The asset manager sent 3,290 bitcoin, worth about $298 million, along with 5,692 ether valued near $17.8 million.
BlackRock is telling clients to stop looking at artificial intelligence as software and start treating it as energy. In its 2026 Global Outlook, the BlackRock Investment Institute argued that the AI buildout is pushing against physical limits and highlighted electricity as the constraint investors are underpricing. The report’s headline-grabber is its warning that AI-driven data […]
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Stablecoins used to be a crypto convenience, a way to park dollars between trades without touching fiat. However, the industry has matured enough that BlackRock now treats them as foundational rails for the market. In its 2026 Global Outlook, the BlackRock Investment Institute argued that stablecoins are widening beyond exchanges and becoming integrated into mainstream […]
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The following article is adapted from The Block’s newsletter, The Daily, which comes out on weekday afternoons.
In 2025, XRP emerged as the best-performing token among the top ten largest cryptocurrencies, outpacing gains from Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH). As the first week of 2026 unfolds, XRP has continued this upward trend, recording a 17% surge over the past week that has propelled its price back above the key $2.20 threshold. Strong ETF Demand Pushes XRP Forward One of the prominent factors contributing to this surge is the strong performance of XRP exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which became a standout in the market by attracting $483 million over the past weeks. In contrast, Bitcoin ETFs experienced a significant outflow of $1.09 billion, while Ethereum products faced a loss of $564 million. XRP funds not only achieved $483 million in inflows during December but also maintained a steady influx for 30 consecutive trading days. This streak finally ended on December 26 with the first day of zero inflows. Overall, since their launch in November, total inflows into XRP exchange-traded funds have amassed to $1.3 billion, marking the fastest adoption rate for any altcoin ETF to date. Related Reading: Bitcoin Reaches $93,000 Amid Renewed Optimism: What To Keep An Eye On This Week Looking ahead, reports suggest that the ETF landscape could be pivotal in shaping bullish scenarios for XRP. A potential filing by BlackRock for an XRP ETF could serve as a significant credibility boost, attracting conservative institutional investors to the space. BlackRock’s own $40 billion Bitcoin ETF exemplifies the capacity to mobilize capital effectively through its Aladdin platform connections. Additionally, the scaling of Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin into banking and remittance services could generate ongoing demand for XRP as a critical bridge asset. There are also signs that the Federal Reserve could implement several rate cuts in 2026, which would lower the opportunity cost of investing in risk assets. Under such conditions, it is alleged that the XRP price might break through its all-time high of $3.84, potentially escalating toward the $4.00 to $5.00 range by year-end. On The Cusp Of Major Gains? When it comes to price action, market analyst Dark Defender, active on the social media platform X (previously Twitter), recently highlighted XRP’s price action by providing a three-month time frame update. The analyst noted that a newly initiated green candle in January exhibits a bullish Relative Strength Index (RSI). According to Dark Defender, surpassing the $2.22 level is crucial for XRP. Related Reading: Dogecoin Price On The Brink Of A 9,000% Rally To $10? What Historical Performance Shows He further suggested that XRP could be on the brink of a significant surge, similar to silver, and pointed to ambitious targets such as $6 and even as high as $20 in the future. Achieving $6 would represent a notable 171% increase from current trading prices, while reaching the $20 mark would indicate a staggering 800% rise. While trading at $2.21 at the time of writing, the token is still facing $2.22 as the next major short-term resistance level, and is also trading at 40% below its all-time high. Featured image from DALL-E, chart from TradingView.com
Bitcoin-specific inflows retreated 35% to $26.9 billion, while Ethereum, XRP, and Solana products absorbed over $20 billion combined.
