Voters handed Democrats both chambers of Congress on Nov. 3, 20261. Robert Garcia, set to chair the House Oversight Committee, named Trump's own crypto venture among his first subpoena targets. Crypto's political committees had spent $170 million trying to shape that very Congress. Money moved elsewhere too. A French bank lost $133 million to a theft one researcher traced in two days. Samsung turned on stablecoin payments for 82 million phones. Ten stories from Nov. 3 to Nov. 5, 2026, follow. The list opens in Washington and closes with a startup bringing uranium onto a trading desk.
Washington Turns Its New Power on Crypto's Biggest Name
Democrats will run both chambers of Congress starting Jan. 3, 20271. Robert Garcia already knows where he wants to point its subpoenas. The new House Oversight Committee chair told reporters to "lawyer up" the morning after the vote. His committee's own report, filed in January, set the terms early. “The Trump Family's corruption is deeply disturbing and should concern every American,” Garcia wrote then2. World Liberty Financial, the Trump family's crypto venture, sits at the top of his new list. So does the $500 million stake an Emirati royal bought in the firm. Garcia also named the pardon President Trump granted Binance founder Changpeng Zhao3. Hearings could start as soon as February 2027.
Crypto's Spending Record Breaks in Ohio
Fairshake and its allied political groups spent more than $170 million trying to shape the midterms4. Ohio shows where that money failed. The network spent $40 million backing Senator Jon Husted and another $24 million attacking his opponent, Sherrod Brown, a longtime crypto critic. Brown won anyway. His victory marks the industry's largest defeat of the cycle, even as Fairshake-aligned candidates won 29 of 34 other races nationwide. The group still holds $67 million for the next election.
Crypto's Fairshake Network Spent $64 Million in Ohio and Still Lost on Nov. 3, 2026
Spending by Fairshake-aligned groups on Ohio's 2026 Senate race, in millions of dollars
- Opposed Brown: $24M
- Backed Husted: $40M
Source: Fortune [4].
Read the chart as a table
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Backed Husted | $40M |
| Opposed Brown | $24M |
Ripple's Chief Says the Mission Still Holds
Brad Garlinghouse read the same election differently. Ripple's chief executive posted his response on Nov. 5, 2026, two days after the result. “Pro-crypto members won on both sides of the aisle….and the 67M (and growing) Americans using crypto aren't going anywhere. New Congress, with the same mission: clear rules, built in America,” Garlinghouse wrote5. His own chief legal officer had already promised the firm would keep working with both parties on the question Congress left unanswered this year. Garlinghouse counts friendly votes. Garcia counts subpoena power. Both numbers are real, and only one of them needs a committee gavel to use.
A French Bank Loses $133 Million to a Two-Day Chase
ZachXBT spent two days, ending Nov. 4, before he named the bank behind the theft6. The pseudonymous investigator first flagged $106 million leaving centralized exchange accounts on Nov. 2. By the next evening he had a name: Crédit Mutuel Arkéa, a French banking group holding $235 billion in assets. Fortuneo, its online banking arm, took the hit first. The theft totaled $133 million in all. Arkéa confirmed a cyberattack on Nov. 4 and called the incident "closed and now under control," though it skipped any mention of crypto or a dollar figure. Kraken, Crypto.com and OKX all saw withdrawals tied to the theft.
Samsung Turns 82 Million Phones Into Stablecoin Wallets
The Galaxy maker opened USDC transfers inside its wallet app for U.S. users on Nov. 5, 20267. That feature reaches roughly 82 million compatible devices at once, more than any single stablecoin launch this year. Circle's token runs on Solana inside the app. Users can send funds straight to bank accounts in more than 60 countries from the same screen. Woncheol Chai, who leads Samsung's digital wallet team, framed the appeal in plain terms. “Stablecoins have the potential to make moving money around the world faster and easier, and we want Galaxy users to be able to take advantage of that without having to navigate the complexity of traditional crypto tools,” Chai said. A 4% fee applies to card top-ups, and new users who add $50 or more get a $25 bonus.
