Bitcoin and ether rise, trimming November losses as tech stocks rally: CNBC Crypto World

Today, crypto starts the week with a comeback after last week's sell-off. New

research shows more crypto investors are turning to stable coins as a form of protection from market volatility. And

Matt Sava Ree of NASDAQ breaks down the exchanges push into digital assets.

Welcome to CNBC's Crypto World. I'm

Mackenzie Seagalos. Digital currencies

making a comeback over the weekend and starting the last week of November in the green. By noon Eastern, Bitcoin

the green. By noon Eastern, Bitcoin crossed above the $87,000 level. That's

after last week's route, which pushed the cryptocurrency as low as $80,000.

Ether also in the black this morning, rising to $2,863.

And after trading as low as a 183 on Friday, XRP is in the green, too, rising to $212.

Okay, let's talk about the top stories.

New research out today finds that stable coins make up 9% of crypto's total market cap, a two-year high. That's

according to data released by crypto pre-sales.com, which also noted that while many crypto investors chase high-risk, highreward opportunities, more of them are turning to stable coins

as a form of protection from market volatility. Other reasons for the shift

volatility. Other reasons for the shift include clearer regulations, rising institutional interest, and increased use of stable coins in crossber payments, DeFi, and remittances. The

report also pointed to Coin Gecko data, which showed that stable coin market share has risen over the past 5 months, signaling growing caution in a broader riskoff approach in the crypto space.

Regulatory advancements, including those in the US, have only increased investor confidence and attracted more capital into the sector. Of course, the president signed the Genius Act stable coin bill into law over the summer,

marking the first major piece of crypto regulation to become law in the US. As

2025 comes to a close, it's a good time for crypto investors to look at new IRS recordkeeping rules. New stricter

recordkeeping rules. New stricter reporting requirements went into effect for this year, requiring brokerages to send a new tax form called a 1099DA.

It allows brokerages to report gross proceeds from crypto sales that they process. Beginning in 2026, brokerages

process. Beginning in 2026, brokerages will also be required to report gross proceeds and cost basis information.

According to an example from crypto exchange Coinbase, if you bought one ETH for $1,500 and paid a $50 transaction fee, your cost basis would be $1,550.

And that's what would later be used to calculate your gain or loss. So, if you were to sell that same ETH for $2,000, your taxable gain would be $450. For

more on crypto tax requirements, check out the story over on cnbc.com/cryptoorld.

cnbc.com/cryptoorld.

All right, for our main story, Crypto World's Talia Kaplan, sat down with NASDAQ's head of digital assets, Matt Seice, from the Clear Street Disruptive Technology Conference in Palm Beach, Florida last week. They discussed the

exchange's efforts in the crypto space, including the NASDAQ's SEC filing to introduce trading of tokenized securities. Wall Street is looking to

securities. Wall Street is looking to capitalize on the tokenization boom amid easing crypto regulations. And if the NASDAQ gets the green light, the move would mark the first time tokenized stocks would be allowed to trade on a

major US exchange.

NASDAQ has been involved in digital assets since 2021 when you launched the NASDAQ crypto index and since then NASDAQ has been immersing more and more

into the space. I want to start off with the very latest because in September NASDAQ filed an application with the SEC

for a proposed rules change to allow for the trading of tokenized stocks and ETPs.

So what was the main driver behind that move? I mean obviously we're hearing a

move? I mean obviously we're hearing a lot of interest in tokenized stocks right now. So I'm sure that was part of

right now. So I'm sure that was part of it, but what else was in the mix there?

>> Sure. So the way we look at it is we filed a rule filing with the SEC that really allows our investors and members choice around how to settle and hold

those assets and represent them. So

either you can represent them in tokenized form now on on uh on blockchain or you can hold them in its traditional form uh under the traditional accounts. And really what

traditional accounts. And really what the whole purpose of this is to bridge the the digital asset world and the traditional world together but do it and some of our responsibility is to really

do it with an investor first principles type of uh type of mode. So, we really looked at this as a way to kind of give investors that level of choice and to

drive things forward. I think what's crucial here is that we're not creating a new exotic instrument. The stock is the stock. And that's what's really

the stock. And that's what's really important is that we focus to make sure that the investor is first and they have the full rights and title that other

that the shareholder should have as part of owning that share. And what that really means is that when you start to trade that, that is the same ticker.

It's the same QIP that's being traded.

It's fully fungeible between the token and its traditional form. It's just

allowing the investor that choice on the back end to be able to hold it as new applications come come forward and you have the enhanced utility of that of that instrument. So really we're

that instrument. So really we're thinking about the investor um and making sure that they have right entitle to the asset which in is contrary to some uh some issuance that have

happened. Um and you want to make sure

happened. Um and you want to make sure that there are the the that same level of investor protections that exist relative to something that may be

construed as a a slightly of a derivative that doesn't necessarily have the exact right entitle to that instrument. So expanding on that, as you

instrument. So expanding on that, as you just mentioned, I know that NASDAQ aims to integrate tokenized assets into current market structures and NASDAQ

argues that current securities laws will apply. So how will this work exactly?

apply. So how will this work exactly?