As 2026 begins, XRP is starting the year on a bearish note, with investor sentiment plummeting to levels of extreme fear. Despite these challenging conditions, analysts are suggesting that this negativity may set the stage for a significant bullish reversal, drawing parallels to historical trends. Institutional Buyers Remain Active Reports indicate that periods of extreme sentiment have often preceded XRP rallies with impressive gains, at times exceeding 1,000%. Data from Santiment indicates that bearish mentions of XRP are now running 20-30% higher than the subdued averages seen in November. This deepening negativity, coupled with XRP stabilizing between $1.8 and $1.9 mark, highlights “a classic market divergence”: sentiment continues to worsen while prices consolidate, suggesting that emotional capitulation is occurring faster than any fundamental deterioration. Related Reading: Is The Dogecoin Bottom In? 3 Analysts Break Down the Charts Beneath this wave of retail fear, however, institutional behavior paints a more positive picture. Spot XRP exchange-traded funds (ETFs) recorded inflows of approximately $424 million in December alone, making them the best-performing crypto ETF product. This contrast between extreme retail sentiment—currently at an extreme fear level of 24—and substantial institutional accumulation, which stands at around $1.3 billion over the past 50 days, often precedes market reversals more reliably than sentiment readings alone indicate. 70-75% Chance Of Bullish Reversal For XRP, the current setup combines extreme fear readings with a social sentiment significantly above baseline levels, alongside price consolidation, creating a historical pattern that has led to substantial rallies multiple times since 2020. For instance, back in the 2020-2021 cycle, XRP dropped to $0.17 amid the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) lawsuit, followed by a 1,053% increase to $1.96 over just four months. Today’s scenario mirrors this past occurrence. With institutional accumulation diverging sharply from retail capitulation, historical data suggests that this combination yields a 70-75% chance of a bullish reversal within the next two to eight weeks. Current trading conditions for XRP sit at approximately $1.90, with the Fear & Greed Index at 24. This setup creates three potential scenarios. Three Potential Price Scenarios For XRP In the most favorable bullish scenario, the Trump administration could announce clear pro-crypto regulatory policies in the first quarter of the year, BlackRock might file an XRP ETF application, or the adoption of Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin could rapidly scale above $2-3 billion. Historically, when the Fear & Greed Index climbs from 24 into neutral territory (between 50 and 60), XRP often rallies between 30-50%, setting targets between $2.44 and $2.82. If bullish momentum continues into mild greed (70+), XRP could reach the $3.00-$3.20 range. Related Reading: Bitcoin’s $150K Target Looks Unlikely As Polymarket Odds Sink To 23% In a more neutral scenario, sentiment may gradually normalize without dramatic catalysts, with ETF inflows continuing to average between $200-300 million monthly. As RLUSD organically grows through existing partnerships, fears could naturally subside over a span of six to eight weeks. As the Fear & Greed Index rises from 24 to the 45-55 range, XRP has typically appreciated between 15-25%, targeting between $2.16 and $2.35. If the support at $1.85 holds through January, and trading volume expands above $1.98, the price could extend toward $2.40-$2.50. In a bearish outcome, sentiment could linger in extreme fear (below 30) for over eight weeks without relief. A decisive break below $1.85 on substantial volume would see XRP testing support levels around $1.65-$1.70. The altcoin has surged by over 6% in the past 24 hours towards $1.98 amid a broader recovery in the crypto market. Featured image from DALL-E, chart from TradingView.com
Bullish forecasts for ETF-led demand growth clash with warnings that many products may struggle to attract lasting assets.
U.S. spot crypto ETF flows, stablecoin supply, prediction markets, perp DEX activity, and the DAT craze were among the data trends of 2025.
