JPMorgan Back in the Hot Seat as Debanking and DeFi vs. TradFi Rivalries Resurface

JPMorgan has upgraded its outlook on Bitcoin miners Cipher and CleanSpark while cutting targets for Marathon Digital (MARA) and Riot Blockchain (RIOT), citing increased risks of shareholder dilution. This shift reflects a growing trend among Bitcoin miners to diversify into high-performance computing (HPC) to meet the rising demand for AI compute resources.

The cryptocurrency market has experienced notable fluctuations, with Bitcoin's price stabilizing around $90,000 amid pressures from ETF outflows and market volatility. Recent reports indicate that despite these challenges, Bitcoin has shown signs of resilience in the face of significant selling pressure.

TD Cowen analysts have indicated that Strategy's stock may face continued pressure as MSCI is expected to decide by mid-January on the removal of PBTCs like Strategy from its indexes in February. This potential exclusion could significantly impact the company's market presence and investor confidence.

Cardano experienced a significant disruption on November 21, 2025, when a corrupted transaction targeting founder Charles Hoskinson's personal stake pool led to a temporary network split. This incident, initiated by a stake pool operator following unverified AI-generated instructions, exploited a bug in a cryptographic library, causing confusion and halting ADA trading on major exchanges.

JPMorgan Chase has closed the accounts of Strike CEO Jack Mallers, citing 'concerning activity,' amid ongoing controversies surrounding the bank's ties to Jeffrey Epstein. This incident has reignited fears of debanking within the cryptocurrency sector, particularly affecting prominent figures and companies in the industry.

Enso has announced its full integration and support for the Monad mainnet launch, providing developers with immediate access to decentralized finance (DeFi) tools and liquidity from the outset. This integration is expected to enhance the functionality and accessibility of the Monad platform for users and developers alike.

BitMine has acquired an additional 21,537 Ethereum tokens for approximately $60 million, increasing its holdings to over 3% of the total Ethereum supply despite facing around $4 billion in unrealized losses. This purchase comes amid a recovering market for Ethereum, which had previously seen a significant decline of over 25% in value within a month.

JPMorgan has upgraded its outlook on Bitcoin miners Cipher and CleanSpark, highlighting a positive shift as high-performance computing (HPC) partnerships reshape the mining sector. This upgrade comes amid a broader trend of increasing collaboration between traditional finance and cryptocurrency mining operations.