeli soldiers, whose faces are blurred, in an Israeli military outpost in southern Syria on November 19, 2025. via X

Israel, which has already occupied Syria’s Golan Heights in contravention of international law since 1967, expanded its territory in southern Syria following the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s government. It seized all of a UN-patrolled buffer zone which had previously separated Israeli and Syria forces in the Golan Heights. 

Addressing Israeli soldiers at the outpost on Wednesday, Netanyahu said: "We attach immense importance to our capability here, both defensive and offensive, safeguarding our Druze allies, and especially safeguarding Israel and its northern border opposite the Golan Heights."

He added: "This is a mission that can develop at any moment, but we are counting on you."cEarlier this year, the Israeli military placed new restrictions on media coverage of soldiers on active combat duty because of growing concern about the risk of legal action.

In response to the visit, Syria’s foreign ministry condemned the visit as "illegal".

"Syria firmly condemns the illegal visit of the Israeli prime minister, defense and foreign ministers, along with other occupying officials, to the south of the Syrian Arab Republic. This constitutes a clear violation of Syria’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, and relevant UN Security Council resolutions," it said in a statement. 

The ministry said it was part of Israel's "ongoing policy of aggression and continued breaches against Syrian territory" and that all actions by Israel in southern Syria were "null, void, and legally invalid under international law".

Ibrahim Olabi, Syria's ambassador to the United Nations, told the UN Security Council on Wednesday that it should halt Israeli violations, and enforce relevant resolutions including the 1974 disengagement agreement which followed the 1973 Middle East war.

Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for the UN secretary-general, said the "very public visit" by Israeli officials was "concerning, to say the least". Dujarric said that UN Resolution 2799, which was recently passed by the Security Council, "called for the full sovereignty, unity, independence, and territorial integrity of Syria".

During the Security Council meeting this week, Israeli ambassador Danny Danon spoke about Syria but did not address Netanyahu's visit.  "Show us that Syria is moving away from extremism and radicalism, that the protection of Christians and Jews is not an afterthought but a priority. Show us that the militias are restrained and justice is real and the cycle of indiscriminate killings has ended," Danon said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu illegally toured areas in Syria beyond the designated ceasefire line, visiting Israeli troops and inspecting the site. Syria condemned the visit, calling it “a serious violation of Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity” pic.twitter.com/KeKnC6tT0c

— TRT World (@trtworld) November 19, 2025

Olabi hit back: "The proving, Mr Ambassador, tends to be on your shoulders. You have struck Syria more than 1,000 times, and we have responded with requests for diplomacy… and responded with zero signs of aggression towards Israel." He added: "We have engaged constructively. and we still await for you to do the same."

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa said recently Israel had conducted over 1,000 air strikes in Syria since December 8 2024, when Assad's government collapsed. Last week, Sharaa confirmed that his country was in direct talks with Israel on reaching a new security agreement.

Tyler Durden Fri, 11/21/2025 - 03:30