U.S. bitcoin ETF AUM fell less than 4% despite a 36% price correction from the October high.
XRP price has remained in Fear territory since October 10th, as large holders continue to sell quietly. Despite all, XRP price has seen a 4% gain today, trading around $1.93, helped by rising interest in XRP ETFs. According to CryptoQuant, the weakness is coming from whale selling, not small investors. Does it mean XRP price …
The Ethereum market has seen an eventful display throughout 2025, kicking off the year with bearish momentum, where it witnessed a significant downturn of over 60% as of April. Interestingly, this year also marked the establishment of a new all-time-high for the king of altcoins, reaching values around $4,955 in August. At the moment, Ethereum has deviated by nearly 40% from its all-time-high price, raising questions concerning how the token would end the year. Notably, market analyst Ali Martinez has published a recent analysis, highlighting significant price levels that the bullish speculations ultimately depend on. Related Reading: Ethereum Exchange Supply Just Crashed To New Lows, Why This Is Bullish For Price URPD Reveals Significant Accumulation At $2,772 — What This Means In an X post on December 19, Martinez reports that specific price zones should at least serve as cushions to Ethereum’s bearish move. The post relies on data obtained from the URPD (UTXO Realized Price Distribution) metric, which reveals price levels where the current supply of a cryptocurrency last moved on-chain. In the chart shared below, we see a high concentration of acquired Ethereum supply at the $2,772 price mark, suggesting that a significant number of investors purchased their holdings at this price, or around it. Therefore, investors are more likely to defend their holdings around this level, thus transforming it into a strong psychological support. Interestingly, more tokens are expected to be purchased at this level, adding to the amount of buy momentum, counteracting the extant sell-pressure. If Ethereum, however, attempts a further push to the upside, significant resistance levels at the $3,211 and $3,224 price levels lie in wait. Related Reading: Ethereum Exchange Outflows Soar To $978M: Sign Of Dip Buying? $2,489 And $1,866 Next Supports In Line If $2,772 Fails If its heavily-defended support fails, the Ethereum price could see a free-fall towards the next psychological support. Martinez points out that this cushion sits at $2,489. From the chart, a fair bit of ETH supply was last transacted at this price region. Because the magnitude of transactions is ostensibly insignificant, $2,489 could likely only provide temporary relief to the falling Ethereum price, if it is reached. Therefore, there could be a continued series of sales until the Ether token sees its last significant support around the $1,866 price. In this scenario, the Ethereum market would be experiencing a major sentiment shift as a result of its uncurbed fall to its last support. As of this writing, Ethereum is valued at approximately $2,987. Data from CoinMarketCap shows that the token has gained by 5.56% in 24 hours. Featured image from Pexels, chart from Tradingview
A long-awaited crypto regime in the U.K. is moving from theory to execution, even if firms must wait until 2027 for full clarity.
BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF ranked sixth in 2025 ETF inflows despite posting a negative annual return, a signal analysts say reflects long-term conviction.
The zkEVM ecosystem spent a year sprinting on latency. Proving time for an Ethereum block collapsed from 16 minutes to 16 seconds, costs dropped 45-fold, and participating zkVMs now prove 99% of mainnet blocks in under 10 seconds on target hardware. The Ethereum Foundation (EF) declared victory on Dec. 18: real-time proving works. The performance […]
The post Ethereum Foundation refocuses to security over speed – sets strict 128-bit rule for 2026 appeared first on CryptoSlate.
Bitcoin’s long-term outlook may still look bright in public discussions, but behind closed doors, Fundstrat is urging restraint. While co-founder Tom Lee continues to speak confidently about fresh all-time highs, the firm’s internal guidance to clients paints a more guarded picture for early 2026. Fundstrat expects a meaningful correction phase, with Bitcoin potentially retreating toward …
Bitcoin’s price has been volatile, but the bigger story right now isn’t the chart. It’s who’s buying and at what levels. New on-chain data shows that nearly 50% of Bitcoin’s realized cap now comes from new whale buyers, a sharp break from how past Bitcoin cycles played out. Realized cap tracks the value of Bitcoin …
A crypto user lost nearly $50 million in USDT after falling for an address-poisoning scam. The victim accidentally copied a look-alike wallet address from their transaction history and sent 49,999,950 USDT to the attacker. After receiving the funds, the scammer converted the USDT into ETH, split it across multiple wallets, and moved part of it …
Since the start of December, the Bitcoin price has largely traded sideways, oscillating between roughly $85,000 and $90,000, with no sustained follow-through on either breakouts or breakdowns. Daily ranges have narrowed, and volatility has continued to compress, signalling a market stuck in balance rather than a trend. While this calm price action may appear stable …
A user lost nearly $50 million in USDt after copying a poisoned wallet address from transaction history, showing how subtle address spoofing can trick users.
