This FT News Briefing episode is hosted by Mark Filippino and features reporting from George Steer, U.S. Markets Correspondent, Allison Killing, investigative reporter, and covers multiple breaking stories from November 18th.

The episode examines the dramatic cryptocurrency market downturn that erased over $1 trillion in value, exploring how Trump's tariff policies and Federal Reserve signals triggered massive sell-offs across digital assets.

Coverage includes HSBC's leadership crisis as the bank struggles to replace its departed board chair, balancing requirements for financial services expertise and deep Asia knowledge among a limited candidate pool.

The episode features an in-depth investigation into Saudi Arabia's failing NEOM megaproject, particularly The Line city concept, revealing how material requirements and cost overruns transformed a 2030 deadline into a century-long timeline.

Additional reporting covers the potential release of Jeffrey Epstein files following Trump's policy reversal and growing Republican support for document disclosure.

Crypto Market Loses $1 Trillion Since October Peak

Global cryptocurrency market peaked at $4.2-4.3 trillion on October 6th before losing all gains made since Trump's January inauguration

"Trump came out and threatened massive tariffs on China" on October 10th, triggering intensified sell-off when "the market had kind of assumed that the worst of the tariff back and forth had passed" - George Steer

Mid-tier and lower quality coins experienced catastrophic losses, "some of which shed like half of their value within 24 hours" following the tariff announcement - George Steer

Federal Reserve statement at end of October indicating December rate cut "might not be a foregone conclusion" added pressure to speculative assets that had surged earlier in the year

Bitcoin trading around $93,000 per token at time of recording, falling below psychologically important $100,000 threshold for first time in weeks

Trump Administration's Crypto Regulatory Reversal

Genius ACT passed in summer to "regulate and kind of legitimize stablecoins, which act as a sort of intermediary" for token-to-token trades - George Steer

Trump administration reversed regulations enacted under Joe Biden's SEC, creating "light touch feel to the regulatory environment" that initially sparked market rally - George Steer

"It's all about vibes the crypto market has" with Trump's pro-crypto stance underwriting surge in broader market beyond just Bitcoin - George Steer

Despite recent losses, Bitcoin remains up approximately 400% over past five years, demonstrating notorious volatility characteristic of cryptocurrency markets

Broader Market Impact and AI Valuations

S&P 500 hit almost 40 record highs in 2024, up 15-16% for the year but down approximately 2% in two weeks prior to recording

"Jitters building about some of the valuations attached to some of the huge AI names like NVIDIA, OpenAI" contributed to broader sell-off - George Steer

"Crypto is almost the most speculative of assets" making it logical target as traders cut positions in tech and AI-related names that led market higher - George Steer

Key threshold to watch: if Bitcoin falls below $90,000 and retail investors don't "pile in" to buy the dip, "that could signal there's something fundamental, perhaps, in risk appetite for speculative assets" - George Steer

HSBC Board Chair Search Hits Obstacles

Mark Tucker stepped down as HSBC board chair in September after eight years, taking "a lot of people by surprise" and leaving leadership scrambling

Bank leadership squabbling over candidate qualifications, specifically balancing "financial services experience and deep knowledge of Asia" requirements

HSBC revisiting previously discounted candidates including former UK Chancellor George Osborne and Goldman Sachs executive Kevin Sneeter

Sources indicate "HSBC kicked this whole thing off too late, and now the bank is playing catch-up with a limited number of candidates"

Saudi Arabia's The Line Project Collapses

The Line was designed to be 170 kilometers long, 500 meters tall, 200 meters wide, divided into 800-meter modules housing 9 million people within NEOM free zone

Concept included Hidden Marina large enough for world's largest cruise ships, with 300-meter-high gate "the width of the Thames River in London" - Allison Killing

Design featured Chandelier building "the size of the Eiffel Tower in Paris" hanging from bridge, topped by 45,000-seat soccer stadium for 2034 World Cup - Allison Killing

Hollywood set designer created some concept work, producing "pretty spectacular" renders for the megastructure modules

NEOM Budget Explosion and Material Impossibility

Original NEOM budget of $500 billion from Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund (PIF) and expected foreign investment proved vastly inadequate

"In 2021 executives were told it was going to cost $1.6 trillion. And then just a few months later, someone estimated that it would cost $4.5 trillion" - Allison Killing

"They found they were going to need like 60% of the world's recycled steel every year. They were going to need more cement than France produced every year" - Allison Killing

"Trying to get hold of those quantities made the prices go up exponentially. It became a very, very difficult project to do as soon as you started to look into the details" - Allison Killing

Project complexity within single megastructure made planning "so complex just to plan anything at all that it becomes very, very difficult to build" - Allison Killing

The Line Timeline Extends to 100+ Years

Original first phase completion target of 2030 abandoned, now described as "generational project that may need more than 100 years to complete" - Allison Killing

"It's unlikely that that will ever happen simply because the project is just too difficult to build because it's all contained in a single megastructure" - Allison Killing

"Quantities of materials, the cost, all of this means that investors are very reluctant to put money into this" making completion very unlikely - Allison Killing

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman meeting with Trump at White House as part of "long-standing push to open ties with the Western world and open up Saudi Arabia's economy"

Jeffrey Epstein Files Face Public Release

U.S. House of Representatives voting on whether to compel Justice Department to release documents related to late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein

Trump posted on social media Sunday saying "we've got nothing to hide" after previously attempting to keep documents private, marking policy U-turn

Recently published files included Epstein emails alleging Trump "knew about the girls," potentially delivering "damaging reputational blow" if full release occurs

Growing number of Republicans signaling support for document release, increasing likelihood of public disclosure