Crypto Today: November 12, 2026

Each fact links to the outlet that reported it: check the original before relying on it. Not investment advice.

Bitcoin fell to a 12-week low near $71,000 on Thursday as Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s abrupt resignation hit tech stocks and about $750 million of crypto positions were liquidated. Earlier, the US moved to seize $1.2 billion tied to the Binance hack, and Binance said it has fully covered customers’ losses.

The simple explanation

Binance, one of the biggest crypto exchanges, was robbed of $6.34 billion on Oct. 29 in the largest crypto theft on record. The US Justice Department now says it is moving to seize $1.2 billion of the stolen money, which it links to North Korean hackers. Binance says it has repaid customers from its own funds, though users can’t yet check this for themselves.

Separately, Nvidia, the chip company at the center of the AI boom, said its CEO Jensen Huang resigned. Its shares fell sharply, and bitcoin dropped to about $71,000, its lowest in about 12 weeks. Many traders had borrowed money to bet on prices, and when prices fell, about $750 million of those bets were forcibly closed, which pushed prices down further.

Markets snapshot

• BTC: $71,278.00 (-3.5% over 24 hours)
• ETH: $2,010.71 (-2.2% over 24 hours)
• SOL: $81.31 (-2.6% over 24 hours)

Prices as of Thursday, November 12, 2026.

Security & Hacks

DOJ moves to seize $1.2 billion of Binance hack proceeds; Binance says customers are fully covered

The US Justice Department got court approval to seize $1.2 billion of the money stolen from Binance, which it attributes to North Korean hackers. Binance says it has covered all affected customer assets, but the proof that backs that claim is still being generated.

• On Oct. 29, attackers drained Binance hot wallets of $6.34 billion, the largest crypto theft on record; Binance’s Nov. 3 incident report said it began with a fake job interview and a poisoned developer tool. (Bitcoin Magazine)
• On Nov. 12, the DOJ said it obtained court approval to seize $1.2 billion of the stolen funds, which it attributes to North Korea’s TraderTraitor group. (The Block, CoinDesk)
• The DOJ also said it took down infrastructure used in the FaceStealer deepfake scheme, which authorities say was used to steal as much as $400 million in crypto. (CoinDesk, The Block)
• On Thursday Binance said it has completed coverage of affected assets, using more than $6.34 billion of company funds drawn from part of its SAFU emergency fund, surplus futures insurance funds and its corporate treasury. (Bitcoin Magazine, The Defiant)
• Binance published a new proof-of-reserves snapshot, taken at 00:00 UTC on Nov. 12, covering 198 tokens versus 10 in the Oct. 31 snapshot. (Bitcoin Magazine)
• The full zero-knowledge proof, which lets users verify 1:1 backing themselves, will take about 40 to 50 hours to generate. (Bitcoin Magazine, The Defiant)
• Withdrawals, first reopened Nov. 1, are still being restored in phases, and Binance plans to refill SAFU to about $1 billion. (Bitcoin Magazine)

Context: Binance is the world’s largest crypto exchange by volume (Background). TraderTraitor is the name US authorities use for a North Korean state-linked hacking group (Background). Proof of reserves is a published accounting that an exchange holds enough assets to cover customer balances.

Why it matters: A seizure of this size would be a rare large-scale recovery of stolen crypto, though it is a fraction of the total taken. Customers cannot independently confirm Binance’s backing until the proof is published.

Disputed or unconfirmed: The claim that customers are fully covered and backed 1:1 comes from Binance itself and is not yet independently verifiable. The articles do not say how much of the stolen funds have been recovered beyond the DOJ’s seizure move.

Watch next: Release of Binance’s full zero-knowledge proof of reserves in roughly 40 to 50 hours, and further details on the phased withdrawal reopening.

Markets

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang resigns; bitcoin falls to a 12-week low near $71,000

Jensen Huang quit as Nvidia CEO, president and board member, and Nvidia shares dropped around 10% or more, spreading into AI stocks and crypto. Bitcoin hit about $71,200 with roughly $750 million in liquidations.

• On Nov. 12, Nvidia announced Huang stepped down immediately as CEO, president and board member after 33 years leading the company. (CryptoSlate, CoinDesk)
• CFO Colette Kress became interim CEO and stays CFO while the board searches for a permanent successor; longtime director Harvey Jones becomes chairman. (Cointelegraph, CryptoSlate)
• Nvidia gave no reason; CryptoSlate noted the exit followed reports of Huang’s extramarital relationships, including one with a woman US authorities reportedly suspect of Chinese intelligence ties. The board had opened an independent investigation, and the allegations are unproven. (CryptoSlate)
• Nvidia shares fell about 10% to roughly $156 in premarket trading by CoinDesk and CryptoSlate; Cointelegraph reported a 13% drop. (CoinDesk, CryptoSlate, Cointelegraph)
• CoreWeave fell more than 13% and Nebius about 20% in premarket trading. (CryptoSlate)
• Bitcoin fell as low as $71,200, a 12-week low, with $750 million in crypto positions liquidated; the MSCI decision on Strategy landed the same day. (The Block)
• Ether dropped below $1,990, its lowest since August, according to CryptoSlate data. (CryptoSlate)

Context: Nvidia makes the chips that power AI and is central to the AI investment boom. Liquidations occur when leveraged traders’ positions are force-closed after prices move against them. Critics have worried about circular AI financing, where suppliers invest in customers who buy their products; Nvidia put $2 billion into CoreWeave in January.