On-chain analytics platform CryptoQuant has revealed why the XRP price keeps crashing, recently dropping below the psychological $2 level. The platform noted that the XRP ETF approval has failed to stop the selling pressure but instead looks to have escalated it. Why The XRP Price Is Crashing Despite ETF Success In a CryptoQuant report, analyst PelinayPA revealed that the XRP price is facing significant selling pressure from whales holding between $100,000 and 1m XRP and those holding above 1m. These XRP whales are said to account for the majority of inflows into the crypto exchange Binance. Related Reading: Peter Brandt Highlights Bearish XRP Price Chart, ‘You Need To Deal With It’ These transfers indicate that these whales are typically looking to offload these coins, which is putting selling pressure on the XRP price. PelinayPA noted that after each major inflow spike on the chart, the XRP price forms a lower high and lower low structure, suggesting that supply is overwhelming demand at the moment. The CryptoQuant report noted that this happens because there is no strong new spot buyer in the market. The continuous increase in available supply is also said to keep pushing the XRP lower, even though the whales are not aggressively dumping. Meanwhile, PelinayPA highlighted key price levels to watch out for as the price continues to crash. The analyst stated that, based on the inflow intensity and price reactions, the first major support zone stands between $1.82 and $1.87. She noted that this range marked where the price briefly stabilized and where small buyers appeared. However, XRP still risks crashing to the $1.50 and $1.66 range if the large outflows continue. The chart does not indicate that the altcoin could rally anytime soon with this selling pressure. Whales Took Advantage Of The ETF Narrative The CryptoQuant report stated that, in theory, the XRP ETF process was expected to create institutional demand and push the price higher through spot buying. However, that hasn’t been the case, as there have instead been high-volume XRP inflows to Binance. PelinayPA explained that whales were the first to act as ETF approval expectations increased. Related Reading: XRP Hasn’t Entered A Bear Market Yet; Analyst Shares Why The analyst further revealed that XRP accumulated in advance for the ETF narrative was transferred to exchanges and used as sell-side liquidity. Basically, whales sold the ETF approval story to retail investors. As a result, the XRP price faces significant selling pressure every time it approaches the $1.95 level. PelinayPA reiterated that expecting a bullish move before exchange inflows decline would be an unrealistic assumption. However, it is worth noting that the XRP ETFs have been successful so far, accumulating over $1 billion in net assets in just over a month since their launch. At the time of writing, the XRP price is trading at around $1.90, up almost 4% in the last 24 hours, according to data from CoinMarketCap. Featured image from Getty Images, chart from Tradingview.com
A new policy fight is taking shape in Washington. More than 125 crypto and fintech organizations, led by the Blockchain Association, have urged the U.S. Senate Banking Committee to reject efforts that would expand restrictions on stablecoin rewards under the GENIUS Act. The group warns that broadening the rules would hurt consumers, slow innovation, and …
Over the last week, volatility levels surged in the Bitcoin market as prices exhibited sharp movements at the two extremes. Data from CoinMarketCap showed the leading cryptocurrency lost its support around $90,000 but repeatedly found strong buying interest near $85,000, effectively creating a volatile price range between both levels. Despite an uptick in the last day, investors’ uncertainty remains at its peak level considering a broader correction trend that has persisted since early October. Prominent market analyst Ted Pillows has identified some historical data that could guide in navigating this fragile market. Related Reading: Citi Analysts Project Bitcoin Price Could Reach $189,000 Next Year In Bullish Scenario Bitcoin To $100,000? In an X post on December 19, Pillows shares a technical analysis of Bitcoin’s price structure, projecting some significant market gains in the short-term. According to the market expert, Bitcoin is presently mirroring a 2021-2022 market setup, which suggests the asset may be headed for the $100,000 mark. In the chart below, Pillows’ annotations suggest that Bitcoin is forming a head-and-shoulders pattern. The left shoulder emerged after Bitcoin peaked at $110,000 in January 2025, followed by a rally to a new all-time high of $126,100 in October, which formed the head. Notably, a similar pattern was observed in 2021-2022, when prices reached $63,600 (left shoulder) in April 2021, $69,100 (head) in November 2021, and $48,433 (right shoulder) in March 2022 . Currently, Bitcoin appears to be in the final corrective phase ahead of the right-shoulder