Bitcoin's recovery relied on a shift toward the "digital gold" narrative, but global growth risks and strong equity markets have delayed that breakout.
Tuesday began on a weak note as selling pressure plunged the crypto market down by 2% as the sentiment slipped into FEAR territory. Bitcoin (BTC), the flagship crypto, erased most of yesterday’s gains and slid below $88,000, pulling major altcoins like ETH, XRP, and Solana lower along with the broader market. ETH, XRP, SOL Follow …
Crypto’s 2025 will be remembered as a year when confidence slowly collapsed under the weight of hacks, scams, and insider abuse. What began with hype, political tokens, and renewed optimism quickly turned into a long stretch of security failures that exposed deep structural weaknesses across the industry. By year’s end, total losses had crossed $3.5 …
An $11 billion Bitcoin whale is betting hundreds of millions of dollars on price increases of Bitcoin, Ether and Solana, while "smart money" traders remain net short on leading tokens.
Bitcoin's tape over the past 24 hours looked engineered for crypto investors, as BTC surpassed the $90,000 threshold in the early hours of Dec. 29, only to give back those gains less than 12 hours later. Traders like TedPillows posted clown emojis alongside charts showing repeated peaks and troughs, while CryptoSeth called it “fraud commodity” […]
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Prediction markets show traders clustering around a $2 billion–$3 billion range, with odds for $4 billion and $6 billion outcomes falling steadily after October's crash.
US-listed XRP ETFs continued to draw steady inflows through December, even as Bitcoin and Ether funds posted sharp monthly outflows.
A sharp sell-off in silver has unexpectedly reignited one of crypto’s longest-running debates. Finance expert and author Shanaka Anslem Perera‘s tweet is garnering attention after responding to comments from longtime Bitcoin critic Peter Schiff, who weighed in on silver’s sudden drop. Silver plunged as much as 14% in just over an hour, falling from $84 …
Crypto is seeing a shuffling of cards of sorts. Long-term holders of Bitcoin have eased up on selling after months of steady reductions, while large Ethereum wallets have been piling on more tokens, according to recent reports. Related Reading: Bitcoin Rules The Decade: Outshines Gold And Silver, Analyst Says Traders remain careful as prices swing and data gives mixed signals about where money is moving next. According to on-chain figures cited in market commentary, wallets that have held Bitcoin for at least 155 days cut their total from nearly 15 million coins in mid-July to a little over 14 million in December. Ether Whales Increase Holdings Based on reports quoting CryptoQuant and a crypto newsletter, addresses holding large amounts of ether have added around 120,000 ETH since Dec.26. Analysts at Milk Road said wallets with 1,000+ ETH now control roughly 70% of the supply, and that share has been climbing since late 2024. Heavy concentration can point to strong conviction from a few players, and it can also leave the market exposed if those same wallets move to sell. Both outcomes would shape liquidity and price swings. Long-term holders have stopped selling $BTC for the first time since July 2025. Things are looking good for a relief rally here. pic.twitter.com/t7Sl2hS9Ub — Ted (@TedPillows) December 29, 2025 Long-Term Bitcoin Holders Pause Selling Crypto investor Ted Pillows was quoted on X saying long-term holders “have stopped selling Bitcoin for the first time since July 2025,” a point that market watchers flagged as a possible turning point in holder behavior. That change in activity is often read as a sign of exhaustion after a long stretch of distribution. It can mean sellers are done for now, but it does not guarantee a fresh uptrend. Capital Moves And Market Chops Garrett Jin, formerly of exchange BitForex, suggested that some capital may be shifting from metals into crypto after a short squeeze in precious metals. Reports referenced gains in silver and platinum as part of the backdrop. At the same time, bitcoin traded in a tight range recently, bouncing between $86,740 and $90,060 over seven days, a pattern that has kept many traders on edge. Silver’s price rose by more than 1,570% this year, a figure that would represent an extreme move and which will need independent confirmation. Meanwhile, bitcoin remains well below its record highs. Some analysts argue that lukewarm ETF demand and market mechanics, including derivatives and liquidity patterns, play a larger role in price action than headline sentiment. Related Reading: Crypto Heat Fizzling Out? US Search Interest Plunges As Retail Shy Away Taken together, the data points to a market that is stabilizing more than rallying decisively. Large ether holders are buying, long-term bitcoin owners have paused selling, and US flows look soft. Featured image from GaijinPot Blog, chart from TradingView
Metaplanet added 4,279 BTC to take its treasury to 35,102 BTC, as its Bitcoin Income Generation business beat forecasts.
The company's total BTC holdings now stand at 35,102 BTC, which is valued at $3.06 billion at current market prices.
As Bitcoin has stayed below $100,000 for the past two months, concerns are growing among investors. Many are now asking what could happen to Strategy if Bitcoin drops to $74,000, a level that is only about 15% below its current price. Despite these worries that the strategy could face bankruptcy, the company continues to add …
Metaplanet's bitcoin income generation business generated about $55 million in annual revenue for 2024.
