In Today’s Issue:

• Need to Know DeFi Ecosystem Shifts

• This Week in Hemi: Updates, Protocol Highlights, New Partnerships, and More

• Predictive Signals

• Community Spotlight

• This Week’s Hemi Yield Opportunities

Q: What is the smallest unit of Bitcoin called?

Yield-Bearing Crypto Assets Grew 300% Yet Make Up Only 8–11% of the Market

A RedStone report finds that yield-bearing crypto assets grew roughly 300% over the past year, yet still account for only 8–11% of total crypto capitalization, compared to 55–65% of capital earning interest in traditional finance.

DeFi’s “November Nightmare”: $220M in Exploits Tests Composability Risk

DeFi just absorbed a ~$220M hit after exploits on Balancer and Stream Finance, with Balancer alone losing around $100–128M before partial recovery.  

Postmortems highlight how small bugs and cross-protocol dependencies can cascade into outsized losses, reinforcing the need for formal verification, fuzzing, and safer crosschain design. For BTCFi and modular L2s, the message is clear: yield flows will increasingly favor chains and protocols that can prove security guarantees over chasing APY.

Stablecoins Break $300B While Regulators Treat Them as Systemic Plumbing

The global stablecoin market crossed $300B in total capitalization in October 2025, with average daily transaction volumes around $3.1T, according to a new report from Binance Research. Meanwhile, U.S. and U.K. policymakers are now explicitly treating stablecoins as systemic market infrastructure: the U.S. GENIUS Act established a federal framework, while the Bank of England finalized rules capping large holdings and forcing systemic issuers to park a chunk of reserves at the BoE.

Weekly DeFi Market Snapshot

• Total DeFi TVL: ≈ $136–150B, down sharply from early-October highs near $170B as exploits and macro volatility push risk off high-beta protocols.
  

• Stablecoin Supply: Just over $300B in total market cap, with ~3.5% month-on-month growth.

Capital is not exiting crypto; it’s consolidating around stablecoins, BTC-secured restaking, and transparent yield markets. For BTCFi and Bitcoin-anchored networks, there is alignment in stablecoin growth, restaking infrastructure development, and allocation behavior, despite volatile market conditions.

Protocol & Ecosystem Updates

Hemi Network V2 Merged; Testnet Release Nears

Hemi successfully merged the full Network V2 implementation, introducing a redesigned node architecture, improved network orchestration, and cleaner modular boundaries. V2 is built to support the next-generation PoP miner and lays the groundwork for the upcoming testnet release.

ZK Work Progresses Toward Production-Ready State

The engineering team continues advancing ZK proving for Bitcoin↔Ethereum interoperability, improving stability and correctness under load. This work remains a core component of Hemi’s trust-minimized crosschain design.

Security Program Migrates to Bugcrowd

Hemi has transitioned from HackerOne to Bugcrowd for coordinated vulnerability disclosure and bug-bounty management. The move aligns with the hardening phase leading into Network V2 testing and broader ecosystem expansion.

Partner Spotlight

Hemi and Blazpay are collaborating to introduce AI-powered swap aggregation across the Hemi ecosystem. Blazpay uses natural-language prompting to source optimal execution routes across supported liquidity venues, enabling users to request quotes by simply describing the trade they want to make.

Read more.

Macro and Crypto Positioning

• Fed Policy Outlook: Polymarket implies ≈ 67% odds of a 25 bp cut at the December FOMC and ≈ 65 % probability of three cuts total for 2025. Liquidity conditions remain supportive for risk assets if realized.
  

• Risk Sentiment: Bitget’s market-analysis shows a drop of over 7% early November among U.S. stocks and crypto-linked equities, including mining and trading platforms, as regulatory uncertainty and strategic shifts among firms weighed. Bitcoin briefly surpassed $102,000 then retreated, conveying an investor risk appetite oscillating between momentum and caution.
  

• Crowd Ranges: Polymarket’s “What price will Bitcoin hit in 2025?” contract shows traders clustering around $120K–$140K as the most probable range. Mid-range upside carries meaningful probability, but markets are still pricing ~45% odds of seeing ≤$90K before year-end — a cautious, volatility-aware posture.

Key Takeaways

• Constructive but Risk-Aware: Rate-cut expectations and long-run BTC seasonality continue to keep sentiment tilted bullish into year-end, but prediction-market positioning reflects respect for downside path risk following recent volatility.
  

• Macro Drives Markets: Short-term BTC movement is being shaped less by distant year-end pricing targets and more by macro print timing, FOMC signals, and headline-driven volatility, while implied volatility remains the cleanest real-time measure of stress.

Hemi HIPPO Logo Contest

The community has kicked off the HIPPO Logo Contest, inviting creators to design an official logo for Hemi Improvement Proposals (HIPPOs), our version of BIPs and EIPs. Submissions should feature a hippo, align with Hemi’s brand kit, avoid AI-generation, and be original work eligible for use by Hemi Labs. One entry per person, with the winner to be awarded 2,500 HEMI, a Community Creative role, and a printed shirt featuring the winning design. The contest runs until Friday, November 21 at 10:00 AM.

Join the Hemi Discord to see full contest rules and participate for a chance to win.

*APY varies by strategy, custody jurisdiction, and market conditions.

Merkl connects users to reward programs across the Hemi ecosystem. Explore the full list of yield opportunities here.

A: A satoshi — equal to 0.00000001 BTC.