formation, which Pillows expects to develop near the $100,000 level, implying a potential 13.6% upside in the coming days. However, the head-and-shoulders is a bearish chart pattern, indicating that completion could initiate a cascading price fall that was similarly seen in the 2021—2022 cycle. During this time, Bitcoin’s price dropped by half, trading as low as $22,000. However, Pillows’ projections are that Bitcoin could drop by around 35% after touching the $100,000, indicating a potential bottom price target of $65,000. Interestingly, this aligns with other cautious predictions that suggest Bitcoin remains highly vulnerable to future financial trends and is likely to fall to around $70,000. Related Reading: Ethereum Exchange Supply Just Crashed To New Lows, Why This Is Bullish For Price Bitcoin Market Overview At the time of writing, Bitcoin was trading at $88,168, reflecting a 3.16% gain in the past 24 hours. Meanwhile, the daily trading volume is down by 14.81% and valued at $44.83 billion. Meanwhile, investors transferred over 11,000 BTC to exchanges this week, signaling a significant selling intent amid recent price swings. Crypto analyst Ali Martinez reports that the BTC exchange balance has now moved from 2.753 million BTC to 2.764 million BTC, representing 13.84% of all circulating supply. Featured image from Pexels, chart from Tradingview
A circulating report attributed to Fundstrat warns of a potential crypto drawdown in early 2026, setting downside targets for Bitcoin, Ether and Solana.
Eight CryptoPunks NFTs have been added to the permanent collection of New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), marking a major milestone for NFTs in traditional art. The works were donated through an initiative led by Art on Blockchain, with support from several crypto art collectors. Larva Labs, the original creators of CryptoPunks, also contributed …
The final quarter has historically been a constructive phase for crypto markets, with December often marking the start of renewed upside momentum. In past cycles, the Bitcoin price has used this period to break prolonged consolidations and reverse bearish trends, while the Ethereum price follows. This year, however, that seasonal playbook is failing. Despite multiple …
A crypto user has lost nearly $50 million in USDT after falling victim to an address poisoning scam, according to on-chain analytics platform Lookonchain. The incident happened due to a simple copy-paste mistake during a large transfer and is now being described as one of the costliest errors in crypto history. How the $50 Million …
The Solana price has shown encouraging signs of recovery, climbing 6% on Friday to approach the $126 mark. This uptick follows a concerning dip below the crucial $120 level, which had sparked fears of a potential downtrend that could drag the cryptocurrency down toward the $100 threshold. Solana Price Gains Ground Chris MacDonald, an analyst at The Motley Fool, recently highlighted two key factors contributing to Solana’s resurgence. One significant catalyst is a proactive initiative by the Solana Foundation. Bitcoinist reported earlier this week that the organization is currently assessing whether its network can withstand potential threats from quantum computing technologies. Related Reading: Bitwise’s 2026 Crypto Forecast: Bitcoin, Ethereum, And Solana Poised For New Record Highs In collaboration with Project Eleven, a security firm specializing in post-quantum cryptography, the Solana team has launched a quantum-resistant testnet following a comprehensive threat assessment. The second notable factor driving the Solana price uptick is the announcement from health and wellness company Mangoceuticals, which revealed plans to allocate $100 million toward acquiring and holding SOL. Despite the positive momentum, experts caution that Solana’s price is currently following a “clean corrective structure.” Moving Averages Signal Downtrend From a technical analysis perspective, the 50-day simple moving average (SMA) is situated around $143, significantly higher than the current trading range, while the 200-day SMA looms even further at approximately $170, suggesting a prevailing downtrend rather than a healthy consolidation phase. In the short term, the 20-day exponential moving average has also rolled over near $133 and has consistently rejected previous attempts at a bounce. Analysts note that until the Solana price can close above the low-$130s for an extended period, any rebounds will likely be seen merely as counter-trend movements. Immediate support lies just below current trading levels at the $125 mark, followed by critical levels in the $121–$120 range, and another demand zone around $110. A more significant downturn could push the price into the high $90s, with projections indicating a potential dip to around $80 if liquidations accelerate further, as NewsBTC reported on Thursday. Related Reading: Crypto Payments Firm MoonPay Set For $5 Billion Valuation With NYSE Owner’s Backing The market has already registered an eight-month low near $116.9. A decisive close beneath that level could likely drag the Solana price toward the psychologically significant $100 mark. On the upside, the Solana price could encounter initial resistance clustered in the $133–$138 range, with stronger resistance observed in higher levels between $144 and $147 that could prevent any new recoveries in the short-term. To facilitate further price recovery, the Solana price will need to clear that second group of resistance levels on a daily close, ideally supported by increased trading volume, to pave the way toward prices between $160 and $165. Featured image from DALL-E, chart from TradingView.com
