Crypto markets are buzzing with developments. Michael Saylor predicts Bitcoin could hit $150K by year-end, while Telegram’s Pavel Durov launches a decentralized AI network. South Korea faces criticism for a bank-led stablecoin plan, and Venezuela increasingly relies on digital dollars amid economic turmoil.
Top gainers and losers
- Virtuals Protocol (VIRTUAL) - Get's ahead of everyone with a 53.36% and price of $1.39
- Zcash (ZEC) - Rise of 46.03% to a total price of $374.64
- Official Trump (TRUMP) - closing up with 38.92% and a price of $8.17
- DoubleZero (2Z) - loss of 20.88% with the end week price of $0.1859
- Story (IP) - 18.01% drop to the price of $4.41
- GateToken (GT) - closing up the three with 17.25% loss and the end price of $12.90
Saylor predicts Bitcoin could hit $150K by end of 2025
Michael Saylor, co-founder and executive chairman of Strategy, the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin, believes the leading cryptocurrency could surge to $150,000 by the end of 2025, buoyed by a wave of favorable regulatory developments in the United States.
Speaking at the Money 20/20 conference in Las Vegas, Saylor told CNBC that the past year has been “the best 12 months in the history of the industry.” He pointed to recent U.S. policy moves, including the SEC’s recognition of tokenized securities, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s endorsement of stablecoins to bolster the dollar’s global dominance, and a broader regulatory pivot toward clarity and acceptance.
“Our expectation right now is that by the end of the year, [Bitcoin] should be about $150,000, and that's the consensus of the equity analysts who cover our company and the Bitcoin industry,” Saylor said.
Markets eye recovery as trade tensions ease
Despite October’s steep correction, analysts maintain that the long-term uptrend remains intact. In a recent note, analysts at The Kobeissi Letter described the crash as “a short-term technical event,” not a structural reversal, adding that they expect a rebound as trade negotiations progress.
In the days following the sell-off, both U.S. and Chinese officials have softened their rhetoric, signaling progress toward a new trade agreement. President Trump confirmed plans to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping during the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Seoul.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent later announced that the two nations had reached a “substantial framework” for a trade deal, a statement that ignited optimism across both traditional and digital asset markets.
Investor and analyst Anthony Pompliano echoed that sentiment, writing on X:
“Asset prices will get crazy this week if the US-China trade deal is announced and the Fed cuts interest rates. Buckle up.”
Telegram’s Pavel Durov unveils decentralized AI network on TON
Pavel Durov, the co-founder of Telegram, has unveiled a new decentralized AI initiative designed to bring artificial intelligence to users without forcing them to surrender their data to centralized providers.
Announced at the Blockchain Life 2025 forum in Abu Dhabi, the project called the Confidential Compute Open Network (Cocoon), will run atop The Open Network (TON), a blockchain closely tied to Telegram’s ecosystem. The goal, according to Durov, is to allow users to access AI tools while retaining full control of their personal information, a contrast to the increasingly data-hungry models of centralized AI platforms. Through Cocoon, users will be able to contribute GPU processing power to the network and, in return, receive Toncoin (TON), the native token of the TON blockchain. This model effectively transforms idle GPU resources into a decentralized computing marketplace for AI workloads.
“Why is it important to do something this way as opposed to the centralized way that is sometimes more convenient? It is important, my friends, because the world has been moving towards a weird direction. For the last 20 years, we’ve been gradually losing our digital freedoms.”
The push for decentralized AI has accelerated in recent months as blockchain developers and privacy advocates warn of the risks posed by centralized control of machine learning systems. Massive datasets stored on centralized servers remain attractive targets for hackers, said David Holtzman, chief strategy officer at Naoris, a decentralized cybersecurity protocol.
The Cocoon initiative positions TON as one of the first major blockchain ecosystems to integrate decentralized compute with AI governance, a move that could redefine how users, machines, and data interact in an increasingly automated digital world.
South Korea’s bank-first stablecoin plan faces criticism from Kaia chair
The Bank of Korea’s (BOK) plan to let banks take the lead in issuing won-backed stablecoins has drawn criticism from Dr. Sangmin Seo, chair of the Kaia DLT Foundation, who says the central bank’s reasoning “lacks a logical foundation.”
In a report published Monday, the BOK argued that banks are best positioned to spearhead stablecoin issuance since they already operate under strict capital, foreign exchange, and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulations. The central bank also proposed the creation of a joint policy body involving currency, FX, and financial regulators to determine who can issue stablecoins, in what volume, and under what terms.
“The central bank’s argument for banks leading a rollout seems to lack a logical foundation,” he said.
According to Seo, a more balanced approach would involve setting clear, uniform rules for all potential issuers, both banks and fintech firms, that meet safety and transparency standards. This, he added, would allow the market to determine which players are most capable of building efficient and trustworthy stablecoin systems. Regulatory guidance could “minimize monetary risks and foster innovation,” enabling both banking and non-banking institutions to compete on equal footing.
Emphasizing that regulatory fairness, not institutional favoritism, should be the foundation for stablecoin policy.
The central bank’s report also proposed banning interest-bearing stablecoins, claiming they could pose direct competition to traditional bank deposits and threaten financial stability. Instead, the BOK is advocating for “deposit tokens” digital representations of existing bank deposits, as a safer and more controllable alternative.
Venezuela’s stablecoin reliance deepens amid war threats and sanctions
Venezuela’s growing dependence on US dollar–pegged stablecoins may soon intensify as renewed political tension and the threat of military action from the United States put further strain on the nation’s economy.
Earlier this week, the US Department of Defense deployed its most advanced aircraft carrier to the Caribbean, near Venezuelan waters, after President Donald Trump signaled plans to target drug cartels operating inside the country. Trump accused Venezuelan networks of trafficking narcotics into the United States, fueling the ongoing opioid crisis, a claim that President Nicolás Maduro has denied, urging Washington to “avoid war” and open diplomatic channels instead.
For many Venezuelans, the looming conflict only adds to a decade-long struggle with hyperinflation and crippling sanctions. Stablecoins like Tether (USDT), often nicknamed “Binance dollars” by locals, have become essential for preserving value, conducting payments, and even covering daily expenses in an economy where the bolívar continues to erode in real time.
Stablecoins have also crept into the state’s financial infrastructure. The Venezuelan government has reportedly used them to facilitate oil trade with allies like Russia, part of a broader strategy to bypass US sanctions. On Monday, Caracas and Moscow finalized a new strategic partnership that includes “digital financial coordination,” according to state media.
As reported by The New York Times, Maduro’s administration has effectively “rewired Venezuela’s economy to stablecoins,” with up to half of the country’s legal hard currency inflows now entering via crypto rails, an unprecedented feat for any nation under sanctions.
Crypto adoption has even reached the political elite. Maria Corina Machado, a former Venezuelan presidential candidate and this year’s Nobel Peace Prize laureate, revealed she uses Bitcoin (BTC) to protect her assets from potential seizure by the Maduro regime.
Her story mirrors that of millions of Venezuelans who have turned to digital assets to safeguard what little they have left. Since Maduro took office in 2013, nearly eight million people have fled the country amid hyperinflation, food shortages, and public unrest, many relying on stablecoins and Bitcoin to move savings across borders and start anew.
Gunel Ismayilova
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