Latest Crypto News | Bitcoin, Ethereum and Altcoin Updates

MEXC has launched an "ETH & SOL Stake-to-Earn" staking event offering 20% APR for a seven-day lock-up. The promotion opened on December 24, 2025 (10:00 UTC) and is available to users who have completed Primary KYC verification. Two product tiers target different portfolio sizes: ETH staking requires 2–35 ETH, and SOL staking requires 40–770 SOL. Both tiers carry the same seven-day lock and 20% APR. MEXC positions the event as part of its broader effort to expand passive-earning options alongside its zero-fee trading initiatives. The exchange, founded in 2018 and serving over 40 million users across 170+ countries, says it will continue launching user-focused activities. For full details, users are directed to MEXC’s official event page. Primary keywords: MEXC staking, ETH staking, SOL staking; secondary/semantic keywords: 20% APR, 7-day lock-up, stake-to-earn, zero-fee trading.

CME Group surpassed Binance to become the dominant venue for crypto derivatives by 2024–2025, marking a shift from retail-driven to institutional-led markets. CoinGlass data highlighted rising CME open interest and volumes, driven by institutional hedging, basis (cash-and-carry) trades and delta-neutral strategies tied to spot BTC ETFs. Leveraged funds held approximately 14,000 net-short contracts (~115,985 BTC) to hedge ETF inventories; annualized basis spiked to 20–25% in November 2024 before normalizing after deleveraging. In 2025 CME expanded its lead in BTC futures and approached Binance in ETH derivatives. Binance remained the largest derivatives platform by total volume (29.3% market share, $25.09 trillion annualized; ~$77.45bn daily average in 2025), retaining dominance in high-leverage retail trading. OKX, Bybit and Bitget formed a solid second tier; the top four exchanges controlled 62.3% of market volume. The report notes platform consolidation: large exchanges widening their liquidity advantage while smaller venues lose share. Key implications include increased institutional participation via regulated spot ETFs, futures and options, the normalization of cash-and-carry and basis trades among hedge funds, and a structural shift in market drivers from retail leverage to institutional desks.

Changpeng Zhao (CZ) has shifted focus from exchange operations to mentoring, investing and building the BNB Chain ecosystem in 2025. His priorities are Giggle Academy (education), YZi Labs (investment/mentorship), a $1bn Builder Fund for DeFi/AI/RWA/biotech, and advising policymakers. On‑chain metrics show BNB Chain activity rising: daily active addresses around 2 million, on‑chain transaction volume up ~600% year‑on‑year, and BNB price volatility with key support near $1,100 and resistance at $1,330–1,370. Zhao promotes a “stablecoin 2.0” thesis — native, high‑liquidity, yield‑bearing stablecoins that differ from the dominant USDT model — and points to projects like Ethena and USD1, plus YZi Labs’ stakes in new designs. He also backs prediction markets (e.g., Probable, Opinion, Polymarket) and warns that shared alpha (sold trading strategies, subscription AI agents) erodes edge. For traders, the story highlights growing on‑chain liquidity and activity on BNB Chain, a concentrated BNB order‑book that creates clear liquidation levels, and a strategic push toward native yield‑bearing stablecoins that could change stablecoin flows and DeFi liquidity on BNB Chain.

Lugano has expanded its Plan ₿ program so residents and merchants can pay and accept municipal invoices and everyday purchases using Bitcoin (on‑chain or Lightning) and USDT. Payments route over Lightning or are processed by Bitcoin Suisse and are immediately converted to Swiss francs, with an embedded ~1% FX/processing fee; the city does not hold crypto on its balance sheet. The MyLugano app offers up to 10% LVGA token cashback at participating merchants; LVGA can be spent on municipal services, creating a city‑backed circular payments loop. Over 350 merchants accept Lightning payments and the Plan ₿ Forum attracted more than 4,000 attendees in October 2025, indicating growing real‑world usage. For traders, the rollout increases localized, persistent utility demand for BTC (more hot‑wallet receipts and Lightning onboarding) while creating steady sell‑side conversion pressure as receipts are flipped to CHF. Near‑term price impact is likely limited — liquidity, ETF flows and funding rates remain dominant drivers — but the initiative strengthens structural demand and broadens use‑case narratives that can support long‑term price floors for BTC.

