Key Highlights
- Cryptocurrency market has lost $1tn in value since October 6th.
- HSBC is struggling to find a new chair of its board due to conflicting requirements for candidates.
- The Neom project in Saudi Arabia, including the ambitious The Line city, faces significant challenges and delays.
Cryptocurrency’s 2025 U-turn: Market Slumps Following Tariffs Threat
Following a brief moment of optimism during US President Donald Trump’s second term, the cryptocurrency market has experienced a significant downturn. According to the Financial Times (FT), the global cryptocurrency market reached its peak on October 6th with a total value of around $4.3 trillion before experiencing a sell-off that intensified when Trump threatened massive tariffs on China.
This event sparked panic among cryptocurrency traders, as the market had assumed that the worst of the tariff disputes had passed. The Federal Reserve’s statement in late October about potentially not cutting rates as anticipated further fueled profit-taking and contributed to the market’s decline. According to George Steer, FT’s US markets correspondent, a staggering $1 trillion has been wiped from the board since the peak on October 6th.
Regulatory Landscape: From Pro-Crypto Sentiment to Caution
The shift in sentiment can be traced back to regulatory changes. The Genius Act, which aimed to regulate and legitimize stablecoins—intermediary tokens facilitating trades—passed in the summer of 2025. This act created a light-touch regulatory environment that underwrote some of the surge in the broader market earlier this year.
However, despite the initial enthusiasm, some speculate that the pro-crypto sentiment has cooled.
The Trump administration’s reversal of previous regulations and the introduction of new ones may have dampened investor confidence. As Steer noted, “The crypto market is almost the most speculative of assets, so it makes sense that while traders cut their positions in tech and other AI-related names, they’ve at the same time cut their positions in a lot of the cryptocurrency tokens.”
HSBC’s Board Chair Search: Late Kickoff Causes Challenges
The financial institution HSBC is grappling with an urgent board chair search. Mark Tucker stepped down from his role as chair in September after eight years, leaving the bank scrambling to find someone who can meet two key criteria: financial services experience and deep knowledge of Asia.
According to sources cited by FT, the bank’s leadership has reevaluated candidates it had previously dismissed due to timing issues. Former UK Chancellor George Osborne and Goldman Sachs executive Kevin Sneader are among those being considered for the role. However, the delay in appointing a new chair means HSBC is playing catch-up with limited options.
Neom Project: Ambitious Plans Meet Real-World Challenges
In Saudi Arabia, the Neom project, an ambitious urban development project including The Line city, faces significant obstacles. Initially planned as a massive complex featuring a coastal marina, a desert ski resort, and a 170km-long megastructure, the project has encountered substantial challenges.
Alison Killing from FT reports that the project required extraordinary quantities of materials, such as 60% of the world’s recycled steel annually. The cost estimates have ballooned significantly since initial announcements, making it difficult for investors to commit. As a result, Neom is now considered a “generational” project that may take more than a century to complete.
“It’s a gigantic thing that is gonna need decades to complete,” Killing stated. “Its unlikely that that will ever happen simply because the project is just too difficult to build.”
The Neom project exemplifies the challenges of translating grand plans into reality, especially when faced with complex logistical and financial hurdles.
