The start of the week brought a diverse set of developments across aviation, politics, markets and cryptocurrencies.
The Federal Aviation Administration’s decision to end emergency flight restrictions, President Donald Trump’s call for the release of Epstein files, major portfolio shifts by investor Peter Thiel, and Bitcoin briefly losing all its gains for the year.
FAA ends emergency flight restrictions after shutdown
The Federal Aviation Administration announced Sunday that it is lifting all commercial flight restrictions imposed at 40 major US airports during the nation’s record 43-day government shutdown.
Airlines can resume full schedules beginning Monday at 6 am EST.
The FAA and Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy said the order, in effect since November 7, was driven by severe staffing shortages in air traffic control facilities.
Flight cuts initially stood at 4% and peaked at 6% before being scaled back to 3% as staffing improved after the shutdown ended on November 12.
This weekend saw the lowest cancellation levels since the restrictions began, with less than 1% of flights canceled, according to Cirium.
FlightAware reported 149 cancellations Sunday and 315 on Saturday.
A safety review prompted the rescinding of the order, though the FAA is assessing reports of airline non-compliance during the emergency period.
At their worst on November 9, cancellations exceeded 2,900 amid staffing shortages and severe weather.
The FAA had initially planned cuts of up to 10% before conditions began to improve late last week.
Trump urges House GOP to release Epstein files
President Donald Trump reversed his position Sunday, calling on House Republicans to vote to release Jeffrey Epstein–related files — a move he had decried as a “hoax” only days earlier.
Trump said releasing the documents would dispel what he called a Democratic attempt to distract from political losses and the shutdown.
He noted that the Justice Department has already released “tens of thousands” of pages and highlighted his directive to investigate Epstein’s ties to high-profile Democrats, including former President Bill Clinton.
A Clinton spokesperson said recent email releases showed the former president “did nothing and knew nothing.”
A bipartisan discharge petition led by Reps. Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie have forced the issue to the House floor, drawing support from several Trump-aligned Republicans.
Speaker Mike Johnson, who previously opposed the measure, has agreed to bring it to a vote this week.
Peter Thiel offloads Nvidia, cuts Tesla amid AI bubble concerns
Billionaire investor Peter Thiel drastically reshaped his portfolio in Q3, selling his entire Nvidia stake and trimming Tesla holdings as worries grow over what he calls an “AI Bubble.”
Thiel Macro LLC slashed its assets from $212 million in Q2 to $74.4 million in Q3, dumping 537,742 Nvidia shares, once 40% of its portfolio, and all holdings in Vistra Corp.
The fund also cut Tesla shares by 76%, leaving 65,000 shares as its largest position.
Thiel increased exposure to Microsoft and Apple, adding 49,000 and 79,181 shares respectively.
His view: diversified tech giants offer more durable long-term value than AI-dependent chipmakers.
The investor has repeatedly compared current AI enthusiasm to the 1999 dot-com era, suggesting that expected transformations will take years to materialize.
Bitcoin briefly erases all 2025 gains as market slides
Bitcoin slid to $93,029 on Sunday, down 25% from its October all-time high, temporarily erasing all gains made this year.
It has since recovered to around $95,077.24.
The crypto pullback comes despite expectations of a strong year under the Trump administration, which has taken a pro-crypto stance and overseen rising corporate Bitcoin adoption and ETF inflows.
However, tariff battles, the prolonged government shutdown, and heavy selling by long-time Bitcoin holders have pressured the market.
Analysts at Glassnode said the so-called “OG Whales Dumping” narrative reflects typical late-cycle profit-taking, not a mass exit.
Major altcoins also fell, with Ether down nearly 4% and Solana dropping over 27% year-to-date.
Some industry voices remain optimistic: Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan said the “debasement trade” could drive a strong crypto rally in 2026, supported by growth in stablecoins, tokenization and DeFi.
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