Total cryptocurrency liquidations in 2025 reached about $154.6 billion, with the largest single-day wipeout near $19.1 billion, according to CoinGlass data. The headline figure is driven largely by one extreme October spike; for most of the year liquidations were moderate and frequent rather than systemic. Leverage remained a core market feature — overleveraged positions were the primary victims during high-volatility episodes triggered by positioning imbalances, macro shocks, policy headlines and regulatory rumors. Open interest generally rose with bullish moves and fell during corrections, suggesting capital rotated rather than fled. Trading volume increased in the second half of the year, indicating traders returned and adjusted risk after major events. The piece argues 2025 was a year of volatility and deleveraging — a market maturation process — rather than evidence of structural collapse. Key takeaways for traders: monitor leverage and positioning, watch open interest and volume for confirmed flows, and treat large single-day liquidation spikes as stress tests rather than proof of systemic failure.

CoinGecko’s year-end ranking for 2024 shows Real World Assets (RWA) as the top-performing crypto sector by investor returns. Using aggregated price-performance data across thousands of tokens grouped by narrative, CoinGecko ranked the top 10 sectors: 1) RWA, 2) Layer 1, 3) Made in USA, 4) Memecoins, 5) DeFi, 6) Layer 2, 7) AI, 8) DEX, 9) Solana ecosystem, 10) Gaming. Analysts attribute RWA’s lead to macro conditions (higher traditional yields), improved infrastructure and growing institutional participation from firms like BlackRock and JPMorgan exploring tokenization of bonds, real estate and commodities. The report signals a shift toward tokenized assets with measurable revenue models and regulatory compliance, while Layer 1/Layer 2 remain vital for scalability and memecoins retain retail interest. For traders, the data implies increased institutional flows into RWA-related tokens, possible reallocation away from pure speculation, and sustained interest in infrastructure plays. This is a market-maturation indicator rather than a zero-sum rotation among sectors.

Eden Miner has launched a mobile cloud-mining app that pools CPU cycles from participating Android smartphones into a shared cloud-mining hub, allowing users to earn proportional rewards without buying GPUs or ASICs. The service emphasizes low entry barriers and ease of use: install the app, opt in to share compute, register with email, deposit supported cryptocurrencies, and begin earning immediately. Packages start from low price points and use green-energy-powered data centers and rented compute capacity; security protections (McAfee®, Cloudflare®) and 24/7 multilingual support are provided. Rewards are credited daily in USD and can be withdrawn or reinvested after a minimum balance (reported at $100). The app targets casual miners, retail traders and users in regions with limited access to dedicated mining hardware, offering a passive-income route that monetizes idle devices. Key risks noted include variable profitability (depends on mined coin, network difficulty, fees, electricity and bandwidth), privacy and battery-consumption concerns, and the usual cloud-mining counterparty risks. For traders, Eden Miner expands retail access to mining rewards and may modestly increase retail selling pressure on coins mined if adoption scales, but profitability and net coin issuance effects will depend on which coins are mined and user withdrawal behavior.

Bitcoin (BTC) has pierced a long-standing downtrend line at the convergence with a rising major trendline, producing a candle close above the downtrend on short timeframe charts. Traders are watching for confirmation — ideally one confirmed candle above the downtrend and preferably two to three daily candle bodies — before treating the move as a legitimate breakout rather than a fakeout. The next significant resistance cluster sits near $90,000; a sustained break there would strengthen bullish conviction. On the weekly chart, a confirmed breakout could target the prior all‑time high and the eight‑year trendline, with a possible extended upside to around $130,000 if momentum continues. Key indicators such as the weekly Stochastic RSI currently point lower, so volume and follow-through are critical. If bears invalidate the breakout and price falls back below the trendlines, BTC could revisit major horizontal supports and face a prolonged consolidation or deeper correction. For traders: watch confirmation candles, volume, and the $90k horizontal level for entries or to manage risk. Primary keywords: Bitcoin, BTC breakout, $90,000 resistance. Secondary keywords: trendline break, fakeout, weekly Stochastic RSI, volume confirmation.