Lighter, widely seen as one of Hyperliquid’s strongest rivals in decentralized derivatives trading, has officially announced the launch of its native token, LIT. The move comes after weeks of intense speculation, rising trader interest, and growing activity around the platform ahead of its expected airdrop and token generation event. How LIT Token Is Designed to …
After a year in which many prominent 2025 Bitcoin calls proved wide of the mark, the 2026 forecast slate is being framed less as “targets” and more as scenario ranges: mostly bullish, but with a long bearish tail that stretches as far as $10,000. A Wu Blockchain roundup published Dec. 29 argued that the market’s tolerance for target-price narratives has eroded after last year’s “collective miss,” yet major banks, asset managers, and industry executives are still putting numbers and models on what could drive Bitcoin through 2026. The center of gravity sits in a familiar band: roughly $150,000 to $250,000 by end-2026, built on institutional allocation and spot ETF channels. The bears, by contrast, are leaning on macro tightening, slowing demand, or broken technical structure, with downside scenarios clustered at $70,000, $56,000, $25,000, and an outlier $10,000. The Bullish Bitcoin Price Predictions For 2026 Fundstrat’s Tom Lee has repeatedly pointed to $200,000–$250,000 by the end of 2026, arguing that expanding institutional allocation and the plumbing that makes it easier to express, particularly ETFs can reshape cycle dynamics. That framing sits alongside a more tactical note from within the same shop: Sean Farrell, Fundstrat’s head of digital asset strategy, flagged the risk of a deeper early-2026 pullback with BTC at $60,000–$65,000 in the first half of the year, plus ETH at $1,800–$2,000 and SOL at $50–$75. Crypto industry leaders also landed on six-figure outcomes. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said he expects BTC to reach $180,000 by end-2026 during a Binance Blockchain Week panel alongside Solana Foundation President Lily Liu and Binance CEO Richard Teng. Related Reading: US Strategic Bitcoin Reserve: Key Catalyst For Potential Surge Toward $150,000 Next Year On the bank side, JPMorgan’s Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou team pegged a “theoretical price / implied fair value” near $170,000 using a volatility-adjusted BTC-to-gold relative valuation framework, positioning it more as a model-implied upper reference over the next 6–12 months than a hard year-end target. Standard Chartered, once among the more aggressive bulls, revised down sharply: it now expects roughly $100,000 by end-2025 and $150,000 in 2026, citing market weakness and fading drivers, including reduced DAT buying and slowing ETF inflows. That $150,000 neighborhood is crowded. Bernstein reiterated a 2026 target of about $150,000, arguing the latest drawdown does not end the bull market and that the cycle is increasingly extended by institutional capital rather than constrained by the four-year halving cadence. Katherine Dowling, president of Bitcoin reserve company BSTR, also pointed to $150,000 by end-2026, tying the thesis to clearer US regulation, potential monetary easing — including an end to QT and expectations of rate cuts and continued ETF penetration, with some large banks allowing advisors to recommend Bitcoin ETFs at suggested allocation ranges of roughly 1%–4%. Citigroup’s framework was more explicitly scenario-based. With Bitcoin around $88,000 in the bank’s note, Citi projected $143,000 over the next 12 months. about 62% upside. anchored to expected ETF inflows and potential US digital-asset legislation. It flagged $70,000 as a key support level, with a bearish case near $78,500 and a bullish scenario at $189,000 if institutional and retail participation scale meaningfully. Arthur Hayes linked his 2026 range to monetary policy semantics. In his Dec. 19 essay “Love Language,” Hayes focused on the Fed’s “RMP (Reserve Management Purchases),” arguing it is effectively QE by another name, and suggested Bitcoin could break above roughly $124,000 in 2026 and test the ~$200,000 level as global money creation accelerates. Related Reading: Bitcoin Nears Red Yearly Close: Galaxy Digital Explains The Setup Asset managers were less numeric and more directional. Grayscale’s 2026 outlook predicted a new all-time high in the first half of 2026, citing sustained institutional demand and a progressively clearer US regulatory environment. Bitwise, in “The Year Ahead: 10 Crypto Predictions for 2026,” argued 2026 is more likely to “belong to the bulls,” contending that institutional adoption and regulatory progress can outweigh the usual late-cycle pullback narrative tied to the four-year rhythm. Bearish Bitcoin Price Predictions For 2026 The bearish case in the Wu Blockchain roundup is not a single thesis so much as multiple failure modes. CryptoQuant argued that demand growth has slowed enough that Bitcoin may already be in a bear phase, with a nearer-term move toward ~$70,000 and a deeper pullback toward ~$56,000, around its model’s realized price, framed as more plausible in the second half of 2026 if institutional demand weakens and derivatives risk appetite fades. Veteran trader Peter Brandt focused on technical structure rather than demand. He warned that a parabolic growth structure has broken and, based on historical cycle behavior and the idea of “exponential decay” in each successive bull run, said an ~80% drawdown from an all-time high could point toward ~$25,000 as a downside reference. The most extreme call came from Bloomberg Intelligence strategist Mike McGlone, who warned Bitcoin could drop to around $10,000 in 2026, roughly an 88%–90% decline from its all-time high, on a macro shift toward “post-inflation deflation,” tighter liquidity, and a broader speculative-asset reset. Barclays and VanEck avoided explicit targets but arrived at a similar mood: absent major catalysts, 2026 could be flat to weaker, with declining spot volumes and faded retail participation. VanEck described a “consolidation” year, more digestion than breakout, with opportunities shifting toward second-order developments like mining economics and stablecoin payments rather than headline price levels. Taken together, the 2026 map reads less like a consensus trade and more like a stress test: if ETF and institutional channels keep compounding and policy tailwinds materialize, six figures remain the modal forecast. If demand stalls or macro liquidity tightens, the market’s lower-bound debates — $70,000, $56,000, $25,000, or even $10,000 — will matter just as much for positioning as the bulls’ $150,000–$250,000 ceiling. At press time, BTC traded at $88,027. Featured image created with DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com
Investors who bought MicroStrategy ($MSTR) at 2.5x mNAV in June 2021 are now structurally outperforming Bitcoin. The company’s Bitcoin holdings have surged to 672,497 BTC, giving each share significantly more digital asset exposure than at purchase. Today, 1x NAV per share is $170, well above the 2021 entry price, while the balance sheet is stronger …
Institutions are increasingly using bitcoin options strategies on altcoins to manage price volatility and enhance returns, STS Digital told CoinDesk.
December close is on the horizon, and the crypto markets, including Bitcoin, Ethereum and XRP, are gearing up for a bearish close within a consolidated environment. XRP price action has remained under pressure in recent sessions, even as ETF-related inflows linked to the token continue to stay positive. While such inflows are typically seen as …
Blockchain sleuth ZachXBT exposed Haby (Havard), a Canadian from Abbotsford near Vancouver, who stole over $2 million from Coinbase users over a year by posing as support staff. He used social engineering for remote access, drained wallets like a $44,000 XRP theft and $237,000 Exodus balance, swapped to BTC via instant exchanges, and blew funds …
Grayscale said macro pressure and clearer US regulations are setting the stage for crypto’s next bull market in 2026.
South Korea’s long-awaited Digital Asset Basic Law has hit another roadblock. Authorities have officially delayed the submission of the bill until 2026, signaling deeper disagreements behind the scenes over how stablecoins should be regulated in one of Asia’s most active crypto markets. The delay reflects unresolved tensions between financial regulators and central banking authorities, at …
The LIT token supply is split evenly between the ecosystem and team/investors, with a portion airdropped to early participants.
Metaplanet CEO Simon Gerovich announced the company purchased 4,279 BTC in Q4 2025 for about $451 million, averaging $105,412 per coin. Total holdings now stand at 35,102 BTC, with a $3.78 billion cost basis and an average cost of $107,606 per BTC, yielding 568.2% in 2025. Its Bitcoin Income business generated ¥8.581 billion, surpassing forecasts, …
Traders are forcing macro risk through metals rather than crypto, with silver volatility spiking on physical tightness while bitcoin stays trapped in a low-volatility holding pattern.
Dragonfly partner Haseeb Qureshi predicts Bitcoin could break $150,000 by the end of 2026, even as its market share shrinks. He expects Ethereum and Solana to outperform, while many fintech Layer‑1s underdeliver. Big Tech may launch or acquire a crypto wallet, and more Fortune 100 firms will adopt blockchain. In DeFi, three perpetual DEX leaders …
Lighter is set to allocate half of the token supply to the ecosystem, while the remaining half is allocated to the team and investors.
South Korean regulators remain deadlocked over who can issue stablecoins, delaying progress on a new comprehensive digital asset framework.
Metaplanet Inc. has successfully completed the issuance of 23.61 million Class B Preferred Shares (“MERCURY”) via a third-party allotment, raising ¥21.25 billion. Major investors include Nautical Funding Ltd., SMALLCAP World Fund, and select Anson and Ghisallo funds. Each share was issued at ¥900, boosting capital stock and reserves by ¥10.62 billion each. Following the allotment, …
Stablecoins are quickly shedding their image as tools meant only for crypto trading. Today, they are becoming a serious settlement layer for global finance, processing volumes that now rival, and in some cases exceed, traditional banking and payment networks. Ripple sees this shift as a major inflection point, one that could redefine how money moves …
Standard Chartered Bank has turned bullish on XRP, predicting a potential 330% price rise by 2026. The prediction comes at a time when crypto markets are slowly recovering from their recent market drop. Meanwhile, this bullish prediction is supported by growing institutional inflows into XRP ETFs and clearer regulations that are boosting investor confidence. Standard …