Investor Paul Barron’s hint at “big news” has reignited attention on XRP exchange-traded funds this week, sending the community into speculation over possible upcoming announcements or launches. Related Reading: Crypto Heat Fizzling Out? US Search Interest Plunges As Retail Shy Away Traders and holders reacted fast on social channels, pushing chatter and price focus higher even as specifics remain unclear. ETF Flows Heat Up According to data shared by Nate Geraci, President of NovaDius Wealth, Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs dominated year-to-date inflows. BlackRock’s IBIT Bitcoin ETF led with $25 billion in inflows. Grayscale’s Bitcoin Mini Trust ETF followed at $1.11 billion. Fidelity and VanEck posted $477 million and $305 million respectively. On the Ethereum side, BlackRock’s offerings recorded about $9.12 billion. A Solana staking ETF from Bitwise pulled in $839 million. These numbers show where most large investors are putting money right now. Expect some big news this week $XRP ETFs https://t.co/3BY5XJosPx — PaulBarron (@paulbarron) December 29, 2025 Community Reaction And Speculation Barron’s remark has been read by many as a hint at another XRP-related announcement. Some expect a new ETF launch; others are watching for updates from issuers already in the market. That talk has helped push attention — and inflows — to XRP products that only debuted late in the year. XRP Ledger Tokenization Surge Based on reports from rwa.xyz, on-chain data indicates tokenized real-world assets on the XRP Ledger rose by 2,200% in 2025. The network saw about 23x growth in the value of native real-world assets, including stablecoins, and crossed the $500 million threshold. Themes around RWA tokenization were widely discussed this year by figures such as BlackRock CEO Larry Fink and former SEC Chair Paul Atkins, and the XRPL appears to be drawing benefit from that interest. XRP ETFs Show Early Strength Canary’s XRP ETF (XRPC) registered $384 million in year-to-date inflows after launching in November. Other XRP spot funds have built sizable holdings too: 21Shares holds about $250 million, Bitwise roughly $227 million, Grayscale around $244 million, and Franklin about $206 million. Based on reports, all of these XRP spot ETFs launched in November and December and now tally roughly $1.24 billion in total assets under management with cumulative inflows near $1.14 billion. For a new category, that level of money moving in over a short span is notable; some industry voices point out the total might have been higher if market mood had not cooled recently. Reports also say XRP ETFs pulled in over $1 billion through 21 days of steady inflows. Pending Products And Rumors WisdomTree’s XRP ETF is among the pending offerings that market watchers expect to arrive next. At the same time, talk about a BlackRock XRP ETF has circulated widely. There is currently no public filing tied to a BlackRock XRP product, and reports caution that such expectations are premature without official filings or approvals. Related Reading: Bitcoin Rules The Decade: Outshines Gold And Silver, Analyst Says Current flows note that XRP’s ETF debut has shifted part of investor focus from pure crypto bets to spot ETF allocations and tokenization themes. Whether Barron’s hinted “big news” becomes a concrete catalyst will depend on filings and formal product launches. For now, the mix of solid early inflows and rapid XRPL tokenization growth has put XRP squarely in the conversation among ETF-focused investors and network adopters. Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
BlackRock has transferred a significant amount of BTC to the crypto exchange Coinbase, sparking concerns about a sell-off. This comes as the Bitcoin price continues to struggle to break above $90,000 successfully. Bitcoin Price At Risk as BlackRock Transfers BTC Arkham data shows that Blackrock deposited 2,201 BTC ($192.13 million) into Coinbase, putting the Bitcoin price at risk of further decline amid increasing selling pressure. The move followed the outflow recorded by BlackRock’s BTC ETF on December 26, with Bitcoin funds as a group seeing a net outflow of $275.88 million. Related Reading: Bitcoin News: Here’s How Much Was Liquidated In The Crypto Market In 2025 These Bitcoin ETFs are currently on a seven-day outflow streak, which also prompted BlackRock to deposit 6,174.39 BTC last week, likely to offload these coins and redeem shares of its BTC fund. The Bitcoin price has struggled to break above $90,000 amid these outflows from the BTC funds. Notably, the Bitcoin price had broken above $90,000 on December 28 but quickly lost those gains yesterday as BlackRock moved the coins to Coinbase. Crypto pundit Martini claimed that BlackRock wasn’t the only one putting significant selling pressure on the flagship crypto. He alleged that Binance, Wintermute, Coinbase, and Fidelity also sold a significant amount of BTC, collectively dumping $3.5 billion yesterday. Crypto pundit Bull Theory claimed that there was a weekend manipulation as the Bitcoin price pumped $3,000 and broke $90,000, liquidating $103 million worth of shorts this Sunday. He then noted that on Monday morning, BTC dumped $2,700 and liquidated $40 million worth of longs, erasing its entire pump in the process. With the current price action, BTC is heading for a red yearly close, as it is currently down over 6% year-to-date (YTD). BTC Could Bottom Out Soon Against Other Major Assets In an X post, crypto analyst Kevin Capital stated that most of the data continues to become more favorable for the Bitcoin price, putting in a bottom against the equity markets and gold in the coming weeks. He added that the data also points to the flagship crypto outperforming these assets. The analyst stated that this was based on just factual data and not emotions. Related Reading: Bitcoin Has Entered A Bear Market, And This Data Backs It Up The Bitcoin price had notably outperformed these major assets at the start of the year but has since fallen behind, following the October 10 crypto crash. Gold is up 66% year-to-date while the S&P 500 is up 17% since the start of the year. Crypto analyst Ted Pillows also predicted that BTC could soon rally, noting that the long-term holders have stopped selling for the first time since July 2025. At the time of writing, the Bitcoin price is trading at around $87,300, down over 3% in the last 24 hours, according to data from CoinMarketCap. Featured image from Pixabay, chart from Tradingview.com
If 2024 was the year of the crypto reawakening, 2025 was the year the plumbing finally got permitted. This year, the emerging industry entered January with tentative optimism and exited December with federal statutes. As a result, the narrative shifted definitively from “crypto as a casino” to “crypto as capital markets infrastructure.” During this period, […]
The post The top 12 crypto winners of 2025: who got it right this year? appeared first on CryptoSlate.
After years of compression, XRP is quietly approaching a moment where the market will see a true structural break. This breakout is about a high-timeframe setup where market structure is on the verge of shifting. It is also the potential resolution of a multi-year structure that has compressed prices, absorbed supply, and conditioned participants to underestimate what comes next. Why Volatility Has Collapsed Ahead Of Expansion At the least expected time, XRP will print a legendary candle that will set a structural foundation and never move down. A crypto investor known as 24HRSCRYPTO noted on X that this move that is coming won’t be powered by retail hype, but by real economic activity on the XRP Ledger. When the altcoin begins to function as a settlement asset, volatility will become a liability, rather than a feature. Related Reading: Banks Could Favor A Higher XRP Price, Finance Expert Says Additionally, the payment rails, liquidity provisioning, and institutional settlement system will require price stability. A bridge asset referred to as a vehicle currency cannot swing 30-40% and still clear trillions in value. As volume and utility increase, XRP begins to transition from a speculative instrument into market infrastructure. Liquidity depth would be key to absorb shocks, while the price becomes anchored by demand. This is why the first candle isn’t a top, but the market repricing XRP’s role from a tradeable asset into a financial primitive. With new initiatives, XRP’s adoption is set to increase. Analyst X Finance Bull has revealed that RLUSD is the first US trust-regulated stablecoin launched by Ripple, issued natively on the XRP Ledger and extending across Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) chains for broader institutional access. Any banks that would integrate with RLUSD will be automatically onboarded into the XRP rails. This isn’t just about stable payments, but about demand generation for the altcoin as the default bridge asset. From BlackRock funds flow to global repo markets, that’s where the real volume begins to flow. This flips the game, allowing RLUSD to provide the liquidity, while XRP captures the movement. Why XRPL Meets Institutional Due Diligence Standards For the first time, XRP Ledger has now processed over 4 billion transactions since its launch in 2012. Co-founder of Tedlabsio, a crypto trader and investor, Niels, has pointed out that the real-world usage across the network has sustained more than 13 years of uninterrupted operation. Related Reading: Here’s How Many Transactions XRP Must Process To Reach A $2,000 Price Tag The XRPL consistently handles around 1.5 million transactions per day, with regular peaks exceeding 5 million, and settles in 3 to 5 seconds. All of this happens at fractions of a cent per transaction. Over time, more than 13 million XRP have been burned in transaction fees, a metric that reflects continuous demand in network activity. This is why institutions pay attention to XRPL. Featured image from Pixabay, chart from Tradingview.com
The world's largest asset manager is promoting its underperforming bitcoin fund over higher-fee winners, signaling long-term commitment.