Crouton Digital, an institutional-grade blockchain infrastructure provider based in Riga, raised $1 million in strategic funding to expand validator operations, public and private RPC endpoints, archive nodes, Node-as-a-Service (NaaS) and institutional staking products across 45+ networks. The firm is shifting from a validator-focused operator to a full-spectrum Web3 infrastructure provider, emphasizing bare-metal, multi-region deployments, internal telemetry, dashboards and high-availability architecture to support low-latency, high-throughput, mission-critical workloads during congestion, upgrades and peak usage. Crouton participates in early validator alignment and support programs for next-generation and existing protocols including Monad, Starknet, Somnia Network, Story Protocol, IOTA and Walrus, aiding incentivized testnets, mainnet launches and governance activation. The company holds a verified AAA (VSP) reliability rating from Staking Rewards and has begun SOC 2 and ISO/IEC 27001 certification processes to meet institutional compliance expectations. Funding will be used to scale global multi-region validator operations, roll out RPC and archive node services, grow institutional staking offerings (delegation, white-label validators, reporting) and enhance observability and automated reliability tooling for protocols, funds, custodians and enterprise clients. Key SEO keywords: Crouton Digital, RPC nodes, Node-as-a-Service, institutional staking, validator operations.

Toncoin (TON) has been range-bound above the $1.45 support since testing a $1.42 low on Nov. 21. After a brief push above the 21-day SMA on Dec. 7, TON failed to sustain gains toward the 50-day SMA and was capped around $1.60–$1.49, then retraced to remain range-bound above $1.45. Short-term momentum has eased: moving averages on higher timeframes slope downward and price is trading under these averages, while the 4‑hour chart shows buyers repeatedly stalled at the 50‑day SMA. Key longer-term resistance zones cited are $4.00, $4.50 and $5.00; broader historical support levels mentioned include $3.50, $3.00 and $2.50. For traders, the critical near-term level is $1.45 — a decisive break below it would likely open a path to $1.17 and, in a deeper bearish scenario, toward prior lows near $0.70. The overall short-term outlook is neutral-to-bearish while TON stays compressed in this range; volatility and directional bias will depend on whether buyers can reassert above the 50‑day SMA or sellers force a break of $1.45. This is market commentary, not investment advice.

Bitcoin trades steadily above $88,600 as a record combined $27 billion of Bitcoin and Ethereum options expire on Deribit on December 26. The large expiry could clear hedging pressures that have kept BTC between $85K–$90K, potentially allowing ETF flows and institutional demand to more directly influence price. Ethereum sits near $2,962 while SOL and Uniswap show modest gains. Market volume remains low due to post-holiday conditions; traders expect renewed capital inflows as markets reopen fully toward year-end and into January. Notable developments: Lighter, a decentralized perpetual protocol and Ethereum Layer‑2, published audited source code ahead of a token generation event, increasing transparency. The article highlights 2025’s high liquidation totals (~$150–$154B) as a reminder of leverage risks. Key takeaways for traders: monitor options expiry delta and pinning effects, watch for relief in mechanical hedging, track ETF/institutional flows, and assess liquidity depth when hunting high‑upside altcoin opportunities in DeFi perpetuals, ZK scaling and high‑volume trading platforms.

Crypto analyst CryptoBull highlights a recurring pattern in XRP’s weekly chart: extended consolidations inside large wedge formations followed by sharp upward rallies. Historical wedges since 2014 preceded XRP’s biggest bull runs, including the 2017–2018 surge to $3.36 and the post-2024 breakout that led to a 500%+ rise and a July 2025 peak near $3.65. CryptoBull argues XRP has entered another wedge and is approaching the apex, implying an imminent explosive move if price breaks sustained long-term resistance. No firm price target was given. The analyst’s view aligns with broader market expectations that XRP could rally sharply in 2026, but legal, macro, or momentum risks could alter outcomes. This is informational and not financial advice.