Why it matters: The move shows crypto trading in step with AI and tech stocks. Analysts quoted worry that Huang’s role in negotiating AI financing deals is hard to replace.

Disputed or unconfirmed: Outlets differ on the size of Nvidia’s drop (about 10% versus 13%). The reasons for the resignation are not stated by Nvidia, and the allegations reported are unproven.

Watch next: Nvidia’s board naming a permanent CEO and the outcome of the independent investigation.

Companies & Industry

MSCI confirms Strategy, Metaplanet and Upexi will be dropped from its indexes after Nov. 30

MSCI published its final list on Nov. 11 removing several bitcoin-holding companies, including Strategy from the MSCI USA Index, effective after the Nov. 30 close. How much it matters depends on how much index-fund selling follows and on Strategy’s ability to keep raising money.

• On Nov. 11, MSCI released its November review; Strategy leaves the MSCI USA Index and Metaplanet leaves the MSCI Japan Small Cap Index, both effective at the Nov. 30 close. (Unchained, Cointelegraph)
• Six securities were marked for deletion under MSCI’s non-operating company screen: Strategy, Metaplanet, Yellow Cake, Skel Fjarfestingafelag, Agronomics and Upexi; 19 more are on a watchlist. (Unchained, Cointelegraph)
• Strategy said in an August submission that MSCI-linked funds hold about 13 million shares, or 3.1% of basic shares; the only outside estimate, $2.8 billion from JPMorgan, dates from late 2025 and was built for an earlier rule. (Unchained, CryptoSlate)
• Strategy raised $284 million selling 2,051,348 shares Nov. 2-8, putting $188 million toward preferred-share buybacks and $82 million toward 1,036 BTC, bringing holdings to 850,364 BTC. (CryptoSlate)
• Strategy has about $18 billion of stock available to sell, and disclosed about $432 million of bitcoin sold this year to fund preferred dividends and buybacks. (CryptoSlate)
• Some analysts say the exclusion could hamper Strategy’s ability to buy more bitcoin. (CoinDesk)

Context: Strategy, led by Michael Saylor, is the largest corporate bitcoin holder and funds purchases by selling shares and preferred securities. MSCI indexes are tracked by many passive funds, which must sell removed stocks. Metaplanet is a Tokyo-listed bitcoin treasury company.

Why it matters: Index funds must sell removed shares, and weaker demand could make it harder for Strategy to raise money. Tracker selling does not directly take cash from Strategy or force bitcoin sales.

Disputed or unconfirmed: The scale of forced selling is uncertain: the 13 million share figure comes from Strategy itself and has no stated observation date, and the JPMorgan estimate is outdated.

Watch next: The Nov. 30 close, when the deletions take effect; MSCI says results may still change for corporate events before then.

Regulation & Policy

DOJ, banks and crypto firms file briefs against Illinois’ 0.2% crypto transaction tax

The Justice Department, business and banking groups and a crypto coalition filed briefs backing a lawsuit to strike down Illinois’ 0.2% tax on digital asset transactions.

• The DOJ, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, SIFMA and a crypto coalition led by a16z, Paradigm and Uniswap filed briefs supporting a lawsuit against the state’s 0.2% levy. (Decrypt)
• Industry groups argued the tax applies even when a transaction yields no profit and could raise compliance costs and violate federal law. (Cointelegraph)
• The crypto industry also told the court the tax is impossible to enforce as written. (CoinDesk)
• Andreessen Horowitz and the DeFi Education Fund were among those pushing back. (The Block)

Context: The unusual alliance pairs federal prosecutors and banks with DeFi firms. SIFMA is a Wall Street trade group (Background). a16z and Paradigm are major crypto venture investors (Background).

Why it matters: The case could decide whether states can tax each crypto transaction directly, a model others might copy.

Solana & Other Chains

DTCC plans to bring tokenized stocks, ETFs and Treasuries to Solana in second half of 2027

DTCC, Wall Street’s main settlement firm, plans to add Solana to its tokenization service in the second half of 2027.

• DTCC plans to bring tokenized stocks, ETFs and U.S. Treasuries to Solana. (CoinDesk, Decrypt)
• The rollout is targeted for the second half of 2027. (The Block, The Defiant)
• The service went live last month on Canton and DTCC’s private Besu network. (Decrypt, The Defiant)
• The 2027 roadmap also extends beyond Stellar and Arc. (CoinDesk)

Context: DTCC clears and settles most US securities trades (Background). Tokenization means representing traditional assets as tokens on a blockchain.

Why it matters: It would put a public blockchain among the networks used by core market infrastructure.

Quick hits

• India’s Enforcement Directorate searched CoinDCX and Delta Exchange, alleging they routed Indian users’ trades to Binance, Bybit and others via a Costa Rican shell entity. (Decrypt)
• Louisiana sued Kalshi, Robinhood and other prediction market platforms, joining other states in a fight with the federal government. (The Block)
• Trump named two SEC and two CFTC commissioner nominees, the first in a year. (CoinDesk)
• South Korea’s FSC will issue a no-action letter shielding exchanges that freeze funds when a hack is suspected; no date or conditions are given yet. (Unchained)
• Chainstack said an AI-powered breach exposed customer node credentials and asked customers to rotate them; the threat is now contained. (The Block)
• Tron, Tether and Chainalysis formed a Digital Crime Task Force weeks after the similar T3 unit with TRM Labs collapsed. (Decrypt)