U.S. bitcoin ETF AUM fell less than 4% despite a 36% price correction from the October high.
The Bitcoin and Ethereum prices are down today as the crypto market remains in a phase of extreme fear. This latest crash came amid BlackRock’s move, which sparked fear of a sell-off from the world’s largest asset manager. The Bitcoin and Ethereum prices are down today following BlackRock’s transfer of 2,257 BTC and 74,973 ETH to Coinbase, indicating plans to offload these coins. Notably, the BTC and ETH ETFs recorded outflows on December 16, likely why the asset manager moved these coins to redeem shares for its IBIT and ETHA ETFs, which were sold that day. Bitcoin and Ethereum Prices Decline Amid BlackRock’s Transfer These Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs have continued to record mixed flows, which have partly contributed to declines in BTC and ETH prices. Notably, the Bitcoin price had surged to around $90,000 yesterday from an intraday low of around $87,000, before retracing below $87,000 about an hour later. This immediately sparked theories of manipulation, with some crypto pundits revealing that BlackRock wasn’t the only one selling. Related Reading: The Bearish Structure That Puts Bitcoin Price At $92,550, And Then $82,000 Crypto pundit Kruse claimed that Binance first bought nonstop for over 30 minutes to pump the price, then started dumping millions of BTC and ETH to liquidate longs. He noted that the Bitcoin price pumped about $3,300 in 30 minutes, with $106 million in shorts wiped out during that period. Following that, BTC printed another volatile hourly candle to the downside, which flushed out $52 million in longs. A similar price action had also played out for the Ethereum price. Kruse declared that this wasn’t random volatility but rather liquidity hunting. The pundit further warned that this is how leverage gets punished in crypto. He then reiterated that the volatile Bitcoin and Ethereum price actions weren’t random, indicating the market is being manipulated. Onchain Sleuth Tracer also accused Binance of being responsible for the Bitcoin and Ethereum price declines. He claimed that the crypto exchange pumped and dumped millions of BTC to liquidate traders, with $194 million in shorts and longs liquidated in one hour. BTC And ETH To Hit New All-Time Highs Next Year? Crypto asset manager Bitwise has predicted that the Bitcoin price will break the four-year cycle and set new all-time highs in 2026. The asset manager alluded to factors such as the Bitcoin halving and interest rate cycles as what will drive this rally for the flagship crypto. The firm also remarked that crypto booms and busts fueled by leverage are weaker than in past cycles. Related Reading: Ethereum 2-Year Trend Maps Out This Unique Crash Path To Bottom At $2,187 Bitwise also stated that institutions are likely to allocate more to Bitcoin ETFs, which is why they expect the Bitcoin price to reach new all-time highs next year. Furthermore, the firm noted that the pro-crypto regulatory shift will continue to allow companies to adopt crypto at a faster rate. The crypto asset manager also predicted that the Ethereum price could reach a new all-time high if the CLARITY Act passes. Featured image from iStock, chart from Tradingview.com
The $10 trillion asset manager is staffing up to scale digital asset ETFs, pursue tokenization and identify "first-mover big bets" in Asia.
It marks the third consecutive week of inflows, reflecting a cautious yet optimistic investor base, Head of Research James Butterfill said.