Deribit processed a record $28+ billion notional options expiry on Dec 26, 2025, combining monthly, quarterly and annual settlements and removing more than half of the platform’s open interest (OI). Pre‑expiry platform OI was about $42 billion. Key figures: ~267,000 Bitcoin options expired (BTC notional ≈ $23.6B) with a put‑to‑call ratio of 0.35 and BTC maximum‑pain near $95,000; ~1.28M Ethereum options expired (ETH notional ≈ $3.71B) with ETH maximum‑pain at $3,100. The settlement concentrated post‑expiry OI into March contracts (roughly 30% of OI), shifting directional risk forward. Strike clustering moved BTC interest toward downside strikes (most concentrated at $75,000; large pockets at $80k–$85k) while call interest grows above $90,000. The expiry occurred amid low year‑end liquidity, elevated short‑term volatility and a crypto Fear & Greed Index in the mid‑20s, prompting institutional hedging and repositioning that likely amplified intraday price moves. For traders: watch clustered BTC put strikes at $75k–$85k for downside hedging flows, liquidity and liquidation risk around the $90k resistance band, and March expiries for near‑term directional gamma and order‑book squeezes. Large notional and low put‑to‑call ratio point to significant sensitivity to future expiries and heightened short‑term volatility; manage size, monitor order‑book depth and expiry rolls for trading and risk decisions.

Concerns are growing that an AI-driven equity bubble could burst in 2026 and spill into crypto markets, potentially compressing Bitcoin prices. Bank of America fund managers flagged an “AI bubble” as the top tail risk; many believe AI stocks already trade in bubble territory after massive capex by hyperscalers (Meta, Amazon, Microsoft, Alphabet, Oracle). Barclays estimates AI capex could rise ~64% year-over-year to over $500bn by 2026. Critics note the sector spent roughly $400bn for about $60bn in revenue in 2025 and warn debt-fueled expansion raises systemic risk across private equity, banks and insurers. Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said a 2026 AI correction is Bitcoin’s biggest risk, citing BTC’s correlation with US equities, though he expects any correction to be shallower than 2018/2022 due to greater institutional exposure. Analysts’ price scenarios range: Fundstrat and Fidelity projects point to $60,000–$65,000 in 2026; Nomad Bullstreet cites average production cost near $71,000–$75,000 as potential downside support. Key implications for traders: elevated correlation with equities increases downside risk in a tech-led sell-off; institutional demand may cap losses compared with prior cycles; watch equity market breadth, hyperscaler capex updates, and BTC–Nasdaq correlation metrics as leading indicators.

On-chain data from Glassnode shows roughly 40% of circulating Ethereum (ETH) is now held at a loss, down from about 25%–30% profit share earlier this month. The drop reflects recent ETH price weakness — current price around $2,970 — and concentrated losses among medium-term holders who bought near recent peaks. Key drivers include a broader crypto market correction, reduced institutional buying, network activity fluctuations affecting fee revenue, and macroeconomic uncertainty. Historical context: prior bear markets pushed loss shares above 60%, while recovery phases have previously begun when 30–40% of supply was at a loss. For traders, the report signals elevated selling pressure but not extreme capitulation; actionable considerations include monitoring price support near current levels, tracking on-chain metrics (supply in profit/loss, active addresses, transaction volume), watching institutional flows and regulatory news, and using risk management techniques such as position sizing and dollar-cost averaging. Overall, the indicator can mark either a capitulation or accumulation phase depending on whether selling accelerates or stabilizes; short-term impact is likely increased volatility and potential downward pressure, while long-term implications depend on network fundamentals and institutional demand resumption.

XRP is trading around $1.85, down ~15% in December, but analysts attribute the weakness to derivatives-driven pressure ahead of a large global options expiry included in a $7.1 trillion event. Market analyst Zach Rector warns that leveraged long liquidations tied to the expiry could push XRP briefly to $1.60–$1.70 as a short-term washout to clear leverage. Rector and other observers note ongoing structural demand: five U.S. spot XRP ETFs (Canary Capital, Bitwise, Franklin Templeton, Grayscale, 21Shares) launched in mid-November and have recorded roughly $1.14B net inflows with AUM near $1.25B, absorbing selling pressure while BTC/ETH ETFs saw outflows. Ripple executives highlight XRP’s utility for liquidity and cross-border settlement, and institutional interest — plus potential adoption catalysts such as Japanese bank integrations (e.g., SBI) and FX volatility — could support medium-term revaluation. Social metrics show unusually negative retail chatter, historically a contrarian signal during institutional accumulation. Key signals for traders: (1) watch the global options expiry as a likely short-term volatility catalyst and possible stop-run that could create a buying opportunity; (2) monitor continued ETF inflows as a structural demand indicator; (3) expect potential short-lived shakeouts to $1.60–$1.70 before a medium-term repricing toward analyst targets of $3–$5 by 2026 if institutional flows and adoption persist.