Chiliz, the Layer-1 blockchain for Sports and Entertainment and the native token of Chiliz Chain, has seen a sharp rise today,up nearly 24% to trade around $0.0376. The sudden move has raised one key question across the market: what is driving CHZ higher today? DeFi Innovation Boosts Confidence One of the main reasons CHZ is …
Blockstream CEO Adam Back said that Castle Island Ventures founding partner Nic Carter is “not helping” the ongoing quantum-Bitcoin narrative for Bitcoiners.
After reaching a new multi-month low, Solana (SOL) is attempting to hold a key high-timeframe level as support ahead of week’s end. Some analysts have suggested that the altcoin is poised to bounce, but others warned that a potential rally could be short-lived. Related Reading: Bitcoin Mirrors Q1 2025 Playbook, Is It Headed To $70,000 Before Year’s End? Solana To Tag Higher Levels Soon On Friday, Solana recovered from the latest drop and surged 7.7% toward the $125 area. The cryptocurrency fell nearly 9% on Thursday afternoon amid a broader market correction, sending its price to an eight-month low of $116. Amid the pullback, SOL’s price breached below a crucial high timeframe level, the around $120 mark, for the first time since April before recovering. Analyst Crypto Batman noted the altcoin “is not only at its major support level, the same one that has held price for the past 2 years.” In addition, the cryptocurrency is also forming a bullish divergence on the 3-day timeframe, “exactly like what we saw before the major bottom” at the start of Q2, the market observer added. To him, this suggests that Solana could bottom soon and see the start of a recovery rally to the macro range highs. However, another market observer affirmed that even if a retest of the higher levels is likely, “context matters here.” Analyst Crypto Scient highlighted that SOL’s price is currently at the range lows of its multi-year range, recording the first retest of this area after being rejected from the range highs. “One could argue SOL has been distributive for nearly two years now. That’s fair,” he explained, “[but] range lows rarely break on the first attempt.” Moreover, Scient pointed out that there’s significant liquidity left between the $175–$190 levels that “should get tagged at some point, even within a broader bearish environment.” As a result, the analyst considers that a “move higher to clean liquidity before any deeper downside would make far more sense.” December Close To Define SOL’s Fate? Analyst Rekt Capital affirmed that the $123 horizontal support remains the “defining level” that Solana must hold to prevent a major breakdown to multi-year lows. He detailed rebounds from this support have historically produced “outsized upside expansions,” with 140% and 100% moves. However, each rebound from this level has been progressively weaker over time, with the most recent bounce only managing to rally 15%. This signals a “sharp deceleration in upside responsiveness at this level,” which is important to consider as the compression in rebound magnitude could affect SOL’s monthly close. According to the analysis, a monthly close above the macro support would keep Solana positioned for a weaker rally, but a close below $123 would substantially change the structure. The second case would suggest that distribution has already started and confirm “how much this support has weakened since the last meaningful rebound that produced a near 2x move earlier this year.” Related Reading: Did Crypto Investors Stop Believing In The Four-Year Cycle? Analyst Weighs In Moreover, it would begin to mirror SOL’s performance in early 2022, when a similar price action preceded “macro relief moves during the opening phase of the Bear Market, including the decisive breakdown that occurred at the turn of that year.” Ultimately, the analyst warned that it remains to be seen whether the altcoin can close December above this crucial level and rebound, or if a breakdown “accelerates distribution sooner rather than later.” As of this writing, Solana is trading at $126, a 3.4% decline in the weekly timeframe. Featured Image from Unsplash.com, Chart from TradingView.com
Bitcoin's projected bear market in 2026 suggests maturing adoption, potentially stabilizing its long-term growth and investment appeal.
The post Fidelity’s director predicts Bitcoin will enter bear market in 2026, bottoming near $65K appeared first on Crypto Briefing.
Over the past few months, Strategy (formerly known as MicroStrategy), the largest publicly traded Bitcoin (BTC) treasury company, has found itself at the center of a pressing issue that could lead to its exclusion from the Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) index. This potential move not only poses significant financial risks for the firm but could also have broader implications for the cryptocurrency sector, with analysts estimating that it could result in losses up to $9 billion in demand for its shares. Industry-Wide Consequences The MSCI proposed in October that companies holding digital assets comprising 50% or more of their total assets should be removed from its global benchmarks, arguing that such companies resemble investment funds, which are excluded from its indexes. However, many firms, including Strategy, assert that they are operational companies creating innovative products and argue that MSCI’s proposal is biased against the cryptocurrency industry. Related Reading: Solana (SOL) Support Shattered, Potential $100 Test Looms, Says Analyst MSCI is currently conducting a public consultation, and analysts warn that if it decides to exclude Digital Asset Treasury (DAT) companies, it could prompt other index providers to follow suit. “The conversation already extends beyond just MSCI… to the eligibility of DATs in equity indexes in general,” said Kaasha Saini, head of index strategy at Jefferies, who anticipates that most equity indexes will align with MSCI’s decisions. Asset managers are believed to hold as much as 30% of a large-cap company’s free float, leading to potentially significant outflows if these companies are dropped from major indexes. This situation is particularly precarious for the DAT sector, which often finances its token purchases by selling stock. The company’s CEO, Phong Le, and co-founder Michael Saylor addressed the potential MSCI exclusion in a public letter. They estimated that such a move could lead to $2.8 billion worth of the company’s stock being liquidated and may “chill” the entire industry. In their letter, they explained that excluding DATs could shut them out from the roughly $15 trillion passive investment market, drastically undermining their competitive standing. Major Outflows Predicted For Strategy Analysts at TD Cowen estimated in November that around $2.5 billion of Strategy’s market value is linked to MSCI, with an additional $5.5 billion reliant on other indexes. JPMorgan’s analysis suggested that if MSCI were to exclude Strategy, the company could see $2.8 billion in outflows, a figure that could rise to $8.8 billion if it faced exclusion from other indexes, such as the Nasdaq 100, the CRSP US Total Market Index, and various Russell indexes owned by LSEG. In addition to Strategy, MSCI’s preliminary list identifies 38 companies at risk of exclusion, with a combined issuer market cap of $46.7 billion as of September 30, including French firm Capital B, which is also investing in Bitcoin. Related Reading: Crypto Payments Firm MoonPay Set For $5 Billion Valuation With NYSE Owner’s Backing Alexandre Laizet, Capital B’s director of Bitcoin strategy, remarked that while the current holdings of passive funds in their shares are limited, having access to passive flows is crucial for future adoption. Matt Cole, CEO of US-based Bitcoin buyer Strive—which is not at risk of exclusion—notes that the proposals have largely been factored into market valuations. He added, “On a longer-term basis, I think it raises the cost of capital for all Bitcoin treasury companies.” At the time of writing, the firm’s stock, which trades on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol MSTR, was trading at $165, marking gains of almost 4% ahead of the close of trading this week. Featured image from DALL-E, chart from TradingView.com
Bitcoin continued to sell near $90,000 as investors reacted to weak US jobs data and slowing economic growth by shifting into safer assets.
As market participants continue to speculate on when altcoin season will arrive, BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes argued there is “always an altcoin season happening.”
On-chain data shows the Ethereum exchange netflow has witnessed a negative spike during the past week, a potential sign that investors have been accumulating. Ethereum Exchange Netflow Has Been Red For The Past Week As pointed out by institutional DeFi solutions provider Sentora in a new post on X, Ethereum has seen net outflows from exchanges in the past week. The indicator of relevance here is the “Exchange Netflow,” which measures the net amount of ETH that’s moving into or out of wallets connected with centralized exchanges. When the value of this metric is positive, it means the investors are depositing a net number of tokens to these platforms. As one of the main reasons why holders deposit their coins to exchanges is for selling-related purposes, this kind of trend can be bearish for the asset’s price. Related Reading: Bitcoin & Ethereum Diverge: Longs Dominate BTC, While ETH Shorts Rise On the other hand, the indicator being below zero suggests outflows are dominating the inflows on exchanges. Such a trend can be a sign that investors are in a phase of accumulation, which can naturally be bullish for the cryptocurrency. As the data shared by Sentora shows, Ethereum has seen a weekly Exchange Netflow value of -$978.45 million, indicating that traders have made a massive amount of net withdrawals. The significant outflows have come as Ethereum has witnessed a decline during the past week. As Sentora explains: This signals aggressive accumulation where investors are likely “buying the dip” and withdrawing assets to cold storage or on-chain environments, tightening the liquid supply despite the negative price momentum. Related Reading: Ethereum Risks Slide To $2,000 If December Closes Below This Level: Analyst The price drawdown in the past week has also accompanied a drop in the total transaction fees on the network, meaning that transfer activity has gone down. The blockchain saw about $2.64 million in fees over the last week, which is more than 15% down week-over-week. ETH Saw A Brief Visit Under $2,800 Before Rebounding Ethereum observed a decline to $2,780 on Thursday, but the asset was able to bounce back as it’s now floating just under $3,000. Interestingly, ETH’s bottom was around the same level as a major on-chain supply cluster, as a chart shared by analyst Ali Martinez in an X post shows. In the graph, Martinez has attached the data of the Ethereum UTXO Realized Price Distribution (URPD) from on-chain analytics firm Glassnode. This metric basically tells us how much ETH supply was last transacted at the various price levels that the coin has visited in its history. There is a huge supply zone located at $2,772 on the URPD, suggesting a large amount of investors have their cost basis at it. Generally, such levels act as a support boundary during downtrends, as traders who purchased there buy the dip to defend it. Featured image from Dall-E, Sentora.com, chart from TradingView.com
Lummis' retirement could shift the focus and momentum of crypto legislation, impacting the U.S.'s role in global digital asset innovation.
The post Senator Lummis to retire from Senate in 2027, focuses on crypto legislation as final legacy appeared first on Crypto Briefing.
Veteran chartist Peter Brandt has once again turned his focus to the XRP community after sharing a technical breakdown that points to a bearish market structure on the weekly timeframe for the cryptocurrency. Brandt’s technical analysis focused squarely on chart behavior rather than sentiment, warning that the current setup carries downside implications that traders cannot ignore and must deal with. Peter Brandt Calls Out A Potential Double Top Taking to the social media platform X, Brandt highlighted what he described as a potential double top forming on XRP’s weekly chart. He acknowledged upfront that the pattern could still fail but stressed that, as things stand, the structure leans bearish. Related Reading: Analyst Says This XRP Level Is Keeping Downside Pressure In Check The analysis is based on XRP’s recent price action, which has lost the $2 price level after days of consistent bearish price action in December. Brandt framed the setup as a matter of accepting what the chart is showing rather than arguing against it, bluntly stating that market participants need to deal with the implications instead of dismissing them. His remarks were also directed at persistent XRP optimists, making it clear that his stance is not driven by bias against the asset but by adherence to classical chart principles. Until price action invalidates the pattern, the risk profile is tilted to the downside, and XRP might continue pushing downwards in the near term. “Love it or not — you need to deal with it,” Brandt said. The chart accompanying Brandt’s post shows XRP falling below the support of a flag pattern a few months ago. This breakdown has continued to the lower boundary around $1.80 to $2.00, which has acted as an important support pair against a resistance around $3.5. This support level has acted as a critical support region two times already this year. However, XRP looks like it might be losing this level now at the third time of asking. The weekly moving averages on the chart also appear to be flattening, a sign that upside strength has weakened compared to earlier phases of the cycle. What Would Change The Bearish Outlook A double top pattern is a bearish reversal signal, meaning an uptrend is likely ending and a downtrend is beginning. However, despite his firm tone, Brandt was careful to note that the pattern is conditional, not absolute. “This is a potential double top. Sure, it may fail, and I will deal with this if it does,” he said. Related Reading: XRP Price Falls To Critical Support Level, Is It Time To Panic? A sustained move back above the support at $2 would delay any breakdown into the $1 range. A further sustained reclaim of highs around $2.2, $2.5, $2.7, and $3 would invalidate the double top and force a reassessment of the broader trend. However, until such happens, Brandt’s technical structure continues to favor caution that many XRP proponents might not agree with. Featured image from Adobe Stock, chart from Tradingview.com
The Bitcoin price has experienced a significant correction after reaching all-time highs above $126,000 in October, currently trading just above $87,900. This marks a notable 30% decline over the past few months. Despite this setback, analysts at Citi express optimism for the cryptocurrency’s future, forecasting that its value will continue to rise through 2026. Optimistic Bitcoin Price Predictions According to Citi’s analysts, the base case for the Bitcoin price is set at $143,000, reflecting a potential 62% increase from current levels. In a more bullish scenario, the cryptocurrency could surge to over $189,000, indicating a substantial 114% increase. Conversely, the analysts also present a bear case for the leading crypto, with an estimated price around $78,500, which would represent an additional 10.6% decline from current trading levels. Related Reading: Solana (SOL) Support Shattered, Potential $100 Test Looms, Says Analyst The forecast from Citi relies on the assumption that investor adoption will persist, particularly with an influx of funds into exchange-traded funds (ETFs) projected to reach $15 billion. This influx is seen as a catalyst that could significantly boost the Bitcoin price. Furthermore, ongoing negotiations in the US Senate regarding their version of the crypto market structure bill, namely the CLARITY Act, which aims to regulate Bitcoin under the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), is anticipated to enhance market adoption. In contrast to Bitcoin, analysts express concerns regarding Ethereum’s (ETH) potential for growth. They argue that Ethereum, being viewed more as “programmable money,” has seen decreased activity, which has resulted in its current trading price of just below $3,000—40% below its all-time high of $4,964. Additional Catalyst For Price Growth Chris Neiger, an analyst at The Motley Fool, also attaches bullish predictions to the Bitcoin price future, highlighting that recent US job data reflects an unemployment rate increase to 4.6%, the highest since 2021. He asserted that if the Federal Reserve (Fed) chose to lower interest rates by 2026, the Bitcoin price could benefit since lower rates typically enhance the cryptocurrency’s value by making borrowing more affordable. In November, JPMorgan provided a more conservative estimate, suggesting that Bitcoin could reach $170,000 by 2026, with potential upside expected over the next six to twelve months. Related Reading: Crypto Payments Firm MoonPay Set For $5 Billion Valuation With NYSE Owner’s Backing Meanwhile, even more aggressive predictions from market researcher Fundstrat forecast the Bitcoin price could soar between $200,000 and $250,000 by the end of 2026, largely driven by the mainstream adoption of ETFs. Additionally, the establishment of the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve by the federal government has encouraged states to consider similar initiatives. Neiger concludes that just as ETFs have contributed to the credibility of cryptocurrencies and facilitated price increases, the formation of state-level Bitcoin reserves could serve as another critical driver propelling Bitcoin’s value higher in 2026. Featured image from DALL-E, chart from TradingView.com