Trump Media Moves $344 Million
Wallets tied to Trump Media sent 4,259 bitcoin to Crypto.com at 02:17 UTC on Nov. 5, 20268. That batch is worth $343.67 million. Convertible note holders can demand up to $1 billion in cash by Nov. 30. The transfer matches almost exactly the 4,260.73 bitcoin the company pledged as collateral back in June. A company spokesperson called the move part of a trading strategy. That language echoed what the firm said after a similar transfer in August. Chief Executive Devin Nunes described the broader strategy when Trump Media first built its bitcoin treasury in 2025. “We're rigorously implementing our publicly announced strategy and fulfilling our bitcoin treasury plan,” Nunes said then9. Trump Media's stock touched $5.23 at the open on Nov. 5, a 2026 low.
Thailand Moves to Block Bitget Starting Dec. 5
Thailand's Securities and Exchange Commission filed a criminal complaint against BG Limited, the operator behind Bitget, on Nov. 5, 202610. Regulators say the exchange served Thai customers from 2022 to 2025 with zero license. The exchange also charged trading fees and ran ads in Thai, the complaint states. Regulators want Bitget's website, its related domains and its mobile app cut off starting Dec. 5. That order would reach one of the ten largest exchanges by trading volume.
South Korea's Ruling Party Asks for a Fourth Delay
Lawmakers want more time before they tax crypto gains. South Korea's Democratic Party asked the government on Nov. 4, 2026, to push the country's crypto tax from Jan. 1, 2027, to 202911. The tax would charge a combined 22% on gains above an annual deduction of about $1,870, once it starts. Oh Gi-hyoung, the party's secretary on the relevant committee, explained the reasoning behind one more wait. “While we agree with the basic tax principle that income should be taxed where it arises, the majority view was that, given various policy circumstances, it would be unavoidable to allow a period of preparation before implementation,” Oh said. The tax has carried the same January start date, and missed it three times, since lawmakers wrote it into law in 2020.
Zcash Triples Its Block Speed
The privacy chain turned on NU7 at block 3,543,405, just after midnight UTC on Nov. 5, 202612. Block time cuts from 75 seconds to 25. That triples how often the network confirms transactions. NU7 also closes an old door. The upgrade disabled the old transactions that fed Zcash's first privacy pool, called Sprout. That freezes 12,226 ZEC, worth about $16 million, inside it for good. A proposed fix, ZIP 2003, leaves a path open for a future withdrawal. The Zcash team says those funds are unlikely ever to return. Every node had to upgrade before the deadline or fall off the chain.
Zcash Cuts Its Block Time From 75 Seconds to 25 on Nov. 5, 2026
Average time between confirmed blocks on Zcash, before and after the NU7 upgrade, in seconds
- Before NU7
- After NU7
Source: KuCoin News [12].
Read the chart as a table
| Item | Before NU7 | After NU7 |
|---|---|---|
| Zcash block time | 75s | 25s |
A Startup Brings Uranium Onto a Trading Desk
Uranium Digital raised $16.5 million in a Series A round led by Blockchain Capital, announced Nov. 5, 202613. Portal Ventures and Christian Angermayer's Apeiron Investment Group joined the round too. Uranium Digital tracks ownership of physical uranium on a blockchain. Gold and oil already trade on markets built this way. Alex Dymala-Dolesky, the company's chief executive and co-founder, described the goal plainly. “The whole point of Uranium Digital is to build out the technical infrastructure to allow the trading [of] nuclear fuels, analogous to how the traditional financial world trades gold, oil, gas, etc.,” Dymala-Dolesky said. Big tech firms are betting on nuclear power to run their data centers. That demand drew the round's investors in.
What to watch
Garcia's committee can start issuing subpoenas once the new Congress convenes on Jan. 3, 2027, with hearings penciled in for February. Binance's next proof-of-reserves snapshot will test its own pledge. World Liberty Financial's disclosures will show how much of Trump's crypto income sits outside the UAE deal Democrats want to examine. Thailand's Dec. 5 block date will test whether Bitget keeps serving local traders through other channels. Watch whether Crédit Mutuel Arkéa discloses the exact dollar loss its customers absorbed, the one number its Nov. 4 statement left out.