Nubila has launched its Validator Node system on the Monad mainnet, enabling node operators to deploy three node types (Cloud, Rainy, Sunny) to validate and anchor real-world environmental data (e.g., weather and environmental signals) on-chain. As Monad’s native data-validation layer, Nubila leverages the mainnet’s high throughput and low latency to produce verifiable, auditable and continuously updated data feeds that smart contracts and AI agents can call directly. Node operators receive daily $NB rewards for ongoing validation activities. The network targets DeFi, RWA, automated decision systems and AI-native applications as primary consumers. With Monad’s ecosystem growth, Nubila aims to become a core bridge between physical-world environmental signals and on-chain systems.

Ozak AI (OZ) has completed multiple presale rounds, selling more than 1.03–1.05 billion OZ tokens and raising roughly $5.12–$5.1 million in private funding, with totals approaching a $5.5 million target ahead of exchange listings. Presale price rose from approximately $0.001 to $0.014 (about 14x). Commentators and analysts cited in coverage project aggressive post-listing scenarios — one scenario implies a listing price near $1 (≈71x from presale) and later targets between $5–$10, while other estimates suggest up to ~300x several months after listing. The project markets a three-layer AI-focused architecture (AI layer, IPFS-encrypted Data layer, and OSN layer) to run predictive models and ingest on-chain/off-chain data, and highlights DePIN, cross-chain capabilities and partnerships with firms such as Openledger, Meganet, Phala Network, SINT, Gremory AI and IQ Wiki. The articles note the coverage is sponsored and not financial advice. For traders: the presale demonstrates strong early demand and high implied upside expectations, but price forecasts are speculative and depend on exchange listing dynamics, liquidity, token unlocking, and execution of the project’s technical and partnership roadmap.

XRP has fallen about 15% in December and is down roughly 47% from its yearly high, with market cap falling from $210.4B to $113.8B and daily volume dropping from $13.2B (July) to $1.8B (Dec. 26). On-chain and market signals show renewed demand: Santiment data indicates an increase in whale wallets holding 10,000–1,000,000,000 XRP since Dec. 22, and U.S. investors bought $64M of XRP ETFs this week—bringing cumulative ETF inflows to $1.14B and total assets held to over $1.25B with no net outflow days since November. Technicals show a descending wedge on the daily chart; price is testing the $1.90 support/resistance level. A confirmed breakout could target the $2.58–$2.65 zone (~27% upside). Momentum indicators align with a potential reversal: Aroon Down has declined (less selling pressure) and RSI is near oversold levels. Risks remain given lower liquidity and recent price weakness; the article is not investment advice.

Prominent analyst Doctor Profit says the current Bitcoin bear market could persist into late 2026, with a potential market bottom in September–October 2026. He tweeted that he moved remaining USDT back to the banking system and holds no liquid crypto, citing prolonged bearish conditions. Doctor Profit disclosed a large BTC short entered in the $115,000–$125,000 range and a medium long position bought around $85,000; he expects a short-term rally toward ~$107,000 ahead of another downward leg in Feb–Mar. Bitcoin traded near $89,259 after a 2% daily gain, staying below critical resistance. On-chain data from CryptoQuant identifies $100,000 as key short-term resistance because new whales (holders <155 days) have an average cost basis ~ $100,500. Binance spot users average cost sits near $56,000, offering downside support, while long-term whales (>155 days) average cost is about $40,000. Analyst Ali Martinez warns that losing the 50-week SMA historically led to average declines of ~54%, implying a potential drop toward $40,000 if that level is not reclaimed. Key keywords: Bitcoin, BTC, bear market, on-chain data, CryptoQuant, 50-week SMA, whale cost basis.

Charles Hoskinson, founder of Cardano, labelled Midnight — Cardano’s privacy-focused spinoff — the “Manhattan Project” for privacy-enhanced transactions (PET), chain abstraction and “smart compliance.” Hoskinson said he is drafting extensive technical documentation (80–100 pages daily) and preparing internal workshops in January. He also plans a non-technical PET book, “The Land of PET,” aimed at community ambassadors. The post frames Midnight as compliance-first rather than adversarial to regulators, potentially appealing to institutional developers. MARKET DATA: utility token NIGHT traded around $0.07676, up ~19.6% over the week, market cap about $1.27B and 24h volume ~$589M, after earlier weekly volatility and consolidation. Hoskinson suggested that if January workshops produce a roadmap, “New ADA” could become a concrete 2026 plan. Key themes: Cardano, Midnight (privacy/PET), smart compliance, January workshops, narrative rollout and potential roadmap.

Exodus Movement (EXOD) has partnered with MoonPay and infrastructure provider M0 to launch a fully reserved, US dollar‑backed stablecoin aimed at payments in early 2026. MoonPay will issue and manage the token on M0’s programmable, interoperable platform, enabling rapid minting, cross‑network expansion and enterprise issuance features. Exodus plans to integrate the stablecoin into Exodus Pay so users can send, spend and earn rewards while retaining self‑custody of private keys. The rollout emphasizes speed, reliability and regulatory compliance — coming after the U.S. GENIUS Act (July 2025) which mandates 100% reserves, monthly disclosures and annual audits for regulated stablecoins. Product availability, supported networks and merchant integrations will be announced closer to launch. Market context: the stablecoin sector exceeded $300 billion in 2025 with incumbents such as USDC and PYUSD; Exodus aims to compete as a payment‑focused, regulated digital dollar leveraging MoonPay’s distribution network and M0’s infrastructure.

Trust Wallet has pledged full compensation for users affected by a recent hack that resulted in roughly $7 million in losses. The announcement was confirmed by Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, who reassured users that funds remain secure while an investigation continues. Trust Wallet — acquired by Binance in 2018 — said it will cover all user losses and implement enhanced security measures based on investigation findings. The incident underscores vulnerabilities in self-custody wallets but also marks a notable shift toward greater accountability in crypto services. Key takeaways for traders: the loss estimate is ~$7M; Binance/Changpeng Zhao publicly backing the remedy; Trust Wallet will reimburse victims and pursue security upgrades; no specific timeline for compensation has been given. Recommended user actions include enabling extra security layers (2FA), keeping wallet software updated, and diversifying asset storage.

Uniswap governance approved the UNIfication package with overwhelming support (~125.34M UNI for, 742 against), implementing a protocol-level fee switch that redirects a portion of trading fees (including net sequencer fees from Unichain/Uniswap’s layer-2 routing) from liquidity providers to the protocol treasury. After a two-day timelock the proposal will immediately burn 100 million UNI from the treasury — an amount Uniswap says approximates cumulative burns had the fee switch been active since launch — and route ongoing collected fees into continuous UNI burns. The package also consolidates operations by moving Uniswap Foundation functions to Uniswap Labs, removes fees from Uniswap Labs’ interface, wallet and API, and establishes a UNI-funded annual growth budget for development and ecosystem expansion. Founder Hayden Adams framed the changes as foundational for Uniswap’s next decade. Traders should note immediate on-chain effects: a fixed one-time supply reduction (100M UNI) plus an activated revenue-to-burn mechanism that ties protocol usage to deflationary pressure. Short-term risks include market reaction to the treasury burn timing and the opportunity cost of diverting fees from LPs and grants; longer-term effects may increase UNI scarcity and value accrual to token holders if fee volumes remain material. Key facts: ~125M yes votes, 742 no; 100M UNI burn; fee switch activated and ongoing fee-to-burn flow; two-day timelock before execution.

The SEC chair signaled that the Crypto Clarity Act and a companion Market Structure Bill are being sent to Congress. The legislation seeks to clearly define which digital assets are securities versus commodities or payment/utility tokens, and to assign regulatory oversight between the SEC and the CFTC. Sponsors claim the reforms could cut market manipulation by up to 80% and reduce enforcement-by-litigation by replacing ad hoc actions with rule-based standards. For XRP (XRP), long entangled in U.S. regulatory uncertainty, the bills could cement its status when used for payments or network utility and create standardized rules for trading venues, custody and settlement. That clarity may accelerate partnerships with banks, increase institutional participation, deepen liquidity and broaden exchange support. Broader market effects include lower risk premia, improved sentiment and possible inflows of institutional capital. Key actors: SEC Chair Paul Atkins and U.S. Congress. Main keywords: Crypto Clarity Act, Market Structure Bill, XRP, SEC, CFTC, regulatory clarity.

