Morning Minute: Crypto Plummets as Jensen Huang Exits Nvidia

The cryptocurrency market faced substantial losses Thursday, with Bitcoin dropping to approximately $68,000, its lowest level in twelve weeks. The broader crypto market index fell about 4% on the day and 7% on the week, as major cryptocurrencies including Ethereum, Solana, BNB, and XRP all declined between 3% and 5%.

The market downturn coincided with the sudden resignation of Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, who stepped down as president, CEO, and board member effective Thursday morning. Nvidia's stock initially fell as much as 14% before recovering to close down about 4%, with the company now having shed more than a trillion dollars in market value this month.

Nvidia Leadership Shakeup

Huang's resignation followed reports of personal controversies, including an admission of infidelity to his wife of 40 years and allegations of relationships with executives, one of whom reports directly to him. Nvidia's board opened an investigation into whether Huang had been targeted by a foreign intelligence operation, and three Republican committee chairs were preparing a subpoena.

CFO Colette Kress has taken over as interim CEO while retaining her finance chief position. Kress has served as Nvidia's finance chief since 2013, overseeing the company's entire AI buildout. The board also named Harvey Jones, formerly of Synopsys, as its first-ever chair and initiated a search for permanent leadership with no timeline specified.

Crypto Market Response

The crypto market reacted strongly to the news, with Bitcoin falling roughly 4% from above $76,000 earlier in the week. Market analysts noted that Bitcoin's decline brought it to the 200-week moving average, which some view as a technical support level that could indicate a potential bottom for the market.

Binance attempted to provide some market stability by announcing it had completed coverage of assets affected by its $6.34 billion hack and published an expanded Proof of Reserves snapshot covering all 44 impacted cryptocurrencies. The exchange reported user Bitcoin balances increased 0.35% to roughly 687,900 BTC, while ether holdings rose 1.04% to 3.48 million.

Regulatory Actions

The U.S. Department of Justice obtained court approval to seize more than $1.2 billion of the approximately $6.4 billion stolen from Binance on October 29, part of $2.7 billion frozen so far. Separately, the DOJ dismantled a North Korean scheme called FaceStealer that had taken more than $400 million over 18 months.

Senator Josh Hawley called for a nationwide moratorium on new AI data centers until Congress guarantees taxpayers no electricity rate increases, listing it among five Republican priorities before Democrats take control of the Senate. Meanwhile, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and crypto coalition led by a16z, Paradigm and Uniswap opposed Illinois' proposed Digital Asset Tax, a 0.2% levy on crypto asset transfers.

Market Developments

Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs saw $48 million and $8 million in net outflows respectively on Thursday, marking the smallest outflows in seven sessions. The DTCC announced it will connect its tokenization service to Solana in the second half of 2027, allowing eligible securities to be issued as Solana tokens.

Nvidia is scheduled to report fiscal Q3 results on Tuesday, with market participants hoping for positive news about Jensen succession planning and future growth that could help stabilize both Nvidia's stock and the broader crypto markets. Analysts suggest any positive developments might "stop the bleeding" across these interconnected markets.