The following article is adapted from The Block’s newsletter, The Daily, which comes out on weekday afternoons.
BlackRock is seeking the Securities and Exchange Commission's sign-off for a staked Ethereum exchange-traded fund.
The iShares Ethereum Staking Trust marks a bold push into on-chain yield exposure, as the SEC's tone has shifted under new leadership.
The following article is adapted from The Block’s newsletter, The Daily, which comes out on weekday afternoons.
The world’s largest asset manager released its AI report with a bearish outlook on U.S. bonds and the country’s economy, and presented a bullish projection for crypto adoption.
IBIT options are the ninth largest in the U.S.
The following article is adapted from The Block’s newsletter, The Daily, which comes out on weekday afternoons.
The executives pointed to a 300% surge in real-world asset tokenization over 20 months as evidence that the shift is already accelerating.
US-listed Bitcoin ETFs capped their second-heaviest month of redemptions with a rare late-month shift back into positive flows. According to SoSo Value data, the 12 US-listed spot Bitcoin funds recorded net creation of roughly $70 million in the final days of November, after four weeks of relentless selling pressure that totalled more than $4.3 billion […]
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Spot Bitcoin ETFs (exchange-traded funds) are one of the biggest narratives and have been a game-changer in the cryptocurrency space in the past two years. With these investment products, people get to participate in the cryptocurrency market without having to directly own the digital assets. Interestingly, one of the biggest winners—that often gets overlooked—has been the issuers, especially as the crypto industry has seen increased institutional adoption since the Bitcoin ETFs launched. According to the firm’s executive, the BTC exchange-traded funds becoming the major source of revenue for BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, was not envisioned. BlackRock’s Bitcoin Funds Outweighing Expectations At the Blockchain Conference 2025 in São Paulo on Friday, November 28, BlackRock’s business development director in Brazil, Cristiano Castro, told reporters that the Bitcoin ETFs are the largest revenue source for their company. According to the executive, this development came as a “big surprise” to the asset management firm. Related Reading: Fed To End QT In December: Will Bitcoin Mirror The Massive Price Crash From Last Time? Castro said in a statement: We were very optimistic when we launched, but we didn’t believe it would reach such proportions. Just to give you an idea, it [IBIT in the US and IBIT39 in Brazil – the asset’s reference names] came very close to US$100 billion [in allocation]. This feat is notable for the Bitcoin ETFs, especially considering that BlackRock offers more than 1,400 exchange-traded products globally and has a whopping $13.4 trillion in assets under management. The US-based Bitcoin fund (with the IBIT ticker) has over $70.7 billion in net assets, becoming the first ETF to reach the $70-billion mark (doing so in June 2025). While the US Bitcoin ETF market has somewhat slowed down, BlackRock’s IBIT still continues to outpace other ETFs launched in recent years. As earlier reports suggested, IBIT had managed to generate roughly $245 million in annual fees as of October 2025. Bitcoin ETF Outflows ‘Perfectly Normal’ – Castro When asked about the recent outflows from BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF as the market leader’s value fell, the director stated that there are zero surprises in that trend. “ETFs are very liquid and powerful instruments, and they serve precisely to allow people to allocate their capital and manage their cash flow,” Castro noted. The BlackRock director said that the withdrawals are expected, considering that the product is heavily owned by retail investors, who are reactionary in nature to price corrections. On Friday, the iShares Bitcoin Trust saw a net outflow of $113.72 million, bringing the weekly record to a negative $137.01 million and the fund to its fifth-consecutive week of withdrawals. Related Reading: The Bitcoin Price Crash To $41,000: There’s A Shark In The Water Featured image from Getty Images, chart from TradingView
The firm's US-listed spot bitcoin ETF IBIT, launched in January 2024, reached $70 billion in assets in record time and has generated hundreds of millions in fees.
Strategic Income Opportunities Portfolio expands its allocation to the iShares Bitcoin Trust amid rising institutional demand.