Take us through what will change if the SEC does in fact approve this rules change.

>> Sure. So the nice thing is when it when we're talking about from a trade perspective, there's not much that happens day one from just the pure trade aspect of it and that's deliberate. What

we want to do is really bring the ecosystem along. So first and foremost

ecosystem along. So first and foremost is being able to be able to interact with those uh with those shares in the tokenized form. So the trade happens

tokenized form. So the trade happens through the order book under the same SEC rules that apply in the national market system. that was important uh

market system. that was important uh because the rules that have existed for decades and we don't want to just completely rip out and upend the entire process. So it's it was very important

process. So it's it was very important for us to make sure that we operate within the national market system but allow to start to see the benefits of having a token and utilize those whether

that be on the post-trade processing which this is it allows the post-trade processing to exist in its tokenized form and also as new applications come

on to be able to utilize that token in its different in its in those applications whether that be in borrowing lending collateral other use cases. We see those as being really

use cases. We see those as being really the um the the new uh and forward thinking of what a token can actually be used for within the trade and the match

itself. It's still it's still the same

itself. It's still it's still the same order book and and the same uh investor protections that you exist and the same best execution that you would receive with the depth of liquidity. I think

it's important to really identify that we're we're looking at keeping the same level of liquidity and that depth of liquidity that exists today. The the

United States is the envy of the world when it comes to really thinking about what liquidity is. And what what we don't want to see happen is the fragmenting of liquidity across various

different pools. you would see in stress

different pools. you would see in stress times that those pools get very thin uh and then you you have more potential for disruption in the market. So our goal is

to really keep that full depth of liquidity and be able to to utilize the asset uh in in more forms than it is today.

>> So what are some of the main benefits associated with allowing for the trading of tokenized assets on the NASDAQ?

Obviously, improved efficiency, enhanced audit trails are some key factors, the potential for 247 trading, but what are some of the other advantages? If you can

take our viewers through that.

>> Yeah, sure. That's a that's a it's a great question. I'm going to break this

great question. I'm going to break this down a little bit to near-term and longer term.

>> Sounds good.

>> So, in the near term, you get a lot of process efficiencies on the back end on the post-trade side. So you can you can now settle in tokenized form that

ultimately while today we're looking at making sure that is uh it's seamless with the back-end processes that exist at our member firms. But over time you could see where that can enhance the

settlement even speed up settlement potentially to atomic uh instant settlement. However, you also have to

settlement. However, you also have to think about you have to bring the industry along with that because coming with that there's all of the additional mechanisms whether that be financing or otherwise that benefit from the capital

efficiency that you get on the delayed settlement. But it is an area that that

settlement. But it is an area that that we're looking in that we're looking at longer term. Um and even in the midterm

longer term. Um and even in the midterm we think that the collateral the mobility collateral mobility for these assets becomes very advantageous for the overall market. So being able to take

overall market. So being able to take that equity, put it into a collateral pool, allow folks to be able to move that asset instantaneously

can help along the lines of making sure that you have capital efficiency, no longer needing the uh to have to overcolateralize positions. You you're

overcolateralize positions. You you're able to receive that collateral back and reuse it more efficiently. So I think it's important to realize that the

utility comes with things that surround the asset itself beyond the trade and that's where tokenization really comes through. When we think about 247

through. When we think about 247 tokenization doesn't ultimately bring a forth 247 or liquidity for that matter.

You know it's all about the market structure that you have around that.

we're moving to 245 uh in our traditional markets and the tokenization I think will will wind up uh with our merging along the way uh in the longer

term but when you think about it it's really that enhanced utility that you get from the asset beyond just the match itself and then you can think longer term what the implications are uh you

can have better uh access for uh for proxy you can have enhance enhancements around corporate actions and processing around uh those corporate actions themselves. So I think it's important to

themselves. So I think it's important to realize that you start to get the programmable nature of what blockchain is and and smart contracts are intended for. You start to build into the

for. You start to build into the equities and it really and it really helps facilitate the asset and the mobility around it. focusing on spot

crypto ETFs. NASDAQ has been offering

crypto ETFs. NASDAQ has been offering these products including spot bitcoin ETFs, spot ether ETFs, but in recent

weeks we saw altcoin ETFs pop up, including Litecoin and Hideera, which are both offered on NASDAQ. So, why was it important for NASDAQ to offer these

products to investors on your exchange?

Yeah. So I think the way we look at it is um we have we have rules around our listings and we have a we issued a a generic rule filing. So so this would be

allow for um ETPs to come through and go through the process of the exchange listing and as long as they reach those milestones that we set forth in uh in

our generic rules then they should be allowed on onto NASDAQ. And we and we from time to time update those rules just like we do on our uh in all of our products. So we have gone through a

products. So we have gone through a rigorous process to to to file that uh which was approved and we're and we're happy to have these products listed on NASDAQ.

>> Saves also provided his 2026 outlook for the convergence of Trady and DeFi.

You'll be able to check out more of his interview over at cbc.com/cryptoorld.

All right, that's it for today, but we'll be back again tomorrow and we'll see you then.