Upbit Breach Fallout, Alt5 Leadership Whiplash, Venezuela's USDT Oil Trail, and China's Bitcoin Mining Comeback | November 28, 2025
Description
A security incident at South Korea's biggest crypto exchange triggers emergency safeguards and ripples across Solana-linked assets (1:15 ). Alt5 Sigma faces a flurry of executive turnover as it deepens ties to a headline-grabbing token project (3:56 ).
Plus: signs that Venezuela's oil trade is leaning more heavily on dollar-pegged stablecoins, pushing sanctions policy into a new era (5:56 ). And new data points to a stealth revival of Bitcoin mining inside China, even as miner revenues remain under pressure and companies shift compute toward AI and high-performance workloads (8:42 ).
More on stories and articles discussed or referenced in this episode:
Abdullahi, Aminu. "Crypto Exchange Upbit Suffers Security Breach After $10B Deal." Tech Republic, 27 November 2025, https://www.techrepublic.com/article/news-upbit-security-breach/.
Cuthbertson, Anthony. "China's Bitcoin Mining Industry Sees Massive Growth Despite Crypto Ban." Datacenter Dynamics, 27 November 2025, https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/chinas-bitcoin-mining-industry-sees-massive-growth-despite-crypto-ban/.
Mutuma, Maxwell. "Alt5 Sigma Fires CEO, COO Amid Legal Woes Tied to Trump Crypto Deal." CoinCentral, 27 November 2025, https://coincentral.com/alt5-sigma-fires-ceo-coo-amid-legal-woes-tied-to-trump-crypto-deal/.
Nikoladze, Maia. "How Venezuela Uses Crypto to Cell Oil—and What the US Should Do About It." The New Atlanticist, 25 November 2025, https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-atlanticist/how-venezuela-uses-crypto-to-sell-oil-and-what-the-us-should-do-about-it/.
Rodrigues, Francisco. "Trump Family-Linked Alt5 Sigma Ousts Top Execs After CEO Suspension Shakes Up Leadership." CoinDesk, 27 November 2025, https://www.coindesk.com/business/2025/11/27/trump-family-linked-alt5-sigma-ousts-top-execs-after-ceo-suspension-shakes-up-leadership.
Sinha, Anand. "Popular Crypto Company Hit by Another Major Hack Exactly Six Years Later." The Street, 27 November 2025, https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/markets/popular-crypto-company-loses-millions-in-hack-after-10b-deal.
The music in this episode was composed by Liborio Conti, and you can find more of his fantastic work at his YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/liborioconti.
United States
