- Bitcoin breaks above $81,000, up 4.0%, as short liquidations hit $128 million.
- OpenAI releases GPT-6 Astra, and says the model may be “right around” reaching AGI.
- Nvidia completes its $12.93 billion Hugging Face acquisition, closing in 2027.
Bitcoin traded near $81,209, up 4.0% over the past 24 hours and briefly touching $81,020 intraday, its strongest level in weeks. Ethereum surged 4.2% to $2,519, breaking above $2,500 during the session. XRP jumped 5.7% to $1.45, BNB rose 4.3% to $727.73, and Hyperliquid’s HYPE token gained 6.1% to $87.16.
Zcash stood out with a 15.3% daily surge to $949, up 20.3% for the week. Total crypto market capitalization stood at $2.81 trillion, up 3.7% over the past day, with 24-hour trading volume reaching $106.35 billion.
Trending Searches Led by Zcash’s Continued Rally
Zcash led trending searches with a 15.3% gain, followed by Pons, up 0.9%, and Uniswap, up 8.7%. Among top gainers, bitcastle Token surged 155.4%, Lil’ Shrub added 110.5%, and Metadium jumped 104.0%.
Short Squeeze Fuels the Break Above $80,000
As Bitcoin broke through $80,000 and continued climbing toward $81,000, total liquidations across the market reached roughly $128 million within a single hour, with $116 million coming from short positions against just $12.2 million in longs.
Analysts pointed to a broader dollar-weakness dynamic, with a strengthening yen pulling down the US Dollar Index and lifting both Bitcoin and gold in tandem, though some flagged the risk of a disorderly yen carry-trade unwind eventually reversing the tailwind.
Liquid Capital founder said Bitcoin’s bounce off $76,300 support confirms the broader bull trend remains intact, with resistance still sitting near $86,000. Separately, whale “Set 10 Big Goals First” said Bitcoin holding above $80,000 makes a push toward $100,000 look like “the last chance to get on board.”
OpenAI Ships GPT-6 Astra, Teases AGI Milestone
OpenAI released GPT-6 Astra, calling it the most intelligent and aligned model it has built, with state-of-the-art performance in computer operation, coding, cybersecurity, and scientific research. Co-founder Greg Brockman said the AGI timeline, long ambiguous, may turn out to have arrived “right around this model.”
The model costs $10 per million input tokens and $50 per million output tokens, 2.5x pricier than the prior flagship, and rolls out to ChatGPT subscribers over the coming days. The launch came shortly after a wave of outages hit multiple AI providers simultaneously, with OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Codex, Anthropic’s Claude, and xAI’s Grok all reporting service disruptions within the same window.
Nvidia Closes Hugging Face Deal
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang confirmed the company has agreed to acquire Hugging Face for $12.93 billion, with the platform continuing to operate as an open, vendor-neutral ecosystem that doesn’t require Nvidia compute to use. Up to $1 billion is set aside for employee equity retention, and the deal is expected to close in the first half of 2027 pending regulatory approval.
Institutional and Whale Activity Accelerates
Abraxas Capital bought over 16,500 ETH (about $39.8 million) in 12 hours while holding a $291.4 million hedged short on Hyperliquid. A mysterious whale fully liquidated 167,800 ETH (roughly $408 million) over five days.
Machi Big Brother closed his HYPE long and added to Bitcoin exposure, pushing total unrealized profit past $3.7 million. Multicoin Capital has reportedly sold $112 million in HYPE since late July for an estimated $64 million profit.
Fidelity Sees Crypto Nearing a Bottom
Fidelity Digital Assets’ Q4 outlook revealed Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana posted their largest monthly gains since late 2025 in August, with ETH and SOL up 34.1% and 28% respectively. The firm warned the classic four-year-cycle bottom timing may not repeat, but said resilience despite hardware wallet security incidents and a stalled Clarity Act reinforces the case that crypto is near a cyclical low.
Related: Bitcoin Demand Turns Negative, Raising Risk of Further BTC Decline
Institutional Infrastructure Expands
Bank-backed digital currency network Cari raised $32.5 million from First Horizon, Huntington, KeyBank, and other banks to build tokenized deposit infrastructure. UK platform Hargreaves Lansdown opened BTC and ETH ETN trading to roughly 2 million retail investors. Coinbase filed SEC registration to launch single-stock perpetual contracts in the US, and Polymarket officially launched perpetual contracts covering crypto, stocks, and commodities with up to 20x leverage.
Security Incidents Continue
Swiss brokerage Pocket Bitcoin confirmed a breach exposing bank transfer details and ID documents for more than 5,400 customers, with no signs of misuse detected. Notional Finance’s custody contract was exploited for roughly $1.7 million, with stolen funds routed through Tornado Cash.
Related: Trump May End Iran War: What It Means for Oil, Bitcoin and Markets
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