Highlights for the morning: bitcoin weakens, oil gets cheaper, AI investment in Japan rises

Bitcoin's capitalization is down about $600 billion from its October peak amid a collapse in sentiment and falling confidence in cryptocurrencies. Japan is preparing new regulation of cryptocurrencies and tax cuts. About these and other topics - in our review of key events by the morning of November 17.

After reaching a record high above $126,000 in October, the bitcoin price has pulled back sharply, effectively eliminating all 2025 growth, Bloomberg reports. Bitcoin's market capitalization has declined by about $600 billion despite an influx of institutional investment, record flows into ETFs and crypto-positive policies from Donald Trump's administration. Market participants are recording the rapid disappearance of confidence without a clear trigger: retail investors burned out on speculative paper, a spike in trade tensions triggered liquidation in a crowded leveraged market, and some long-term holders also began taking profits.

Analysts note that the previous four-year post-halving cycle no longer explains the dynamics - bitcoin is increasingly behaving as a macro asset reacting to changes in liquidity, the dollar exchange rate and political news. Amid the sell-off of risk assets and competition from new speculative themes (AI, stablecoins, prediction markets), the mood of traders remains weak: demand is falling, altcoins are in deep drawdown, and the confidence premium to large cryptocurrencies is disappearing.

Oil prices declined after reports of resumed operations at Russia's key Black Sea port of Novorossiysk, where last week's Ukrainian strike caused damage and temporary downtime, Bloomberg writes. The cost of Brent fell below $64 a barrel, WTI - to $59. Two tankers docked at the terminals on Sunday and Reuters reported that loading had resumed, which market participants took as a bearish signal after expectations of a longer disruption.

The geopolitical premium from the Novorossiysk strike and Iran's seizure of a tanker near the Strait of Hormuz is easing amid the risk of a global surplus. OPEC+ and third-party producers are ramping up production, while China and India are moderately supporting demand due to US sanctions against Russian energy. At the same time, refining margins are growing: infrastructure in Russia is regularly attacked, accidents are recorded in Asia and Africa, and a number of refineries in Europe and the US are permanently closed, which squeezes fuel supply, the agency specifies.

Japan's Financial Services Agency (FSA) is considering new rules that will equate cryptocurrencies to financial products with the application of insider trading rules and oblige exchanges to disclose volatility risks, Yahoo Finance reports citing Asahi. The regulation will affect 105 cryptoassets, including bitcoin and ethereum, and banks and insurance companies will be able to offer cryptocurrencies to customers through their brokerage subsidiaries.

There are also plans to reduce the tax on profits from crypto transactions to 20%, a level similar to the taxation of share transactions, instead of the current up to 55%. The FSA intends to advance the necessary amendments at the next parliamentary session.

Japanese startups Turing and Sakana AI have raised more than 35 billion yen ($230 million), reflecting growing investor interest in the local AI industry, Bloomberg reports. Turing, which is developing a fully autonomous driving system and partnering with Denso, raised 15.3 billion yen and nearly quadrupled its valuation to $388 million, while Sakana AI, which works closely with the financial sector, raised 20 billion yen at a $2.6 billion valuation from MUFG and international investment funds. Both deals came amid the Tokyo Exchange's efforts to limit premature IPOs and encourage market consolidation, the agency said.

Turing aims to beat global competitors including Tesla and Wayve using a neural network approach to autonomous driving and plans to roll out a fully autonomous system by 2029. The startup is already partnering with Nvidia and is in talks with automakers to scale. Sakana AI sees record capital inflows into AI infrastructure, which may be unbalanced, but emphasizes that for Japan's labor shortage, the benefits of the technology are clear.

- Japan's broad Topix index was falling by 0.46%. Benchmark Nikkei 225 - by 0.22%.

- Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was down 1.19 percent, while mainland China's CSI 300 Index was down 1 percent.

- In South Korea, the Kospi index was up 1.83% and the Kosdaq was up 0.51%.

- Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was little changed.

- Nasdaq 100 futures were up 0.61 percent, the S&P 500 was up 0.37 percent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was little changed.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor