Latest Crypto News | Bitcoin, Ethereum and Altcoin Updates

Bitunix, a growing crypto derivatives exchange, has achieved Top-7 global ranking for derivatives trading volume and Top-10 for open interest in 2025 according to CoinGlass. The platform showed rising adoption in prior years — noted by CoinMarketCap, CoinGecko and Similarweb — and reported improving liquidity depth. Bitunix says it will deepen product offerings, enhance user trading experience, and expand global deployment into 2026 to further support liquidity and execution efficiency. Key market context in the same update includes large industry events: a record Bitcoin options expiry (~$28B notional) and elevated annual liquidations cited by Coinglass; however, Bitunix’s announcement focuses on platform-level growth and liquidity goals rather than macro market moves. Primary keywords: Bitunix, crypto derivatives, trading volume, open interest, liquidity.

Coinglass data compiled by Coinotag shows total forced crypto liquidations in 2025 reached about $154.64 billion, averaging roughly $4–5 billion per day. Liquidations in a highly leveraged market typically fluctuate from tens to hundreds of millions daily and rarely produce lasting, system-wide price declines. True systemic stress concentrated in episodic windows — notably the mid‑October deleveraging event around October 10–11 — rather than reflecting ongoing market collapse. Coinotag’s report does not single out any specific cryptocurrency as the primary driver. Traders should monitor leverage metrics and liquidity conditions to anticipate short-term volatility and manage risk, especially during identified stress windows. Primary keywords: crypto liquidations, Coinglass data, leverage, liquidity, market volatility.

Sberbank, Russia’s largest bank, is exploring crypto-collateral lending and is prepared to work with regulators to develop infrastructure for collateralized crypto finance. Deputy Chairman Anatoly Popov said the bank may announce such deals soon, contingent on the country’s evolving regulatory framework. Sberbank has already issued over 160 tokenized products this year across real estate, oil and commodities, and is offering regulated crypto-linked investments totaling 1.5 billion rubles. Meanwhile Moscow Exchange and St. Petersburg Exchange confirmed readiness to launch regulated crypto trading once Russia’s unified legal framework takes effect by July 1, 2026. The Bank of Russia published a regulatory concept that splits market access between qualified and non-qualified investors, imposes annual caps and knowledge tests for non-qualified participants, and bans anonymous tokens. Russia recorded $376.3 billion in crypto transaction receipts from July 2024–June 2025, making it Europe’s largest crypto market by volume. The regulatory timeline includes penalties for illegal intermediaries from July 1, 2027. Officials stressed cryptocurrencies will remain investment instruments, not legal money, and debate continues over treating mining as export activity. Key names: Sberbank (Deputy Chairman Anatoly Popov), Moscow Exchange, St. Petersburg Exchange, Bank of Russia. Key metrics: 160+ tokenized issues by Sberbank; 1.5 billion rubles in crypto-linked products; $376.3 billion crypto transaction receipts (Jul 2024–Jun 2025); unified regulation target date: July 1, 2026.

Whale Alert reported a single transfer of 89,312 ETH (~$264 million) from South Korean exchange Bithumb to an unknown private wallet on December 26, 2025. Large exchange-to-private-wallet moves typically indicate long-term holding, exchange cold-storage operations, or institutional repositioning. The unknown destination prevents identification of the recipient’s intent, prompting trader speculation. Removing this volume from an exchange can reduce immediate sell pressure and is often interpreted as a bullish sign, though correlation with price movement is not guaranteed. Traders should treat this whale transfer as contextual information: compare it with recent accumulation/distribution patterns, daily trading volumes, and concurrent market news; combine whale data with technical indicators and risk management rather than using it as a standalone trading signal.

Recent five-year data analysis shows Bitcoin (BTC) has limited trading activity and weak structural support in the $70,000–$80,000 range. Investing.com’s session-counting of CME futures open prices (weekstarts, weekends excluded) reports BTC logged just 28 trading days between $70k–$79,999 and 49 days between $80k–$89,999 — far fewer than the nearly 200 days seen in lower bands such as $30k–$49,999. CME futures data indicate stronger price memory and consolidation around $30k–$50k and $50k–$70k, while the $70k–$80k band remains one of the least engaged. Glassnode’s UTXO Realized Price Distribution (URPD) corroborates sparse supply clustering in the $70k–$80k zone, suggesting few holders realize cost-basis there. Together, these on-chain and futures measures imply the $70k–$80k level lacks built-in demand and could be vulnerable to sharper moves if BTC retests it. For traders: low session-counts and weak URPD clustering signal higher short-term volatility and limited liquidity in that band; a sustainable re-test would likely require renewed on-chain accumulation or concentrated trading activity to build support. Keywords: Bitcoin, BTC, price support, CME futures, Glassnode URPD, UTXO, consolidation, volatility.

Quantum computing advances in 2026 — including milestones like Microsoft’s Majorana 1 — have accelerated research and investment but do not pose an imminent threat to Bitcoin or major blockchains. Cryptography experts say practical quantum attacks that can run Shor’s algorithm at scale against ECDSA remain years to a decade or more away because they require millions of low-error qubits, long coherence times and material and fabrication breakthroughs. The primary near-term risk is archival: adversaries are already collecting on-chain public keys and encrypted data today to decrypt later once quantum capability matures (“store now, decrypt later”). Analysts estimate roughly 25–30% of BTC (about 4 million BTC) is held in addresses exposing public keys, increasing potential vulnerability. ECDSA digital signatures are the weakest link; SHA-256 hashing is comparatively more resilient to quantum attacks. Recommended actions for traders and holders: avoid address reuse, keep public keys hidden until spending, and prepare to migrate to post-quantum wallets and signature schemes when viable. Industry responses include proposals for quantum-resistant signatures, vendor products offering quantum-grade randomness and post-quantum encryption for hot wallets (e.g., Qastle), and regulatory attention from bodies like the US SEC. Market impact is limited in the short term — the narrative is shifting from ‘if’ to ‘when,’ making wallet hygiene and strategic planning for post-quantum migration important for long-term risk management.

A Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime report concludes the Central African Republic’s (CAR) rapid crypto initiatives — including making Bitcoin legal tender in 2022 (later rolled back), the Sango hub and Sango Coin, and a government‑linked memecoin ($CAR) tied to speculative land tokenisation — are unrealistic, opaque and vulnerable to criminal exploitation. The projects were launched despite severe infrastructure limits (low electricity and internet access) that prevent broad citizen participation. Sales and market performance have been weak (Sango sales far below targets; CAR memecoin collapsed from a reported peak to deep losses). The IMF and regional central bank raised legal, transparency and macroeconomic concerns; local courts struck down some measures. The report flags concentration of gains among foreign investors and a domestic elite linked to President Faustin‑Archange Touadéra, and names intermediaries allegedly connected to cross‑border crypto fraud. It warns the 2023 tokenisation law for natural resources (oil, gold, timber, land) and poorly regulated platforms could create channels for money‑laundering, foreign influence and transnational organised crime while delivering scant benefits to ordinary citizens. For traders: the revelations and regulatory pushback increase counterparty, legal and reputational risks for CAR‑linked tokens and any listings tied to the country’s projects, heightening volatility and reducing project credibility.

Onchain analytics provider OnchainLenz reported that a wallet labelled to QCP Capital moved 400 BTC (≈ $35.7M) and 200 ETH (≈ $597K) — roughly $36.3 million — into Binance. Large deposits to a major centralized exchange often increase sell-side liquidity and can presage short-term selling pressure, though such flows can also reflect custodial transfers, collateral posting, OTC settlement or portfolio rebalancing. Traders should treat this as a data point: monitor follow-up on-chain activity (withdrawals back to cold storage or onward transfers), Binance order-book and funding-rate changes, and broader macro and technical signals before taking positions. The transfer underscores institutional activity and tests market depth for BTC and ETH; if Binance absorbs the inflow without major slippage, it indicates demand resilience, whereas aggressive execution into the order book could produce short-term downside.

A major crypto derivatives expiry is unfolding: roughly 300,000 BTC in options (about $23.7B notional) are set to expire today, and combined with Ethereum options total BTC/ETH options exposure reaches approximately $28.5B. Large expiries concentrate derivatives positioning and typically force dealer rebalancing, delta hedging and exercise/assignment decisions that can amplify short-term price moves for BTC and ETH. Traders should monitor open interest concentrations, strike distributions, option skews and spot liquidity to anticipate potential pinning, short squeezes or volatility spikes around settlement. The event does not imply a fixed directional bias; outcomes depend on prevailing positioning and liquidity. However, market-maker adjustments and heavy hedging flows often create transient liquidity stress and larger intraday swings—factors important for leverage, stop placement and short-term strategies. This expiry is viewed as a notable liquidity milestone for the derivatives market and may inform near-term risk sentiment across spot, futures and perpetual markets.

A large trader nicknamed “buddy” has built concentrated leveraged long positions ahead of a major options expiration, drawing market attention and coinciding with an ETH price rally. Monitoring firm Hyperinsight reports the trader added 525 ETH of long exposure over roughly 16 hours, closed BTC longs, and now holds: 1) an 8,000 ETH position in ETH at 25x leverage with a reported liquidation price near $2,870; and 2) an 8,000 HYPE position at 10x leverage. The moves come as a sizable options expiry for BTC/ETH approaches, increasing the potential for squeezes and heightened volatility. Key details for traders: position sizes (8,000 ETH at 25x), leverage levels (25x for ETH, 10x for HYPE), recent additions (+525 ETH in ~16 hours), and liquidation price (~$2,870 for the ETH long). These concentrated, highly leveraged positions can amplify short-term price swings, influence funding rates and order-book dynamics, and raise the risk of cascading liquidations if price moves toward the liquidation level. Traders should monitor open interest, options expiry flow, funding rates, and order-book depth around major exchanges to gauge potential squeeze pressure and manage risk accordingly.

A market commentator argued that XRP is transitioning from a fringe crypto into the regulated derivatives stack used by institutions. Despite a 34% Q4 2025 drop to $1.87, XRP has seen institutional developments: XRP ETFs launched last month gathered $1 billion in inflows within 21 days, Ripple received conditional bank-charter approval, and the company expanded via acquisitions and partnerships. The commentator (Richard) reviewed multiple year-end regulatory filings and ethics-policy updates that treat XRP as a governed asset, with insider-trading and personal-trading rules applied. He points to leveraged XRP ETFs (including 5x products), futures, swaps, margin structures, and daily-reset leveraged products as evidence institutions are building structured exposure—often using derivatives first to manage risk. CME-listed XRP futures have shown strong uptake, surpassing $26 billion in notional volume and reaching $1 billion open interest fastest among assets. The commentator views repeated filings and amendments as signs sponsors are phasing product rollouts from lower to higher leverage, signaling deeper institutional integration rather than a short-term price play. Disclaimer: informational only, not financial advice.

Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao dismissed a viral screenshot showing Bitcoin at about $24,111 on Binance as a microstructure glitch on a newly listed BTC/USD1 pair, not a market-wide crash. The extreme wick occurred on BTC/USD1 — a pair quoted in USD1, a stablecoin tied to World Liberty Financial — and snapped back within seconds to prevailing prices above $87,000 as arbitrageurs corrected the dislocation. CZ explained that thin order books on new pairs allow a single aggressive market order to print an extreme price; the pair isn’t used in any Bitcoin index and produced no liquidations. Solv Protocol’s Catherine Chan attributed the event to a liquidity surge caused by a Binance promotion offering 20% APY on USD1 deposits, which pushed users to swap into USD1 and briefly created a premium, allowing a market sell to sweep buy orders. Traders should note the operational risk: new quote-asset pairs and promotional flows can create fragile order books where one large market order produces headline price prints without signalling a genuine trend. At press time Bitcoin traded near $89,298. Primary keywords: Bitcoin, Binance, CZ, liquidity glitch; secondary keywords: USD1 stablecoin, arbitrage, order book, BTC/USD1.

Digital Ascension Group CEO Jake Claver told the XRP community he is 99.99999% confident XRP will make an “unbelievable move” before year-end 2025. Claver reiterated earlier bullish claims that XRP could reach triple-digit prices if several catalysts align, citing disruptions in oil markets, stronger U.S. regulatory engagement, growth of XRP ETFs, and large-scale liquidity shifts in Japan. XRP traded at $1.87 with a peak near $3.66 five months earlier, reflecting roughly a 50% decline year-to-date. The article notes XRP ETF inflows of $1.14 billion in one month from firms such as Canary Capital, Grayscale, Bitwise and Franklin, and mentions a speculative BlackRock ETF filing that could target XRP. Claver has previously forecast extreme short-term targets (e.g., $100–$1,000) and faces criticism after missed predictions. The piece cautions readers that this is opinion and not financial advice.

Crypto analyst Steph Is Crypto reports that nearly 50% of XRP’s circulating supply is now underwater, with the share of supply in profit falling to about 52% on a 7-day moving average. The drop in holder profitability occurred alongside XRP’s price decline, meaning a large portion of tokens last moved at prices above current levels. Historically, this “profitability compression” has reduced immediate selling pressure from profit-takers and preceded sharp rallies when demand returned — Steph notes a comparable setup in November 2024 that preceded a 500%+ rally. The current setup suggests downside risk is more evenly distributed and that modest inflows could have outsized price impact because fewer holders are positioned to sell at a profit. The article emphasizes this is not investment advice and urges readers to do their own research.

Researchers Jonas Nick, Tim Ruffing (Blockstream Research) and Yannick Seurin (Ledger) published DahLIAS, the first formal, provably secure construction of a constant-size, fully aggregated cross-input signature scheme that operates on Bitcoin’s native secp256k1 curve. DahLIAS produces a single 64-byte signature that aggregates signatures from many signers across different transaction inputs (CISA), reducing transaction size and verification cost. Unlike BLS-based aggregation, DahLIAS works within Bitcoin’s existing curve assumptions and requires only similar cryptographic premises already used by Bitcoin. It uses a two-round interactive protocol (similar in interaction to MuSig2 but functionally distinct) and includes formal security proofs. DahLIAS is not compatible with current Bitcoin consensus rules as-is — verification takes a set of public keys and corresponding messages plus a 64-byte proof rather than the single public key–message–signature model — so integrating it would require a consensus change and a BIP. The paper’s key contribution is demonstrating that full cross-input signature aggregation on secp256k1 is possible, paving the way for future BIP proposals and implementation work (e.g., secp256k1lab) to bring smaller, more private and cheaper complex transactions to Bitcoin.

Exodus, the consumer crypto wallet developer, has announced a partnership with payments provider MoonPay and fintech platform M0 to pilot functionality for a US digital dollar. The collaboration aims to enable users to receive, hold and transmit a tokenized digital dollar through Exodus’ wallet interface, leveraging MoonPay’s on/off ramp infrastructure and M0’s stablecoin and tokenization tooling. The pilot focuses on user experience and compliance, integrating custodial and non-custodial flows and testing redemption and settlement mechanisms. Key objectives include testing fiat on/off ramps, wallet interoperability, and regulatory controls needed for a digital dollar rollout. The announcement highlights industry momentum around tokenized fiat and central bank digital currency (CBDC) experimentation, though it does not indicate a government-issued CBDC launch or specific timeline. For traders, the development signals growing infrastructure for tokenized US-dollar settlement rails, potential increases in on-chain dollar liquidity, and expanded use cases for stablecoins and tokenized fiat instruments.

Strategy CEO Phong Le said Bitcoin’s fundamentals for 2025 are exceptionally strong despite recent price declines and market fear. Speaking on a podcast, Phong Le urged investors to ignore short-term volatility and focus on long-term adoption, citing growing support from the U.S. government, major banks and meetings with traditional banks in the U.S. and UAE. He noted catalysts such as SEC innovation and Vanguard allowing Bitcoin ETF trading, which helped trigger roughly $400 million in short-covering during a recent rebound. CoinMarketCap data: BTC hit an all-time high of $125,100 on Oct 5, then fell nearly 30% to about $88,700 at the time of reporting. The crypto fear & greed index has shown ’extreme fear’ since Dec 12. Strategy holds $1.4 billion in cash reserves to deploy into market weakness and emphasizes risk-managed frameworks like mNAV, a Bitcoin reserve and USD reserve. Phong Le remains bullish into 2026, aligning with institutional narratives that increased ETF flows and government reserves could drive further adoption, though some forecasters warn of potential retracement to $60,000 amid liquidity tightening and regulation. Key names and figures: Phong Le, Strategy, Michael Saylor, Vanguard, SEC. Primary keywords: Bitcoin, BTC, fundamentals, ETF, institutional adoption.

Bithumb announced it will delist EVZ and stop all EVZ trading at 06:00 UTC on January 26 after the EVZ foundation failed to provide required explanatory materials following an “investment warning” designation and a past security incident. The exchange cited compliance, transparency and security concerns as reasons for removal. Users must either sell their EVZ before the trading halt or withdraw tokens to a compatible wallet within a subsequent withdrawal window (final deadline to be announced). The delisting underlines stricter exchange listing standards and signals increased regulatory and operational scrutiny. Traders should act quickly, confirm wallet compatibility and addresses, and monitor EVZ listings on other platforms; exchanges may review EVZ independently. Main keywords: Bithumb delist EVZ, EVZ delisting, withdrawal deadline, exchange compliance, token transparency.

Gate has launched the 17th edition of its VIP Super Friday event, running from 2025-12-26 15:00 to 2026-01-01 23:59 (UTC+8). The promotion guarantees a 100% chance to win for participants; VIP level 5+ users who sign up immediately receive an airdrop and can win up to 8,888 NIGHT. The event features a pool of 2,352 NIGHT gacha prizes, distributed on a first-come, first-served basis. Users can obtain additional gacha chances by completing deposit, wealth-management, and trading tasks. The announcement emphasizes limited quantity and encourages early participation. The notice is informational and does not constitute investment advice.

The pieces argue that narratives (political events, regulation, institutional interest) spark volatility, but measurable capital flows and liquidity determine whether Bitcoin trends persist. After the 2024 U.S. election BTC rallied ~56% alongside a spike in futures open interest, yet weak spot demand prevented a durable uptrend. Spot BTC ETFs were a primary, quantifiable catalyst — roughly $35bn net inflows in 2024 and $22bn in 2025 — with price moves closely tracking ETF flow pace; momentum faded when inflows slowed or turned negative. Stablecoin inflows to exchanges, used as a proxy for deployable buying power, fell about 50% from recent highs, reducing market capacity to sustain narrative-driven rallies. On-chain metrics (realized profit-taking by long-term holders >$1bn/day on 7-day avg in July) show significant selling pressure, while higher real yields and shifts toward defensive assets (BTC/gold ratio decline) increase Bitcoin’s opportunity cost. Conclusion for traders: watch spot ETF flows, exchange stablecoin balances, futures open interest and realized selling — narratives can trigger moves, but sustainable rallies require persistent spot-led demand and ample liquidity. No investment advice.

Ethereum plans two major hard forks in 2026 — Glamsterdam (mid‑2026) and Heze‑Bogota (late‑2026) — targeting large‑scale Layer‑1 scaling, increased Layer‑2 capacity, broader zero‑knowledge (ZK) verifier adoption and stronger on‑chain censorship resistance. Glamsterdam will introduce Block Access Lists (EIP‑7928) to enable parallel transaction execution across CPU cores and enshrined proposer‑builder separation (ePBS) to integrate MEV mitigation into consensus and unlock validator‑level ZK verification. These changes are expected to allow staged gas limit increases (current ~60M gas per block → ~100M in H1 2026 → ~200M or more later in 2026, with some estimates up to ~300M), increase per‑block blob capacity (potentially 72+ blobs) and extend the time window for generating and verifying ZK proofs. Researchers project roughly 10% of validators may verify ZK proofs instead of replaying full execution, freeing further gas headroom. Heze‑Bogota will focus on censorship resistance (e.g., Fork‑Choice Inclusion Lists/FOCIL) to let validator groups ensure inclusion of specific transactions when a subset of nodes remain honest. Secondary developments include improved L2 UX (examples: ZKsync’s Elastic Network / Atlas storing funds on‑chain while enabling fast L2 activity) and proposals for an Ethereum Interoperability Layer to ease L2 cross‑chain operations. For traders: these protocol upgrades could materially raise on‑chain capacity, reduce L2 congestion, change MEV dynamics and pressure fee volatility — factors that may shift liquidity, on‑chain flows and Layer‑2 token activity. Monitor gas limit changes, ePBS adoption, validator ZK verification uptake and on‑chain fee metrics for near‑term trading signals.

Elon Musk forecasted rapid U.S. economic growth on X, predicting double-digit expansion within 12–18 months and triple-digit growth in about five years, attributing gains to advances in applied intelligence. Traders and analysts linked his comments to improved macro conditions and potential upside for Bitcoin as Fed rate cuts and rising risk appetite support crypto demand. Bitcoin traded around $87,709, roughly 30% below October highs. Market voices differed: supporters such as Anthony Pompliano and Oryon Finance saw Musk’s outlook as bullish for risk assets, while skeptics like Artem Russakovskii and commentator Bariksis warned of continued downside or a 2026 bear market. On-chain and research signals were mixed: K33 suggested long-term holder sell pressure could be easing, while XS.com noted inflation (CPI 2.7%) still warrants Fed caution before aggressive easing. Key implications for traders include monitoring Fed policy, inflation data, liquidity conditions, long-term holder flows, and technical resistance levels (some analysts highlight potential retests of around $60k).

MGBX will list LIT (Lighter) for spot trading on December 26, 2025. Deposit channels open at 17:00 UTC+8 and spot trading begins at 18:00 UTC+8; withdrawal timing has not yet been announced. Lighter is described as a perpetual trading protocol offering a scalable, secure, transparent, non-custodial, verifiable order-book infrastructure built on Ethereum to improve on-chain liquidity and risk controls. Traders should monitor official MGBX channels for withdrawal schedules and initial liquidity details, as these will affect execution quality, spreads, and short-term price volatility. Primary keywords: LIT, Lighter, MGBX listing, spot trading. Secondary/semantic keywords: deposit open, trading start, ERC-20, on-chain liquidity, order-book, withdrawal schedule.

Analyst Murphy at COINOTAG identifies a concentrated chip (on-chain cost basis) distribution for Bitcoin around $87,000 and $84,500, with the $87,000 band representing the highest-volume bar and the strongest near-term support. Excluding a November 22 wallet consolidation event, roughly 1.12 million BTC are clustered in the $83,300–$84,500 band, and turnover within that range has effectively halved. High-volume chip stacks create a decision point where aggregated long and short positions can precipitate either a breakout or retracement. Murphy interprets the chip structure as leaning bullish: if the $87,000 high-volume support holds, Bitcoin’s immediate trajectory favors measured upside rather than speculative spikes. Traders are advised to monitor liquidity around $87,000 and $84,500 and to adopt risk-aware position sizing, using credible on-chain chip data to guide entries and stops.

Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) will establish a dedicated crypto regulation division in summer 2024 to oversee virtual assets (e.g., Bitcoin, Ethereum) and payment-focused stablecoins. The reorganisation also adds an Asset Management and Insurance Supervision Bureau. The specialist unit aims to provide clearer guidelines, stronger consumer protections and faster, more nuanced policy responses to DeFi and stablecoin growth. Japan already restricts stablecoin issuance to licensed banks, trust firms and money transfer agents under a 2022 law; the new division will enforce those rules and could set an international precedent. Traders can expect greater regulatory clarity for licensed exchanges, potential attraction of institutional capital to Tokyo, and stricter oversight that may reduce fraud but could increase compliance costs. Key SEO keywords: Japan crypto regulation, stablecoin rules, FSA crypto division, virtual assets, regulatory clarity.

Lido DAO (LDO) has seen a 690% year‑over‑year increase in development activity, according to Chain Broker, coinciding with a short‑term price breakout on December 25, 2025. The project also ranked highly for weekly fees and revenue, recording roughly $14.3 million in weekly fees for staking products — a sign of sustained protocol usage despite broader Layer‑1 weakness. LDO rose about 7.65% that day after attempting to breach a descending trendline that intensified following the October 10 crash. Momentum indicators were mixed: RSI near neutral and MACD showing fading downside momentum rather than a decisive bullish signal. Liquidation heatmaps (CoinGlass) highlighted concentrated leverage around $0.51, indicating potential downside if momentum reverses. Overall, the combination of outsized development growth and strong fee generation appears to have bolstered investor interest and supported short‑term strength in LDO, though technical risks and liquidation clusters leave the breakout’s sustainability uncertain.

Market strategist Levi Rietveld highlighted comments from U.S. Treasury official Scott Bessent indicating a review of regulatory barriers affecting blockchain, stablecoins and payment systems. Bessent said regulators will examine outdated rules and consider reforms to strengthen U.S. capital markets and improve access. The article argues XRP’s design—fast, low-cost cross-border settlement and use in transaction fees—aligns with the payment infrastructure Bessent described. It notes Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin settles on the XRP Ledger in seconds with low fees, potentially increasing XRP demand as stablecoin and payment activity grows. The piece frames the regulatory reassessment as reducing friction that previously limited XRP adoption and as supportive of XRP’s role in institutional, compliant payment flows. (Disclaimer: not financial advice.)

Prediction markets are moving toward the crypto mainstream as major exchanges and institutions increase investment and operational involvement. Coinbase is acquiring on‑chain prediction startup The Clearing Company (deal expected to close in January), reinforcing its push into regulated prediction markets, tokenized assets and equities. Crypto.com is hiring quantitative traders to staff an internal market‑making desk that will buy and sell prediction contracts alongside external traders; the move aims to boost liquidity but raises questions about market structure, fairness and potential conflicts despite the firm’s claim that internal traders follow the same rules as outside participants. Bloomberg reports that JPMorgan is exploring crypto trading services for institutional clients, signalling deeper traditional‑finance integration and potential new liquidity sources. Separately, DWF Labs completed a 25 kg physical gold settlement as part of diversifying into real‑world commodities and hedging exposure. For traders: expect greater liquidity and product diversity in prediction markets and potential shifts in pricing as centralized market‑making ramps up. Monitor company disclosures on internal market‑making rules, Coinbase’s integration plans and any JPMorgan product announcements — plus regulatory and tax developments — which could affect market fairness, flows and volatility.

On December 25, 2025, Bitcoin on Binance experienced a rapid drop to $24,111 before quickly recovering. The move occurred during typically thin holiday liquidity and followed large, apparently coordinated Bitcoin transfers onto Binance that appear to have put downward pressure on prices. Some sub-$25,000 limit orders were filled during the dip, allowing buyers to acquire BTC at a temporary discount. The episode sparked speculation about possible market manipulation by large holders and highlighted how low-volume periods amplify price impact from sizeable sell orders. The event did not produce an extended downtrend; liquidity returned and prices stabilized shortly after. Key facts: intraday low $24,111 on Binance, timing: Christmas Day 2025, primary cause: large transfers + low liquidity, immediate effect: short-lived wick and quick recovery. Traders should be cautious around holidays when thin markets can magnify order flow effects and consider using limit orders, reduced position sizes, or increased stop spacing to manage volatility.