Bitcoin (BTC) tested resistance near $90,000 as markets reopened after the holidays, trading up over 2% in Asian hours. Traders highlighted about $24 billion of bitcoin options set to expire around the Wall Street open — an event seen as a potential reset that could remove hedging pressure and allow more "organic" price discovery. Option-driven flows and short-term volatility contributed to more than $200 million in liquidations during the latest move. BTC is attempting to break a two-month downtrend that began in October; analysts say a confirmed daily close above current resistance could open a path to $95,000 and the $100,000 area near the 50-day moving averages (50-day SMA ≈ $91,458; 50-day EMA ≈ $92,651). On-chain commentators and traders expect improved market conditions in January as asset managers rebalance, which could support further upside. At the same time, precious metals extended rallies — gold and silver hit record highs in Asian trading, and silver briefly exceeded bitcoin by market capitalisation on some metrics. Key trading cues for crypto traders: monitor BTC daily close and acceptance above $95K, watch options open interest and expiry flows for reduced hedging pressure, and track 50-day moving averages as resistance near $91–93K and around $100K. This summary does not constitute investment advice.

Cryptocurrencies are increasingly used for online betting in 2026 because they offer faster deposits/withdrawals, lower fees, greater privacy and blockchain security. Key selection criteria for betting coins include transaction speed, fees, security/privacy, platform adoption/compatibility and price stability. Recommended options for bettors: BTC (widespread acceptance; Lightning improves speed but on-chain remains slower), ETH (smart contracts enable provably fair payouts and dApp betting), LTC (faster blocks, lower fees), DOGE (low fees, fast transfers, strong community and wide acceptance on betting sites), stablecoins such as USDT/USDC (price stability for bankroll management), BNB (exchange integration, discounts and promotions), and research-driven or fast-transfer chains like ADA and XLM (scalability and low-cost cross-border transfers). The article advises bettors to prioritise speed for live/esports betting, prefer stablecoins when avoiding volatility, and choose coins widely supported by betting platforms to reduce friction and costs.

Bitcoin (BTC) faced intense holiday volatility but is defending the $85,000 level as traders assess whether a year-end rally remains intact. A sharp, brief move on Binance on Dec 24 saw BTC drop from about $87K to roughly $24K — a 73% flash crash attributed to low holiday liquidity and suspected whale-triggered liquidations — before quickly rebounding to around $85K. Despite a small market-cap outflow (~0.82% / ~$30B) across late December, BTC posted a 2.2% intraday gain and is approaching a key $90K resistance zone. Market sentiment sits in a “fear” zone historically linked with accumulation, and analysts interpret the sudden drawdown as a shakeout that removed weak hands and reinforced a bid wall. For traders, the main takeaways are: $85K is the current short-term support/launchpad; a sustained move above $90K would signal renewed FOMO and short-squeeze risk; holiday-thin liquidity increases the chance of outsized intraday moves and fakeouts. Primary keywords: Bitcoin, BTC price, holiday volatility, $85K support. Secondary/semantic keywords: liquidity, Binance flash crash, whale activity, short squeezes, accumulation.

South Korea’s exchange Bithumb is running a two-day BABY token airdrop from Dec 26–27, 2025, distributing a 3,000,000 BABY token pool (approx. 73 million KRW / $52,700) to eligible users. BABY is the native token of the Bitcoin staking protocol Babylon. To qualify, users must deposit more than 500,000 KRW (~$361) worth of BABY into their Bithumb account and execute at least one BABY trade on both event days. All qualifying participants will share the token pool equally. Tokens will be credited on Jan 6, 2026. The promotion celebrates Bithumb’s partnerships with Aave and an unnamed BTC financial firm. Traders should note price volatility risk for BABY between now and distribution and check regional eligibility and tax implications before participating.