Polkadot DOT Price Drops Amid Hackathon End and ETF Hopes – Top Crypto News

Polkadot (DOT) is a company in the unstable universe of cryptocurrency that is currently grappling with difficult terrain in the last weekend of November 2025. Since the current downward trend of Bitcoin is still shaking the altcoin market, those who own DOT are staring at the wall, hoping that the trend slows down.

Its interoperable blockchain platform, which is characterised by the capability to connect various chains, has been stabilising at the price of about 2.30 amid the weak performance of the entire sector.

This follows a turning point in time as a giant worldwide hackathon is shutting down, and there is expectation building about a possible spot ETF approval by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The prospective state of these developments might shape Polkadot’s direction in the next year, offering an optimistic outlook on innovation and a cautionary note to the market.

Price Analysis and Sentiment Analysis

The native currency of Polkadot is the DOT, which is currently valued at around 2.33 USD and is at a critical support zone that has not been able to be forced out by outside forces. This price is an indication of a slight downward trend in recent sessions due to the impact of the fall of Bitcoin to approximately $87,388.

Analysts observe that the greater crypto market is witnessing weakness, and altcoins such as DOT are suffering the majority of the lower investor mood. At this point, DOT has been ranging between 2.30 and 2.85 over the last week and can be said to have stood strong, yet remains prone to further decrease in case Bitcoin does not recover.

There is a split among the market players as regards the short-term perspective. The fact that DOT is experiencing increasing bullish momentum is pointed to as a reason to suspect that it may be in a strategic position to break out of its resistance at $2.85. This is supported by technical indicators like the rising volume of trade and positive divergence in the relative strength indexes.

There are, however, others who caution against further bearish trends, particularly in case the world economic conditions, such as interest rate increases, or regulatory challenges increase. In one recent crypto price snapshot, DOT has also recorded a colossal 78% drop over a long period of time, highlighting the struggles of layer-1 protocols to compete in a competitive ecosystem controlled by Ethereum and Solana competitors.

Global Hackathon Ends on a High Note

Today is the due date of the Polkadot Global Hackathon, an occasion that has attracted developers all over the globe to create new ideas on the ecosystem. The hackathon has a prize pool of 30k sponsored by key partners, and it encourages projects which utilise Polkadot in the context of the parachain architecture and cross-chain features.

The participants have been urged to develop decentralised applications, develop better scalability solutions, or work on interoperability functions as per the mission of Polkadot to develop a more connected Web3.

The end of the event is perceived to be a trigger of new impetus. Successful entries would introduce new integrations and upgrades, which would possibly increase the utility and adoption of DOT. The previous hackathons have brought forth breakthroughs such as optimised relay chains and new DeFi protocols, which have in the past led to price rallies.

Given that submissions are being reviewed by judges in the next weeks, the community is looking forward to announcements that may bring about superiority among the numerous blockchains regarding developer talent development.

SEC Decision on Spot DOT ETF Looms Large

The next most foreseeable concept by Polkadot fans is the forthcoming decision by the SEC on the spot DOT ETF filings made by companies such as Grayscale and 21Shares. A positive decision is expected to be released sometime this month and would open the doors to institutional investment, as it can be compared to the effect seen in the case of Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs in years past. Pros state that an approved ETF would offer more convenient access to the more traditional investors, lessening barriers and enhancing liquidity to DOT.

Nevertheless, there are still regulatory obstacles. The SEC has long been conservative about altcoin-based products, with the reason being the fear of market fraud and investor safety. With its legalisation, analysts forecast a massive growth in the price of DOT, possibly reaching into the double-digit range by mid-2026.

On the other hand, this rejection may increase the existing negative forces, compelling Polkadot to predominantly use organic growth by expanding the ecosystems. The move comes just as crypto ETFs become more mainstream, as already billions of dollars of inflows already changing the situation.

Expansion of Staking Options Boosts Accessibility

Polkadot has, in recent months, announced the introduction of zero-fee staking of DOT and Kusama’s sister token KSM on the popular fintech product Revolut in a bid to attract more users.

This feature was rolled out earlier this week, and it enables users to stake their holdings without transaction costs and thus allows retail investors to more easily contribute to network security and get rewards. Investing in Polkadot requires the requirement of staking tokens to back the validators, and the annual returns are usually between 10 and 15%  based on the situation of the network.

This collaboration with Revolut, which has millions of crypto-savvy users, will help to achieve more participation. Removing fees also reduces the barrier to new entrants, which can potentially raise the amount of supply that is staked by DOT, increasing the stability of the network in general. The observers in the industry see this as a competitive move to compete with staking heavy platforms such as Cardano, where such features have strengthened long-term holding.

Long-Term Price Predictions and Ecosystem Outlook

In the future, the forecasts of the price of DOT are different and show the market insecurity in the crypto market. The short-term projections indicate that it will be stable between $2.34 and the beginning of December, and its daily growth will be low.

More favourable forecasts have a low of 8.42 to 61.63 in 2025 due to possible approvals of ETFs and ecosystem enhancements. Long-term perspective (to 2030 and further) forecasts a growth to a high of 22.50, which is a great improvement compared to the present prices.

This forecasting is dependent on Polkadot to implement its roadmap, such as the enhancement of asynchronous backing and agile coretime allocation. There are opportunities to work on, including the competition with the speedy chains and the necessity to be adopted by more people in DeFi and NFTs.

However, events such as the hackathon and staking expansions are making Polkadot emerge as a tough player. By the end of 2025, the next few weeks will play a pivotal role in deciding whether DOT will be able to ride on these developments or will fall victim to the headwinds of the market.

To conclude, the news cycle of Polkadot on November 28, 2025, is the body of duality of risk and opportunity in crypto. Since the hackathon inventions up to regulatory achievements, the platform is developing, and there are prospects of a recovery amid the current caution. Investors will be advised to keep a close watch on key levels and announcements towards the end of the year.