Both sides, in their own words
Did that money buy the wrong Congress?
“The Trump Family's corruption is deeply disturbing and should concern every American”
“Pro-crypto members won on both sides of the aisle….and the 67M (and growing) Americans using crypto aren't going anywhere. New Congress, with the same mission: clear rules, built in America”
Sources
- "'Lawyer up': Democrats take the House, and warn Trump's family businesses are first in line for subpoenas," Fortune, Nov. 3, 2026, https://fortune.com/2026/11/03/lawyer-up-democrats-win-control-house-probe-trump-family-businesses-crypto-ventures/
- "Ranking Member Robert Garcia Releases Damning New Report Highlighting Trump Family Corruption, Launches Trump Digital Grift Tracker," House Oversight Committee Democrats, Jan. 20, 2026, https://oversightdemocrats.house.gov/news/press-releases/ranking-member-robert-garcia-releases-damning-new-report-highlighting-trump-family-corruption-launches-trump-digital-grift-tracker
- "Democrats prepare to investigate World Liberty Financial after House win," crypto.news, Nov. 4, 2026, https://crypto.news/democrats-prepare-to-investigate-world-liberty-financial-after-house-win/
- "Crypto PACs spent $170 million on the midterms—and came up nearly dry," Fortune, Nov. 4, 2026, https://fortune.com/2026/11/04/crypto-pacs-170-million-midterms-came-up-dry/
- "Ripple Says Crypto Mission Unchanged After Democrats Win House and Senate," Blockonomi, Nov. 5, 2026, https://blockonomi.com/ripple-says-crypto-mission-unchanged-after-democrats-win-house-and-senate
- Stephen Graves, "Crédit Mutuel Arkéa Confirms Cyberattack After ZachXBT Ties It to $133M Crypto Theft," Decrypt, Nov. 4, 2026, https://decrypt.co/382486/zachxbt-names-french-bank-credit-mutuel-arkea-as-alleged-victim-of-133m-crypto-theft
- "Stablecoins Go Mainstream as Samsung Wallet Adds USDC on Solana," Decrypt, Nov. 5, 2026, https://decrypt.co/382586/stablecoins-samsung-wallet-adds-usdc-solana
- "Trump Media Stock Hits Record Low as TRUMP and WLFI Tokens Slide After Midterms," CoinCentral, Nov. 5, 2026, https://coincentral.com/trump-media-stock-hits-record-low-as-trump-and-wlfi-tokens-slide-after-midterms
- Ben Weiss, "New $2 billion Bitcoin buy shows crypto replacing real estate at core of Trump business empire," Fortune, July 22, 2025, https://fortune.com/crypto/2025/07/22/donald-trump-media-djt-bitcoin-treasury-2-billion-devin-nunes
- "Thailand to block Bitget over unlicensed crypto trading," Cointelegraph, Nov. 5, 2026, https://cointelegraph.com/news/thailand-block-bitget-december-unlicensed-crypto-trading
- "South Korea's ruling party wants to put off its crypto tax again," CoinDesk, Nov. 4, 2026, https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2026/11/04/south-korea-s-ruling-party-wants-to-put-off-its-crypto-tax-again
- "Zcash Network Upgrade NU7 Activates, 16M USD in ZEC at Risk of Permanent Freeze," KuCoin News, Nov. 5, 2026, https://www.kucoin.com/news/flash/zcash-network-upgrade-nu-7-activates-16m-usd-zec-at-risk-of-permanent-freeze
- Camila Grigera Naón, "As Big Tech bets on nuclear power, startup Uranium Digital raises $16.5 million to modernize uranium trading," Fortune, Nov. 5, 2026, https://fortune.com/2026/11/05/big-tech-nuclear-power-startup-uranium-digital-uranium-trading/